State of Decay

82%
Game Brain Score Based on 8,835 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
State of Decay Game Cover
Although rough on edges, State of Decay is a solid game that offers plenty of thrills and chills.
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State of Decay is an open-world survival horror game set in a zombie apocalypse. Manage a group of survivors, fortify your base, and explore a vast, dynamic world. Fight hordes of zombies, scavenge for supplies, and make decisions that determine your group's fate in this thrilling, immersive experience.

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Reviews

82%
Audience ScoreBased on 8,835 reviews
story469 positive mentions
stability464 negative mentions
  • Engaging gameplay with a unique blend of survival, resource management, and community building.
  • The permadeath mechanic adds tension and emotional weight to character interactions.
  • Variety of weapons and vehicles enhances the combat experience.
  • Technical issues and bugs detract from the overall experience, including crashes and AI problems.
  • The game can become repetitive, with similar missions and tasks throughout.
  • The developers abandoned support for the original game in favor of a paid remastered version, frustrating existing players.
  • story3,214 mentions

    The story in "State of Decay" is generally considered serviceable but lacks depth and memorability, often described as generic and predictable. While it provides a framework for gameplay, many players find the missions repetitive and the character development superficial, leading to a sense of detachment from the narrative. Despite these criticisms, the game's focus on survival mechanics and community management keeps players engaged, even if the storyline itself does not leave a lasting impression.

    • “State of Decay stands as a solid choice for fans of survival games, offering a unique blend of action, strategy, and storytelling.”
    • “The story is serviceable, with various missions and quests that drive the player forward, but it may not leave a lasting impression.”
    • “The game's strong character development and personal storylines make each survivor feel unique and valuable, fostering a sense of attachment and responsibility that adds emotional depth to the gameplay.”
    • “The story is pretty much non-existent, and the loop got boring to me fairly quickly.”
    • “The overall story, not just the companion dialogue, isn't very in-depth either.”
    • “The story is weak overall.”
  • gameplay1,450 mentions

    The gameplay of "State of Decay" is characterized by a mix of strategic resource management, community building, and survival mechanics, which many players find engaging and immersive. However, it suffers from repetitiveness and some clunky mechanics, leading to a mixed reception; while some appreciate the depth and tension of permadeath and resource scarcity, others criticize the game for its bugs and lack of variety in missions. Overall, the gameplay is seen as a strong point, offering a unique take on the zombie survival genre, despite its flaws.

    • “With its focus on community management, resource gathering, and base building, it provides a deep and engaging gameplay loop.”
    • “The game's dynamic world and permadeath mechanics add tension to each decision, forcing players to prioritize survival above all else.”
    • “The gameplay, while glitchy and sometimes not optimized, is a lot of fun.”
    • “The AI was also often simplistic and unresponsive, which made the gameplay feel repetitive and predictable at times.”
    • “The gameplay quickly gets repetitive, especially when you have to save a group member every other time you send them out for scavenging.”
    • “The gameplay is lackluster, clunky, and repetitive while the actual game mechanics are frustrating and very slow.”
  • graphics999 mentions

    The graphics of "State of Decay" are generally considered dated and inconsistent, with many players noting that they do not meet modern standards, often resembling those of older console games. While some appreciate the game's ability to create an immersive atmosphere despite its graphical shortcomings, others criticize the frequent glitches, low resolution textures, and lack of customization options. Overall, while the visuals may not impress, the engaging gameplay and survival mechanics often overshadow these graphical flaws.

    • “Its vast scope, boundless possibilities, breathtaking visuals, and thriving community make it a standout masterpiece on the Steam platform.”
    • “Absolutely incredible game, one of the best, if not the best zombie-oriented TPS, RPG, survival, resource management video game out there. When you play it, you can see that the developers poured their soul into this game. Despite certain clunkiness in animations and story, it's so great to play that you don't even notice this, because of its incredible and addictive gameplay, atmosphere, soundtrack, and to an extent, graphics (that still hold up very well after 10 years on max and ultra settings, especially during daylight).”
    • “The graphics are nice, I wouldn't say they are amazing or anything, although there are some breathtaking areas within the game world.”
    • “The graphics are really dated, even setting everything to max still looks pretty bad.”
    • “The graphics are very dated, but serviceable.”
    • “The graphics are a little outdated, gameplay is pretty great though.”
  • stability478 mentions

    The stability of the game is widely criticized, with numerous players reporting frequent bugs, glitches, and control issues that detract from the overall experience. While some find the game enjoyable despite these flaws, many express frustration over persistent technical problems, including NPC behavior and graphical glitches. Overall, the game is described as a "buggy mess," but its engaging gameplay can sometimes overshadow these issues for dedicated players.

