State of Decay
Overview -
Developed by the folks at Undead Labs and published by Microsoft, 'State of Decay' is a survival horror game that focuses on strategy and RPG elements just as much as zombie-killing action. Set in an open world environment, players explore a rural area of the country called Trumbull Valley and work together with other survivors to outlast the zombie hordes all around them. The narrative isn't particularly original when compared to the huge amount of zombie games released in the past few years, but it pushes the story along at a solid pace.
Video Review
This is an ugly game; there's no getting around it. The game world is filled with low resolution textures, clipping issues, pop-in graphics, framerate problems and poor camera angles. It's also filled with plenty of distracting bugs and glitches that hurt the overall experience. It just poor for a next generation high definition title. the only redeeming point are the complex menus, all of which look decent on the screen. It's somewhat surprising that Microsoft allowed this game to be released in this state.
Audio Review
Nearly as bad as the video, the barely adequate voice acting tells the narrative, but doesn't improve the game. In addition, the lack of recorded dialog also makes for some repetitive lines when walking around the game world. The only redeeming aspect of the audio work is the musical score developed by Jesper Kyd. It definitely fits the zombie genre of film and games.
As horrible as the production value of 'State of Decay' is, it's easily one of the most addicting and unforgiving zombie apocalypse games available on any system. It's extremely easy to look past all the glitches and get lost in the deep RPG, open world elements of the game. There's so many things to discover and the developer isn't holding your hand along the way. It's your job to be inquisitive and figure out how to survive, just like any other zombie apocalypse. It's also extremely competitively priced at just $20 on Xbox Live. If you love 'The Walking Dead' or realistic zombie games in general, don't hesitate to download 'State of Decay'.