The apocalypse is not only the end of humanity as we know it, but it’s also every horror fan’s dream. Would you manage to obtain enough resources to survive impending doom while rebuilding society? This is the experience the survival horror video game State of Decay 2 provides to people willing to test their survival and decision making skills.

State of Decay 2 is a survival horror video game created by Undead Labs and published by Microsoft Studios. The game was recently released for both the PC and Xbox platform on May 22, 2018. The story begins with the player taking the role of a survivor doing everything in his power to survive in a society overrun by zombies. The survivors must gather enough resources to sustain themselves on a daily basis while clearing out hoards of the undead. The player’s goal is to build their own community of survivors while lasting as long as possible.

Video games are composed of multiple parts. The composition and execution of these defines the game’s quality. State of Decay 2 both excels and lacks in the development of certain key elements, which is unacceptable considering that this is a high tier game with enough resources to excel at everything it presents to the audience. Even though, the game can partially make up for these flaws by pulling off certain fun, but not significant experiences.

The greatest element in every video game is it’s gameplay. At first look, State of Decay 2  seems like your average third person zombie survival title comparable to previous hits like DayZ. But once the user dwells deeper into the game, it’s evident that it provides an interesting concept of gameplay, capable of revolutionizing the survival genre completely. This is due to the fact that State of Decay 2 merges the survival and base resource management genres in a unique way. The idea promises to keep the player entertained, as not only does he have to take care of himself, but also his community. Mixing this with a massive open world guarantees the player endless hours of exploration and potential entertainment. State of Decay 2 also integrates a “hardcore” element not usually found in single player survival games. This “hardcore” mode keeps the player intrigued, as character deaths are permanent, motivating the player to make wise decisions in the moment. Unlike the original State of Decay, the second title made the wise decision to include 4 player cooperative multiplayer which serves the purpose to enhance the experience.

Sadly, the execution of this brilliant idea was not the greatest, as the activities the game provides are not as interesting and engaging as one would expect. One could argue that the activities meant to keep you entertained become a tedious task after a while, as the variety between these is little to none making them appear as a monotonous obligation. The game is also littered with game breaking glitches capable of ruining the experience. The frequency of these glitches is also astounding, as no player should get launched one thousand feet into the air after entering a vehicle more than once. This is unacceptable considering that this is the second title of the State of Decay franchise, yet it’s significantly more broken than the first.

The game has another major weak point which is its story. Although the State of Decay franchise shines thanks to it open world rather than the story, the story is still a crucial element necessary to keep the player motivated to continue playing. Many of the tasks presented to the player seem pointless, and have little to no major connection between them making the story seem blank. Yet, State of Decay 2 did make a major change from its predecessor, which is to include the importance of the player’s decisions as these affect the path the story will take. Nonetheless, this does not make up for the lack importance the game gives to the story.

Overall, State of Decay 2 has its ups and down and is still be capable of provide an interesting experience to players who are not picky. The game does take multiple major steps with the goal of improving the franchise, but the current execution of these is poor. For a price of $29.99 USD for the standard edition and $49.99 USD for the ultimate edition, the purchase of this product is not recommend unless you are looking to burn some money or are easily entertained.