Blood pumping, heart racing and sweat pouring – sprinting through ruined houses and hopping broken fences with the safe haven of home just shining over the next rise guiding us home with pockets filled of useful loot and with the bloodthirsty horde hot on our heels gnashing and clawing for our very flesh… is how State of Decay 2 should feel. Instead it is more a clunky and glitchy re-hash of the previous game with online multiplayer tacked on to the side without the story and characters of the original. It’s not 2013 anymore and State of Decay 2 really should have grown up a bit.
There really isn’t that much new to see with State of Decay 2 – Undead Labs have taken their tried and tested zombie survival formula from the 2013 cult hit State of Decay and copy-pasted it into a sequel that basically changes nothing. There are a few hints of innovation dotted around; the new online multiplayer means that friends can join together to collect loot, as well as a new infection type of zombie. These new ‘plague-zombies’ are affected by a new virus called the ‘blood-plague’ that sends them into a raging frenzy and are far more aggressive and dangerous than normal ‘zeds’.
Aside from this there seems to be very little change from the first State of Decay, there are the same special ‘Freak’ zombies as in the first game and don’t get us wrong getting charged down by a Juggernaut is still as visceral as ever it is a shame to see that Undead Labs didn’t add in a few more special ‘freak’ zombies to spice up the gameplay. The rest of the game also suffers from the same problem, nothing seems to have changed – it is the exact same open world, base building, zombie survival game that made the first State of Decay such a hit – which seems like it should be a winner, but maybe not 5 years down the line.
The game looks decent enough and with the jump to Unreal Engine 4 does stand its ground in the modern console world although it will never be top of the class – however, we found a serious amount of graphics and optimisation problems whilst playing, for instance almost every time we were driving in a car there would be a huge drop in framerate that almost rendered the game unplayable. We reviewed this on a standard Xbox One which we feel is representative of most of the player base of this game and compared to other current games these kinds of framerate drops are just unacceptable. The game is by no means ugly, but the graphics glitches are numerous and can cause serious problems – hopefully these will be patched later on down the line.
Gameplay-wise there is very little here beyond the basic looting and base management mechanics, each of the characters can gain skills and specialisations that will help you move forward and build a stronger group and hopefully avoid the dreaded permadeath. The minutiae of inventory management and resource collection adds a second layer to the game but can lead to frustration rather than enjoyment with limited inventory space and clunky menu controls. The combat is similarly laborious, the zombies are generally slow moving and never much cause for alarm and coupled with the lack of enthusiasm from the voice actors the game really works hard to make fighting zombies as boring as possible. The culmination of all this leads up to a game that feels more like a chore than zombie survival.
We also delved into the big selling point of State of Decay 2, the multiplayer. we partied up with a friend over Xbox Live to experience the co-op side of things. The way co-op works in State of Decay 2 is the joining players are transported into the host’s game and the entire game, missions and plot runs through the host. Once you figure out the rather vexing system to get playing with another survivor online it does work really well, however joining players are essentially helping hands to help carry supplies and sweep and clear areas. We would loved to have seen a completely separate game mode where a team of players can work on their own base together – combining forces to build, repair and scavenge to create a single base together which would help to create a feeling of camaraderie and achievement within the party. We also found the 400m radius for moving away from the host to be stifling and a serious disconnect from immersion in the game, especially when you consider that this is not a factor in other popular online games such as GTA Online. However fans of the original game will be really happy with the online play, it makes this game the zombie survival it should have been back when the first one was released.
The sound in the game is a strong point, and works hard to be immersive and alert the player to zombie presences and really drive home the nature of living in a zombie apocalypse. There is no denying the satisfying crack and pop of exploding a zombies head with your rifle. However, the voice acting also left a lot to be desired with almost no emotion being portrayed whatsoever – it is very hard to empathise with a character who sounds like they don’t want to be there.
The point of replayability really stands on the shoulders of the player – some players will truly invest in the micromanagement of inventories and base building and that will draw them back into the game over and over, however the lack of innovative mission types and poor voice acting leads to a game where players will not invest in the characters they are playing as and ultimately will lead to them not returning to the game. The addition of online multiplayer will undoubtedly see players come back to the game with their friends and is truly a much needed addition.
The camera is also a source of great frustration, it is sluggish at best and infuriating at worst – managing to always hide enemies when you are at your most vulnerable and just generally get stuck. The animations and movement are clunky and sluggish, the game tries to implement an element of free-running and allows players to climb obstacles except when they actually want to and hop over low fences only when they don’t need to – couple this with the awful camera and the game makes zombie survival into a aggravating mess of stuck characters and lost enemies.
We honestly wanted to love State of Decay 2, the first game was brilliant and a true cult classic but but there’s so little innovation here, you might be forgiven for thinking this is just a remastered version of the original game. Especially with its graphic glitches and poor framerates there really is not much to justify this game over the original game – especially the Year One Survival Edition that brings it right in line with modern graphics.
Personal opinions on this game are likely to vary widely, the original was a serious cult hit and fans of the series will be elated to finally have online multiplayer in the sequel. However, poor optimisation and lackluster voice acting really brings the game down and may drive the new players away.
If you agreed or disagreed with our thoughts on State of Decay 2, leave a comment below and let us know, we would love to hear from you too. To see more of our reactions, check out our full gameplay video on our Youtube Channel at Pizza Games Funtimes. Thanks for GamingLyfe and Xbox for sending us the review key for State of Decay 2 which is available now for Xbox One and PC
State of Decay 2 is an open world third person zombie survival game that follows on from the critically acclaimed State of Decay from 2013. State of Decay 2 launches on Xbox One and PC on May 22nd 2018. Just like the original game, State of Decay 2 puts the player in control of a group of survivors of a zombie apocalypse that must work together to gather supplies, equipment and materials to build and maintain a safe stronghold against the constant zombie threat. For the first time fans of the first game will be able to join forces with their friends and play full online co-operative multiplayer.
