I can’t speak for scharmers, but Rob Zacny at Waypoint claims State of Decay 2 dispenses with its predecessor’s authored character stories for more procedural characters.
I think I’ve come to the disappointing conclusion that I’m in the same boat, and that I miss the pre-generated, set characters and main storyline. Lily, Marcus, Ed, Sam… I remember them, and the things they said and did had some meaning as they struggled to determine what had/was happening to the world. It was an interesting mystery to me that kept me playing SOD1.
Now, I’m just getting an endless stream of random characters that are very disposable. I may want to keep them alive for their particular skills, but I’m not really interested in helping them survive just to find out what happens to them. That’s just me. I’ve realized recently that I prioritize Narrative (no matter how slim) above Systems when I play games. I need little story elements to keep me pressing forward and engaged. Correct me if I’m wrong, Tom, but it seems you definitely prioritize Systems?
It’s for those reasons that I feel SOD1 is still worth playing. SOD2 has definitely replaced the endless “Breakdown” mode from the the first game, but the characters and events from the original story were important to me. Additionally, the “Lifeline” DLC for SOD1 is worth playing after completing the main game, since there’s an emphasis placed on acquiring LOTS of ammo and guns, which were previously hard to come by, and laying waste to huge sieges of zombies. That map also features some fun ramps and other vehicle options. That last point reminds me that, while I can appreciate the tension gained from having limited vehicle fuel, I sure did enjoy bombing around in SOD1, exploring and killing road signs, without having to worry about stopping for gas.
I guess it depends? Ideally, they’re both well done. But if one of them sucks, it can definitely drag down the other. But that’s not a problem I had with State of Decay 2. For me, the systems and story are both compelling.
I just don’t understand the complaint about a lack of story in State of Decay 2. It’s definitely in there, it’s just not shoved down your throat. There are no mandatory story beats, as there were in vanilla State of Decay, which I guess is what some people expect? But there are chain quests associated with certain survivors, as well as other factions; certain survivors will have backstories they reveal in party dialogue; all survivors have a mix of traits that create their own backstories; and, of course, there’s the emergent narrative as you play the game. Also, there are hardcoded characters, including Lily, and factions you hear over the radio.
Maybe you guys will get what you’re looking for in DLC? Who knows. But it’s not an issue for me. Part of zombie mythology is that unlikely groups of people are thrown together to survive. I find that works just fine when you let the systems create it procedurally. It’s not the kind of storytelling that requires a fixed script.
I am fine with the Breakdown-style gameplay, and most of the game’s systems. The lack of narrative really doesn’t bother me.
What bothers me most about SoD2 now is how I find it more irritating than fun. Look, I can’t die. Seriously. I haven’t had a person die since a few communities back, where I ran into a Juggernaut that just wouldn’t seem to go down. And then, it was just the follower that died (along with the UI, a bug since fixed). The constant stream of zombies everywhere is more annoying than anything else (the spawn system, which was fine in SoD1, is seriously fucked in SoD2. In SoD1, noises and stuff called in ambient zombies, which meant that if you’d cleared the area, you could make all sorts of noise without 9000 zeds spawning in around you per SoD2. And don’t talk to me about the constant party guests inviting themselves to your base…)
Blood Hearts? Pfft. Spam the fire weapon of your choice, unload a clip, and then go in swinging. You might have to do a little med-RB’ing and you might end up infected, but unless you’re completely slow on the controller, you’ll nail it. I cleared a final blood heart once by tossing in a willie pete and waiting.
So: complete rework of spawn system and re-balance of difficulty. Maybe add back the NPC interactions that are no longer there (housemates getting depressed and needing rescue/target practice, etc.). Less infestation spam. Less tediousness with enclave interaction (seriously, who is going to go across the map to feed/arm/fuel another enclave for the paltry rewards offered?)
Right now, SoD2 is like Elite: Dangerous to me. I’m playing the hell out of now because I’m hoping that something in it will click since the game is supposed to press all the right buttons for me. It’s later on when I realize that something wasn’t ever there when I get bitter :\
I’m not sure what you expect with the spawn system. State of Decay 2 can’t do the Dead Rising hordes because it’s simply not built for that. So we get the stealth spawning system to represent the hordes. Works fine for me. Techland did it, too, and it worked fine over there.
But I do think there’s an issue with difficulty scaling. The only dynamic difficulty in State of Decay 2 comes from the number of plague hearts left on the map. The fewer that remain, the harder the difficulty scales. The problem is that by the time there aren’t many plague hearts left, you’ve probably got a stable base and plenty of bad-ass survivors. I suspect it’s tuned this way because the game is made for a wider audience beyond those of us who have played a hundred hours of State of Decay.
