Undead Labs' State of Decay finds itself now within a genre that has grown from niche to unfathomably popular. As a survival-crafting and base-building title, State of Decay tasks players with fending off hordes of never-ending zombies of various types while scrounging for resources, gathering fellow NPC survivors, and keeping their growing community well-supplied and healthy via various stats and expansions to their settlements. State of Decay 2's biggest change added multiplayer co-op, letting fans team up to take on its zombie-ridden world together while introducing some quality-of-life improvements.

After Undead Labs was acquired by Microsoft in 2018, State of Decay 3 was announced during the 2020 Xbox Games Showcase but has not seen much movement since, other than the fact that it is confirmed to still be in the works. With the genre seeing something of a renaissance currently, it may be wise for Undead Labs to take some notes from its contemporaries that have arrived on the scene since, and consider incorporating some features from them that would lend themselves well to making the next State of Decay the most polished to date.

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The Unwritten Rules of State of Decay 2 Explained

It takes some time to master State of Decay 2, but abiding by a few rules can help a new community go from struggling to thriving.

3 Elements State of Decay 3 Should Scavenge From Other Survival Titles

More Robust Character Creation

State of Decay offered players a choice from a sizable pool of pre-generated character options with specific traits, skills, and flaws providing both bonuses and downsides in various ways. However, these were still preset archetypes with unchangeable starting items, appearances, and stats. It would therefore be great to see State of Decay 3 give fans the ability to fully create and customize their starting character, perhaps with the option to do so for others recruited along the way. A deep character creator has become more of a standard since the last entry, and State of Decay 3 could capitalize by offering its own version to increase immersion and keep up with modern expectations.

Weapon Crafting and Leveling/Scaling

Another big staple of survival/management games, weapon systems and related mechanics have similarly evolved greatly. Players could utilize a variety of implements previously, but there was no actual crafting, as all weapons were found in the environment or by recruiting certain characters, which limited options and lacked the hands-on approach that would have complimented State of Decay's other management aspects well. As a recent example, Dead Island 2's weapon system offered an extensive range of arms with multiple mod options as well as a level scaling system, letting players keep their favorites viable throughout.

Upgradeable and Customizable Vehicles

Both State of Decay titles also had drivable vehicles. However, their controls and handling could be a bit imprecise, and regardless of type, were fairly easily damaged during excursions, which often rendered them usable, forcing players to spend time and effort finding another that was in good enough shape to weather the rest of the expedition and be able to make it base to their base.

While vehicles could be repaired, this was also not optimally designed, and it was usually more efficient to just keep switching to a fresh car when needed instead. State of Decay 3 could remedy the shortcomings in this area, perhaps giving fans a garage portion of their bases where they might build and customize their own vehicles and modify them with plans and parts found while scavenging.

State of Decay 3 Has a Wealth of Options to Take Inspiration from

​​​Undead Labs also may be working on other concurrent games, which could affect State of Decay 3's development, although no official comment has come from the studio on this. Hopefully, though, it will consider how best to update and improve the solid core of State of Decay for another satisfying title when it does release.

State of Decay 3

Platform(s)

PC , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Developer(s)

Undead Labs

Publisher(s)

Xbox Game Studios

Genre(s)

Survival Horror