Waiting for the quick look to archived and downloading the trial now (which is going painfully slow for some reason) I'm just curious if anyone has gotten a chance to sit down and play this yet? It seemed pretty cool and kind of ambitious

I'm a couple of hours in, definitely getting more complicated now, having to manage survivors tiredness levels and complete missions before they expire.

good so far but the combat is terrible. not unbearable with NPC followers but frustrating when on your own and get grappled.

I think with a bit more time and understanding of how it all works it could be really good. Worth the money either way to be fair.

It's good. Lot of odd mechanics going on in there. Two of your survivors having arguments? Take one on a therapeutic zombie smashing mission and have a deep, heart to heart pep talk as you stove skulls in.

I'm not sure if it's intentionally hilarious or just the combination of low budget and serious jank makes it so. I really like it, it has cult smash written all over it.

I need to spend more time with it, but so far I'm not sure how much I like it. It seems like it could have some depth, but so far it seems like I'm just mashing buttons.

I'm around 2 hours in I believe and I'm having lots of fun. It has lots of frame rate issues, clipping, and awkward driving controls yet none of that really bugs me. (At least not yet)

Also, I hope future Walking Dead games that aren't part of the Telltale series are like this.

I just played the trial until the time limit expired. Playing on a 360 Slim and noticed a little bit of framerate dives every once and a while and some slow unreal engine style asset streaming. Overall for an Arcade game is still feels pretty solid. Im probably going to pick this up once my paycheck drops next. I just wish this had multiplayer support. This seems like something that I could spend a LOT of time in if I could play with others. For what it is after the trial its still peaking my interests. It feels like a blend between DayZ and Dead Rising without the DR phsycopath boss battles or the shitty player to player interactions of Dayz. I love being able to scavenge and explore "populated" areas without being murdered for no reason by everyone for simply being alive. As far as the trial version goes, the game feels like a 90% complete game. There is a little bit of jank and wierdness that I feel comfortable letting slide since it IS only an arcade release and not a full sized title. The problems are still nothing I dont think they cant iron out with a single decent sized patch. If Undead Labs supports the game post release and keeps it patched (yes Im aware of the extortion level fee microsoft forces down developers throats to patch) I see it getting popular easy. Again, this game NEEDS multiplier.

I had points falling out my ass. (Ex-Sale).

It's pretty good even though it has tech issues. Seems something that can be patched up. Seeing about 100000 + on leaderboards so hopefully they'll patch it

Apparently if State of Decay sells well enough they will continue to work on "Class4" which is like this but it's an MMO.

@onikagei: I actually really like the combat, you can't mash attacks without losing stamina and Left bumper plus X does a nice heavy ish attack which is fun. Put 3-4 hours in it so far and I've been given the option to relocate to a larger base and It's become more difficult to manage a larger number of people. Also the other towns you can visit are pretty awesome.

@pnut_buttr_panda: Based on what I've seen so far, it seems like they have a post-release content strategy in mind. It almost even seems like this could have been a F2P with buy-in content.

They also said that they would patch-in some sort of multiplayer if it sold well, too. I'm waiting for the PC version, but after watching that stream archive someone posted in another thread from Polygon, I'm definitely looking forward to it.

@vaultdweller13: I dont get that feeling at all. It doesnt play like a f2p game, and they have made it pretty clear that anything they do after this is going to be towards building an MMO using this engine. It feels like a game that wanted built-in co-op but they just didnt have the budget for it. The whole game feels like a microbudget game that they did a good job on but couldnt quite get mutliplayer in. If this were a summer of arcade release it would sell like CRAZY. Again, the only thing I can really ding the game for is not having some kind of co-op. The whole thing feels like it was built with co-op in mind. I have a feeling that State of Decay is going to be an XBLArcade cult classic. Its just a shame that Microsoft has made it so clear that they intend of doing away with XBLA with the launch of the One.

While I enjoy it very much, there are a few things that I wished they could have done but I understand that the tiny budget didn't allow them to. That being said, they really crammed in a ton of stuff for such a low budget title. The skills seem important, base building is fun and the melee combat, while not great surprisingly has some depth to it with dodging, sneak attacks and heavy attacks.

However, there's a pretty thick layer of jank that ranges from manageable to god-awful especially when driving a car and gun controls are terrible. Also, I really would've liked to see some sort of bigger threat than the zombies, like bandits. Bandits would've added another layer of challenge to the game, having to know who to trust when adding survivors, defending your base, and tense negotiations between your group and bandit leaders would've been really great. But again, that kind of depth is definitely out of their budget so I don't blame them, hopefully they can add more content through post-release patches or even through DLC packs, I'd pay for DLC in a heartbeat for this game. There's a lot of things that this game does right but there definitely are some bad parts to it.

