H1Z1: Battle Royale

H1Z1: King of the Kill is a MMO shooter with elements of survival focused on PvP mode, set in a world during a zombie outbreak. Released for PC, PS4 and XONE and developed by a team of Daybreak Game Company (former Sony Online Entertainment) production is one of two alternate versions of a survival sandbox formerly known as H1Z1 that for more than a year have been distributed via Steam in the so-called early access and in that time have gained a large group of supporters.

As a part of an update introducing, inter alia, PvP mode called Battle Royale, developers noted a clear division of players into two groups preferring different aspects of the gameplay. Therefore, it was decided to divide the final product into two independent games developed by separate teams of developers. Unlike H1Z1: Just Survive – that focuses on the aspect of exploration and survival (and therefore on the original essence of H1Z1), the production in question focuses more on action and pure competition between players, supplemented by some elements of survival.

Story

Plot of H1Z1: King of the Kill for PC, PS4 and XONE is set in the world known from the original version of H1Z1, namely in an unspecified town in the United States and its extensive outskirts. Story begins several years after a detection of the titular virus, which turned most of the population into bloodthirsty zombies. Those who survived the apocalypse are forced to constant struggle against hordes of living dead as well as repetitive search for limited resources necessary for survival in a hostile environment. As one can guess, these resources are also the main reason for never-ending rivalry between players.

Gameplay

Gameplay mechanic in H1Z1: King of the Kill for PC, PS4 and XONE is rather clearly different from the original concept of H1Z1 (finalized in H1Z1: Just Survive). Thus, we have here an MMO game with a similar atmosphere, which, however, does not focus on exploration, search for resources and cooperation of players in confronting hordes of zombies. And even though the game shares multiple solutions with its predecessor - such as an open world, similar movement and combat mechanics - it also puts emphasis on a much faster and more dynamic action and competition between players in one of several PvP modes, headlined by the well-known from H1Z1 Battle Royale mode. In the game there are also some elements of survival: before the struggle begins players get a little time to gather resources and create equipment that they will use to fight opponents. However, in contrast to the orignal game these elements were marginalized.

Technical aspects

Game H1Z1: King of the Kill for PC, PS4 and XONE – like its twin H1Z1: Just Survive (as well as the original version of H1Z1) uses the power of proprietary Forgelight engine, powering, among others, such productions as PlanetSide 2, Landmark and EverQuest Next. And although initially both titles were based on the same elements, models, animations, etc., with time each of them was enriched with its own unique characteristics, created and developed by two independent teams.

Additional info

Although before the official division of H1Z1 into two productions a large part of people playing “early access” version already had a lot of equipment – including some purchased for real money via micro-transactions – creator from the Daybreak Game Company studio made sure that the whole operation was conducted without harming the players. Every player who had Steam version of H1Z1 in their libraries, on 17 February 2016 received both H1Z1: King of the Kill and H1Z1: Just Survive free of charge. At the same time equipment possessed by players was duplicated and transferred to both newly released games.

Last updated on February 29, 2016