There were two games this year that I've been very much anticipating since their announcement. One was The Last Of Us; a post-apocalyptic survival game from my favourite developer, Naughty Dog. The other was State Of Decay, an independently developed game focussing on the survival aspects in a world torn apart by the zombie apocalypse. Undead Labs aim was to bring a zombie game unlike previous worn out shooters of current and last gen; a fully immersive experience giving the player challenges based around the finite resources left when the dead walk the earth.
I am immersed. Fully. I can't stop playing. That seems to be Undead Labs goal ultimately as there is so much to do and keep repeating. Repetition and looting is not a fun combination unless you somehow thoroughly enjoy this aspect in Borderlands. But here, it works. As your survivor gets the lay of the land and scouts out various resources - fuel, food, ammo, construction materials - the fear of being detected by the small yet deadly zombie hoardes increases as the autumnal days turn to the incredibly dark nights. Each situation can be a breeze depending on your cautiousness or inevitably end your character's life. But the game doesn't end at death. You can actively switch between the survivors you have gathered at your home base.
The way you gather these survivors is by scouting the land and spotting neighbours who may need help with a scavenger hunt or a home defense problem. Eventually these neighbours will shack up with you and your number increases. The defense of your own home is paramount also; gathering building materials will allow you to build and upgrade various facilities which add their own perks to the fray. A watchtower can eventually give a greater scope of the land for oncoming hordes or stragglers and a medical tent can increase the healing process when a character gets injured. Each survivor can level up and has a series of unlockable moves to use on the battlefield, melee or weaponised. Resources are limited and the gathering weapons to your home increases your influence and group morale.
A lot of thought has been put into this game and for a relatively small download of 1.9GB I am staggered at the attention to detail throughout. The golden browns of the fields shimmer as you pick out slow moving members of the undead on the horizon dotted about. It's beautiful to take in yet the enjoyment of the vistas doesn't last long as your hungry enemy quickly spots and catches up to you. Akin to Left 4 Dead, there are various 'special' zombies such as the undead SWAT team members known as Armored, fast ravenous types known as Feral and then hillbilly boulder-sized ones known as Bloaters. With some of these around, expect a hell of a fight especially if you make a bit of racket while scavenging throughout the various homesteads and towns. Getting from A to B is made accessible with vehicles abandoned on the map and there is no fast travel option which I feel is a fantastic idea.
My only gripes were the lack of option to bring another survivor with you on scavenger hunts as well as sending them out on their own ones, which in turn adds its own problem of having to rescue them when they get into their own trouble. As previously mentioned, I love the primitive feel of the map system in a world now decimated and unknown but I really did want a Grand Theft Auto style Sat-Nav guideline on the radar. Going off-road is particularly harrowing when your vehicle is destroyed and you are left alone for miles around with night falling and the undead approaching.
This has arrived not long after the Arma 2 mod, DayZ, which was based heavily around the trust and survival of real online players. This added a tense amount of gameplay I had never experienced and this is something I'd love to see come into play in future endeavours from Undead. I always thought that Rockstar would be the first to make an open-world survival game and they've been beaten to it despite their influence being superior here. The world here, unlike in DayZ, feels fully realised and there's nothing more satisfying yet scary than having to barricade yourself into a building to secure resources and save your people.
It's not often a game keeps me up until the early hours, but this has to be my favourite game of this year. I haven't been so engaged since Red Dead Redemption and that speaks volumes. My hat is indeed off to Undead Labs for making the undead so full of life.
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