State of Decay 2 delivers more of what you loved in the original, but falls short when it comes to the narrative

THE update on this fan-favourite has finally arrived and it's unlikely to disappoint. But this is what newcomers need to know.

Just another day living with the undead. Picture: Microsoft

WHEN zombies walk the Earth, heading to your local pub for a pint or a cup of tea and hoping it all blows over won’t prove to be a viable strategy — nor would it make for a particularly engaging video game.

While most games in the zombie genre focus on the “shoot the undead in their gross head” aspect, Microsoft’s 2013 game State of Decay ¬ developed by Undead Labs — was unusual in that it was a third-person title that focused more on the community and base management aspects of surviving the Zombie Apocalypse.

Indeed, State of Decay and Dead State were probably the only two games I’d played which really capture what living through a permanent Day Of The Undead would be like — less zombie killing and more scavenging for food, parts and ammunition while trying to keep a group of disparate survivors under control as well. OK, maybe quite a bit of zombie killing too.

While not perfect and having a few bugs, the game had a strong fanbase, who have been eagerly awaiting the release of the sequel, State of Decay 2 — also developed by Undead Labs and now available as part of the Microsoft “Play Anywhere” system, so if you own a PC with Windows 10 or Xbox One you can play the game on both systems. Additionally, it’s also on the Xbox Game Pass service, meaning if you’re a subscriber, you can play it for free as long as your subscription is current.

I’m a big fan of the “Play Anywhere” system, but while State of Decay 2 works well on the Xbox One X, it has not been as well optimised for PC — I experienced failures to start, graphical glitches and bugs while playing on PC, not to mention immersion-breaking short draw distances on zombies in some cases; I’d see a field that looked clear and take a few steps towards it before suddenly all the zombies popped in.

Set about 18 months after the previous game, the Zombie Apocalypse has most definitely come and most of rural America is now full of the walking undead, shuffling around in search of survivors to eat and generally doing what zombies do best.

Undead Labs have done a good job of walking the line between “giving fans more of the same as last time” and “adding new content and mechanics”, and the difficulty has been notched up slightly too.

The undead generally doing what zombies do best. Picture: Microsoft

Unlike the original State of Decay, I never felt like my community was getting comfortable this time around — we were always running out of one supply or another and there was always one catastrophe or incident requiring my attention.

The survivors you play are quite interesting people from a variety of backgrounds — everyday people along with solders, doctors, mechanics, gardeners and amateur theatre performers. They all have their own personalities and bring their own sets of skills to the table, which creates interesting choices around how to develop your community.

There are a lot of weapons and other items in the game, and the organic nature means it can be quite an unpredictable adventure — breaking a window to get into a warehouse can summon a zombie horde that swarms you, causing you to break out the M-16 and start firing off in all directions, with the noise bringing more zombies in as you desperately grab whatever loot you and leg it to whatever passes for safety in a world where civilisation has collapsed and plague-infected corpses are wandering around.

These sorts of experiences are very well done indeed and mean every play session is different — you really have no idea whether a scavenging run will turn out to be a leisurely stroll in the park or a re-enactment of the battle of Isandhlwana.

There is zombie killing but also lots of scavenging for food, parts and ammunition.

Where the developers haven’t succeeded quite as well is the game’s overarching story. I didn’t really ever have a clearly identified sense of what I was supposed to be doing (beyond “not getting eating by zombies”) and while the scavenging/base building aspects are well done indeed, a lot of the game mechanics aren’t well explained to newcomers.

The inventory system needs to be tweaked too — at the moment, a single piece of paper takes up as much precious inventory space as an assault rifle or a grenade or a bottle of painkillers.

The other issue is there’s often just too much happening — infestations pop up too frequently, other survivors are constantly nagging you for stuff and getting very upset when you don’t have it/won’t share/simply can’t get there to share it. The other survivor groups seem completely clueless, which raises a lot of questions about how any of them have survived that long, and even your community members aren’t much better, frequently failing to do simple things like “use some of the first aid kits in their inventories to heal damage”.

You can offset this issue somewhat by getting your mates together and playing in an up to four-player online co-op, but that assumes you’ve got some friends who have bought the game or are Game Pass subscribers.

Too many infestations hurts morale and increases the likelihood of zombies attacking your base, but it’s hard to see why several buildings on the other side of the map having zombie infestations should affect your fortified base several kilometres away with a river also separating the two areas.

Having said all that, I had a lot of fun with State of Decay 2 — but I also loved the original, so the “same but different” aspect worked quite well for me, especially since there are now three large maps to play on.

When it works, it works well and does provide a rather unique take on the zombie apocalypse — but it’s also regrettably unpolished and ultimately doesn’t leave as strong an impact as it could have.

Despite generally coming across as somewhat underwhelming, ultimately State of Decay 2 is an enhanced version of the original game. If, like me, you loved that title, then getting this one is a no-brainer. If, however, you couldn’t get your teeth into it then it’s probably best to shamble away.

Originally published as State of Decay 2 delivers more of what you loved in the original, but falls short when it comes to the narrative