We started near a desolate cabin up on a hill in the woods, a real picturesque spot until night fell. The twilight before sunset made for a very eerie setting, and I was thankful we were in what seemed like a safer area for the moment. We lit a green and red flare in the immediate area and my shadow created a long, dark figure on the wall behind me; as far as I can tell from this early build the lighting is done very well, and everything casts a shadow in real time. A full day and night cycle in the game takes about four to five hours, so during a marathon play session you will probably experience it a couple of times.

The game is set in the wilderness of Colorado, with roughly 160 square miles of virtual terrain to traverse. There are plans to release more maps in 2013 to keep the game fresh and dynamic, though it is unclear how the different maps will be related to one another or if you will be able to travel from map to map in the same server.

To my surprise you start with a map the moment you begin, though only a portion is visible. About seventy-five percent of my map was pixelated when I began, making it nearly impossible to make out any sort of roads, cities or natural landmarks, but the visible 25 percent revealed a bunch of stuff around my location. A major aspect of this game will be about exploring the world and revealing those unknown areas, but I was expecting to have to find a map first. Part of the fun of a survival-centric game is the pointless wandering, and surviving, until you find something useful (such as said map). Maybe it helps with some initial direction since there will undoubtedly be some sort of open-world quests that you may or may not choose to do, but it takes out some of the hardcore survival feeling you expect from a survivor game.