Survival games come in a variety of variations: horror, open-world, realism, with crafting aspects and countless more. The sub-genre that I have the least interest in is that of horror-survivals. You would think that this is where you get the ultimate survival experience when you have to fight your way through dark alleys and fear is your constant companion. But survival means something completely different to me.
Post-Soviet struggle for survival
For me, survival means going on a journey of discovery. Making do with the things you find around you and fighting your way through the world little by little. And most importantly, set goals for yourself. One of my first and favorite survival experiences was the Arma 2 mod DayZ. As a survivor you start in a random location in a fictional post-Soviet state. The state's residents are infected by a virus and are walking around as aggressive zombies.
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Survival Games | Opinion | Surviving means relaxing
Equipped with only a glow stick, a bandage and some fruit, they set off in search of… well, everything. We need better clothing to be prepared for the weather and to carry more objects with us. If we can't find food, we die after half an hour, and sometimes it's little things like a missing can opener that cause us to fail. And then there are the zombies and other players.
In DayZ we are basically on our own. You can play with friends, but you first have to find them on the 225 km² map. Especially since there is no map in the inventory to guide you. Only signs can be helpful – provided you speak Russian.
In addition to the infected, there is also the danger of other players lurking along the way – and more or less that of friends too. Because if you meet a real person in the big world, you first have to find out whether he is a friend or an enemy. There are no name displays or anything similar. You have to communicate as quickly as possible using voice chat, text boxes or emotes to make it clear that you are not looking for confrontation. You can't trust anyone, otherwise you will be betrayed straight away. What follows is permadeath.
Quelle: Bohemia Interactive
Roguelike-Walking-Simulator
DayZ offers the perfect post-apocalyptic experience. Any contact with other people causes immediate stress because you simply don't know what is happening. The game is classified as survival horror, but if anything I would call it psychological horror. Because the survival instinct of most players seems to be higher than the need for social cohesion. You could almost say that DayZ is like a social experiment designed to test the morale of the players.
Evil tongues could also speak of a roguelike walking simulator, but that's exactly what the game is about for me. With some music on my ears or friends in Discord, I roam the land in search of food, weapons and allies. When, after a kilometer-long walk, a small village appears on the horizon, the joy is great at first, and even greater when even just a few little things like a can of fruit can be found. Sometimes less is more.
What might sound boring to some people was, for me, the initial spark for the next survival stories. Having no pressure other than not to die and just running straight ahead for a few kilometers somehow caught me! I wanted more.