    • “It's pretty bug free though.”
    • “Overall, I give it a 9/10 because it is mostly bug free - no game breaking ones that I've seen, and most of them are just normal stuff like AI pathing or a zombie falling down under the terrain and they are fairly rare.”
    • “Very polished, I have hours and hours into it with no glitches or bugs.”
    • “The game is buggy as hell, missions appear and disappear randomly, and the capricious autosave means you can never really tell what your game is going to be like when you reload.”
    • “This game is a buggy mess, plagued with glitches, constantly crashing, and very little added in terms of new features with the DLC.”
    • “The game itself was quite buggy on many PC configurations, though I could have recommended this game to anyone despite the bugs because the gameplay was worth it.”
  • replayability202 mentions

    The game's replayability is generally regarded as high, particularly when enhanced by the "Breakdown" DLC, which introduces new challenges and gameplay modes. Players appreciate the randomness in NPC spawning and loot, which keeps each playthrough fresh, although some note that the base game can feel repetitive without the expansions. Overall, while the game offers significant replay value, especially for those who enjoy survival mechanics, some players feel that the lack of multiplayer options and limited map variety detracts from its long-term appeal.

    • “The game is fun, complete, and has a ton of replayability and is a cool innovation over the generic zombie games being shoved out these days.”
    • “There is near-endless replayability and it is just overall a very fun game.”
    • “The addition of the two DLCs greatly increases the replay value of the game.”
    • “The simple fact that normal things like basic replayability were sold to us as DLC was absurd enough, but the hostility of their community managers towards the earlier critics of the game is what caught my interest most of all.”
    • “It can get fairly repetitive and with little replayability you can't help but feel the game is a little hollow.”
    • “While you initially start by playing one survivor, as more people are saved and given shelter in your community you'll be able to switch back and forth between a dozen or more playable characters.”
  • optimization140 mentions

    The optimization of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players reporting severe performance issues, including frame drops, stuttering, and bugs, even on high-end systems. While some users noted that minor tweaks could improve performance, the general consensus is that the game is poorly optimized for PC, feeling more like a console port with limited graphical options and frequent crashes. Despite its fun gameplay, the lack of proper optimization significantly detracts from the overall experience.

    • “You can build new bases, upgrade your existing one, etc. It runs smoothly, no bugs, difficulty is moderate, with lots of zombies making supply runs challenging.”
    • “The year one edition is optimized for DX11 and up.”
    • “Kb/m support eventually got added in shortly after along with some major optimizations for the PC and is a decent port.”
    • “A menagerie of good ideas poorly implemented, embarrassing optimization failures and gameplay mechanics that fail to mesh with each other properly; the potential was there, the follow-through however was not.”
    • “The game is broken, it is/was early access and had some serious performance issues.”
    • “Poorly optimized, buggier than a family picnic in the rainforest, and poor controls make what could've been an excellent game clunky and unenjoyable.”
  • atmosphere128 mentions

    The atmosphere in "State of Decay" is widely praised for its immersive and tense portrayal of a post-apocalyptic world, effectively capturing the essence of survival amidst a zombie outbreak. While some players note technical issues and repetitive gameplay, the game's sound design, environmental details, and emotional stakes contribute to a compelling experience that keeps players engaged. Overall, the atmosphere is considered one of the game's strongest features, enhancing the sense of danger and urgency throughout the gameplay.

    • “The atmosphere, the exploration.”
    • “The ever-present moaning and shuffling of the zombies adds to the atmosphere enormously as you can't tell if they're outside or if it's a case of 'I don't think I'm alone in here.'”
    • “The developers really nailed the atmosphere of the game world and feature both dense forests and urban towns, all ripe for scavenging.”
    • “The atmosphere of the game, the feeling of constant danger and impending doom, and the fact that all choices you make lead to a permanent outcome due to the autosave only function... it's an incredible experience.”
    • “I feel like I'm playing a glorified arcade game which in itself is not a bad thing but this game is marketed as open world and while that is true it really, really lacks atmosphere and immersion.”
    • “At first (in the store page) they make it look like similar to 'The Last of Us' or something but later... the story is just a boring repetition of all the zombie games and brings nothing new, bad graphics, confusing graphics, lacks atmosphere, the gameplay sucks (compared to Tomb Raider or any other third person game)... entertains a little but the price is too high... poor quality.”
  • music100 mentions

    The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its atmospheric qualities and ability to enhance the overall experience, particularly during intense moments. While some find the soundtrack composed by Jesper Kyd to be excellent and fitting for the game's themes, others feel it can be repetitive or overshadowed by in-game sound effects. Overall, the music is generally regarded as a solid complement to the gameplay, though some players prefer to mute it in favor of their own selections.

