State of Decay 2

 Xbox One
Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 70 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 70
  2. Mixed: 38 out of 70
  3. Negative: 6 out of 70
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Dec 31, 2018
    40
    Innovations in State of Decay 2 don´t solve any problems, but rather add some more. The game unnecessarily forces on its multiplayer and feels very impersonal. [Issue#287]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Gamers Heroes
    Sep 4, 2018
    40
    State of Decay 2 is going to be very hit and miss for a number of people. If you can ignore the flaws, there is a fun game to be had when played with a friend. That said, even if you ignore its flaws, you can’t deny that this game was not ready for release.
  3. Edge Magazine
    Jun 21, 2018
    40
    Beyond the odd jolt of panic as your wrench breaks mid-fight, or when the piercing shriek of a spindly screamer attracts a ravening pack, there's little here to quicken the pulse. For a zombie game, that might be the most damning criticism of all. [Aug 2018, p.100]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Metro GameCentral
    May 17, 2018
    40
    The State Of Decay concept still holds plenty of promise but this sequel is so broken that laughing at its bugs and glitches becomes its primary source of entertainment.
  6. CGMagazine
    May 17, 2018
    40
    State of Decay 2 feels more like a buggy expansion of the original game than a proper sequel.
  7. COGconnected
    May 17, 2018
    40
    I was about to launch into another broken situation here, but I’m sure you get the point. The point is this: although there’s a very competent core loop and entertaining resource management sim somewhere within State of Decay 2, it’s really, really, broken. Unacceptably so. It frustrated me mightily to see a flash of a game I wanted to play, only to be immediately reminded that it’s not ready for release.
This publication does not provide a score for their reviews.
This publication has not posted a final review score yet.
These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation.

In Progress & Unscored

?
  1. Ars Technica
    May 22, 2018
    State of Decay 2 is a smart, messy idea without much of a game to go with it… again. Try it if you don’t mind bugs or repetition too much.
  2. Eurogamer
    May 17, 2018
    There are times when State of Decay 2 is so buggy that it stops being a stodgy post-apocalyptic looting game and transforms into metatextual horror theatre. [Avoid]
  3. Kotaku
    May 17, 2018
    It’s not the story that shines in State of Decay 2, it’s the sandbox. It’s the small moments that emerge from the gameplay and the world itself that are the most compelling.
  5. Polygon
    Jun 15, 2018
    Mostly, though, it just reminds me of a host of open-world games that are more beautiful, more storied, more fun.
  6. The A.V. Club
    May 17, 2018
    Managing your survivors and paying attention to their needs keeps being interesting, but actually fighting off the zombies gets dull. For all its issues, Metal Gear Survive—one of this year’s other big games about killing monsters and staying fed—excelled when it came to combat. State Of Decay 2 would be significantly more entertaining if it took a page out of that book and allowed you to do anything as satisfying as stabbing zombies with a spear through a chainlink fence.
  7. The Jimquisition
    Jul 21, 2018
    State of Decay 2 is fine only because State of Decay is fine. As a sequel, Undead Labs’ retread is a letdown.
  8. Variety
    Jun 10, 2018
    There’s no denying it, “State of Decay 2″ is among the most broken high-profile games released this console generation, a delicate juggling act that hits you in the face with pie again and again, much past the point of any comedy. Those who manage to trudge through the muck will find a remarkable, if ramshackle experience that ticks their every checkbox for a great zombie game, save the unwritten one marked “stability.”
  9. Vice
    Jun 1, 2018
    The real issue in State of Decay 2 is how little investment it manages to earn. In its function, it feels like a world founded on the idea that if you can just imbue it with enough randomness, enough player-independent activity and interaction, enough probabilistic cogs and gears to let random characters and random story beats to fit together, we can imbue that world with life as well. But rather than a world, we get an infinite nothing. And State of Decay 2 ends up feeling a lot like the zombies the populate it: All movement and raw appetite, with not even the faintest heartbeat to be heard.

Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2018
4
#4 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2018

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 933 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 436 out of 933
  2. Mixed: 145 out of 933
  3. Negative: 352 out of 933
  1. Xbox_Alive
    May 22, 2018
    9
    The original State of Decay is a game that I placed a huge amount of enjoyable hours into and to say I was looking forward to State of Decay 2The original State of Decay is a game that I placed a huge amount of enjoyable hours into and to say I was looking forward to State of Decay 2 would be a massive understatement. Thankfully State of Decay 2 pretty much met my lofty expectations in all areas and despite it suffering with a few problems here and there it’s quite clear to see that this game has significant improvements over the original. The biggest and most enjoyable improvement for me was without a doubt the combat. The combat in the game is excellent and killing zombies never gets boring thanks to the varied and satisfying moves you can perform on the zombies. The gameplay on the whole feels improved as well and in my opinion it remains fun for longer. The main reason why it remains fun for longer is because it has more variety than in the previous game and this variety is definitely evident in both the missions you can undertake and the maps you undertake the missions on. If you like game’s that offer you lots of content then you will love State of Decay 2. I’m not exaggerating when I say that there’s almost an endless amount of replayability present in this game and the best thing is that this content can be enjoyed in both short bursts and long periods as well. When playing the game though you will however bump into a few bugs along the way, and whilst most of these bugs are small and not game-breaking they can still be frustrating and ruin the immersion levels somewhat at times. I was however able to look past these issues quite easily because you end up forgetting about them thanks to the different mechanics and elements the game has. Thankfully these different mechanics hold up really well most of the time and can be enjoyed in both single player and multiplayer. I must admit that I was really looking forward to the game’s multiplayer offering and thankfully when it works it’s really fun. The multiplayer option though does suffer with a few problems and they will have to make some tweaks to make it a better experience, but I appreciate the effort that has gone into the core idea though. Without a doubt one of my favourite things about the game was the presentation side of the things. Visually the game can look awesome at times and the accompanying sound design creates a very eerie atmosphere which in turn makes you become very immersed in the gameplay. At the end of the day if you were a fan of the first State of Decay then you will thoroughly enjoy State of Decay 2. It’s took what was good from the first game and improved it and even though it suffers with quite a few bugs these bugs still didn’t stop me from having a very enjoyable experience and these bugs also don’t stop me from giving the game a big thumbs up.… Full Review »
  2. ChipWhitley1985
    May 18, 2018
    0
    How could you downgrade this from the first game! I guess it could be due to repetetive gameplay but seriously I regret buying this stupidHow could you downgrade this from the first game! I guess it could be due to repetetive gameplay but seriously I regret buying this stupid game. You've lost a fan, zombie labs.… Full Review »
  3. RempuiaPC
    May 18, 2018
    0
    Played on a friend's XOne X, it was fun for the first 25 minutes then the bugs started showing up. The amount of bugs is crazy, zombie popsPlayed on a friend's XOne X, it was fun for the first 25 minutes then the bugs started showing up. The amount of bugs is crazy, zombie pops outta nowhere and sometimes get stuck in a wall or roof of a building. My friend's got one of the best internet yet when playing co-op the amount of lag is crazy annoying. The game itself is bad, too repetitive and not exciting that it feels like a chore if u play alone. I'm yet to play the superior PC version though.… Full Review »
See all user reviews »