Thankfully, the good outways the bad, and some of the bad can definitely be patched out in time so I'd say it's a good overall package. I think that @pnut_buttr_panda is right when he says that this game is going to be a cult classic, I'm sure that there's going to be people that can't see past all of the bugs and some of the controls and that's perfectly fine, because some of them seems a bit inexcusable. However, there's always going to be a little community that absolutely adores the game and will stick around to see the updates and I'm glad to be part of that community.

From what I've played of it so far, I dig the game. Hopefully It doesn't get too crazy or overwhelming by the mid-point.

I played for a couple of hours and love it. I'd say zombies are a pretty big threat if you run into a horde without a vehicle or get ambushed by a Feral. Maya got ripped in half by one because I was overconfident.

I just played this game from 8 am until 11 pm straight o_o

I want a PC version of this game. If that happens then I'll play it. I don't want to have to turn on my Xbox to play it.

I really want multiplayer in this.

I've had my eye on this game for a while, and on paper was exactly what I was looking for. Little technical issues aside it's a really satisfying game. I love the fact that you lose your character if they go down, really adds weight to your actions/decisions and that (so far) all of your missions and objectives feel natural, given the situation you're in.

If they're able to add some form of co-op at a later date, it'll be excellent.

Also, first post - Hello!

This game definitely offers the same kind of "holy crap, you should've seen what happened..." stories like Far Cry 3 did.

For example, last night, I took Ed to a Gun Shop to stake it out, grab some ammo, and potentially make it an outpost. I was on my LAST cabinet and figured I could LB my way through it no problem. WRONG. Made a loud noise, it was the middle of the night, and a horde was right outside that I didn't notice. If you know the gun shop I'm talking about, it isn't exactly very large, so when about 20 zombies came in, I panicked. All of them jumped on top of me, sending my character down (for the first time since I got the game) and it prompted me to mash the A button. After I did that, he pulled some kind of Matrix move where zombies went flying and I tried my hardest to muscle my way out. I had no items to restore health and stamina and there was a car about 2 blocks away. I somehow managed to get out to the streets where I was running my hardest towards the station wagon with zombies hot on my trail. I was sure I was done for. Somehow I got in the driver side and backed over half of the horde and sped off without looking back. Made it back to the safe house with a sliver of health left.

All of that happened in a RANDOM OCCURRENCE. Not a story driven plot device. Pretty awesome stuff. If you are reading this and don't own this, BUY IT NOW. Support these guys!

Hello @steak_monster

I am enjoying it a lot! It reminds me a lot of the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games in that yes there is jank, a bunch of it, but you find fun in it nonetheless. There are a bunch of systems that you have to keep an eye and manage throughout your time with the world. I even wrote a blog on the loss of my main survivor. That was heartbreaking. But enjoyable because I had to train others to take his place.

If anyone is still unsure, I really enjoyed IGN's videos on the game.

It's a cult classic, I can already tell. It's too bad the company has a large chance of going under with their plans of building an MMO. We all know how that works out for companies.

Just a warning to people, there is a pretty bad game breaking bug involving infestations. If you ever get a message that there are too many infestations yet can't find any, that is because it is taking EVERY infestation on the map into account, not just the ones near your base. The game breaking part of this is the fact that survivors will randomly go 'missing' at an alarming rate. This can leave you with little to no controllable characters and no way to save the missing survivors except waiting for a rescue mission to pop. Very easy to get into a game breaking situation...

I've played about 8 hours so far and I love it, I've only lost one survivor (Marcus). I slipped off a cliff, such a stupid way to die.

Are any of the missions timed? I am on the one where you need to go fetch someone to help Ed. It says I should hurry but do I really need to?

I'm hoping my patience will hold out until it's released for PC but I'm not sure it's going to.

The story missions...not really. I left Ed there and got the Doc about 10 hours in after pretty much clearing the first town. The help survivor missions(person needs aid, special Zed hunt, Missing person) however ARE timed, and your dudes can DIE if you don't go help them.

Its the one to get the doctor for ED.

I'm waiting for PC and hoping they add co-op. If it doesn't get co-op I doubt I will get it until it's on some Steam sale for $3. The game looks neat, but I know I would never beat it unless it had co-op.

Its pretty good. Clumsy and janky but good. I got a whiff of nostalgia for Deadly Premonition while playing it. Its a technically more impressive game but it definitely reminded me of it in a good way.

@crusader8463 It does't need co-op. It would take away from the tension. A lot of the tension is from going out alone when your character has perma death. Plus I don't know how they would handle that in co-op without the game being totally built around it.

Ya I do not understand the recent fetish for co op. Dragons Dogma got a lot of hate because of it and now this game is getting the hate. It is a stupid nit pick.

@the_laughing_man: Well in State of Decay's case they had co-op as a goal for the project early on but had to scrap it.

I hope the developers go the same route as Runic games and Make a State of Decay 2 that's on a larger scale with co-op, general improvements and a next gen version. I've got nothing against MMO's but State of Decay in its current form is so damned close to being an absolutely fantastic game I'd like to them try it again on a more powerful platform.

