Most games feel like this old film term, day-for-night, where nighttime shoots are faked (poorly) by limiting film exposure. Nights are dark here, and that’s actually one of my favorite aspects. Not too difficult, mind you, but the tension in State of Decay 2 is palpable. It wears the trappings of a simulator, despite its patently unrealistic setup.Īnd it’s oppressive. State of Decay 2 banks off the same appeal as European Truck Simulator to an extent, or Planet Coaster or Cities: Skylines or Project Cars. It’s mundane to a fault, and that’s (oddly enough) what makes it compelling. If the apocalypse were to happen, it’s easy to envision a future where circumstance throws these very ordinary people together. You’ve met these archetypes in real life, even if it’s just in a friend-of-a-friend way. The voice acting is spotty and the animations are mostly bad, but you know these people. With the exception of a soldier-type you meet early on, its characters are mostly normal citizens, ill-equipped to survive in this new world-a nurse, a pair of best friends who like movie trivia, a musician, and so on. State of Decay 2 is eminently recognizable. It’s doubtful I’ll ever be trapped on some sort of ocean planet, forced to survive by consuming various underwater flora and fauna. But Subnautica’s uniqueness was also a barrier. I loved what I played of Subnautica for instance, and I don’t think State of Decay 2 is nearly as unique nor as polished. Not to say it’s the best survival game I’ve played period, because it isn’t. State of Decay 2 is maybe the best survival game I’ve played when it comes to capturing that fantasy. Maybe you’d secure that small and impractical building that nevertheless has a commanding view of the surrounding landscape.

Maybe you’d take over Home Depot or another business with an abundance of lumber and barbed wire. Maybe you’d barricade the local ammo supply store. “What would you do in case zombies attacked?” Everyone’s got a different answer.

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