This review is focused on the original mode. I've played this game for a sizeable amount of time. Ignore the hours, I played this on Microsoft Store, before it decided that I didn't own the game for whatever reason. So State of Decay is a mixed bag for me. I have never seen a game that I can confidently say that it is on the cusp of being the greatest game I have played. It is not reinventing the wheel, it simply does what it does very well.

Almost. It seems that in every category, it falls short of being where it supposed to be. For every good thing that is released, there is always something that holds it back. Bugs are an easy one. I think it is safe to say that the average player will encounter a jarring amount of bugs. Clipping through or onto objects, car soaring into the air or hitting invisible walls, weird co-op issues...

Speaking of co-op, don't. Don't bother with this. Co-op is worthless. Whoever hosts the game gets to do everything. Yes, you do get rewards for helping the host, as minuscule as those rewards are... but you'd be better off not doing so. Stamina and fatigue accrue on YOUR characters, meaning that once everything is said and done, those rewards you are reaping will be on a very crippled community. It's not like you can contribute much to the host's world, either. Or... even INTERACT with it. Can't use their facilities. Can't run off on your own. You can, but zombies will not spawn if you go too far away... oops, you've been tethered back to the host. If you do it right, you can cheese plague hearts this way.

Nightmare and below are not that difficult, in my opinion. This is a bit more subjective, but the only difficulty I had playing nightmare was trying not to caress an object with my car, as it would blow up on contact. Lethal was a great addition to the game! However, I don't feel rewarded for playing it, either. There is no achievement for completing it, and Undead Labs actually removed the stat tracker from survivors that you have, so I feel even less incentive to beat it more than once. I do wish they add this back as it makes my survivors feel purposeful. If you don't mind having no sense of progression (other than the boons), then ignore this segment. There is also artificial difficulty that does not account for balance. There are missions on lethal where TWO JUGGERNAUGHTS can spawn, and you are supposed to defend an enclave from them. How? Unless you are overly prepared... which you can't be, given the random encounter, you will not be saving that enclave. They will perish. Every time this mission activates, I just leave because it is literally futile to continue.

AI is probably the worst offender on this list. The other things are an inconvenience at best, but the AI is just garbage. Pro tip, crouch to make your enlisted survivor follow you. Otherwise, they WILL attempt to slaughter that horde you are running from. Juggernaught? No problem! ...Until said survivor obviously dies trying to fend it off. The AI does not change between difficulty, either. In lower difficulties, hostile enclaves are a joke to fight against. On lethal, they will snipe headshot you from miles away, leading to your character dying on the spot. Okay, so realism. Except, I cannot do the same thing to hostile enclaves. Unless I am packing a powerful weapon, those guys are getting back up because lethal difficulty, I guess? Feels very cheap.

This review has been leaning critical, but I am choosing to recommend the game. There is no game on the market that emulates the feeling of zombies as well as this game, and is the closest thing we will get to the Walking Dead. I am praying that State of Decay 3 will rectify these issues, or at the very least, co-op.

This review is focused on the original mode. I've played this game for a sizeable amount of time. Ignore the hours, I played this on Microsoft Store, before it decided that I didn't own the game for whatever reason. So State of Decay is a mixed bag for me. I have never seen a game that I can confidently say that it is on the cusp of being the greatest game I have played. It is not reinventing the wheel, it simply does what it does very well. Almost. It seems that in every category, it falls short of being where it supposed to be. For every good thing that is released, there is always something that holds it back. Bugs are an easy one. I think it is safe to say that the average player will encounter a jarring amount of bugs. Clipping through or onto objects, car soaring into the air or hitting invisible walls, weird co-op issues... Speaking of co-op, don't. Don't bother with this. Co-op is worthless. Whoever hosts the game gets to do everything. Yes, you do get rewards for helping the host, as minuscule as those rewards are... but you'd be better off not doing so. Stamina and fatigue accrue on YOUR characters, meaning that once everything is said and done, those rewards you are reaping will be on a very crippled community. It's not like you can contribute much to the host's world, either. Or... even INTERACT with it. Can't use their facilities. Can't run off on your own. You can, but zombies will not spawn if you go too far away... oops, you've been tethered back to the host. If you do it right, you can cheese plague hearts this way. Nightmare and below are not that difficult, in my opinion. This is a bit more subjective, but the only difficulty I had playing nightmare was trying not to caress an object with my car, as it would blow up on contact. Lethal was a great addition to the game! However, I don't feel rewarded for playing it, either. There is no achievement for completing it, and Undead Labs actually removed the stat tracker from survivors that you have, so I feel even less incentive to beat it more than once. I do wish they add this back as it makes my survivors feel purposeful. If you don't mind having no sense of progression (other than the boons), then ignore this segment. There is also artificial difficulty that does not account for balance. There are missions on lethal where TWO JUGGERNAUGHTS can spawn, and you are supposed to defend an enclave from them. How? Unless you are overly prepared... which you can't be, given the random encounter, you will not be saving that enclave. They will perish. Every time this mission activates, I just leave because it is literally futile to continue. AI is probably the worst offender on this list. The other things are an inconvenience at best, but the AI is just garbage. Pro tip, crouch to make your enlisted survivor follow you. Otherwise, they WILL attempt to slaughter that horde you are running from. Juggernaught? No problem! ...Until said survivor obviously dies trying to fend it off. The AI does not change between difficulty, either. In lower difficulties, hostile enclaves are a joke to fight against. On lethal, they will snipe headshot you from miles away, leading to your character dying on the spot. Okay, so realism. Except, I cannot do the same thing to hostile enclaves. Unless I am packing a powerful weapon, those guys are getting back up because lethal difficulty, I guess? Feels very cheap. This review has been leaning critical, but I am choosing to recommend the game. There is no game on the market that emulates the feeling of zombies as well as this game, and is the closest thing we will get to the Walking Dead. I am praying that State of Decay 3 will rectify these issues, or at the very least, co-op.