Oh and I heard a while back that it might be windows 8 exclusive on pc...

And they said they are gonna try to patch in Co-op. But this new strange want for Co op is really weird and getting lots of games un needed hate.

@the_laughing_man: I haven't personally heard people hating on games due to lack of co-op but I guess I can see where they are coming from in a way. Some people prefer playing certain types of games with friends and replacing the pawns from DD with actual people would be fun. I think its just a preference and that particular group of people have been fairly vocal.

@likeassur said:

Yeah I think both Undead Labs and the State of Decay IP could be better served by doing a more polished sequel before diving wallet-first into MMO development.

I agree, I'd much rather prefer a more polished, bigger single player sequel than another MMO that I'm definitely not going to play.

@professoress: Yup that is exactly what I want as well.

Just because you don't have people you want to play games with doesn't make it stupid. The game looks really boring and repetitive if I was sitting in my room by myself trodding through the same missions over and over. Throw a friend into the mix and we can run around the world trying to screw with stuff, break the game, and all of those stupid bugs that would be annoying and not fun alone become stupid things we can laugh at and have fun stories about.

Having a friend to play a game with you at the same time makes games way more fun and memorable to me. I wouldn't have enjoyed a ton of games if it wasn't for being able to play it with a friend, and pretty much all of my best memories of games are times I played them with a friend.

As for your specific situations, I couldn't disagree more. Getting cornered and having to go back to back with a friend fighting off hordes of zombies sounds a lot more interesting and intense knowing that you need to not only watch your own back but your friends or you are both screwed. You are running away from a horde of zombies and your friend runs down the wrong alleyway only to find himself cornered and you need to fight your way through the zombies to save his dumb ass. What's more intense than running to try and save your friend from getting killed? Especially when it means his character is gone for good. The best zombie/horror fiction are when a small group of people have to work together to survive and protect one another. Not running around alone.

i have been playing the game for a few hours now and i still dont know what to think of it. I do feel the game does kind of crummy job explaining to you the systems that are in place. i had no clue i could build a work bench to fix weapons and what have you until i just started browsing the menu's. also i really wish you could recruit people to come with you when you decide to go scavenge for supplies and other survivors instead of it being mission specific. the game has a lot of really great concepts in it, but i feel the execution is kind of bad. i dont know i'll stick with it for now, but i cant really seem to find a good rhythm to the game yet. also i agree with a most people in here. the game really seems like it was built for co-op

@comradecrash: Here I made a playlist since they haven't yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SxRCZS86nE&list=PL9iahYwJmjenPl_0AHvs4meZKF9NsiVau

Stay strong, we're in the same boat.

So you guys know Alan right? He's pretty much a jerk and I thought he couldn't die due to be linked to the main story but yeah... He was tore in half by a big bloated fella, death by one of those things is extremely gruesome.

I got a car stuck in a tree"

Wow, really? So, I guess nobody is safe then.

Does anyone know if the 'Justified'-looking dude in the trailer is a main story playable character? Or is he some randomly generated character?

@firecracker22: Yeah I guess so. I didn't like him anyway.

I've played 2-3 hours of it. I usually tire of zombie games quick because I'm less interested in story and combat than I am in survival, as such I've been enjoying State of Decay. As others have stated, it's definitely super janky, and it also seems a lot more complicated than I think it is, that said, I like it quite a bit. My only real concern is that the story missions could in fact get in the way of the survival mechanics, but we'll see. Great buy at $20 in any case.

I think it'd be neat if this game had some sort of new game plus where you get to choose a starting character and location, and that drops the story stuff.

Also, as I understand it, the reason the co-op got thrown out was because of the engine they went with for the game. It was originally being planned as local co-op but the engine couldn't handle it, so they scrapped it as they did not have time to work out online multiplayer. The word is that they "hope" to add it via a patch.

They are already working on a patch, So good to see it can improve.

Is this game scary?

Because I've been in the mood for a good horror game lately, and this seems like it might be right up my alley.

@fancysoapsman: It really can be in a "oh shit, I'm screwed!" sense but it's not really spooky if that's what you're looking for.

this is great news.

I wasn't sure when I started this one up, it was super duper janky, but just enough to give it that Deadly Premonition kind of charm. It was the first time I went out to that gun store in town that I fell for this game. I was looting some ammo into a rucksack to take back to the church when I noticed a vision cone creeping slowly up my map. Armed with only a 2x4 and 3 rounds of 22, I knew I couldn't take them. So I waited quietly as the horde shambled by, hoping their course wouldn't take them by my car. It did. So I ducked out the back and made it to a car just in time for nightfall. I personally feel like this is the first zombie game I've ever played that feels like a legit zombie apocalypse (I didn't play Day Z since I don't have Arma).