Ark: Survival Evolved vs Project Zomboid
Ark: Survival Evolved
Ark: Survival Evolved is a hardcore, prehistoric-themed (this means dinosaurs... lots and lots of them), survival sandbox MMO set in an astoundingly gorgeous persistent world where everybody is fair game. There is insane amount of resources that you can harvest, items you can craft and dinosaurs that you can tame. Not to mention, you can and will probably need to build shelters for yourself and your tamed beasts, and of course, defend it from other players.Being a hardcore survival game, you'll also need to take care to feed both you and your dinosaurs and that death is pretty permanent in this game. Even the tools you craft has durability that will gradually wear down when used. It might be difficult to be a solo player and thus, you are often encouraged to team up whenever you can.
Ark: Survival Evolved is definitely not the sort of game to play if you're easily frustrated. The learning curve - let alone the "survival curve" - can be pretty steep especially when you keep getting killed or harassed by other, better equipped survivors.
Project Zomboid
Project Zomboid takes the post-apocalyptic zombie survival genre to the next level with one of the most realistic gameplay to date. After all, surviving isn't just blowing the heads off zombies or finding food - your mental health is as equally important! In many ways, the game feels a lot like Don't Starve when it comes to the more hardcore gameplay, though its persistent and ever-growing game map can be liken to that of Minecraft while its stats-based progression is somewhat similar to the old Runescape. There are so many skills you can level up, and which one you'd like to focus on is entirely up to you. Of course, you can customize your character's looks as well.Aside from the common Sandbox and Survival modes, the game even has fun and imaginative Challenge scenarios and action-packed "Last Stand" mode which frankly plays out a lot like Serious Sam albeit in isometric view.
Featuring a unique pixel-like visuals and an isomeric perspective, Project Zomboid is a really promising early access game that fans of survival games would really enjoy. It's full of content, be it exploring or crafting, and it's tough enough to keep you hooked.