When comparing H1Z1 [Early Access] vs Grim Dawn, the Slant community recommends Grim Dawn for most people. In the question“What are the best multiplayer games on Steam?” Grim Dawn is ranked 28th while H1Z1 [Early Access] is ranked 55th. The most important reason people chose Grim Dawn is:
Basically you choose 1 class and select skills as you level up. At level 10 you can select a second class, which already gives you 5x5=25 character type possibilities. Each character has dozens of skills, plus you have this additional passive skill tree that you unlock through cleansing shrines. Then there is item customization with crafted "modifiers", adding additional unique stats and skills that you can use, all this adds literally to thousands / millions of character possibilities. Do you want to use a double weapon shooting lightning bolts? You can do that. Do you want to summon your creatures and support them with fireballs? You can do that as well, you can push it wherever you want.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Crafting
There is crafting in the game so players can build bases to use as a home and a place to store items away from the rest of the world.
Pro Vehicles
H1Z1 has vehicles in game that can be fixed up to working condition to then use to traverse the landscape. Making travel a whole lot easier, but also making your whereabouts known and an easier target.
Pro Unpredictable
H1Z1 adds in an element of unpredictability with every encounter of another human player. Whether cooperation or fighting will ensue depends on the individuals playing and could go either way.
Pro Plenty of exploration
Exploration is a key part to H1Z1 as items need to be found to survive (though some gear can be purchased with real money as item drops). Depending on how lucky the individual is in finding the proper guns ammo and food/water makes for how long they are likely to survive.
Pro Complex leveling system with thousands of possible builds
Basically you choose 1 class and select skills as you level up. At level 10 you can select a second class, which already gives you 5x5=25 character type possibilities.
Each character has dozens of skills, plus you have this additional passive skill tree that you unlock through cleansing shrines. Then there is item customization with crafted "modifiers", adding additional unique stats and skills that you can use, all this adds literally to thousands / millions of character possibilities.
Do you want to use a double weapon shooting lightning bolts? You can do that. Do you want to summon your creatures and support them with fireballs? You can do that as well, you can push it wherever you want.
Pro Great homage to old school ARPGs
This game is very dark, and grim. It harkens back to games like Diablo 2 or Titans Quest. While other ARPGs have come out since then, none have hit all the marks of what fans of the genre have been asking for. For those that wish for an updated version of Diablo 2, Grim Dawn is the game for them.
Pro Exploration
Pro Highly modifiable
Relevant in modern gaming because the community can keep products like this fresh and varied, even if the developers eventually decide to slow down their updates (which they have not!). The possibilities are great with modding, while the experiences in Diablo 3 and Path of exile are a lot more static.
Pro Drop-in co-op (online and local)
Co-op is pretty convenient as players can drop in and out of your gaming session at any time. This way there is no wasted time jumping out of ones game in order to find players to play with.
Cons
Con Filled with hackers
Due to Sony's inability to properly combat hackers the game has become pointless to play. Hackers can just teleport into anyones base stealing all of their hard earned or purchased items, which being that this is a survival game makes survival pretty much impossible for any length of time.
Con Pay to win
Sadly despite claims from the developers that it would not happen, there are microtransactions for gear, guns and ammo in game. Meaning groups that pool their money and numbers to claim the falling crates will have an unfair advantage over those that do not pay to win.
Con Hard to find loot
Con Only some builds are fun
There is a definite meta, with superefficient vs non-viable builds.
It's easy to mess up a build, and attribute and spec-bar points are non-respeccable (you can use a cheat editor, but devs want you to reroll a new char).
Con Difficult to move when fighting, especially when you are ranged
Con Static pre-rendered levels
This may cut down on replayability a bit as all the levels in the game are pre-rendered, meaning that each playthrough will have the exact same layout, making for something that can get tiring and too familiar. Similar games have gone with randomized levels, which can keep the game fresh. While Grim Dawn is meant to be a throwback to earlier games in the genre, some newer features found in more recent released would have been welcome.
Con Lots of trips to town
The majority of loot in the game can be useless, with odd stat restrictions or repeats of vendor items. This means the user will need to make many trips into town to sell it all off in order to have room for even more loot they will not necessarily need.