The zombie survival game finally shambles onto Steam with the announcement of the Juggernaut Edition, which comes with the three add-on packs released so far: the Independence Pack, Daybreak and Heartland.
Existing owners of the game, including Xbox Game Pass members, will receive the upgrade to Juggernaut Edition for free and those who own Daybreak, Heartland, or the Ultimate Edition will get some exclusive in-game items. These items will be made available upon logging into the game when the game launches on March 13.
Among the things included in the upgraded version of the game are a new open world map, a new weapon category, graphical and audio improvements, and bug fixes.
For the uninitiated, here is a brief overview of the base game and the add-on packs for State of Decay 2:
The Base Game
In the base game, you control a group of survivors trying to survive in a world overrun by zombies. To not become zombie food, you’ll have to scavenge for supplies such as food and medicine to keep your survivors fed and healthy. Your survivors will need equipment to fight off zombies and materials to maintain their weapons and base.
Survivors are randomly generated and so are their traits and skills. Traits can have a positive or negative effect on their skills. When a survivor gains a high enough reputation with their community, they can become the leader of said community. Each survivor can be one of four leader types: Sheriff, Builder, Trader, and Warlord. Depending on which one you pick, you will be able to build certain facilities in your base.
Completing a playthrough with each of the leader types once will unlock Legacy Boons that you can use for your subsequent playthroughs. Survivors can also be brought over, but there’s a limit to how many you can store so pick wisely.
There is an infection mechanic in the form of a blood plague where taking too many hits from infected zombies can result in survivors becoming infected themselves and if left untreated, they can die from it.
Those seeking a tougher challenge can attempt taking on the Dread or Nightmare Zones. In these zones, zombies and hostile NPCs become more lethal, and resources are harder to come by. You’ll have to unlock the Legacy Boons again as they don’t carry over into higher difficulties. For example, I can’t use my Standard Zone Legacy Boon in Dread or Nightmare.
If you are crazy enough to jump straight into Nightmare Zones, you can unlock the Legacy Boons for the Standard and Dread zones, but I wouldn’t recommend going that route. Complete Standard Zones first before going into Dread and eventually Nightmare so you get a feel for the game and understand how things work.
Daybreak
This is a Horde mode where up to 4 players try to keep a NPC alive for 7 waves that get progressively more difficult. At the start, you’ll only have a limited selection of equipment to choose from but the more you play, the more items you’ll unlock, some of which can be used in the base game.
Heartland
Heartland is a story focused add-on that takes players back to Trumbull Valley, the setting of the first State of Decay game. A deadlier version of the blood plague has seeped in and it has to be stopped before the situation gets out of control.
Players can choose between two starting pairs of survivors and there will be other survivors that you can recruit into your community. Compared to the randomly generated survivors in the base game, Heartland’s survivors are much stronger, being unique characters and all. I would recommend recruiting as many of them as possible as they come with some really useful traits and skills that would greatly benefit your community.
Due to how it’s structured, this add-on definitely encourages you to play through it a second time if you want to experience the story from the perspective of the other pair of survivors.
The Independence Pack
This themed pack comes with a number of wacky ranged and melee weapons, vehicles and fireworks that can be used in the game. For starters, there’s a truck called the Burninator which has side-mounted flamethrowers that can help you deal with those pesky zombies that try to latch onto your doors.
Conclusion
Personally, it’s one of my favourite zombie apocalypse games as it places emphasis on working with what you have due to how a large portion of the game is randomly generated such as your survivors and the equipment that you find from scavenging.
I’ve had plenty of fun coming up with stories for each playthrough and I try to keep it interesting by not exiling characters that may be deemed sub-par in the grand scheme of things. I once had a character with terrible stamina that limited her combat ability, so I turned her into the community’s mechanic.
If you’ve been waiting for it to come to Steam, or you are a new player that wants to get into the game, now is a good time to pick it up as it comes with everything released so far. There is also co-op so if you don’t want to face the zombie apocalypse alone, you can bring your friends too.
Post published: 26 February 2020
Last updated: 13 March 2020
Update: Added anchor text with a link for readers who want to find out more about the Juggernaut Edition. Content has been edited for comprehensiveness and accuracy.
Writing With Biscuits 