HWM (Singapore)

Yes. Zombies% again

State of Decay 2

- By Salehuddin Husin ( GameAxis)

Having played the original, the rst thing that came to mind was how alike the two games are. It has the same controls, the same gameplay mechanics, the same… everything.

If you’re new to the series,_State of Decay_is a survival game set in a postapocal­yptic Earth, focused not on just your character but a community of NPCs. You’ll build bases and facilities for your survivors, while making runs out into the world to gather essential supplies.

Base building is relatively unchanged from the original. Yet again, only certain locations can be used for your base. Depending on how big it is, you might need a certain number of survivors and reputation points (RP). While a bigger base is of course better, it also attracts a larger zombie menace.

There are a handful of new facilities in_State of Decay 2, mainly tied to Hero traits. For example, Trader unlocks the trading post for a set amount of RP each day. You can upgrade these facilities to make them more eScient. There are also mod slots now, enhancing your buildings in di erent ways.

Upgrading to higher tiers requires survivors with specialize­d skills, which does logically t the game’s theme. However, I played most of my rst campaign without an automobile repair shop, simply because no survivor I encountere­d was a mechanic who wanted to join me. You can o set this by nding skill books for your survivors, but again, I never found a book I needed at the time I wanted them. It’s all so random.

You’ll initially start the campaign with three survivors (four if you play the tutorial), but that number

can climb if you persuade other NPCs to join you. Each survivor has their own set of stats and specializa­tions that increase through gameplay. You’ll want to keep an all-rounded group to cover every contingenc­y, though that’s easier said than done.

While the urge to gather survivors like Pokémon will be strong, letting too many in can be detrimenta­l if your base isn’t able to support them—experiment­ing is part of the charm.

Also, State of Decay 2 can now have survivors infected with the Blood Plague. It’s a slow, real-time countdown before the poor survivor turns into a zombie. You can cure this, but it takes ve Plague Samples which are a rare drop from the Plague Zombies. You’ll also need an inrmary. It’s all a bit troublesom­e but it does add a welcome new element in the war against the undead. It could even make for harrowing situations if an important survivor gets infected.

On top of facilities and your home base, are outposts, serving as staging points for your excursions into the world. You can only have limited number of outposts so establishi­ng them at key locations and in

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