Initially, this text was not in the plans: I only wanted to write a preview of State of Decay 2. But the deeper I understood its features, the more I understood that the main distinctive features of the sequel come from the mistakes and problems of the first part. Therefore, it is necessary to take a big excursion into the original State of Decay. The preview, in turn, can be found nearby.
The gaming industry, like everything else related to entertainment, is influenced by fashion. Any trend sets the vector of development for the next couple of years. You don’t have to look far for examples – genre Battle Royale after success PUBG and special regime in Fortnite has become a tasty morsel for game publishers. Trends change, six years ago everyone wanted to make their own MOBA, 3 years ago CCG, Now there is a “boom” for “Royal Battles”.
And somewhere at the dawn of the current console generation, the industry was covered by a wave of zombie survivalists. Armed with new technologies and using the setting that was then at the peak of popularity as a basis, studios of varying degrees of independence began to create “masterpieces” that differed little from each other. Among the whole bunch of reasons for the formation of “Early Access”, it stands out State of Decay. Inconspicuous compared to Rust, ARK: Survival Evolved and, not by the night mentioned, DayZ, she aimed at nothing less than the “ultimate zombie survival game”. What happened in the end, and also why the soon-to-be-released sequel is of interest, you will learn from this review.
Immediately after overcoming the main menu and a brief story about the shooting and running basics of the gameplay, State of Decay gives the player a group of wards, throwing him into the thick of the zombie apocalypse. Those who expect to chew on every aspect should immediately moderate their ardor – no one is going to stand on ceremony with the “user”. Studio Undead Labs, which was founded by people from Blizzard, tries to adhere to a realistic approach, forcing survivalists on both sides of the monitor to adapt to new conditions and master gameplay elements themselves. Despite the unfriendliness towards pampered casuals, the game, on the whole, benefits from this.
For some reason, not a single zombie apocalypse came up with the idea of burning the dead for heating
After a walk through scenic Trumbull County, you can’t help but recognize the charm of the game world. “One-story America” in all its glory is replaced by forests and farms. The style chosen by the developers, which can be described as “moderate realism”, best emphasizes the advantages of these places. However, closer to the middle of the game, the realization comes that the houses and fields are already quite boring. And this is just an echo of the main problem of State of Decay.
In the nearest town we are met by the first base. The base is the key location around which the gameplay is built. It is possible and necessary to bring resources collected from abandoned houses by residents: food, medicine, ammunition, fuel and materials. The latter are needed for the construction and development of places like a workshop or infirmary; the player does this too. And, of course, the base needs to be protected from attacks by the living dead who decided to feast on much more living human flesh. Moreover, outside the game, the inhabitants live on their own, and after a couple of missed evenings they find themselves in an extremely deplorable situation.
It is worth noting that the game https://oktagonbetcasino.co.uk/bonus/ does not force you to stay in the same house. On the contrary, when all the surrounding areas have been cleared, only moving to a new place solves the problem with resources – no one wants to go to the other end of the map for three boxes of corn? To protect your home, the game helpfully suggests building outposts in vacant buildings. The traps placed near them cope well with crowds of zombies; and if you don’t clear every corner before transforming the room, then the resources found will be steadily supplied to the warehouse of the survivors.
Perhaps the best work with towers
As you can understand, the team of survivors lives precisely at the base. All of them, except for a couple of story characters, can be taken control. Moreover, you need to switch between heroes: after many hours of sorties, they get tired and get injured, as a result of which they have a greater chance of falling back during the next clash with zombies. Anyone can die, even the one with whom we start the game. Each of the wards has its own characteristics and set of characteristics. For example, only a person with the “cook” skill can prepare dinner for the inhabitants, and without an experienced chemist it is impossible to build an arsenal with explosives. Residents also interact with each other differently, depending on the state of their relationship.
