State of Decay (video game)

State of Decay
Developer(s)	Undead Labs
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Studios
Composer(s)	Jesper Kyd
Engine	CryEngine 3
Platform(s)	Xbox 360(XBLA), Microsoft Windows
Release	Xbox 360 June 5, 2013 Microsoft Windows TBA
Genre(s)	Survival horror
Mode(s)	Single-player

State of Decay is an upcoming open world zombie survival horror video game coming to Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade and Microsoft Windows.

Gameplay

State of Decay emphasizes utilizing existing resources, which are finite. Here the player character stands atop a tower and scouts for possible survival camps and places that may contain supplies.

Unlike games such as Left 4 Dead and Dead Island, State of Decay will focus more on survival, stealth, evasion, distractions, base building, survivor community, securing resources, and moving through the world than actual zombie combat. The game will be in an open world, where the player's choices are an important factor. Players will be able to choose a location to build a base in. Structures such as watch towers, gardens, sleeping quarters, kitchens, workshops, medical bays and barricades can be constructed to defend against the infected population, help survivors recover faster and build explosives and other tools.

Food, water, shelter, ammo, and construction materials will be necessary for survival. To obtain these supplies, the player will need to go on raids to abandoned supermarkets and many other shops, or the player can grow food themselves. The player can also find other groups of survivors that are willing to trade their resources with the player, in exchange for ammunition. The player will be able to rescue other AI survivors to help with defense, build facilities and repair cars/guns (with the appropriate facilities). They can also be sent out to loot, find a new base location or to come pick up supplies found by the player. Once a high enough relationship is developed with these new characters will be playable. The player's choices will affect how the gameplay evolves. The game world is 16 kilometers square.

The non-player characters (NPCs) in State of Decay will vary in skin color and gender, they sometimes show signs of aging in the game. They can set up bases to survive which the player character can find while exploring. Saving NPCs will add them to the community of survivors. Each NPC can be assigned tasks like doing runs to collect items, or scouting. Player characters can trade with other survivor bases for items which they excel in such as weaponry. They can be harmed if they are doing runs in which the player is alerted, and they then have the option to rescue the characters. If they are not rescued they may die or become lost. There are 30 NPCs in State of Decay which will spawn in a semi-random arrangement, while 20 Story NPCs will always spawn in a designated location.

The game features 99 different guns and 30-40 melee weapons to be found around the world. The higher a character's skill with guns, the lower the chance of them jamming. Jammed guns will need to be repaired at any home base. High skills with guns will also result in lower recoil. Gunshots will attract zombies, to combat this weapons can be equipped with suppressors. Each gun has a decibel rating seen in the game's inventory; higher decibel ratings result in louder gunshot. There are three classes of melee weapons featured in the game; light blunt, light edged, and heavy weapons. Each class will have advantages and disadvantages. As characters use weapons their skill will grow with use.

During the game player characters can enter buildings. While loot will often be found, so will zombies. Fenced buildings can be turned into a base. Only one base can be occupied at a time, they can be overrun, and relocated. A large number of customization options exist for the base, including, but not limited to, gardens, kitchens, tents for sleeping, storage areas, radio station for communication, workshop for upgrading and repairing weapons, training centers, generators for power, guard towers, and walls for defense. Any building that is not destroyed can be turned into an outpost. An outpost is a place for players sleep or store items. Zombies cannot spawn around an outpost. The number of outposts available to players is dependent on the size of the player character's base.

Plot

The player starts out as a character named Marcus. A store clerk who is an athlete and loves to hike; he is also a born leader. Returning from a hunting trip, he finds the world has gone to hell. As the game is an open world, the story progresses based on whether the player is focused on the story or simply surviving. Progressing the story will periodically trigger world changing events which will make the world more difficult to survive in. Securing clean water will also play a large part in the story line.

Development

State of Decay was first announced in 2011 as a Xbox Live Arcade exclusive title originally titled Class 3. Jeff Strain, the founder of ArenaNet and co-creator of World of Warcraft, wanted a game where individual players could make up their own zombie survival plans and put them to the test. Thus, he set out to create a game which runs on CryEngine 3. On May 16, 2013 Undead Labs announced that State of Decay had gone into the final certification process and is now ready for testing by the game's publisher, Microsoft Studios. State of Decay was envisioned as a step towards Undead Labs' full online console game, Class4. Class4 will be one of the first zombie massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) to come to the Xbox 360 and PC.

External links

• Undead Labs official site