State of Decay 2 doesn’t bring anything particularly surprising or new to the table. Sure, you can play cooperatively with your friends on Xbox Live, and the crafting and community management systems have been refined, but it still feels like the first State of Decay. You creep around in search of food and supplies to maintain some semblence of daily life in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Everything you salvage to upgrade your base will get depleted, sending you further and further until you have to set up camp elsewhere and start the process all over again.
The graphics are better, but some game bugs remain. They aren’t anything as bad as the first game, but can be annoying. One minute, I was on top of a cell phone tower surveying my surroundings and the next, I was teleported to the same spot ten feet away, falling to the ground. Thankfully I survived the fall, even though I should have been dead on the spot. Just like in the first State of Decay, when you die, you can’t use that character ever again and will have to recruit a new follower for your community. It’s not good to be short-handed in State of Decay 2.
State of Decay 2 is a constant battle to make sure you keep up the health and morale of your community. On top of that you need to scavenge the surrounding area for food, ammo, fuel, medicine, and more. State of Decay 2 shines because you are an ordinary citizen with limited supplies who is ill-prepared to protect themselves against an extremely hostile environment.
Every character can be upgraded with skills, but you are still just trying to survive and doing it alone is not easy, nor should it be. After all, it’s a survival game, and State of Decay 2 makes surviving alone extremely difficult. Playing with friends with State of Decay 2’s online co-op can be hard too. You are putting your trust in strangers, hoping that they don’t suddenly decide to flip the script and decide to sabotage your chance for survival.
In State of Decay 2, days are your best bet when you want to scavenge for supplies. Scavenging at night is a different story. While you still can scavenge at night, things get dicey. At night, if it weren’t for zombies’ glowing eyes, you would walk right into them. It gets that dark. Proof in the screenshot below.
Your visibility can be improved briefly with the help your flashlight, but the batteries eventually run out. If you didn’t have a map to rely on, you would be supremely screwed at night. So it’s best to use that time to defend and make upgrades to your home base and make sure your characters are all well rested for the next day.
Overall, I found that State of Decay 2 to be a decent game. If you are expecting a AAA title from a big game studio, State of Decay 2 is not it. If you enjoyed the first State of Decay, I recommend that you buy State of Decay 2, you will not be disappointed. If you have the money, buy the Ultimate Edition, it is well-worth the price.
For $29.99, State of Decay 2 is priced just right. You are getting a decent game for the money that continues the State of Decay storyline. If you spring for the Ultimate Edition ($49.99), you can start playing the game on Friday, May 18, 2018. State of Decay 2 will be officially released on Tuesday, May 22, 2018.
