After a quick playthrough of State of Decay today, I now understand why it sold so well outside of Australia… and why it will do the same in our fair country. After experiencing the simulation and base management aspects of the game, State of Decay really stands out from rest of the shambling horde of zombie games. And, really, that’s only scratching the surface of this game.
Before I go on, I really just want to say how seriously refreshing it is to get away from a zombie game that doesn’t play exactly like a DayZ or Left 4 Dead clone.
Straight off the bat, the game throws you into a zombie apocalypse with a bit of a twist. Actually, a major twist. I got a very Assassin’s Creed vibe as I began to look for points of interest and essentially sync with them to placate my character’s wit stat.
On the topic of stats: there are many. Cardio, shooting, fighting, leadership… it’s essential that you keep those stats in mind and start to think of the game as more of a simulation than a straight-forward zombie shoot-em-up. I feel sorry for people who expect the game to be the latter.
When you rescue fellow survivors, they become part of your family. The game has a real RPG feel as you can switch between survivors and level each of them up by entering a safe house.
Your safe house is where the game really takes on a super Sims-like feel, as you are required to maintain, build and upgrade rooms. You’ll also spend time micromanaging, allocating survivors, time and resources to specific projects. If you don’t have enough space? Well, your survivors get cranky. You don’t want to see them when they get cranky.
As you use each character, you grow fond of them… which is horrible when you’re watching one get ganked by zombies through the eyes of another of your survivors.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss the reason why we didn’t get State of Decay on time in the first place. Gone are the drugs, and in are vitamins. So far, I’ve had discussions on ibuprofen, medicinal marijuana and painkillers. Apart from being comical, the changes have basically drawn attention to the strange gap where drugs used to be. The amended content doesn’t positively or negatively affect your gameplay experience, but ended up giving a ton of press to Undead Labs and shedding light on the old-fashioned standards of the Australian Classification Board.
Without turning this into a review, State of Decay is all about the intricate details. About depth. And it’s definitely about controversy. From today, you’re now able to play this XBLA game in Australia.
Yeah, we know. A preview a couple hours after the game’s actually been released? OH, THE INSANITY! Bare with us while we get our full review in order, eh? -Editor
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