I'm a sucker for a good romcom. As soon as the fateful meet cute happens, you'll find me curled up with a blanket swooning over the blossoming romance. Bumping into someone while getting on the train or getting in an elevator might be a minor part of your day, but for a romcom protagonist, it ignites the love story they've been waiting for. They were ready to fall in love and probably hoped for a meet cute because they wanted a surprising story that they could tell everyone about. Like a good romcom, State of Decay 2 often has ways to generate unexpected stories that we're secretly hoping will happen. Let's call it a meat cute.
]]>Undead Labs did not come to Gamescom with news on the next game in their zombie survival sandbox series. No, they announced State Of Decay 3 in July 2020 with no information then fell silent on the topic. But Microsoft do have new news on old things. In a free update for State Of Decay 2, they're revisiting and revising Trumbull Valley, the original map from the original game. Everything old is new again. Or in this case, new again, again.
]]>Gamescom 2021 is underway, and this evening brought the Xbox showcase stream. You can watch the stream archive in full, but if all you care about is new trailers, then we've gathered them together here.
]]>There's never been a better time to get into survival games on PC, as the recent revival of the genre means Steam is now awash in some truly great games, both in early access and in full release. There are more arriving every year, too, which is why we've done the hard work for you and ranked the very best survival games to dive into today. Fair warning - there are some early access games on this list, which mean they might be a little janky early on. Give them the time they deserve, though, and you'll find they often blossom into some truly great games over subsequent updates. We've only included the very best and most complete-feeling survival games on this list, though, so you can rest assured that every game here will leave you hungry for more. It's by no means exhaustive, but it should give you a nice selection of wolf-taming, base-building, carrot-picking action to choose from.
]]>Undead Labs have just revealed the next instalment of their zombie-fest survival horror, State Of Decay 3. From the reveal trailer it looks like it's set in a snowy wilderness, complete with scary wolves, and even scarier zombified-wildlife. We also see a lonely lady just trying to get by, aptly armed with a crossbow. Take a look for yourself:
]]>Like the shambling rotters it loves, State of Decay 2 is rising from its slumber once more. To put it nicely, Undead Labs' zombie sandbox received a bit of a battering when it launched on the Windows Store back in 2018. With a Steam debut due next month, the devs have taken State of Decay back to the shop for some fresh paint. Next month brings the Juggernaut Edition to Steam, adding a brand new map, some hefty new weapons, graphical touch-ups and a horde of bug fixes.
Gotta make a good first impression, eh?
]]>Ah, there’s nothing like throwing a pipe bomb at a group of zombies, and having that pipe bomb freeze in mid-air right in front of your face and explode. State of Decay 2 wasn’t good at many things, but it was good at being a buggy jankfest. Now, a patch from developers Undead Labs includes fixes for the accidental facebomb, along with some more of the worst bugs, like disappearing health bars and doors that won’t stay open. The patch is 20 GB large, perhaps a testament to just how much of the zombie survival game was left unpolished when it released (for Windows 10 only) last month.
]]>Now that open-world zombie apocalypse survive 'em up State Of Decay 2 is properly out, rather than just for the billionaires who ordered their butlers to buy the special edition granting early access, you may be wondering: is it any good? For that, hey, look no further than our Brendan's State Of Decay 2 review. If you're already onboard, your question may be: do I need to futz with anything to get this sucker going? And the answer to that is, ah yeah, sure, you can fiddle in config files to tweak some graphics and control options not available in the menus, and the game does have a known problem or two.
]]>I’m driving home from a busy night of killing and the roads are empty, save for some legless grumblers. I sigh and look at my map, try to count the exclamation marks, when a voice comes on my radio. It’s probably the fifth voice I’ve heard tonight, and I half expect another plea for bullets from some faceless chump three doors down. But this time it’s one of my own, a member of my enclave. She’s just calling to tell me: Workshop level 3 complete.
“That’s one more item off the To Do list!” she says enthusiastically.
She’s right. State of Decay 2 feels like a massive To Do list.
]]>If the zombies don’t get you in State of Decay 2, then the boastful barista will. Sure, he brews a mean cup of joe, but his self-confidence is beginning to grate and the community’s morale is sinking. This might be the first survival game to be derailed by a braggart with coffee breath. As such it can feel like the world is conspiring against you, so what better time to watch a video of tips and tricks to help even the odds. Not to boast myself (RPS has a high morale community), but it’ll make your life easier.
