State of Decay 2 (Xbox One) Review

When the original State of Decay game launched in 2013, it broke Xbox Live Arcade sales records. Although it had some obvious technical shortcomings, it still provided an addicting and unique open-world zombie survival experience.

State of Decay 2, for better or worse, feels like more of the same. It does feel like a more polished experience than the first game, despite still featuring a ton of bugs, and 4 player online co-op is a welcome addition however it still doesn’t quite realise the potential the series has.

State of Decay 2 is all about survival. You take control of a group of survivors and try to survive the zombie apocalypse. The gameplay loop involves going out and scavenging for resources then returning the resources to your base. This at times does get tiresome and there will be times where you feel that you are just going in circles without making any progress. The grind for resources can be very addicting and it certainly will result in some heart pounding moments.

What progress there is in the game comes from upgrading or relocating your base. Each of the game’s three maps offers several potential base locations to set up at. Every base carries its own advantages and disadvantages, things like pre-built facilities or natural defences.
The bases each have a different combination of slots where you can build various facilities to assist your survivor group. Despite the base upgrade system feeling deeper than the original, I still found it generally lacking. Upgrading is limited to the facilities you build, either increasing a facility’s level or adding a modification. I would have liked the option to improve, customise or expand parts of your base outside of these facility slots, particularly for defences.
I found the maps generally lacking in character. They are well laid out, and there are countless buildings to explore, so you won’t be short on things to do. The world just doesn’t feel particularly interesting. A few more exciting landmarks scattered around would have gone a long way.

The game doesn’t have much of a narrative around it. Your survivors can take on individual missions, and other survivor groups can offer missions too, but none of it really pulls you in. Completing missions for other groups improves your relationship with them, which over time may earn you some benefit.
One of the defining features of the game is perma-death. When you take a survivor out, there is a very real chance they could die. Taking on one or two zombies is generally a walk in the park. Against a whole swarm, though, things get trickier. Once they die, there’s no reloading or way to undo what happened. I tried. Death is permanent. This keeps you on your toes and forces you to learn when to run and when to fight.

The main threat in this game, aside from a climbing-down-ladder mechanic that just doesn’t engage properly, is the zombies. Alongside your regular zombies, there are a few special types. These are tougher, but I found it easy enough to avoid them, just run off and come back once they’ve despawned.
Despite having plenty of potential, the new blood plague threat turns out to be a letdown. Certain types of zombies carry the blood plague infection. As they attack you, you begin to contract it. Contracting the blood plague is only a minor annoyance. You learn to craft the cure as part of the tutorial, and from there you’ll never really run short of the resources needed to produce more.

Combat in the game is basic but fun. You will commonly relying on melee weapons which breakdown over time which can lead to some exhilarating moments mid-fight.

Probably my favourite addition to State of Decay 2 is the online co-op. This isn’t to say co-op is particularly well implemented, rather co-op is just such a natural fit into the game and generally enhances the experience.
The most discussed shortcoming of the co-op is the tethering. When you enter your friend’s world, you have to stay within a certain radius of them. For the most part this isn’t a big deal. The radius is fairly large, and given how the game plays, you’ll naturally stick close together anyway. The only time it becomes noticeable is if you try to tackle separate tasks in different areas of the map.

For me the biggest shortcoming of the co-op is the way it is implemented.

The way it works is you bring one of your survivors into your friend’s world. You’re a visitor, and as such what you can do there is restricted. Because of the perma-death system, you’re putting your survivor’s life on the line as an outsider for very little reward. While your survivor is there, your own world is paused. They’ll still accumulate fatigue and lose health, though. So after playing for an extended time you’ll start building up a backlog of survivors out of action, stuck in a paused world, not recovering.

State of Decay 2 isn’t a bad game, it is just abit disappointing. With a bigger budget, a new engine and a new console, I had expected the game to feature bigger improvements than it has. At it’s core though it is still State of Decay and it is still zombie killing fun.