Deadside is a multiplayer survival game that blends elements of PvP and PvE in a gritty, realistic post-apocalyptic setting. Released initially in Early Access on April 14, 2020, and achieving its full release on December 5, 2024, Deadside has carved out a niche for itself among fans of survival games. With its emphasis on realism, tactical combat, and a richly detailed open world, the game offers a unique experience for players looking to immerse themselves in a brutal, unforgiving environment.
In this review, we’ll explore the core features of Deadside, its strengths and weaknesses, and why it stands out in the crowded survival genre.
The World of Deadside: A Realistic Post-Apocalypse
Deadside’s setting is one of its most compelling features. The game takes place in a sprawling open world filled with forests, abandoned towns, rivers, and industrial areas. The environments are meticulously designed, offering a mix of natural beauty and desolation. Players will find themselves navigating dense woods, crumbling urban areas, and perilous waterways, all while scavenging for supplies and avoiding danger.
Map Size and Exploration: The map is massive, with plenty of areas to explore. Each region feels unique, offering different challenges and rewards. Hidden stashes, abandoned vehicles, and campsites encourage players to venture off the beaten path.
Dynamic Weather and Day/Night Cycle: The game’s dynamic weather system and day/night cycle add to its immersive atmosphere. Rain can obscure visibility, while nighttime creates a tense environment where every sound becomes a potential threat.
Core Gameplay Mechanics
Deadside’s gameplay revolves around survival, exploration, combat, and base building. Let’s delve deeper into each of these aspects:
Survival
At its heart, Deadside is a survival game. Players must manage their health, hunger, and thirst while navigating a world filled with hostile NPCs and other players. Finding food, water, and medical supplies is critical to staying alive. Unlike many survival games, Deadside avoids overly complex mechanics, striking a balance between realism and playability.
Exploration
Exploration is a key component of Deadside. The game’s open world is littered with points of interest, including towns, military bases, and hidden caches. Each location holds the promise of valuable loot but also the risk of encountering enemies or other players.
Combat
Combat in Deadside is tactical and unforgiving. Players can choose between first-person and third-person perspectives, each offering a different level of immersion. The gunplay is realistic, with weapons having distinct handling and recoil patterns.
Weapon Variety: Deadside features an impressive arsenal of weapons, from pistols and shotguns to assault rifles and sniper rifles. Each weapon can be customized with attachments like scopes and suppressors.
PvP and PvE: The game offers both player-versus-player and player-versus-environment combat. While PvP encounters are intense and unpredictable, PvE adds an additional layer of challenge with AI-controlled bandits and other hostile entities.
Base Building
Base building in Deadside allows players to create a safe haven for storing loot and crafting supplies. Players can construct walls, gates, and storage units to fortify their bases. However, bases are not invulnerable and can be raided by other players, adding a layer of risk and strategy.
Missions and Events
One of Deadside’s standout features is its mission system. Players can take on missions to earn rewards, such as rare weapons and resources. Missions vary in difficulty and often require teamwork to complete successfully.
Dynamic Events: In addition to missions, the game features dynamic events like supply drops and AI-controlled convoy ambushes. These events create hotspots of activity, encouraging players to compete for valuable loot.
Graphics and Audio
The visual and audio design of Deadside plays a crucial role in its immersive experience.
Graphics: While not cutting-edge, Deadside’s graphics are highly detailed and effective at conveying the bleak atmosphere of its world. Lighting and shadows are particularly well-done, enhancing the tension during nighttime gameplay.
Audio: The sound design is a highlight, with realistic weapon sounds, ambient noises, and the rustling of leaves in the wind. These audio cues are not just immersive but also functional, helping players detect nearby threats.
Community and Multiplayer Experience
Deadside thrives on its multiplayer interactions. Whether you team up with friends or go solo, the game’s player base is an integral part of the experience.
Team Play: Joining a group can make survival easier, especially when tackling difficult missions or defending a base. However, alliances are not always permanent, and betrayals can occur.
Player Interaction: The unpredictability of other players adds a layer of excitement. Will you cooperate, trade, or engage in combat? The choice is yours.
Pros and Cons of Deadside
Pros:
Immersive and realistic open-world environment.
Tactical and satisfying combat mechanics.
Varied missions and dynamic events.
Engaging survival elements without overwhelming complexity.
Base building adds strategic depth.
Regular updates and active community support.
Cons:
Limited endgame content for long-term players.
Steep learning curve for new players.
