State of Decay is one of the best zombie action titles out there, certainly among the top modern games that focus on our favorite undead foes. It was a bit of a surprise hit when it released on Xbox Live for Xbox 360 in 2013, and its follow up on the PC was just as well received.
The open world simulation has now made its way to Xbox One as the updated State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition. Is the title good enough to jump into for the first time, and worth it for those who played again? Here are some excerpts from reviews around the web:
Polygon, 8.5/10: "If you've been keeping up with State of Decay religiously in the two years since its launch, there's little in the new Year One Survival Edition that will come as a revelation. Between the original, Breakdown and Lifeline, there's at least 60 hours of game in YOSE, and even having played through the original release, there's lots of new things to see and do.
"While there have been some refinements to State of Decay's mechanics and design, the promised remastering of its visual presentation isn't as well-executed. The jagged, muddy image quality that marked the 360 release is gone thanks to a major resolution upgrade, and a new lighting system seems to be in place that cleans things up considerably. But there are still some significant framerate problems."
"Still, even after two years, State of Decay remains a unique and singularly successful take on the zombie subgenre - and the new content and retooled systems made enough of a difference to pull me right back in."
IGN, 8.9/10: "State of Decay deservedly shattered Xbox Live Arcade sales records in 2013: it is a potent mix of RPG gameplay systems that all fuse together to create an unpredictable and tense survival experience. Time hasn't taken anything away from that for Year One Survival Edition, and though it hasn't fixed its technical problems either, this zombie-bashing, resource-managing post-apocalyptic gem still stands out from the horde of brainless zombie games."
OXM via GamesRadar+, 3/5: "Anyone who played the original will be aware of its litany of technical flaws. To a point you could forgive them in the face of such ambition, particularly given its indie roots. But the same issues are harder to ignore a second time. Blundering allies and eagle-eyed walkers mean stealth is rarely an option without giving a ludicrously wide berth. The frame-rate has supposedly improved, yet it still chugs when things hot up, and the last thing you need when surrounded is less responsive controls."
"Far from being the ultimate edition of the game, we end up with another case of nominative determinism. State of Decay, sadly, is a mess. It's a mess with good intentions, perhaps, but the result is the equivalent of a wooden barricade infested with dry rot - it seems like it should hold up just fine, but ends up crumbling under the slightest pressure."