Again, I like the
idea of State of Decay 2's co-op, but in practice it is not realized well. Only the host can select quests, for example, and it's not totally clear who the host is.
Worse than this, you can only travel a short distance away from the host before the game pulls you back to your friend's approximate vicinity.
Why can't our team of four split into two pairs to approach a target from opposite directions, or go off to accomplish separate objectives? You're forced to stick together, which makes it even more frustrating when you receive a notification to say your base is under attack--why can't one of our squad remain at home to defend us from opportunistic zombie hordes?
Unfortunately, on the basis of a three-hour preview demo,
State of Decay 2 suffers from many of the same issues as its predecessor: It still feels a little aimless, and it's still never really clear what direction the game wants you to go in, since every direction is so punishing to traverse; the loop of exploration and defense soon begins to feel tired; and a multitude of bugs and some poor presentation make it feel unfinished. Which, of course, it is. Many of these issues could therefore be fixed by the time State of Decay 2 launches on May 22. But they've persisted since the original came out in 2013, and that's a worrying sign.
Even the game's main strengths--its core systems of character progression and resource management--aren't the accomplishments they should be. On one occasion, I went to the aid of a rival settlement, led by a man named Magic Mark, who had turned to us in their time of need. Despite our groups' past disagreements, Mark asked if I could urgently help them find food. I agreed, but the game refused to let me take any of his group with me on my quest, so they all just stayed put, standing around doing nothing in their garage base (which, incidentally, looked like every other garage I saw in State of Decay 2). I then decided to steal the group's belongings from right in front of them, but they didn't care one bit. Don't mind me guys, I know I said I'd bring you food but actually I just wanted your shotgun pellets--I'll be out of your hair any minute, alright?
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