My First Time With State Of Decay

970 Views

I am really looking forward to State Of Decay 2. So I’ve finally started playing the original game having missed it on Xbox 360 I picked up the Xbox One Remaster a while ago when it was on sale and have just got round to playing it. I’m enjoying it, I really like the survival horror mechanics. Right now supplies are running low, 2 of my playable characters are dead, a woman is at deaths door, another guy twisted his knee so he’s out of action and another 2 of my survivors have morale issues for me to sort out. My house is in a real state of decay. So I have to go out, fight through the zombie hordes, clear out some of the infestation and search for medical supplies, food and materials to build new facilities for our house.

The permanent death really makes me care about the characters with them having different abilities and roles to play in the group like doctors, car mechanics, some are influential leaders and some with military training making them good at fighting off the zombies so it’s a real blow losing one of them.

So I’m really looking forward to see how Undead Labs have expanded on these mechanics in the sequel and the game looks much better with a bigger budget and in Unreal Engine 4 on a more powerful console. State Of Decay 1 looks and plays a lot better on the Xbox One X and that’s without an official enhanced patch just the console’s built in features and extra power boosting everything where as when I tried it on normal Xbox One it was very rough which is why I never got into it until now.

Driving is a lot of fun and the simple addition of being able to open your car door to hit zombies with is great fun and I’m surprised it’s not in other zombie games I’ve played. I like how the different vehicle types have different strengths and weaknesses meaning I have to choose the right car for the task at hand. Muscle cars are very fast but can’t take much damage before they are destroyed and have more limited storage space where as a pickup has more storage although a lot slower but is better when I have to go off-road to reach my objective. So it’s a good idea to have a few different vehicle types in your parking area at your safe house.

There are several types of zombies too. The typical slow staggering type that are pretty easy to outrun, the sprinting 28 Days Later type who are very fast and will surround and outnumber you and your group in a matter of seconds, the ones that can leap on top of you and knock you down from further away and the slow heavy types that hit extremely hard. With limited ammo and melee weapons that break after extensive use, preparing before going out is extremely important.

I’m looking forward to how all of this plays out in 4 player coop in the sequel and with new enemy types and expanded mechanics should make for a visceral satisfying zombie survival game. I watched IGN’s recent videos and the game is looking great so I’m really looking forward to the game launching on 22 May 2018. I’ve included both their single player and 4 player coop gameplay previews below for you to watch.

For now there’s much for me still to do in the original and both of it’s expansions which are included in the Xbox One version. So if you’re on the fence about State Of Decay 2 I would recommend giving the original a go as it can be bought very cheaply now both on disc and digitally. Also it is available on the Xbox Game Pass, Xbox’s monthly subscription service that has over 160 older games and every Xbox One exclusive on day of release so if you decide to stay subscribed you’ll also get the sequel on 22 May. Happy zombie killing!