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DayZ Has (Finally) Gone Into Beta Phase

There is something I should make abundantly clear before I go any further into this article. I am not a fan of DayZ. When it originally went into early access back in December 2013 I was one of the early adopters and had a lot of patience for this game. Since the initial early access release though, things have not gone well for the game and it has made a cynic out of me.

There has been a change of management, change of engine and yes, there have been improvements made to the game slowly but surely. My biggest criticism, however, is just how long this has taken.

DayZ was, perhaps, one of the biggest early access success stories, the chances are though that if you did buy it at any point between 2013-2015, you probably haven’t played it since. Probably at best, like me, you might check it out again every 6 months to see if it’s better and promptly uninstall it when you find out that it isn’t.

Well, there is, at least, some exciting news in terms of its development. In a report via DSOGaming, Bohemia has announced that the beta phase of the game is now officially released!

How Does It Play Today?

In fairness, the game has come a long way since it’s earlier days. It looks better, plays better and certainly has a lot more to do. Is it enough to salvage this game though? I don’t think so. The elements they have added already are dated concepts borrowing from other games. For example, the ‘base building mechanic’ merely feels like a poor replication of Rust.

There is some good news. For example, official modding support is available and the ‘full 1.0’ version of the game is supposed to release before the end of the year.

The main question though, is it worth playing? Well, I’ll wait until 1.0 arrives before coming to a final conclusion, but I suspect not. It was an interesting concept when it released, but frankly, other things have come since which do the job better. DayZ’s biggest mistake was squandering its early success. I think, ultimately, whatever comes now will just feel like Duke Nukem Forever. An underwhelming example of what could have been.

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!