Introduction

7 Days to Die was started with a Kickstarter in August 2013 by The Fun Pimps, described as "An open world, voxel-based, sandbox game blending the best elements of FPS, Survival Horror, Tower Defense and Role Playing Games". The Kickstarter broke its goal of $200,000 and raised $507,612 from 13,876 backers. Since then, the game has gone through various alpha versions, with its current being Alpha 18.1, which came out a couple weeks ago.

Performance

First, let me address the "Unoptimized" part of the title. I'm currently rocking an i7-8700 with a GTX 1050 Ti and 12gb of RAM. Certainly not a powerbuild by today's standards, but still nothing to scoff at; I can run most modern games at decent video settings without turning my GPU into a supernova. This game, however, heats my poor baby up to ~65C with the lowest possible settings, and even then gets the occasional stutter. HOWEVER - this hasn't stopped me from pouring my time into it; I've actually even optimized my airflow in an effort to keep my PC cool during my longer play sessions. This game is addictive. It's worth noting, however, that they've made improvements. The developers are actively working to make this game run better, and it shows. The latest patch added occlusion (don't waste resources rendering things the player can't see), making a big difference.

Note the tree blobs - I sacrifice the visuals for the gameplay

Setting

The game takes place in the near future after a third world war has left the Earth in ruins; No one knows whether it was radiation, a biochemical weapon, or something else, but the remnants of humanity have been transformed into mindless zombies. You'll find them either wandering the wasteland, or clustered together in the games various Points of Interest. These can range in size and variety from large to small, and you'll come across cabins, cities, farms, factories and more.

Here I am coming up on a city while riding my bike. Later on you can unlock motorcycles, and trucks.

Most of the buildings have been destroyed, leaving only rubble and remains - but some survived the fallout, like this water treatment plant. These are the places you want to go if you want the good loot.

Gameplay

After finishing the short set of initial survival tasks, you'll head towards your first trader outpost where you can, well, trade, but pick up some quests as well. The quests work in a tiered system, and progressively get harder. Once you clear out a couple cabins, or abandoned houses, you'll soon be raiding old businesses, hotels, and hospitals.

Just about everything that you do will give you XP. Not just zombie slaying and questing, but mining, crafting, and building as well. As you level up you'll gain skill points to spend and improve your abilities. They also added skill books in the latest patch that give unique perks, and an additional one when you complete a set; For example, one improves your bartering skill if you have a .44 magnum out while talking to the trader. Give me a good deal - or else, buddy!

Conclusion

I'm usually not a big 'Zombie-Game' person. I never really got on board with Left4Dead, and ofcourse I've played nazi zombies like every other 20-something year old, but this is the first zombie game that really grabbed me. The couple times that I've played on multiplayer servers have also had good communities. All in all, this is a great game to lose yourself in.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a wasteland to raid.