    • “The soundtrack is absolutely amazing, keeping the calm moments calm and the thrill to danger when zombies are nearby.”
    • “Music is especially commendable when it can have a range of relaxing tunes when driving around the countryside, to heart-pounding tunes when faced with a horde of zombies.”
    • “Nice, comfy music plays when you're at the base during daytime upgrading things or just hanging around, a nice ambience plays while you're out exploring, grim, 'darker' music plays when you're in the middle of battle against overwhelming odds.”
    • “Usually turns music off instantly when I start a game for the first time.”
    • “The lack of music made story events all the less unique from the rest of the game.”
    • “Sound 3/10: have some music ready as the background music it comes with leaves something to be desired.”
  • grinding95 mentions

    Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience. While the initial gameplay is engaging and fun, many reviews highlight that it quickly becomes tedious and repetitive, with players often feeling like they are stuck in a cycle of monotonous tasks without a clear sense of progression. The lack of meaningful customization and the necessity of repetitive missions contribute to a sense of frustration, making the grinding feel more like a chore than an enjoyable part of the gameplay.

    • “It's just tedious and like running on a hamster wheel, with no sense of progression or end-goal.”
    • “The game is not hard, just tedious.”
    • “This game was fun for a while but after the 2-4 hour 'new game' feel wore off, the gameplay seemed to get repetitive, tedious, and relatively unfun.”
  • emotional62 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its strong character development and the weight of player decisions, which create a deep sense of attachment and loss when characters die. Players report experiencing a range of emotions, from heartbreak to elation, as they navigate the challenges of survival and manage the emotional states of their group. While some critiques mention a lack of depth in certain characters and repetitive gameplay, the overall consensus is that the game effectively evokes a visceral emotional response, making it a memorable experience.

    • “Furthermore, the game's strong character development and personal storylines make each survivor feel unique and valuable, fostering a sense of attachment and responsibility that adds emotional depth to the gameplay.”
    • “This game will break you, this game will enrage you, and this game will test your mental and emotional strength.”
    • “Because of the time spent with your survivors, you can really form an emotional bond with them over time, and it can be especially heartbreaking when they die.”
    • “Over and over and over again, the same old boring story.”
    • “To summarize, the game has a lot of potential; however, due to the technical issues and a boring story, this game falls short of being a must-have.”
    • “Laggy, outdated graphics, crappy controls, boring story.”
  • humor60 mentions

    The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with players noting both intentional and unintentional comedic moments, such as quirky character interactions and absurd glitches. While some find the humor to be a delightful addition that lightens the tense survival gameplay, others feel that the frequent bugs can be more frustrating than funny. Overall, the game balances dark humor with lighthearted moments, making it enjoyable for those who appreciate a blend of comedy and chaos in a zombie survival setting.

    • “There's plenty of humor though when interacting with survivors.”
    • “The ragdoll physics are hilarious.”
    • “It provides a fun exercise of zombie survival, camp and survivor management, funny jabs at the genre, etc; but seriously lacks in depth.”
    • “But there are so many glitches it's not funny.”
    • “It's better to say not funny but maybe more human-like.”
  • character development47 mentions

    Character development in the game is a mixed bag, with some players noting a lack of depth and emotional attachment to characters, while others appreciate the unique personalities and backstories of survivors. Many reviews highlight that while the gameplay mechanics are engaging, the character arcs are often shallow or underdeveloped, leading to a sense of detachment from the narrative. Overall, the game offers some character development elements, but they are frequently overshadowed by gameplay focus and a thin storyline.

    • “Furthermore, the game's strong character development and personal storylines make each survivor feel unique and valuable, fostering a sense of attachment and responsibility that adds emotional depth to the gameplay.”
    • “With its intricate survival mechanics, compelling character development, and dynamic open world, State of Decay sets a new standard for what a truly immersive and engaging survival game should be.”
    • “There is so much character development and macro management in this game that you really feel like you're 'surviving' rather than adventuring.”
    • “While the game had an interesting premise, the lack of a compelling story and character development left me feeling somewhat detached from the world and its inhabitants.”
    • “There is almost no character development, so you will not find an RPG element there.”
    • “The storyline is barely there; there's almost no character development.”
  • monetization11 mentions

    The monetization strategy of the game has been heavily criticized by users, who describe it as a blatant cash grab that prioritizes profit over quality and customer satisfaction. Many reviewers express disappointment in the publisher's tactics, feeling that the focus on monetization has overshadowed the game's potential and led to a loss of interest in the brand. Overall, the sentiment is overwhelmingly negative regarding the game's approach to monetization.

    • “I felt the need to write a review that criticized the underhanded tactics and cash grabbing of the publisher.”
    • “Shame on you, Undead Labs, for not fixing bugs and going for a cash grab instead.”
    • “After the cash grab and leaving their customers behind, I unfortunately lost all interest in SOD and lost more with Undead Labs as a brand.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

58% average critic score

Buy State of Decay

Play time

18hMedian play time
28hAverage play time
16hMain story
37hCompletionist
8-40hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 78 analyzed playthroughs

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