Folks eager to play Hammerpoint Interactive's upcoming sandbox survival title will be able to get in on the action as early as October 15 or October 31, depending on how much you're willing to pony up. The War Z is now available for preorder with an array of bonuses offered across three packages – of which the "Survivor" tier is the most affordable and straight forward, costing $19.49 for beta access starting on October 31.
Next up, Hammerpoint offers the "Pioneer" package, which runs $29.99 and provides alpha access on October 15, over two weeks ahead of the beta. Additionally, Pioneer purchasers will receive $15 worth of in-game currency (used for survival supplies and such), three guest keys that will allow your friends to play for two days, and one month of server hosting – something Hammerpoint is aiming to streamline over DayZ.
Meanwhile, if you're willing to part with $49.99 for the "Legend" package, you'll get alpha access on October 15, $30 worth of in-game money, three guest keys and six months of map server hosting. All three tiers also come with unique forum badges to flaunt your support. It's also worth noting that these prices will only be available until October 20, at which point they'll increase 28-40% to $29.99, $49.99 and $69.99.
The War Z – PvP gameplay (NSFW language)
The War Z will compete with DayZ, State of Decay and other post-apocalyptic, persistent open-world titles in which your goal is to survive. There are no quests, classes or levels, though it seems like characters should be fairly unique between skill trees and rare loot. While exploring the 154-square-mile world, you'll face threats ranging from bipedal foes – dead and alive – to less tangible dangers like thirst, hunger and sickness. Beyond that, whether you want to rebuild civilization or hunt fellow survivors is your call. Of note, the game is designed to run on practically any hardware and all future content updates will be free.