OK, before overly jerked knees and seismic facepalms leave RPS liable for one of the most puzzling injury outbreaks in medical history, know that State of Decay – while arising from the ashes of a zombie MMO project once called Class3 – doesn’t look like a Day Z clone or anything along those lines in the slightest. For better or worse, it appears to be a fairly over-the-top (I saw body slams) undead shoot-‘em-up/beat-‘em-down – but with an “open, sandbox world” that “dynamically generates content based on your choices and the ever-increasing zombie threat.” To be perfectly honest, I can’t actually find any info on whether or not it even has a multiplayer component anymore. But, somewhat shockingly, Grand-Theft-Auto-meets-zombies hasn’t really been done before, so there’s potential here.
There’s also a fairly heavy survival element – as is typically the case with these things – requiring you to scavenge in between bouts of impressively ridiculous violence. Here’s Undead Labs’ elevator pitch:
“State of Decay is an open sandbox world that develops in real-time, dynamically generating content based on your actions, the choices you make, and the ever-increasing zombie threat. Decide where you’d like to set up a fortified safe haven for you and other survivors you’ve rescued, then form raiding parties to gather resources and create supply chains. Use the materials you’ve gathered to develop your community as you see fit, but be careful – resources will deplete as you pillage areas, and zombies are attracted to noise and activity.”
“Take up the offensive by assaulting hordes before they reach your settlement, or focus on improving your defenses against the massed zombie attacks. Every choice and every action matter in this fully simulated, evolving world.”
Also of note: Microsoft’s publishing on both Xbox and PC, so Skulls-of-the-Shogun-style Windows 8 shenanigans aren’t entirely out of the question. But boy are there a lot of questions, and – by way of a thrilling, neck-and-neck race between smoke signal, carrier pigeon, snail mail, actual snails carrying mail, and email – I’m attempting to get them answered. Is State of Decay strictly single-player? Does it have a pre-written story, or is it entirely dynamic? Will Windows 8 factor into the equation at all? You’ll know as soon as I do.