Occasional bugs and performance issues.
Lack of vehicles, making traversal time-consuming.
Final Verdict
Deadside is a must-play for fans of survival games who appreciate realism and tactical gameplay. While it has its flaws, such as limited endgame content and a steep learning curve, its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses. The game’s immersive world, challenging combat, and engaging survival mechanics make it a standout in the genre.
With its recent full release and ongoing updates, Deadside is poised to become a staple for survival enthusiasts. Whether you’re a solo player braving the wilderness or part of a group taking on missions, Deadside offers a thrilling and rewarding experience that’s hard to match.
THIS GAME IS AWESOME THE ONLY THING TO CHANGE WOULD BE THE RE-SPAWN TIMER OF YOUR DEAD CORPSE IN PVE. WAYYYYY TOO SHORT. DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THERE'S ONE IN PVE ANYWAY
I feel that the sound in the game needs some work, like the vehicles sounding close but they are far. even sounds of foot steps sound strange, the volume is high which is great. But some things don't sound all that great. the way the bullet travel looks is wonky as well. the game has so much potential. hopefully the developers put more work in this game because it can be really good. the building mechanics as well need some work and smoothing. The trees not coming down ,not being able to farm your own fruit or some type of food farming besides fishing or grabbing berries as you go, and stuff like that to be able to have a clean build area and food farming. the pvp is definitely fun as well the pve. id like a bit more pve in the city's. like in buildings or even patrolling. more pvp as in higher population servers, 140 pop not like a rust that can have so many players and the game just feels over crowded. please bring more updates, more clothing options. some better gun build options. would also be cool. over all id definitely recommend this game.
Deadside is a gritty, hardcore open-world survival shooter that drops players into a bleak post-Soviet landscape teeming with danger at every turn. Developed by Bad Pixel and published by tinyBuild, the game emerged from a lengthy early access period into a fully realized experience in late 2024, blending tense player-versus-player combat, unpredictable AI encounters, and base-building elements into a seamless survival simulator. It draws inspiration from genre staples like DayZ and Escape from Tarkov but carves out its own niche through a harsh, atmospheric world and a strong focus on tactical decision-making.The core gameplay centers on exploration and survival in a vast, unforgiving map filled with hostile human players, aggressive AI factions, and environmental hazards that demand constant vigilance. Players can choose from several server types, including pure PvP, PvE, or PvP with scheduled raid events, offering different flavors of gameplay depending on whether you want to engage in intense combat or focus more on survival and progression. Movement across the expansive map is made more manageable by the inclusion of drivable vehicles such as motorcycles, cars, and boats, as well as a fast travel system that helps reduce downtime and keeps the pacing engaging.Combat in Deadside is deliberately realistic and punishing. A wide arsenal of over 30 firearms is available, each customizable with attachments like scopes and silencers to suit a variety of tactical styles. The ballistic system accounts for bullet drop and recoil, encouraging players to plan shots carefully rather than rely on spray-and-pray tactics. Stealth and traps also play an important role—players can set tripwires or use respawn bags strategically to gain an edge. That said, the AI can be inconsistent: while some encounters are thrilling and unpredictable, others fall into predictable patterns that lessen the tension.Base building serves as a critical pillar of the experience, allowing players to establish fortified outposts equipped with turrets, storage solutions, and comfort items that boost stats. Unfortunately, the base-building mechanics can feel clunky and unintuitive, with resource gathering often becoming a grind and suitable construction locations sometimes hard to come by. This aspect detracts from what could otherwise be a rewarding way to anchor your progress in the hostile world.Rather than relying on a traditional leveling system, Deadside emphasizes skill-based progression, where a player’s effectiveness depends on their gear and personal tactics rather than numeric stats. This keeps gameplay fresh and challenging but can make it difficult for new players to jump in without feeling overwhelmed. Additionally, the absence of mod support means that content variety and longevity rest solely on official updates and the evolving player community, which some see as a missed opportunity to expand the game’s appeal.Despite its rough edges, Deadside delivers a deeply immersive survival shooter experience for players who enjoy high-stakes encounters and strategic depth. The world feels authentic and tense, where every decision—from choosing when to fight or flee, to managing your resources and base—carries weight. The developers have shown ongoing commitment to improving the game through patches and expansions, steadily refining gameplay balance and performance. For those willing to embrace its unforgiving nature, Deadside offers a compelling and atmospheric dive into post-apocalyptic survival warfare.Rating: 7/10
Sure this game has potential, but as of right now its riddled with hackers and very bland. Spawn, loot , grab the same pistol and shotgun thats laying around everywhere, go to mission area just to have ridiculous bots (AI would be a compliment) get agro from half a mile away then proceed to chase you that distance. Have random players show up in your area kitted to know exactly where you are and one tap you. Game in its current state with lack of players and the ones that do play invest in cheats is why the game is not recommended.
