[Silynn]

Besides Final Fantasy XIV, I do love the "survive against the elements *AND* zombie apocalypse" game genre. Fallout series, State of Decay 1, Survivalist, Wasteland, and a few others have been a great staples to explore this genre.

State of Decay 2 has finally released and I spent a good amount of time exploring this new world. By far my favorite activity is scavenging. Going into buildings, be it a commercial business, a warehouse, a home, anything really to look for anything to help my community survive another day, is quite an adventure. If Forrest Gump was in the world, he would say, "Going into a building is like a box of chocolates, as you never know what or who you will get."

Base building, character development, fighting zombie hordes, cleaning out infestations... all grand. But my second favorite activity is to slaughter the undead with my snowplow equipped truck. No more fear of damage to my vehicle, just full speed ahead and glow into gaggles of zeds.

Anyhow, this would not be complete without a personal review of the newly released game.

Review:
The game is newly released as such, expect bugs. Fortunately, I have not experienced anything game breaking. Just very minor issues which always corrected itself in some manner. Maybe I've been lucky in that regard. But I have been enjoy so many things about the game that the minor bugs I have encountered didn't even phase me. Perhaps I love the genre so much that I was too excited to care. If battling zombies isn't high on your list, wait for Special Edition in a year. But for $30 (yes, not a $60 release), it isn't a bad game to lose yourself for several hours.

Pros:

• Base Building - Excellent mechanics and upgrading or moving bases doesn't waste resources (tearing down and building refunds the materials).
• Combat - Like in first SoD, combat is fluid and fun, with the silent 'takedown' mechanic wonderful. Pretty gory too.
• Snowplow Equipped Truck - Vehicle modifications is truly wonderful and a missed feature in the first SoD.
• Characters - Wide assortment of survivors that you either work with them or exile them. Do you keep someone with that rare special skill even though they cause so much drama and disharmony? There are a huge variety of personalities and voice acting, I have been quite amazed. Everyone has some kind of story (even if randomized), based on their 'traits'.
• Open World - Seamless open world to explore.
• MULTI-PLAYER CO-OP!!!!! - OMG, SoD sorely didn't have this and now this is a feature! You can play with up to 3 others in Co-Op. (Yes, I capped for excitement).

Cons:

• Unforgiving - No control over saves. The game autosaves regularly, but there is no going back from a mistake or death. You have to play and live with any consequences. You try to rambo that zombie infestation or horde alone... and die, that character is dead and gone. Forever. Live and accept the results.
• Vehicle - Not really a 'con' but a gripe for me. You can repair and modify vehicles, but now you have to keep them FUELED. Ugh, now do I use that fuel I have to build fire bombs, fuel my generator for a day, make alcohol (trade good), or fuel my snowplow-equipped zombie steamroller? It's a new mechanic for SoD 2, but I'm not a huge fan of it. I hate running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere and have to fight hordes of zeds to find some more fuel to get out of the area.
• Can feel repetitive - Surviving is a daily chore. You will always be running out of something (Food, Meds, Ammo, Materials, or Fuel). Something will always be out or in demand which forces you to go out and survive. This isn't SIMS 4 where you can just sit and play xbox all day. Someone has to go out and get the supplies, and if you aren't getting supplies you are recovering from wounds and fatigue.
• Fatigue - Is a real deal. When your character gets tired, they can't fight or run as well. Which can be death if you get a bad spot. You gotta give time to rest and rotate through your community.
• Community Size - in SoD 1, I remember I could get like 20 survivors and be virtually untouchable. Now, if I try that I'd be out of food in a day or two. The bigger your community the more resources they 'consume'. I seem to hover around 6 to 8, as I try to maximize the 'rare skills' that allow me to build the higher tier base upgrades or equipment. You have to manage resources so you have to manage your community size. Not only tough but sad to do as you turn away other survivors because you can't provide for them.
• No Pause and Time commitment - This game requires time for you to sit and play. There is *NO* pause feature. So when you decide to play, you better have some uninterrupted time to play it. There is no real safe place to AFK, as time moves forward in game and your character will still become fatigued by just standing there. Not to mention zombies can wander by and kill you. So to launch the game and play, you better have a good 30 min to hour to just be left alone.

True, some of the cons may be appealing to some, but not for me as much.

With all of that said, who else is playing SoD 2? And if you are, who wants to get some Co-Op going (most likely on the weekend as it allows for maximum time flexibility) unless you are in a timezone close to PST.