The zombie MMO with sandbox elements H1Z1 is currently still in development, but that doesn’t stop the developers from having some fun with an early build. In the live stream, they showcased the “Minecraft”-like components of their game as well as the shooter actions.
The seemingly empty world of H1Z1 follows the building block logic of Minecraft, Starbound, and similar games, as one can gather from the stream. With an axe, one chops down a tree, turns the wood shavings into planks, shapes them into sticks, and combines them with some fabric to create a bow.
But the first problem arises: “Where do you find fabric when you need it?” After some aimless searching, the playing developer, in the tradition of the German discus thrower Robert Harting, tears his shirt off and crafts himself a bow. With the bow, he then goes first hunting deer and eventually zombies.
However, the playtester only hits a zombie’s knee, which leads his teammate to the fateful statement that the zombie must have gotten an arrow to the knee… because that also happened to a guard in Skyrim, whose tortured lament became an internet hit, the two have to listen to a few jokes for the next minutes.
At many points, the two moderators make it clear that they are still playing in a pre-alpha phase, and that the finished game will differ in many aspects from the provisional gameplay mechanics. Nevertheless, you get a good first insight from the video. We’ve got the stream for you here.
H1Z1 scores with Robinson Crusoe motifs
You can already see in this early phase why there is so much hype around H1Z1 and why many are waiting for the game. The game principle known from Minecraft and Starbound, where you build something from small beginnings and use it to climb the ladder of civilization, seems to be the game principle that the entire MMO community is waiting for. Shooter fans might not be exactly blown away by the combat aspects.
At first glance, H1Z1 also appears to be a modern vision of “Robinson Crusoe.” The novel, which is often read as a youth book today, was originally intended as advertising for colonialism: the great European could recreate the entire civilization from within himself. Only the player in H1Z1 is not doing this on a deserted island, but in the zombie apocalypse. Who would have thought that Robinson Crusoe would once determine the gameplay principles of modern times? Maybe SOE will still teach us a few tricks from a zombie; then we could call him “Friday”…