]]>Zombie survival adventure State of Decay 2 lurches on to PC next Tuesday - though it’s out today for those who ordered the Ultimate edition - and Brendan kindly put aside his endless shopping trips to help me test co-op mode. Opt for a multiplayer session and you appear as visiting survivors in the host’s game, in this case, Brendan’s. You can help said host progress their story and bring home whatever loot you find, but it’s also fine if you just want to go for a jolly in the countryside and deck deadheads in tandem.
]]>You look a little tired, friend. Let me just adjust this slider for you. There, wide awake. Now you’ve got some energy, how about listening to the RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show? This week we’re talking about character creation. Which games spoil us with choice? And why do we always end up creating the same sneaky elf?
]]>I hope you like collecting groceries, because State of Decay 2 is basically a game of endless trips to the shops. The doomsday fantasy is one I enjoy, and few games approach it from this exact angle: a third-person do-it-yourself surviveathon in an open world. In a better universe, you could call it DayZ with direction, or The Walking Dead with freedom. But based on the time I’ve spent with it so far, about 10 hours or so, it feels like that intention has been clouded by antiquated ideas about what keeps players invested in a videogame. This is less an undead apocalypse, and more a town of timers, clocks and, unfortunately, bugs.
]]>Come the zombie apocalypse the jugglers are the first against the wall. What to do with an unemployed children’s entertainer is one of the tamer dilemmas thrown up in the three hours I spent with State of Decay 2. But it’s indicative of Undead Lab’s slightly goofy take on zombie survival, one that has you desperately scavenging for supplies one second and weighing up the combat potential of a barista the next. I condensed all this, and the game’s other new features, into one convenient 20 minute walkthrough.
]]>The first State of Decay game sold 4.5 million units. Did you know that? For sure I would have guessed wrong by three million units. But that's not to say it didn't deserve that attention. Building a functioning society post zombie-apocalypse and getting an incredibly layered series of management tools and interpersonal squad dynamics to work in such an entertaining way is no small accomplishment. The original game's DLC dabbled in what could be, but a true sequel has been what I've been waiting for.
(Also I maybe ruined my settlement way too late in the game by accidentally betraying and murdering most of my fellow survivors and I was too prideful to start again. Get off my back. I just love betrayal sooooo much.)
]]>Base-building zombie survival sandbox State of Decay 2 will launch on May 22nd, publishers Microsoft have announced. The sequel to 2013's pretty fun zomb 'em up brings one of the features I'd most wanted: cooperative multiplayer. It is only on Windows 10 and only on Microsoft's own Store, as far as we know, cos Microsoft have some funny ideas about how to launch a PC game in 2018.
But enough words, come watch this new video showing 25 minutes of cooperative zompocalypse action:
]]>Each year E3 rolls around like a giant evil worm, crushing all that's good and pure. BUT that worm also announces lots of exciting gaming news as it wreaks its carnage upon the Earth. Here we have gathered every announcement, reveal, and exciting new trailer that emerged from the barrage of screamed press conferences over the last few days. And lots of it looks rather spiffy.
A rather enormous 47 PC games were either announced, revealed, or updated upon, with new trailers, information, and released dates that will all be missed by at least three months. We've collected the lot, with trailers, in alphabetical order, into one neat place, just for you.
]]>Watching the State of Decay 2 [official site] trailer which came out of E3 it got me thinking about how focused the games industry is on the human undead. Sure there are sometimes a few pets or whatnot which appear sometimes in a horror movie-ish way - this thing which was cute is now scary - but why aren't people resurrecting dinosaurs? Is this a comment on whether a T-rex has a soul?
Anyway, State of Decay 2 is a multiplayer zombie survival game with no dinosaurs (as far as I can tell) so let's take a look:
]]>As Old Father Time grabs his sickle and prepares to take ailing 2016 around the back of the barn for a big sleep, we're looking to the future. The mewling pup that goes by the name 2017 will come into the world soon and we must prepare ourselves for its arrival. Here at RPS, our preparations come in the form of this enormous preview feature, which contains details on more than a hundred of the exciting games that are coming our way over the next twelve months. 2016 was a good one - in the world of games at least - but, ever the optimists, we're hoping next year will be even better.
]]>State of Decay developers Undead Labs today announced a sequel to their community-building zombie apocalypse survival game, coming to Windows 10 in 2017. The big feature for State of Decay 2 [official site] is online co-op, letting up to four players join up to romp around the end of human civilisation. Between this and Dead Rising 4's announcement, it has been a good day for co-op zombiefun. Have a look at SoD2:
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