Dawn Awakening, Tencent's promising open-world survival game, enters closed beta in China this month

Tencent's upcoming open-world survival game, Dawn Awakening, will soon enter closed beta in China starting September 16th. This one comes to us from developer Lightspeed & Quantum Studios and aims to provide a living world to explore that's both rich in detail and realistic in its systems.

At first glance, it doesn't seem to be doing anything particularly new, with it looking like a fairly standard zombie survival sim, though it's perhaps the finer details that are more impressive.

Tencent's Lightspeed & Quantum Studios, the developers of PUBG Mobile, will start testing their new open world zombie survival game for mobile later this month. Dawn Awakening is built on UE4 and aims to bring a console like game experience to mobile. pic.twitter.com/Cg7maWegmZ — Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) September 3, 2020

You can expect believable weather effects that become an integral part of the experience as you progress. Snow, thunderstorms, sandstorms, and even acid rain can drastically alter your chances of survival when out and about, with specific conditions causing your character's various survival metrics to take a giant hit.

It's therefore important that you seek out the necessary tools and resources that will allow you to build shelters alone or alongside your fellow survivors. There are 9 different environments to explore in total, ranging from hazard-filled mines to sprawling cities.

There's a big focus here on making each area feel alive. For example, lightning strikes can cause deadly fires in the open, broken cables can fry you, and oil spills can result in fiery explosions. It's all powered by Unreal Engine 4, which was used to achieve the game's impressive lighting and shadow effects.

Keeping an eye on your character's depleting survival meters might be fairly routine for the genre, but your physical condition also ties into some more immediate concerns, like dirty clothes attracting zombies. Failing to stay clean can cause NPCs to vomit, which probably won't win you many friends, and you can even alter the size of your character by exercising. Beyond that, you'll be able to acquire and drive a host of different vehicles, take part in a layered hunting simulation, and gradually learn how to cook and kill.

It's currently unclear as to if/when Dawn Awakening will be heading westward. In the meantime, here's the game's TapTap store page.

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