Project Zomboid's new Build 42 update, 3 years in the making, is the biggest game release of 2024 for me—here's why

pcgamer.com:

Christmas came early for me yesterday. After previously announcing Project Zomboid's long-awaited Build 42 would be out by the end of the year, developer The Indie Stone released the absolutely colossal update on Tuesday. In terms of the sheer number of features—from a total crafting overhaul to a considerable expansion of the already huge map—this is the biggest update Zomboid has ever gotten. And for me? It's the biggest game release of 2024. Move aside, Shadow of the Erdtree.

I mean, just look at some of these additions from the patch notes:

There isn't really a single theme to Build 42, but the strongest elevator pitch I could make for it is that it aims to extend your post-apocalyptic life more or less indefinitely after the tumultuous times of the initial outbreak. The devs have expressed a desire to enable the «Alexandria Years» of your server or playthrough, referencing a settlement of the same name in The Walking Dead.

Previously, Zomboid was mostly a game about looting. It's been in development since 2011, but really exploded in popularity with December 2021's Build 41, which made similar sweeping overhauls to the game. Prior to Build 42 there were limited farming mechanics just to make sure you wouldn't starve when all the supermarkets in Kentucky ran out of canned beans. But if you wanted more tools, supplies, or materials, you'd have to go scrounging for pre-apocalyptic stuff in the far-flung corners of the map. This was particularly an issue for multiplayer, since bigger servers would have to enable respawning loot—a major sacrifice of immersion, in my opinion—so new players didn't simply find a world already stripped bare.

Build 42 has completely reworked crafting and added a number of post-apocalyptic professions from blacksmithing to pottery that ensure even when all the machines have broken down, the gas pumps have run dry, and you've broken every wrench in the hardware store bashing zombies' brains out, you'll be able to make your own stuff from