Back in 2013 UnDead Labs released the original State of Decay and it quickly became the best zombie survival game around. Sure it was a bit rough around the edges, but it worked beautifully.

Now it’s 2018 and the apocalypse is still going strong, and with the release of State of Decay 2 you can now bring some friends along to help kill the walking dead.

State of decay builds on 2013’s game, keeping all the good stuff like exploration, base building, community recruiting, zombie killing and of course, everyone’s favourite: premadeath. That’s right, if the character you’re currently controlling in State of Decay 2 dies, then it’s dead. Like for real. No going back to a previous save, no magical re-spawns. Dead means dead. So that character you just spent many hours working on, getting to know and basically creating an emotional attachment with, Yes that character you decided could handle one more house to explore before heading back to base for some rest. That character is never coming back. All the time and effort put into it, gone.

Whilst this may sound harsh to some, it’s the core of what makes State of Decay so good. Everything you do has consequences. In State of Decay 2 there is no storyline as such. You make your own narrative by the decisions you make. Help out a neighbour and you might get a new recruit for your community, or you might become friends with a new community. Realise you don’t have time to help a friendly community and they may just get mad at you, or worse, they may shoot at you.

Or you could just decide to be the only community in town all kill anyone you meet, zombie or human.

It’s really up to you.

Just make sure you’re ready for what follows any decisions you make. And always have a spare can of gas and a repair kit in the back of the car. Yes, in State of Decay 2, not only do weapons and equipment wear out and break, cars run on gas, and run out of gas. Life isn’t easy in a zombie apocalypse.

There’s many more new features I could go into in State of Decay 2, but I think you get the picture already. If you like the idea of a zombie survival game, enjoy a bit on inventory management, and wanna bring some friends along to help out – or even play solo, works just as good – then State of Decay 2 is going to supply you with many many many hours of fun, addictive and immersive gameplay.

Rating: R16 Graphic violence and offensive language.

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For some unexplainable reason, I love zombies. I’ve read more that my fair share of zombie novels and seen far too many films. I’ve also played a few zombie games, but most have been a disappointing waste of time. The Dead Island being the only contender for a satisfying zombie experience, but even it fails on many levels.

So it was with much anticipation, and a healthy dose of cynicism, that I approached UnDead Labs, State of Decay.

I had heard a fair bit about the game whilst New Zealand’s censors took their sweet time giving the game a rating, and one of the common things people were saying about State Of Decay was that it was glitchy as hell.

And it is.

But when you take a look at the scope of the game and remind yourself that it’s a cheap XBox Live game, it becomes a lot easier to overlook the games obvious technical challenges. 

Being dropped into a world that has gone to the dogs would be a confusing and terrifying experience, and with State Of Decay, UnDead Labs have created a true zombie experience.

Early on in the game you realise that a few staples of zombie lore have been trampled on, the main one being that a zombie bite isn’t always fatal. But these are minor considerations that make the game play better.

There is a lot going on in State Of Decay. Once you’ve got through the opening chapter of the game, you’ll eventually arrive at a church, which you will make into your first home base, and you’ll interact with the characters their, and go on missions and such to gather supplies, survivors, and explore the area.

The neat things about State Of Decay is that you can explore every single building, looking for supplies and killing zombies. Supplies range from melee weapons to guns and bullets, to medicine and energy drinks. Everything has a use, but your backpack has limited space and if your carry too much you will run out of stamina quicker.

Stamina has a big bearing on whether of not you live or die. If you run out of stamina and run into some zombies before it replenishes, you’ll end up being zeb-food as you won’t have the energy to swing a bat. Carrying too much stuff deletes stamina, so does running, fighting and exploring. It comes back slowly, but can be permanently damaged.

You can also be killed as I discovered during one intense mission. It was a bit of shock, having only ever played video games where when you die during a mission, you get to re-start that mission. In State Of Decay, dead means dead. It’s quite a sobering reality for a video game. And the first time you die, it’s a huge shock to the system. All that characters development and up skilling is gone too. The only thing the character leaves behind is the gear he or she was carrying, and they leave it in a pile in the exact sot where they died.

There is never a dull moment in State Of Decay, and even if you leave the main story behind and go and explore for a while, you’ll still find that there is so much to see and do.

Sure it’s glitchy and sometimes the user interface is a pain, but the overriding feeling you get when Playing State Of Decay is one of satisfaction, fear and ominous dread.

It’s almost the perfect zombie game.

Rating: R18 Graphic violence and offensive language.

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