H1Z1 trailer forgoes flashy effects in favour of open-world drama

There's a Microsoft conference happening as I write this, and—in a tiny window in a corner of my stream—I'm being distracted by the whizz-bang particles and drama of the big-budget shooter. Pft, and maybe even tish, say I. I'll take the decidedly more lo-fi action depicted in H1Z1's survive-'em-up. SOE have released a new E3 trailer showing the range and scope of their open-world alpha.

"Offering a total sandbox experience, H1Z1 is a zombie survival MMO set in a post-apocalyptic world where thousands of players must strategically align with friends and against enemies in order to survive the worldwide infection."

Sounds interesting, but I'm still waiting to see exactly how H1Z1 can stand out from current survival kings DayZ and Rust. While we wait for its Early Access release, have a read of Evan's hands-on impressions .

Keep up with all our E3 coverage right here .

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.