The grafics and gunplay is great.
The building, electricity, transportaion maybe enough .
I think need more deep survival system,dynamic weather, also growing food.
To have more players and be immersive
I think DayZ and Scum are alot better
Deadside Review – A Hidden Gem for Hardcore Survival FansAs a long-time survival game enthusiast, Deadside has quickly earned a permanent spot in my library. It's not just another run-of-the-mill survival shooter—it strikes a beautiful balance between realism, challenge, and immersive gameplay that sets it apart from the pack.🔫 Combat That Feels Gritty and RealOne of Deadside’s strongest features is its hardcore combat system. Every shot counts. There’s no bullet sponge nonsense here—tactics, positioning, and weapon choice matter. Whether you're ambushing NPC patrols or outsmarting real players, the tension is real and the adrenaline rush is addicting.🌍 Immersive World and AtmosphereThe map is vast, bleak, and utterly beautiful. The post-apocalyptic environment feels grounded and believable, with abandoned towns, ruined buildings, and dense forests that tell their own quiet stories. The minimalist HUD and lack of "gamey" clutter let you sink into the world completely. You feel the loneliness—and the danger—around every corner.🎒 Balanced Survival MechanicsUnlike many games in the genre, Deadside doesn’t punish you with constant micro-managing of hunger and thirst. Instead, it focuses on tactical survival: managing your gear, choosing when to engage or avoid fights, and building your own secure base. Base building is intuitive and satisfying, with real strategic value for protecting your loot.👥 A True PvPvE ExperienceWhat makes Deadside stand out is how it mixes PvE and PvP seamlessly. NPC missions are well-designed and challenging, and AI squads aren't pushovers. But it's the lurking threat of other players that keeps you on edge, especially during loot runs or while completing contracts. It’s the perfect recipe for high-stakes gameplay.🚧 Active Development & Growing CommunityThe devs clearly care. Updates come consistently, community feedback is acknowledged, and new features are always on the horizon. The player base, while smaller than AAA games, is tight-knit and engaged. Whether you play solo or with a squad, there’s always action waiting.Final Verdict: 9/10Deadside is the survival shooter I didn’t know I needed. It’s gritty, grounded, and refreshingly free of the nonsense that plagues so many games in the genre. If you crave authentic tactical combat and a mature survival experience without the cartoonish fluff—Deadside is your game.
game mechanics are garbage. AI can take 3 rounds to the face from a shotgun 5m away and still kill you. hit reg is garbage, everything about this game is garbage. everytime i come back i am reminded why i onlt have 141 hours after 5 years
Not Recommended (but kinda recommended, read on...)
Hours Played: XXBought Deadside because I was in a mood. You know the one — where you want Tarkov but without Tarkov, where bullets hurt but not your soul, where the trees are pretty and the loot is just out of reach behind a guy named "xXxSn1perDad420xXx" hiding in a bush.Started looting. Got pants. Got a gun. Felt strong. Got shot. Never saw him. Died with pride. Respawned shirtless and confused. 10/10 immersion.This game looks amazing, runs smoother than my social skills at a family dinner, and the atmosphere? Oof. It's like DayZ and Tarkov had a beautiful, balanced baby and actually raised it.But... I forgot I'm a PvE rat. A loot goblin. A friendless wanderer. The only PvP I enjoy is Player vs Panic Attack. So, I refunded it not because it’s bad — oh no — but because I'm weak, Todd. I'm WEAK.Would I recommend it? Absolutely.
Did I keep it? No.
Will I think about it at 2 AM while playing Stardew Valley? Every damn night.Now if you’ll excuse me…( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
So you have an option to start building base whilst holding a hammer. If blueprint is red you can't build cause another base. road, POI, etc. is nearby. You can start building when blueprint is green. So you start building like a moron and then when you want to place "Storage" (which is an item you fill in with materials to keep your base "running", same as in rust) it says "Another storage nearby", meaning that someone else's base/storage is nearby. FFS. Why do you give me option to build foundations or anything in the first place then.Edit: Playing PVE official server. Some pleasant and helpful people around but mostly (imo) rude people that will steal your loot after finishing missions.
