The Day Before (Steam) PC

The Day Before for PC is an MMO (massively multiplayer online) survival game. It is set in a beautifully detailed open world, set in a post pandemic America that is peopled with large hordes of very hungry zombies who are out for your flesh. Help other survivors (or not), build communities and take out the infected with realistic looking and feeling weapons.

A propos

The game is at heart, an old school post pandemic dystopia (whoever would have thought that a world-wide plague would have us stay home and get fat, rather than go out, battle zombies and have wonderful character-building adventures?) in this game you… er… go out, battle zombies and have wonderful character-building adventures! Old school fun.

As with many survival games, you wake up with no resources and little understanding as yet of what has happened to bring you here. Likewise, the barely-there resources that you start with will be familiar to fans of the genre.

You will gather those resources, craft them into bigger and better tools and learn all you can about your surrounds, as well as the available supplies and how to get and use them. Along this knowledge gathering path, you will, all the while, be fending off feral zombies, stopping other marauding survivors from pillaging your goodies, and – cautiously – making friends with others to start building a community and restoring some kind of civilisation.

The game is not only challenging but it is interesting from a psychological point of view too: some players will team up cooperatively to battle zombies together, but others will follow a more violent and solitary path even in the face of friendly overtures; so watch out for those – or become one! It is up to you to restore civilisation before it’s too late!

L'essentiel

Typical of the survival genre much of the game pits you against your environment (PvE) as well as setting you against other players (PvP) and you will enjoy the cut and thrust of the game as you assess your environment for impediments and dangers even as you try to stop a bad guy from heading for your precious supply cache.

Despite survival games being so popular, this out stands out for the beautifully rendered open world which will invite you to explore, even as you work towards your next resource goal or crafting recipe. You will even be able to tell vehicles apart by the different tracks that each unique model leaves behind.

The game is only found on PC, and the developers have issued no information about the possibility of cross-platform versions – which is not to say that they might not be forthcoming in the future.

Resources to Gather

Throughout the game and in between battling zombies and making friends, you must hunt for:

• Food: food and rest restores your health and you should keep an eye on your stats, making sure to keep a snack handy in your inventory to power up again before or after battles

• Weapons: perhaps the most satisfying part of the game, the weapons sound fantastic and offer realistic rumbles through your controllers (if you use them) which adds to the satisfying feeling that comes with taking out a whole horde of onrushing zombies before they can get to you

• Cars: an unusual one for survival games, you can scavenge cars that will help you race across the game map, give you resources to trade once you’re there and generally enhance the ambiance of the game

You can search through houses, other vehicles and even go into skyscrapers on your hunt for resources. Sell or trade any surplus at the survivor colony and, while you’re there, you can chat safely with other survivors, sure in the knowledge that, for now, you and your stuff is safe!

The Day Before for PC is available for purchase on Instant Gaming for a fraction of its retail price. You will receive an official key and be able to play the game in seconds. Play smart. Pay less.