Exclusive to Microsoft, State of Decay 2 is part of the great Xbox Play Anywhere catalog. A first asset for the Undead Labs software since the game is then both PC and Xbox One compatible, the players of one being able to play online with those of the other. A thoughtful interaction between the two platforms and which also gives the possibility to the lucky owner of the title to download the two versions, at his pleasure. You will have understood it: the game here is bet on essential communication between the members of a solid community. If the era of zombies is not necessarily what it was a handful of years ago, it is not dead and remains an excellent context for all survival games. State of Decay 2 takes a deep dive into the realm, not without a certain clumsiness that sometimes costs it dearly. Immersed in a United States ravaged by the undead, the player is led to build a home there and lead the most secure life possible. Suffice to say that the thing is not easy because the world of SoD 2 is absolutely merciless towards its protagonists. Clearly, the best weapon will be your brain. Ideally with a good big crowbar.
Based on an ultra-pushed survival concept, the game unfortunately suffers from rudimentary mechanisms and real gameplay and AI clumsiness.
If there's one thing you can't take away from State of Decay, it's its title. Directly referring to decomposition, the words could not be more appropriate given the post-apocalyptic universe it establishes. While the entire population has turned into walkers, you and your companion – chosen beforehand from a few proposed pairs and with different characteristics – are propelled into one of the three available regions. Left to their own devices after an express tutorial, your small group must find a first home, a base in which to live serenely with a concrete hope of survival. The term "survivors" is also at the center of game design: every corner, every person in your refuge or community is a determining factor in your sustainability, which must be taken into account and ensured intelligently. In State of Decay 2, there is no story per se or main character: this is exactly why the game is more like a management game than a pure action title. , take it for granted. Each member can die without ever coming back and the constant character switching is a main focus of gameplay. The development of your household and the skills of your troops are the very pillars of your existence! In this, the soft of the American studio does not have an end strictly speaking, simply basic objectives in order to evolve in the cities undermined by the disease and to eradicate the dangers as much as possible. And that's probably where SoD 2 sins for the first time: the almost total absence of a scenario and scripted missions is hard to hold in suspense. Each survivor has their own quests, but these appear randomly and their ultra-summary staging quickly points to great disinterest. It's a shame, because a real historical aspect would have largely allowed the player to become more attached to his team – and to the game in general.
BTS MANAGEMENT IN SURVIVAL RECOMMENDED
Although Undead Labs hasn't really emphasized its storytelling, it's impossible not to highlight all their efforts regarding territorial and human management. As a player, you have control over all the characters and it's up to you to recruit the survivors you cross your path. Expanding your team is not a choice to be taken lightly: does your HQ have enough beds for everyone? Do the reserves of food, gasoline or raw materials allow you to provide enough meals, electricity or shelter for everyone's comfort? And more importantly: are the skills of this potential member really useful to you? So many questions for many possibilities. Because it is human, your community consumes various and varied foodstuffs every day, which it is essential to replenish by meticulously searching the surrounding areas. Other crucial actions will quickly be required of you, such as the construction (as well as their maintenance and upgrade) of an infirmary, a workshop or, why not, a shooting range or a kitchen. Each element can be customized thanks to the kits found on your route. If your resources are low, then your team will quickly lose morale, to the point of starting fights or committing blunders. The consequences are then quite radical: your installations, poorly maintained, will crumble. Characters will be unable to heal themselves after certain fights. Some of them will turn out to be threatening or will want to leave… Finally, you spend a lot more time taking care of the well-being of your new family by going back and forth innumerable in the city to sustain them than to take part in a hectic action. It has a bit of The Sims in State of Decay…
As for the technical aspect, widely decried when the first game was released, it is clear that Undead Labs has been able to bring a touch of freshness with very beautiful light effects and frankly suitable 3D models, despite its drops in frame rate.
