State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition

Zombie survival games were all the rage at the peak of the zombie TV shows that dominated the mid-2010s. This led to the release of many exciting games, and arguably culminated in the 2018 release of State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition. Developed by Undead Labs, the Juggernaut Edition built on everything that came before and created a highly enjoyable, complete feeling zombie survival title. Yet is it something you would enjoy playing? Or is it simply more of the same?

Survival with a proper challenge involved

The premise of State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition is quite simple – you start off with a small collection of survivors. You need to try and find your way to a homestead, start building a little survival opportunity, and try to eke out a living. Depending on what map you choose, you will be dealing with the undead in everything from rocky and mountainous areas to long, flat farmlands.

You spend your time going out as one of your survivors, or pairing up with friends online, and scavenging the area. You will build a base of influence, make sure that you are protected from all angles, and then slowly but surely empty the map of goods. As time goes on, you will meet new and more powerful undead and you will also need to get used to meeting other NPC survivors. These can be friendly, or they can become hostile and attack you to try and take your stuff. This leads to almost gang-war like moments where you fall into raging conflict with other locals. This is a fun gameplay experience and one that constantly has you on your toes. If you end up hurting relations with another group, you could find that it leads to all-out war. In the meantime, you need to try and scavenge, survive, and drum up everything you can whilst keeping the undead at bay.

Randomised survival satisfaction (8/10)

While there are definitely parts of State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition that can become quite repetitive, just like its predecessor, there is much to love. This game gives you no real major objectives outside of trying to survive and carrying out the objectives that your group suggests. You will spend a lot of time building up supplies and skills, improving the all-around strengths of each member of the group.

The main limitations of the game probably come down to building – it is almost impossible to build the perfect base. That being said, this feels like a more realistic experience. Survival is just that, after all; it would be nigh-impossible to build a fully functioning community all in the one place. Still, some buildings feel redundant and could have been combined into one another.

Pros

• Enjoyable world building and atmosphere combined with easy, fun combat
• Excellent self-developed narratives built around the people you recruit and find
• Enough variety to ensure you could play through multiple survivor groups

Cons

• Can be buggy and somewhat confusing at times
• Buildings can feel redundant and this can make base building a headache