Is it worth playing DayZ in 2025?

DayZ is an online multiplayer game where players must survive the harsh and cruel conditions of an open world riddled with the undead. Bohemia Interactive envisioned delivering the most authentic and immersive zombie experience and launched it on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC back in the 2018 holidays.

Although the title has been out for quite some time, the gaming community's opinion about it has been mixed. While the premise of surviving and scavenging resources in another post-apocalypse setting is promising and appealing, some gameplay elements could have been polished better.

Despite the flaws, some might argue that DayZ is worth revisiting in 2025.

Disclaimer: This article contains the writer's personal and subjective views about the game.

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The problem with DayZ is that it is too realistic for a video game

The struggle is part of the post-apocalyptic experience (Image via Bohemia Interactive)

Bohemia Interactive wanted to give the player base an experience that could satisfy all their wants and needs from a zombie apocalypse game. While titles like Days Gone, The Last of Us, and Resident Evil are focused on telling a compelling narrative, the developer is focused on the online co-op experience and core gameplay; unfortunately, DayZ players encountered more problems than fun.

Video games are meant to be fun and satisfy their players; however, Bohemia Interactive has a different perspective. The developer wanted players to feel the struggle for survival. Other survivors can interact within the same lobby and have the freedom to explore various locations to find worthwhile loot, which often leads to disappointment.

The loot system is severely mismanaged and poorly balanced. Other players are reluctant to leave their safe houses to explore the world only to find scraps, but this is a realistic outcome if everything were to collapse. Resources and other useful materials will likely be scarce, and survivors will race against each other to secure every last bit to improve their chances of survival.

Other popular depictions of a post-apocalyptic world overrun by the undead, like The Walking Dead, accurately show how resources like canned food, weapons, ammunition, fuel, batteries, and other supplies can run out quickly, which elevates the stakes. As survivors, players must take risks to find food to sustain themselves and collect weapons to fight off zombies and people.

Survivors can set up camp and build a base of operations to store whatever resources they have collected. However, they must also fortify their bases from potential attacks and raids orchestrated by other survivors.

DayZ is a survival game, and players will have to get their hands dirty to deal with the living as much as they have to defend themselves from the undead.

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Hackers are more prevalent than the undead

The poor loot system isn't the only problem with DayZ. The game's official servers are plagued by hackers and other cheaters who want to ruin everyone else's experience. Players can attack fellow survivors, but hackers are the worst breed since they can ban or remove others from a lobby, which can be a nuisance for someone who is trying to enjoy the game for what it is.

Players can customize a private server to play with trusted friends to combat the problem of hackers ruining their experience. Bohemia Interactive is utilizing BattlEye, a software that detects potential cheaters or hackers and hits them with the ban hammer once enough evidence has been collected. The world is already broken, and these hackers are making it worse by bullying fellow players.

The world in DayZ is unforgiving, and one wrong move can result in an untimely demise that will make players lose all of the items they have accumulated during their initial playthrough.

The frustration players feel after dying to a random zombie attack after hours of progress is understandable; however, Bohemia Interactive doesn't have favorites and prioritizes working in a deadly world with cruel living conditions.

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Verdict

Survive together or die alone in Day Z (Image via Bohemia Interactive)

DayZ is not the perfect online multiplayer game; however, players can spend a few hours with their friends scavenging for minimal loot and building a stronghold against the zombies and other players. Bohemia Interactive could have polished the gameplay mechanics and loot system for a better experience, but the effort is commendable.

While the hype for the zombie apocalypse game has been growing steadily in the past few years, it wouldn't be a bad idea to see what everyone is talking about and decide if DayZ is a good experience. Once players can overlook the obvious issues, this game can still thrive in 2025 and beyond.