After a few fairly tedious hours of play, you will be required to develop your community to other levels. Following the appointment of a leader based on his popularity, the time has come to move your base to another, larger, better placed location. Migration is also very important at stages where stagnation suddenly sets in. Once the surroundings have been searched, the resources are then more and more difficult to reach and these diminish more and more quickly. Gasoline, to name but one, is a scourge as the consumption of each vehicle seems excessive. Because yes, if most of the game is done on foot, it is also possible and advisable to get your hands on a car in good condition to travel the map – big, but not too much – safely and quickly. The game pushing realism to its climax, you will therefore have to constantly monitor the level of fuel, otherwise you will have to loot the petrol stations very repeatedly. Similarly, a damaged car can only be repaired in possession of a dedicated kit, found by chance in the decor or made by yourself if you are lucky enough to have the necessary knowledge. In addition to your household, you will be able to deploy outposts everywhere, with influence points earned according to your actions. This is the currency of the game and these outposts, only declarable if you have secured the location with your hands, will be a real base when you are away from home. State of Decay 2 is a time-consuming game, which requires time and investment for daily life tasks. Thus, the few stages of evolution are really tasty – settling in a church and developing a weapons laboratory there, for example, is quite enjoyable – but struggle to reward these long periods of farming which are often very boring. The good intentions are there but, unfortunately, are often poorly executed once the game is launched, the fault also due to a gameplay that is not always well controlled.
ZOMBIES OF EMPIRE
Taking the form of a TPS, SoD 2 places its camera far enough away from its character for an effect that is altogether quite neutral. Two combat components are available: melee or firefight. In both cases, many weapons are scattered across the map, objects that wear out more or less quickly and that you will need to maintain. Rather difficult, you are asked to prepare well before each excursion and, above all, to manage your endurance well. In addition to the life bar, the stamina gauge empties according to the actions performed, such as kicking, sprinting, or simply crossing an obstacle. Very quickly, and especially when you start with a character, this one is out of breath and then sees its capacities drastically diminished. So you have to go so far as to manage your self-control to have a chance of getting out of it, especially since the zombies are not the lenient type: the clashes are really repetitive and the range of moves is weak. will expand only slightly throughout your adventure. Similarly, animations and finish-moves loop tirelessly, when they are not tainted by collision problems. It's a shame, because if State of Decay 2 had been able to offer a more dynamic and detailed combat system – especially since the allocation of keys is not very instinctive – its many fights would have gained in consistency and depth. And, if you didn't die valiantly in battle, you will have to be careful not to be contaminated by the Blood Plague. If this is the case for you or one of your colleagues, then you will have to prepare a remedy in the infirmary or prepare for euthanasia or exclusion, before the transformation into the living dead. A well-thought-out concept and ultimately very adapted to the context.
So you have to go so far as to manage your self-control to have a chance of getting out of it, especially since the zombies are not the lenient type: the clashes are really repetitive and the range of moves is weak. will expand only slightly throughout your adventure.
Beyond the fairly flat (but evolving) combat mechanics, the game is also essentially based on the accompaniment of your avatar by another survivor. More than recommended, it will allow you to get out a little better against the hordes of zombies, whose races also differ sometimes. Thus, during the difficult phases of eradicating plague hearts – organic points at the origin of the spread – for example, it will be easier to overcome them. On the other hand, and this is where the shoe pinches, the AI of your friend will be close to nothing during the (very) numerous excavations and explorations. Unable to take items on his own, we end up making multiple round trips to load the trunk of his car and hope to bring all the supplies back to base. And if you were just thinking of changing characters to take control of them and, in turn, fill their inventory, you should know that any transfer cancels the quest currently in progress. Why, we don't know: the fact is that farming then becomes very daunting and time-consuming. Hence the interest of inviting your own friends for co-op games of up to four. Obviously, State of Decay 2 is then transformed and its fun maximized. The action phases become much more solid and the harvesting of resources much faster and smarter. This does not transcend the software provided but has the merit of bringing a real added value, otherwise boredom quickly appears to the less adventurous.
WHEN MULTIPLAYER SAVE THE BEET
As for the technical aspect, widely decried when the first game was released, it is clear that Undead Labs has been able to bring a touch of freshness with very beautiful light effects and frankly suitable 3D models, despite its drops in frame rate. The post-apocalyptic universe of the three cards is quite attractive. It's just a pity that many of the interiors are copied and pasted, thus impacting the discovery effect! The music is very discreet and gives pride of place to simplistic but acceptable sound effects. Nevertheless, the hourly cycle is a real pain, the fault due to a calamitous night, much too long and in which the luminosity is so low that the flashlight itself seems to malfunction. It's a shame, because the title likes to offer us really successful sunsets, unfortunately the beginnings of a very poorly managed darkness. You still have to take a step back: this is in no way a triple AAA game and the team behind State of Decay 2 has agreed, the latter being only their second production. That said, and the result being what it is, it only remains for you to see if you are ready to dive into these long, very long hours of play by forgiving them a real redundancy…
