Project Zomboid is one of the many games that I bought at full price, but it is perhaps the only that I don't regret I bought at full price at all. This is perhaps one of the best Zombie Survival games that I have played in a very long time and for good reason: despite it's current Early Access state, Project Zomboid offers a surprising amount of content, whether it's the map which is absolutely huge or the depth of the game mechanics, this game absolutely amazed me.

First I would like to point out the setting: 1993, Kentucky. I enjoy roaming around the empty streets of towns like Rosewood or West Point while avoiding hordes of undead with an empty stomach and a pan in my hand. This is probably one of the most overlooked features of the game, the map. Due to the unforgiving nature of the game, a lot of people don't get to really explore the game world as it was intended, instead they have to hunker down in some safehouse at the outskirts of some town or inside a small cabin in the middle of the endless woods that surround you.

Project Zomboid really made me appreciate small details such as random farmhouses in the middle of nowhere or vast cornfields inhabited by the undead. Another good example of this are the abandoned residential areas you may find in your adventures in the quarantined state of Kentucky. Every place tells a story, whether it's the body of someone who chose to commit suicide rather than find their end at the hands of the infected or the random graffitis from inside of the abandoned buildings.
Just when I thought that the game world couldn't get any better, it hit me... Louiseville. A fully-fledged city that's almost a quarter of the whole map. I was absolutely astonished when I got to reach the "big city". Not only is it a detailed replica of the real-life city of Louiseville, Kentucky, but it is also one of the most memorable milestone that I reached in my journey across Kentucky. It was rewarding, simply rewarding, despite its massive undead population.

The gameplay made me feel helpless at first even though I knew what I had signed up for me when I bought the game. The word that can best describe my feelings when I was thrown into the world of Zomboid for the first time is "fear". Knowing that every step I took could've lead to a life and death situation made me play cautiously. A simple crack could attract the attention of a lone zombie that could've attracted the attention of a whole horde towards my lonely house, with its broken windows and doors. Another factor that lead to this was the game's zombie lore: there is no cure, if you are bitten, you are done for. The game warns you from the beginning that, and I quote: "There was no hope of survival" and that "This is how you died", and it really means it. In Zomboid's gameplay, death is inevitable, to put it simple. You can survive for a whole year in-game, just for your life to be ended by one zombie that managed to creep up behind you and bite you in the neck, causing your character a very slow and painful death.

Combat is pretty simple to understand: you can push zombies, stomp on their head, hit them, stab them or shoot them, yet all of those are affected by the way you build you character and by other game mechanics such as panic, exertion or skills. In Zomboid, you are no action hero from a zombie movie, you are a regular person trying to survive. Your character can get scared, tired or be affected by pain. Whatever the reason behind those factors, they will affect you during combat. For example, if you happened to get an injury on one of your arms, your attack speed will be decreased, which most of the times will lead to your demise. Avoiding combat is key to surviving for as long as possible.

In the early days of the outbreak, electricity and water are going to be unlimited, the game essentially holds your hand for a short period of time before throwing you into the post-apocalypse that follows. This splits the game into 2 phases that play out very differently from one another, forcing you to make long-term plans if you wish to survive, plans that could very easily lead to your death in just a matter of seconds. A simple attempt at securing a safehouse or a working vehicle can be very difficult, especially for unexperienced players. But if by some miracle you make it past the first days of the outbreak, a new challenge will hit you: the post-apocalypse. Water and electricity will be a luxury, forcing you to find alternatives to acquiring these two vital resources. Due to the lack of electricity, fridges will stop working, causing perishable food to rot, making non-perishable food your only hope if you choose to stay in one of the game's urban areas. However, if you are a survivalist that prefers living in the wilderness, the post-apocalypse might be easier for you, as trapping and farming will provide you a stable food source.

I can sit here for hours talking about the game's health system, little things such as watching TVs shows to learn certain skills or reading skill books to improve certain skills, ripping clothes and boiling rags in order to obtain sterilized bandages, the way your character's occupation and traits affect your survival capabilities, about how you shouldn't break open windows and use them to get inside a building without removing the glass shards from the window frame first etc. But I will make it short: Zomboid goes very in-depth with its mechanics so pay attention to them, try using your logic when it comes to it.

Finally, the weather system in this game is probably one of the best that I've seen so far. Fog will make you feel cornered and surrounded at all times, drastically reducing your vision and putting you in danger if not careful. Not to mention the games dynamic seasons: the game starts in summer by default. If you make it through summer and reach autumn, you will be confronted with lower temperatures, making warm clothes your number one priority. If by some miracle you manage to survive 3 more months, winter and its snowy wasteland will greet you.

I don't feel like spoiling any more of Project Zomboid's aspects, so I think it's best I let you experience the game yourselves. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the story you are going to write for yourself while trying to survive.

Then you eventually die because you were staying up for 37 hours straight playing this ''game'' (Which should be labeled an addictive substance instead, as it is a far more accurate assessment), thus causing you to do a silly mistake you usually wouldn't do and just like that, you lost countless hours of work.