I have 6000 hours in Dayz and 400 hours in Rust. The game is fun enough but most servers are unpopulated. There is no farming, there is no dynamic weather, you can only choose male characters (whats up with that, gamergirls out there? Who even came up with that stuff)The inventory system is limited. The base building is deep enough but it's very easy to obtain resources. Trees won't fall to the ground if you chop them, you simply gain logs but the tree stays. Get 1000 logs from one tree? I did'nt try, but should be possible.It feels more like a shooter to me. It reminds me of Farcry in a sense. The survival elements are eating and drinking and bandaging cuts so you wont bleed out. No illnesses, no temperature, no nothing.The worst of all: The AI. They just shoot you from miles away, with any equipped weapon. So a guy from 300 meters away will have a go at you with a shotgun. Total BS. They do push you and try some flanking, they enter houses. There is something good there. but it's way below par now. I also notice some bugs with scopes.If they improve the AI, if the servers become more popped, if they add dynamic weather and add mechanics so trees will fall down and bushes dissapear when you harvest them, and some more details, this game can be a serious alternative.I got it on sale for 14 bucks, but for a full price? Go play Rust, or Dayz if you want simply games who do things better than Deadside.I do not recommend to buy this game at full price.
joined PVE server
started looting and found some guns
started fighting group of bots
ran out of bullets so I ran inside bus for protection
laid down on the floor for reload
got stuck under bus seat and wouldn't let me move/stand up or even open inventory10/10 will never play again
Deadside starts off looking like it has real promise. The map is genuinely beautiful, and at first glance, you get the sense that something big could be waiting around the corner. But after a few hours, the illusion wears off. PvP is nearly nonexistent, most encounters are with generic AI, and the world, while large, feels hollow.Base building is so easy it removes any real sense of progression, and vehicles? Practically mythical. It’s more frustrating than rewarding.The one active server is a mess, riddled with cheaters and rumors of admin or mod favoritism tied to a specific clan. And sadly, the devs don’t seem too interested in fixing or expanding the game. Updates are rare, feedback feels ignored, and the player base is slowly drying up because of it.There could be something great here, but as it stands, Deadside feels abandoned by both the developers and, increasingly, the community.If you notice a lot of the trailer is showcasing the "beauty" of the game and its ui. In reality though its just covering up the fact of how broken, empty, and disappointing this game is.
Fantastic game, gun play is some of the best ive seen. I have 12k hours on rust and this game itches my rust itch while adding some more tactical game play to it. one of my favorite games. unfortunately due to more than likely poor/zero advertising the server pops are not great. def worth picking up when on sale.
i would rate this game a 9.5 out of ten the game is good you can do fun missions some can be hard some can be easy i would recommend this game for people who like survival games and shooting and dont forget to like and subscribe to therealsupergamer on youtube
Dayz on minimal difficulty settings in terms of survival mechanics much more ai and pvp focused. good for a fair chunk of time if you are into this genre of looter shooter
i think is a great game and personally is better than Dayz here the mechanic is new and not old like dayz a lot events to do everywhere and so many hidden places amazing to discover cfor me vote 8/10
Theres one popped server (US Central 300) with a team of over 15 players on it that also have an active ADMIN (Mayorfalcon in the official discord) who feeds them information, plays, and raids with them using god mode. I have video evidence of this happening. This admin is part of their friend group and plays other games like DayZ with them. If you play this game stay away from that server its completely corrupt and no way to combat it. If you're a good player as well you'll eventually catch a ban just so they don't have to deal with you.I come from Rust, a much more polished game BUT this game is heading in the right direction. Current critical problems is no safezone camping protection (people wait for you to exit), M99 / Snipers in general are extremely common and easy to find and VERY strong. To strong. You can log out with all of your boom and best gear so if you get offline raided it doesn't even matter but apparently there will be sleepers soon? You can exploit loot through walls so people seal their TC in a room with no doors and just spawn inside the room to maintain upkeep (and this is allowed per admins say so). Building needs alot of love but it is heading the right way. Boom is entirely to easy to acquire. Durability needs a re-work, if it isn't green don't use it, trust me.All in all its just one giga sized team with infinite loot that runs with an Admin so don't waste your time. Wait for updates and play on trusted private servers. Sad. Hope for a brighter future for the game it has insane potential.