And here the main problem of State of Decay, which I mentioned earlier, appears in full force. The fact is that Undead Labs released a prototype instead of a full-fledged game. This is expressed in everything: unique mechanics (like the interaction of characters) either do not work at all, or do it half-heartedly and incorrectly; there is no cooperative – which suggests itself – there is no cooperative; there is no plot either: instead, a set of not fully balanced missions are presented, which are somehow connected into arches; cutscenes are directed automatically, which is why the angles are chosen as crookedly as possible. At the end of the farce – optimization, which can hardly even be called normal.
The funny thing is: even this State of Decay looks much more holistic than its “colleagues” in the genre. The core game mechanics feel complete. Shooting does not cause discomfort, which is not bad. The arsenal presented in the game is extensive and includes the most common types of weapons, but only shotguns and shotguns are really in use. Pistols do little damage, while machine guns use up ammo too quickly. There are always not enough cartridges, especially for powerful “barrels”. For this reason, the main way to send the rebels back from the graves is hand-to-hand combat. It works: the blows are directed where the player wants, and the impact is transmitted quite accurately. True, there are some shortcomings here: the animations look jerky, and the combo system is presented in embryo.
Skyscrapers are found in the add-on Lifeline only in the role of “backdrops”
The bestiary is not diverse and unique. The zombie set came straight from Left 4 Dead and imitators. Ordinary undead just wander around and, as soon as a character enters their cone of vision, they immediately rush towards him; the ferocious one jumps on the player upon first encounter; fattrest takes in an inhuman dose of lead without consequences; the weakling sprays poisonous gas after death, and the screamer with his Russian rap singing bo-bo to everyone alive nearby. Representatives of the Zonder Team of the Dead are not often encountered during the passage, but the encounters guarantee at least a couple of minutes of serious tension. Ordinary zombies won’t let you get bored either, willingly taking advantage of their numerical advantage. And when they unite in crowds, it is necessary to exercise maximum caution: one or two mistakes – and instead of three survivors, only one returns to base. So you have to use stealth: hide in the bushes and wait for the right opportunity to escape.
An alternative option is to use a car. Yes, yes, this is not only a means of transportation, but also an effective weapon of zombie genocide. The car is also indispensable in transporting resources – depending on the type, the iron horse can transport up to six bags potatoes cartridges and medicines. There is exactly one drawback to the splendor called “car” – the noise that a self-propelled carriage makes. It also breaks after several crowds of zombies, but it’s hard to blame this, because the balance.
Zombie! As you die, remember: you did everything you could!
However, maintaining silence is incredibly important! At the time of the apocalypse, even the quietest sound suddenly breaks out of the silence and attracts a couple of not very smart local residents (we are talking about zombies, rednecks are also found, but usually do not pose any threat). The noise system is one of the few that fully works in this game. You have to carefully open the doors and use silencers, but MLG stealth can be ruined by a single dead person if he decides to go out to breathe through the window, breaking the glass. Yes, this happens too. The game sounds weak outside of the gameplay. Musical samples quickly become boring and begin to irritate. The voice acting of the survivors is of good quality, but the lines are constantly repeated, and there are no more than a dozen actors for the entire game. And this once again shows that State of Decay is not a full-fledged product, but only an intermediate stage. However, the developers get away with it thanks to the overall budget of the project.
That’s why it’s difficult to say anything unambiguously about the game. Talented people took on the development, and the concept looks quite fresh even despite the setting. But the dampness prevents us from praising State of Decay as a whole. Perhaps the second part, which will be released soon, will become more complete and will allow you to fully enjoy the ideas of Undead Labs. We’ll find out how successful they were on May 22. In the meantime, I suggest you read the preview of the game.
Pros: original concept, good base management, nice style;
Cons: general incompleteness in everything, lack of a full-fledged plot;
Plot: 5/10;
Gameplay: 7/10;
Picture: 7/10;
Sound: 6/10;
Result:7.1/10.
Verdict: Not for everyone.
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