Myself and a few friends had been curious about this one for some time so I recently set up a server for us and we gave it a go. Bottom line, I'd give it a 7.5/10. I enjoyed my time with it and I appreciate the playstyle and atmosphere. There is a lot to do and I feel it was worth the time I spent and $20 price tag. I will most likely continue to play or circle back around in the future.
- One of us quit playing about an hour in. He was not a fan of the movement, interaction, camera controls. "The game does not vibe with me, feels clunky". I understand the statement as it takes some getting used to. Overall, I enjoy the controls 75% of the time. I do feel some frustration while trying to select or highlight certain items for interactions.
-Cleaning up/removing debris from POI's. I have heard this is something they are currently working on and look forward to ongoing support. That being said there are a lot of areas I wanted to make a base but due to limitations on dismantling and the broom emote, I moved on to a another area. I have noticed that it seems some homes or POI's were designed with a player moving in and appreciate it. I ended up picking a log cabin down by the lake in deer park.
-Inventory Management / Item stacking. I appreciate a certain level of tedium and limitations, it forces you to prioritize and think critically. There are however a few item's I believe should be able to stack but currently cannot. I expect it's due to spoil timers and iteractability. I have also heard rumors for "stack like-items" and such being implemented in the future and am looking forward to it. Emptying after a loot run does feel like its own journey at times.
-Developer / Mod Interaction. I've seen too many reviews reflecting in poor taste regarding interactions with the devs/mods via discord/steam and such. I've nothing to comment or add in this regard as I've had none and prefer to take such info with a grain of salt. Playing on my own server means I wouldn't expect any interaction. I will admit that after enjoying the game with a small group of friends that will most likely move on to other games soon, It kinda makes me want to play on a public, populated or official server (Not sure if they have one), for more social and tense interactions that would inevitably come with it but the comments made me hesitant.
-Bugs. I've experienced only a few small and annoying bugs. A quick re-log or /unstuck solved 99% of these issues. Not being able to interact with "fuel" on vehicles, stuck in animations, stuck in inventory screen, ect. The main bug that caused me to re-log often was entering a vehicle and the camera operating exceptionally slow. The only one that hit hard was dying in which I dropped all my items and then the server timing out/restarting and my gear disappearing. I expect this one was mostly just an issue with save intervals and server side failure which cannot be attributed to the game in my opinion.
-Project Zomboid Comparison. I've noticed a lot of comparison between the two and wanted to give my thoughts. Each game explores the same world/atmosphere similarly but independently. Zomboid seems deeper and more complex while HumantiZ removes some of the tedium and feels a bit more intuitive and streamlined much of the time. I'd expect if you enjoy one of these titles you would probably enjoy the other.
-Overall. I enjoyed my time and will continue to. I believe the $20 price-tag is worth it. I hope they continue to add and improve the game. They have my support. The game has a certain methodical, tactful and patient niche to it and I appreciate it even if it isn't everyone's cup of tea. Cheers.
