Undead Labs’ zombie apocalypse simulator, State of Decay 2, made a strong showing during E3 2017 as Microsoft introduced a large new chunk of gameplay during their conference. The game, originally revealed back in 2016, is an extension of the original with an expanded open-world setting that tries “to capture the missing essence of what made the zombie apocalypse so compelling,” according to studio head Jeff Strain.
Can’t wait to take on zombies in State of Decay 2? Pick something else out from our list of the best multiplayer games.
One of the focuses for the sequel is improving the community aspect and making each character and their abilities deeper. To do that, every character has specific skills and traits, the latter of which can be good or bad.
There are over 1000 different traits a character could have. For example, one character shown in a live demo, Tiffany, had the traits of being motivated by guilt and never having been sick. In comparison, Matt used to be an action choreographer, so he’s a good fighter, but he also snores, and so will cause sleep deprivation for the light sleepers around him.
To move on to the other point, rather than being focused on a single-player character, State of Decay 2 is about playing as the entire community. Strain described it as being “built around around a community of survivors – that’s your character, this community.” You’ll flit from character to character building up a new home in this world.
Over time you’ll be able to upgrade the skills some characters have – Matt, for example, was one of the first members of this community, and so he’s seen as a hero. Because of that, the entire community gets a small buff due to having a role model in the community.
With the addition of co-op multiplayer, too, the focus of State of Decay 2 really is on the act of making a group of survivors in the post-civilisation wasteland, rather than killing zombies.
Although killing zombies is fun, too.