State of Decay: The End is Upon Us...

State of Decay Launched on Xbox Live last week to a great hoorah from the US and Europe - so I jumped into the action to see if the game lived up to the hype…

The world is coming to an end, the undead are roaming the earth and you are one of the last people alive to witness it. How will you survive it all?

In State of Decay’s open world you will get to see if you have the necessary proverbial(s) to live in the post-apocalyptic setting.

There are lots of progression elements that will let you customise every detail of your survival, making State of Decay one of the best ways to explore a zombie plagued landscape.

However there are a few negative aspects you will have to get past before you can truly enjoy your zombie-slaying time.

For starters there isn’t exactly much in the way of a storyline with State of Decay – basically the plot is used to nudge you into new areas of the map.

You and your fellow survivors are a bunch of less-than-interesting characters and the areas you get to explore are never too far away from the clichéd zombie world you have come to expect, like deserted barns, farms, camp sites.

However the loosely threaded story line does not stop the game from bursting with great ways to slay countless zombies. This game includes elements that are often over-looked by many other zombie games such as stamina, finding food, medical supplies and all other basics needed to survive.

There is a lot to do in the open world of State of Decay, including scavenging, completing quests, and managing your community. Your home is your first priority. The game gives multiple options on how to build up your base, whether this is a residential home, warehouse or on a farm.

Once setup you are faced with many options. You have complete control allowing you to grow a community of your own. There are issues to focus on such as growing more food to maintain your supply or focus on upgrading your weapons cache.

Every choice you make will have a consequence at some point in the game, which could result in your community falling to injury, illness or death.

If you keep you members alive then your community grows stronger. The game uses character rotation well, forcing you to swap out members on a regular basis to make the most of each story quest or scavenging mission. You might wish to save your tougher zombie slaying characters for tougher missions and use a community member with better cardio to go on quick stealthy scavenging missions.

This said, it is still easy to find yourself in all sorts of trouble and if you’re not careful or prepared, you could lose one of your members to the un-dead!

The zombie mass is nothing to be snivelled at. Your average walker is slow and pretty easy to take down alone, but when a horde is coming at you with special zombies like the Armoured, Juggernaut, Bloater and Screamer you could be looking at a quick death.

There is also a lot more to taking down masses of zombies than mere button mashing alone. Sound is a massive part of the game play – and staying alive! The less you make, the greater the chance of surviving. Gunshots are like a church bell ringing out to alert every walker in the area, while cars attract them in droves.

This is great action but the undead are an uncoordinated and glitch bunch – often getting themselves stuck half way through fences and unable to register your presence, you can find yourself happily getting passed this by taking up the opportunity for some target practice. A nice round between the eyes usually does the trick.

The zombie masses are becoming all too common place in games over recent years but Undead Lab have brought some refreshing and realistic touches to cracking open the heads of the undead.

The massive open world layout and exploring your surroundings is one of the best parts of the game. Scavenging through farms, towns, barns, camp sites to find the necessities to help you community grow and more importantly survive.

Beyond some minor glitch parts and a loose storyline, State of Decay is an excellent way to pit your whit’s and plan your survival for the end of the world. Constant progression and finding suitable spots for outposts and bases as well as trying to keep your favourite character(s) alive add new spice to this genre.

Once you get past and forgive the technical hiccups of this game it will draw you in like a zombie to fresh meat.

If you’re after a game that will drop you in the middle of an apocalyptic world with all the harsh decisions and skull cracking pleasure you expect from a zombie slayer then State of Decay should definitely be on your download list.

Have you played State of Decay? Tell us your thoughts below