Hello People! This is a review of "State Of Decay: Year One Survival Edition". The game is available for the Xbox one and Microsoft Windows. State of decay is a single-player action-adventure survival game developed by "Undead Labs". The main campaign takes place in Trumbull valley where you have to survive and manage your group of survivors through the zombie outbreak. The year one survival edition features remastered visuals a variety of new features and also includes the breakdown and lifeline DLCs.
What is the game like to play?
The campaign starts with you and a friend being attacked by zombies in the wilderness shortly after you'll find a few more survivors and then it's up to you to find a place to call home, you can switch between certain group members however some you'll have to earn their trust in order to do so the game adopts a perma-death system so if one of your group dies they are gone for good each character gains experience by completing actions like melee or ranged combat and they will level up over time. The main things you'll be doing in the game are scavenging and looting buildings for resources to take back to base you can carry small items but if you find a large cache you'll have to carry a heavy backpack home but thankfully you can store several in a trunk of a car for a big supply run. As you progress you'll be clearing out hordes or luring them away from your base you can build various things in your base like sleeping quarters gardens for crops or workshops from time to time infestations will appear and if you don't snuff them out they'll become a growing issue for your community.
You can call in for scavenge support via your radio and once a building is safe you can create small outposts where you'll be able to resupply when required so it's a survival game but one where you have to manage the whole community and make sure you don't get greedy. You will probably find a character you like so you'll go on several supply runs in a row then as they get fatigued the danger will increase like I was using this guy that I would love a lot I was out in the middle of nowhere I crashed my car because I got sloppy then after about 10 minutes of running away from zombies my character burnt out and I just ended up dying and I lost the skills that character had for good if I'd have taken a friend with me or had a rest it might have been different but it's a game where you will learn from these mistakes.
Every action you do has a consequence and the more noise you make the more zombies will head your way and you've got screamers exploding zombies and feral ones which are best avoided trust me. This edition features both breakdown and lifeline DLCs breakdown is an infinite sandbox mode with new weapons characters and the ability to keep on playing as long as you want lifeline is set in a new city called Danforth and you play as a group of us and military soldiers trying to survive the ever-growing population of zombies both are worth playing but I'd say breakdown just feels like the main campaign minus the story whereas the lifeline DLC was a little bit more enjoyable as it had more focus.
Graphically the game has had a makeover since its initial release the environments look more lush and detailed but it's nothing to write home about the character models look good but the player movement is a bit janky and wooden at times in terms of sound the voice acting is pretty good overall and the occasional musical interlude fits the story and surrounding. The sound effects, however, could have been a little bit more robust and it's not really like the best sound effects I've ever heard but it isn't like it's they're not terrible.
Good and Bad
What's good? The perma-death system adds real tension to every supply run the zombie presence is always evolving and you have to keep your wits about you at all times managing your resources and your community adds a degree of strategy to the game. The game world feels genuinely scary due to the realistic stamina limitations and the three-game modes add a lot of replay value.
What's bad? The game has no multiplayer option the character animations are a bit wooden and the game does suffer from some environmental glitches at times.
What's the Verdict
State of decay Year One Survival Edition is one of the best zombie survival games I have played the game world feels believable as does the way you have to manage your survivor community and scavenge for resources but it's the permaDeath system that really elevates the whole experience to another level because every death has a genuine impact on your community when someone dies you lose their skill set their level-up abilities and it puts more pressure on the other group members. In time you'll get really attached to certain characters and when they die and they will it's a truly shocking and sad moment to see them gone for good but it's not perfect the graphics are remastered but the game still has some technical issues and glitches the controls also could have been sharper they are not as responsive as you would want and also there isn't any multiplayer but despite these minor issues state of decay is a thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing survival game that I would strongly recommend this game.If you like this review please Upvote and comment.
Points 8.0
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Upvoted by HGC!