The Xbox One launched with an exclusive game called Dead Rising 3 that, statistically speaking, contains all of the zombies. That game is all about putting hundreds of zombies on-screen at once and then letting players drive cars through them. Plus you can play dress up! It's not the most serious zombie game in the world.
Next year though, the zombie fighting on Xbox One is going to get deadly serious. Today Microsoft and developer Undead Labs announced that Xbox 360 fan-favorite survival fantasy game State of Decay will be coming to Xbox One in 2015! The new edition will include new and improved 1080p visuals, all previous DLC, and brand new content as well. State of Decay: Year One Survivor Edition will be anything but decayed.
Fighting off the zombie hordes
State of Decay was originally released as an XBLA game in June 2013, where it went on to become one of the best-selling XBLA games of all time. If you haven't played the game, prepare for a fairly realistic depiction of human life after a zombie apocalypse. We're talking about a third-person action game with RPG and strategy elements, a combination which makes for a deep and challenging experience.
Step outside into State of Decay's world and you'll find that hordes of zombies roam the streets. You'll have to evade and/or kill them as you work to gather supplies and rescue fellow survivors. These survivors will join your crew and either help you going out scavenging or stay at home and defend your base.
As the player, you'll have to carefully choose how much time you spend outside of the base and how much time you spend at home, fortifying against the countless zombies plaguing the area. Spend too much time away and your base not be strong enough to keep its inhabitants safe. But if you don't go out and look for supplies, you'll run short of food, medicine, ammo, and other materials necessary for survival.
Meanwhile, the team you take out scavenging can fall prey to zombies all too easily. You might enter a house looking for food and find that one of your partners has gotten overwhelmed. You'll want to help them develop their skills as fighters, but don't get too attached.
Another big difference between State of Decay and Dead Rising is that State of Decay has a more grounded story. It follows the player's attempts to meet up with the military who are fighting the zombie hordes. But the military might have another agenda besides simply rescuing civilians… And the story only advances when you complete specific objectives, so you're free to focus on survival if you prefer.
Year One Survivor Edition
The upcoming Xbox One version of State of Decay promises a number of improvements.
Whereas the Xbox 360 version always suffered from performance issues and bugs, the Xbox One version will (presumably) run much smoother. We know the visuals have been upgraded to 1080p, the character animations have been enhanced, and new graphical effects have been added. Let's hope the team at Undead Labs can get the frame rate up to 60 frames per second, too!
Both of the previously released DLC packs, "Breakdown" and "Lifeline" will be included in the new edition. Breakdown adds a true sandbox mode with no ending. Players simply try to last as long as they can, while optionally searching for an RV that will trigger an increase in the overall difficulty. As for Lifeline, it lets players manage a military base that gets besieged by increasingly dangerous zombie raids.
The Year One Survivor Edition will also include new content, including new mission types. Undead Labs promises to reveal more details about the new content as the game's spring 2015 release date approaches. That's a long wait, but you can always try the Xbox 360 or Steam versions in the meantime.
- State of Decay – Xbox 360 – 1.81 GB – $19.99 – Xbox.com Link
