State of Decay Year One Edition Review
Developer Undead Studios
Publisher Microsoft Studios
Platform XboxOne & PC
Release Date 28 April 2015
State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition is a re-mastering of the 2013 Xbox360 title repackaged for the Next Generation. Undead Studios have taken this opportunity to not only give the visuals a bit of a spit shine but to also bundle in both the DLC packs which makes this an impressive package for fans old and new.
If for some reason you missed out on this the first time around jumping in now is a no brainer. Even those who did play it the first time around but missed the DLC have enough new content here to justify a second dip. For those who have played it to within an inch of its life I suspect there is just not enough in the visual boost to make this worth the cash.
Returning users will notice the game has received a significant visual upgrade but it is still far from “Next Gen” graphically. Undead Studies do claim that the game now runs at 60 fps but I didn’t really notice. If anything I thought it sometimes seemed to struggle with the increased level of detail.
But that was never really the appeal of State of Decay, despite the problem with glitching zombies and daft AI the game was endearing. On the surface it looks just like another zombie skull crusher like Dead Rising but it is much more complex than that. It has elements of community, resource management and base building.
Your actions have consequences and of course the threat of permanent death always lingers over you becoming ever more unbearable the further into the game you progress. Trips out to gather necessary resources for your group become more and more dangerous yet more and more crucial as your progress.
For returning players who perhaps didn’t get the DLC this is a great opportunity to try them out. Both are excellent and offer very different gameplay styles from the main game. Breakdown is a “storyless” mode where you simply stay alive for as long as you can with very limited resources. Lifeline allows you to play from a different point of view as a Military unit during the initial outbreak which is a cool take on things not often seen in this genre.
Overall: Few games come close to creating this level of involvement and interest in helping random NPC’s, and that is the beauty of State of Decay, you care about your group. Unlike other multiplayer Zombie apocalypse games this is a single player experience which brings both good and bad elements, you don’t encounter idiots spawn hunting but you also don’t get to share the experience with friends either.
For new players this is a must buy, for returning players who skipped the DLC this is worth a second dip but for those who played the full package on PC or Xbox360 already I don’t think there is enough in the visual upgrade to justify buying it again unless you really loved it, and if that is true then you don’t need me telling you to buy it.
SCORE 3.5/5
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