State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition is the first release of the game for the Xbox One platform and a compilation release for the PC as most of the content was already available separately. It contains:
- State of Decay (base game)
- State of Decay: Breakdown (DLC)
- State of Decay: Lifeline (DLC)
The graphics were remastered from 720p to 1080p with new animations, improved lighting, textures, combat mechanics and an extended drawing distance. It also adds a knife as a new melee weapon. There are new missions as supply crates with rare content can now appear, also drawing large hordes of zombies. Characters from Lifeline can now be unlocked in Breakdown, including the previously unplayable Kelly ‘Sasquatch’ Eldridge. The game contains a new SUV as well as custom vehicle skins distributed across all maps. New weapons include new assault rifles with under-barrel grenade launcher attachments as well as shotguns that fire incendiary rounds.
The Xbox One version has unlockable items through timed community challenges and achievements covering both the base game and the DLC.
In State of Decay, the player (initially) takes the role of Marcus who is faced with a sudden problem: the zombie apocalypse is here! While there is a series of main quests which lead the player through the game world, the focus is on surviving in the sandbox world.
The basic idea: Marcus explores the world and its abandoned settlements – either by foot or car – in order to scavenge food and weapons. The managerial aspects start when Marcus meets other survivors and opens up a base: then he not only needs to get more food to keep everyone fed, but also meet other needs like enough places to sleep. The base is expanded with modules which also can be upgraded – but of course this requires materials. It is also possible to found new bases.
Without bases, chances of survival are slim: Marcus fatigues over time which hampers his ability to fight and if he dies, he is dead forever. In those cases, the player can switch to another member of the community to continue playing. Each character also has abilities which improve with usage, e.g. a character gets better with melee weapons after using them for a while. Combat is action based and is strongly based on fatigue – when a character uses a weapon, it fatigues and can’t fight as well anymore. This means single zombies don’t pose much of a threat, but facing many makes it hard to survive.
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