But I’m with you, scharmers, in that I need something more difficult at this point, something more brutal towards my survivors and their community. I was really hoping for some sort of Breakdown style escalating difficulty option over successive playthroughs, but it’s the opposite of that. Going into a new playthrough with two legacies is basically baby mode. I’m sure this is on the table for patches or DLC, so we’ll see. I’ve shelved State of Decay 2 for the time being, and I can’t deny I’m tempted to jump back into my Breakdown progression. Unfortunately, I would miss too many of the improvements in State of Decay 2.
Zombie spawning was never done in the player’s view
Outright zombie spawning was much more sparse, except for hordes. And hordes were much bigger.
Insta-spawning wasn’t so obvious. Right now, the instant you step in a car, you are surrounded by zombies that weren’t there just a second ago. This is some shit.
Same deal with locked doors/failed fast searches – SoD1 would vector in already existing ambient zombies, and might throw a couple insta-spawns in there. In SoD2, you just get spammed.
“Spammed” I guess is the best way to describe SoD2’s spawn system. SoD1 had a much more subtle, believable, and less-irritating system that nevertheless could whoop your butt every once in a while.
I think that’s a good idea for me, too. I won’t be going back to SoD1 – that old soldier has done more than enough – but here’s hoping that Undead Labs gets to polish SoD2 a little more now that the release date pressure and Week 1 patch are out.
Maybe I just wasn’t looking for it, but in dozens of hours of play, I never saw this. Seemed like the same spawning system as State of Decay 1, but with provisions for more zombies, which I think is a good thing.
Also, there are hardcoded characters, and factions you hear over the radio.
I haven’t yet run into them, so maybe I just need more time. There’s a difference, though, for me anyway, between hearing someone on the radio and physically helping them fight off a horde siege.
Part of zombie mythology is that unlikely groups of people are thrown together to survive.
Something we talked about ages ago on my short-lived podcast was how zombies are particularly disturbing when your family and close friends become subsumed into the horde. Don’t you think that Undead Nightmare was much more effective having played through the Red Dead storyline and grown attached to folks like Bonnie MacFarlane?
I wasn’t sure about cars, but it really sucks. Honestly, I’m an awful driver just driving back forth to the base results in a couple of accident, having 4 or 5 zed spawn, after I’ve carefully killed all the ones around the car feels grossly unfair.
Bonnie MacFarlane was a character someone else had written. This guy and these folks were characters I had written myself.
I get what you’re saying, but the stories are there in State of Decay 2 if you care to look. You’re absolutely right that they’re not as scripted as the characters in Undead Nightmares or even State of Decay 1. But for me, that doesn’t make them any less meaningful.
I never started my sherrifs legacy quest but when I accidentally destroyed my last plague heart her quest changed to “talk to four members” after which there didn’t seem to be anything
@tomchick your review of SoD2 has been gripping enough to move two friends of the genre who were initially turned away by the gaming press to pick it up. You should get kick backs from MS. Or at least a bouquet.
State of Decay 2 will pick up at least two major content expansions as part of the game’s season pass
And Microsoft’s thoughts on State of Decay 3:
Fast forward to E3 2018, where Microsoft announced it was acquiring the studio in full. Working as an independent entity prevented Undead Labs and Microsoft from collaborating more closely when it came to resources, budgeting, hiring, and so on, but under the same roof, Undead Labs should have the resources it needs to build the State of Decay fans have been dreaming of. And today, Microsoft confirmed interest in building State of Decay 3.
Speaking to EggPlante, Microsoft Studios lead Matt Booty discussed Undead Labs’ acquisition:
“When we first started working on State of Decay, we had a much bigger game, a much more persistent online game, and I know that Undead Labs will get there eventually, but by bringing them into the Microsoft family, I think we’re able to accelerate that and get us there sooner which is great.”
“In the case of Undead Labs, we absolutely want to go make State of Decay 3. That is a clear goal. That studio will have some other incubation, they’ll work on some things, but this is a State of Decay 3 team.”
Just cleared my first map of plague hearts and embarked on the subsequent missions. Had to quit after a while so hopefully that chain doesn’t reset completely. Great game but seems to under use its map as far as I know so far. It would be great if you had to take over or somehow interact with strategic points around the map, rather than outposts providing a resource boost at best.
