Game Review: State of Decay

STATE OF DECAY

Undead Labs’ Immersive, Open World Survival Simulator Debut

Developer: Undead Labs

Publisher: Microsoft Studios

Genre: Open- World Survival Horror

Platform tested: Xbox 360

IT’S hard not to be sceptical about anything regarding the word ‘zombie’ these days. Hell, it’s possibly even worse for us lovers of the zombie genre. We live in constant fear that the next film with the z- word in it will further diminish its cultural significance. In the golden days, Romero weaved messages of consumerism into Dawn of the Dead, questioned humanity and morality at its limits in Day of the Dead, and more recently, Robert Kirkman and his crew presented the zombie apocalypse as a mere contextual device, set around complex human relationship dramas. What happens when humanity is thrust into a new dark age, void of technology, societal structure and all it presently knows? Video games have struggled to answer such a question as film and TV has. Until State of Decay bursts onto the scene with its emphasis on survival, community- management and tactical gameplay.

Though making a relatively quiet debut into the games market, Undead Labs have ensured themselves a smooth sail for the road ahead. Reportedly grossing 250,000 downloads in the first 48 hours on the Xbox Live Marketplace and 550,000 by June 17^th this year, it’s incredibly difficult to dismiss the popularity of SoD. Originally titled ‘Class 3’, it acts as a direct precursor to Undead Labs’ ‘Class 4’, their already announced MMO.

STORY

SoD boasts a relatively decent storyline when considering that there’s very little ground left to cover with regards to the origins of, uh... Zombification. It still plays the “are you telling me they’re zombies?!” card, but doesn’t take itself too seriously thereafter. It’s pitched somewhere between Dead Rising or Shaun of the Dead tongue-in-cheek, dark-yet-delicious humour and the relative seriousness of Dead Island or The Walking Dead-esque attitude – but the finished product is a fantastic blend of all of the above, a perfect craft made from the greatest source material.

Unfortunately, the story and its missions become somewhat peripheral due to the overwhelming amount of side- missions involving babysitting on others’ scavenger runs, looking for ‘missing’ members of your group that turn out more often than not to be cowering in a corner, or repeatedly exterminating hordes of undead that reform 2 minutes later. More time is spent collecting supplies for the group rather than plodding through the story. It’s not a bad thing by any means – the game boasts the most realistic survival dynamic ever encountered in video games – resources are finite (looted buildings will never replenish stock, a broken down vehicle stays broken down), playable characters are mortal (once they’re dead, they’re dead and unplayable for good), and ammo will eventually run out (which isn’t universal – the wrong calibre won’t cut it). The only infinite resource, unfortunately, are the walking dead (here called ‘Zeds’). State of Decay is as good practice for the real thing as flying simulators are to the aspiring pilot.

GAMEPLAY & GRAPHICS

At first it looks like Read Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, and handles a little like Dead Rising. But as enticing a survival simulation filled with zombies sounds, it isn’t without its hitches. The fighting is relatively clunky and unfriendly, and annoyingly repetitive when considering how much of it you’ll be doing. Graphics are decent enough, but frame-rate bugs and bad physics are rife. Zombies grab you through doors and walls and occasionally appear to be waist deep in concrete and housing foundations. Survivors will request a vehicle ride from inside a fenced-off warehouse, or ask for a rescue due to injury and then exit a car in the middle of a field dotted with zombies. Cars themselves appear to have tyres of ice, family members or pals of characters who die non-canonically don’t bat an eyelid after their dearly departed is ungraciously torn in half by a ‘feral’ zombie, they’ll get burned through walls, stand in the doorway blocking your exit, and irritate you in multiple other ways. They also won’t go for scavenger runs for resources your fellow survivors direly need – that’s your job, and you’ll be doing it alone.

That said, the general gameplay mechanics are almost perfect. You can ask survivors in other enclaves to join your group, making them playable characters, call out for them to collect food or ammunition you cannot carry, establish outposts to provide a breather on a long scavenging run to resupply, all the while staying out of sight and sound from the looming, ever- present zombie threat. A clearly Walking Dead- inspired radius of noise pops up whenever a player fires a shot, bashes a door in, or starts up a car’s engine, inviting all undead in the vicinity for dinner. Looting buildings makes noise, as does caving in the enemy’s rotting skull – there’s no rest besides the comfort of your home base. It’s all pleasantly accompanied by a memorable soundtrack scored by Jesper Kyd of Assassin’s Creed fame.

SoD tends to punish those with little free time, too. Social engagement? Sorry, half your group are missing or dead by the time you return. It’s a nice idea that the characters continue surviving while you aren’t there, but it’s a stab in the back to the casual audience. A character’s death, particularly a favourite, actually turns out to be affecting (since the only return upon starting a new save file) In addition, SoD likes to leave the player to figure things out for him/herself, omitting instructions on upgrading home bases, creating outposts or managing resources properly. There are some quirky remarks, yes – running over a zombie might trigger a comment from a passenger like “You got red on you” (a nod to Shaun of the Dead) – but it sure ain’t funny the 18^th time. It’s also weird when conversations take place between the same person, since there seem to be just a handful of voice actors. Initial versions were also riddled with hiccups, now partially fixed.

For 1600 Microsoft Points (approx. £13.70/$20.00), you can’t go wrong. If you’ve ever theorised or fantasised about whether your post apocalyptic strategy is the more effective, State of Decay offers the chance to try it. Better to remain low and suppress your weapons, or go out all guns blazing, grenades at the ready? A small group, therefore minimizing resource consumption, or a large band of hardened survivors? Wonderfully, the experience is tailored by you.

VERDICT: Developed by a team of media- saturated film/game geeks with a deep passion in their craft, State of Decay is an easy contender for the best Arcade game this year – certainly the summer. 

RATING: 9/10

N.B: Keep a sharp and nerdy eye out for expansive pop culture and zombie-related references throughout Trumbull Valley.