state of decay year one survival edition review 2017

These two together mean that you have to enter battle strategically, and sparingly, as losing stamina mid-fight can quickly result in health loss and being forced to use scarce healing items to heal. Stamina is quickly depleted as you sprint, dodge and attack zombies, before slowly regenerating, while health decreases as you take damage but doesn’t regenerate. The first of these systems you’re introduced to in-game is your character’s stamina and health. While Sea of Thieves may have been a game that lacked in meaningful mechanics, State of Decay 2 layers systems upon systems to create a game that feels incredibly deep, despite each mechanic being shallow on its own. This engagement is built by the world of State of Decay 2 and the mechanics that fill it. I didn’t expect to feel so engaged by despair before I begun playing, but all it took was an hour in the game and I left each session planning on what I could do next time to improve my survivor’s existence. While this may sound off putting, the game’s particular brand of grim bleakness helps to enforce the gravity of your situation and actively pushes you to strive for survival. In fact, you’ll likely struggle to survive and eek out a basic existence.

Unlike other games, where you catch glimmers of hope and believe you can thrive in the wastelands of the world, State of Decay 2 makes it quickly clear that you will not thrive.

However, despite the oversaturation of zombie media across the world, it proves the perfect backdrop for the type of depressing survival game Undead Labs have delivered. So, I wouldn’t blame for feeling a little disinterested in State of Decay 2 based on its setting. You’d be hard pressed to go a year without having multiple games, books, movies and tv shows being announced focusing on the topics and how humans will act during and after them. Zombies and the post-apocalypse have quickly become two of the most overused settings in all forms of media. State of Decay 2 presents a decidedly different state of affairs, wrapping together a multitude of different game systems to manage with a layer of ever-present and ever-frustrating jank.

Sea of Thieves was a large polished sandbox built on social interaction but was lacking in much actual game content, as I said in my review of the game earlier in the year. Multiplayer gaming has long been the thing du jour for Microsoft, but that has been double present with two first party games of 2018 so far.

State of decay year one survival edition review 2017