Covering approximately 225 km² of the fictional Former-Soviet Republic of Chernarus+, the map across which DayZ takes place is huge. This landscape is bursting with points of interest including towns, islands, abandoned USSR airbases and helicopter crash sites which players will have to risk exploring to find loot to aid in their survival. The physical map itself is a loot item which you have to find in-game so new players will feel completely disorientated when they first step foot into Chernarus+. The world is filled with incredible strokes of realism which really intensify bring the world to life. Players who haven't managed to scavenge a compass are able to use the north star to navigate (provided of course that it is night) while the game is full of hundreds of public domain books including 'War of the Worlds' and 'Moby Dick' which are readable in their entirety to the player. Not suggesting that anyone is actually going to sit down and read Melville's 500+ page epic but it's a nice touch nonetheless.