State of Decay PC review by our new part-time games reviewer Rick Johnson. Get the full review, including a comparison video with the 360 version, after the break.
“The port ultimately improves the experience, providing a considerable amount of shine over the original.”
Graphically mediocre, state of decay delivers a standard sandbox genre experience. The gameplay is fun while it lasts but suffers slightly in its repetitive nature after the initial excitement of free world exploration wears thin.
The character interaction fails to draw you in and lacks the facility to create your own persona. However, the build and upgrade your community management aspect adds somewhat to the immersion and helps the playability to at least a degree. Game characters come with unique random attributes that coincide with the universal base stats. Some are just for fun like ‘game show trivia’ and others are useful that boost base stats like ‘soldier’ which aids in shooting and fighting. Potluck ultimately plays a part as the character is progressed by the players game style, as traits are improved as the player uses each skill in game. Skills, in turn, are provided with bonuses and upgrades which break the similarity and creates individualism with each of the multiple characters you can control.
One thing to remember is that State of Decay started life out as an XBLA game, and has now received this PC port. The port ultimately improves the experience, providing a considerable amount of shine over the original. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a huge leap. But it’s good nonetheless.
Overall thoughts:
Overall the game has lifespan and monotony issues, but if you can overlook those and killing zombies is your thing; then State of Decay is well worth the money.
