In the absence of hard facts, fans have been speculating on how the upcoming installment will make use of the advanced capabilities of the newest Xbox console, as well as how the developer will adapt the State of Decay formula to compete with other survival horror titles on the market. It’s been a few years since State of Decay 2 launched in 2018, and the past few years have seen some great titles in the same genre, so State of Decay 3 really needs to up its game if it wants to compete. Fortunately, leaning into its harsh wintry environments could be a way to do that.
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State Of Decay Gameplay
The first two State of Decay games may not have made a massive initial impact, but they’ve slowly grown in popularity and made enough of a name for themselves that more than a few players are excited about the upcoming State of Decay 3. After Microsoft acquired Undead Labs in 2018, State of Decay gained even more recognition now that its developer is a first-party studio, and with Microsoft’s support, fans are expecting something special for the sequel. However, the only real glimpse that players have had of State of Decay 3 was the initial trailer released way back in 2020, and it hasn’t given them a whole lot else to go on.
It’s likely that State of Decay 3 will follow the rough formula laid down by the first two games – navigate the open-world environment, avoid the undead, and scavenge for supplies. The gameplay loop involved finding suitable shelters, fortifying them, and exploring the region to rescue survivors and collect supplies. When the first game was released, the industry wasn’t yet in the throes of zombie over-saturation, and the mechanics felt pretty fresh. Now, players have seen so many zombie-focused titles come and go, and State of Decay 3 needs to offer something new if it wants to stand out.
The Addition Of Winter Weather
From the looks of the first trailer, State of Decay 3 is moving the action to a mountainous forest location, with icy environments and wintry aesthetics. Not only does this help to separate the new title from the previous installments visually, but it could also offer up some intriguing new mechanics to add challenge and realism to the game. The State of Decay titles focus much more on survival than combat, urging players to avoid the rambling zombies and prioritize creating safe bases and scavenging for supplies. State of Decay 3 could elevate this setup by adding environmental factors centered around the arctic conditions as well.
Not only will players have to contend with other survivors, find resources, and construct shelters, but there could be dangers from the cold weather that would mean there was an additional warmth mechanic to keep an eye on. This would affect players when they’re out in the environments scavenging, but it would also add more importance to shelters that would make the gameplay much more complex and potentially more engaging. State of Decay 3 is already mixing things up by having the infection spread to animals, creating more enemies and therefore ensuring that the surroundings are more hazardous, and factoring in the winter weather would add another layer to this.
With recent reports of alleged sexism and toxic working environments within Undead Labs and almost no news about State of Decay 3, some fans are worried about the future of the game. While this is an issue that is by no means isolated to this particular developer and is in fact an industry-wide problem, it does leave some question marks around State of Decay 3 and when (or even if) players will get to see it.
State of Decay 3 is currently in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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