State of Decay

Last week, Undead Labs announced the second expansion to its zombie apocalypse simulation surprise hit, and recipient of XBLA Fans’ GotY 2013 award, State of Decay. The new DLC …
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Last week, Undead Labs Founder Jeff Strain sat down with Gamasutra to talk about State of Decay, where the industry is going and what Undead Labs will be doing along the way.

Strain, an industry veteran who has been involved with some monumental PC gaming endeavors, has a history of market disruption. He was instrumental in establishing Blizzard as a premiere gaming powerhouse from 1995 to 2000, during which time he turned BattleNet into a critically important multiplayer platform and the only place to play some of the highest-rated PC games ever.

Later, he founded ArenaNet with fellow Blizzard developers, releasing Guild Wars in 2005, which redefined much of what was expected in an MMO. In the subsequent years, Guild Wars saw two chapter additions, a few expansion packs and, eventually, a direct sequel in 2012. It grew to be a compelling alternative to the market leaders and, in many ways, surpassed them.

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Undead Labs, the Seattle based development studio behind last year’s XBLA hit State of Decay, have announced that they’ve just signed a multi-year, multi-title agreement with Microsoft Studios. Founder …
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The year 2013 has come and gone, and you know what that means: XBLA Fans dropped the ball on getting our Game of the Year awards out during the same calendar year the games released. Apologies for our tardiness, but we’re here today to make it up to you with our awards for the very best XBLA games to release in 2013.

After eight long and (mostly) wonderful years on the market, the Xbox 360 saw the beginning of its end in 2013 when its successor, the Xbox One, launched in November. Of course, Microsoft’s last-gen console and Xbox Live Arcade platform weren’t about to go quietly into that good night. No, major releases continued throughout the year for Xbox 360 XBLA, and that trend looks to continue well into 2014 and possibly even beyond. That meant that picking out the best of the best XBLA games released last year was every bit as difficult for us as it’s been any other year. Games like Charlie Murder and Skulls of the Shogun were strong competitors that just missed landing on our list of 2013’s best.

But enough about the games that didn’t make the cut. Let’s get down to what you came here for: the best XBLA games of 2013. Read on for XBLA Fans’ picks and let us know what your favorites were and which 2014 game you think will be worthy of being named Game of the Year at the end of next December.

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The State of Decay: Breakdown downloadable content for State of Decay was developed by Undead Labs and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released November 29, 2012, on the Xbox 360 for $6.99. A copy was provided for review purpose.

As Undead Labs’ first dose of downloadable content for the infectious zombie-apocalypse simulator State of Decay, State of Decay: Breakdown is more companion piece than linear expansion. It sidesteps the plot progression of the original, offering instead the chance to drop into the heart of Trumbull Valley to scavenge, fortify and eventually escape, with no strings attached. Breakdown is the missing piece of Labs’ initial equation: an endless nightmarish wasteland that ramps up the difficulty with every hard-earned departure, for as long as you can take it.

To facilitate this grim cycle of survival, you’re issued a random survivor and a broken down recreational vehicle that’s lurched to a halt at one of several random locations around the valley. Your immediate concern is a defensible shelter, where you’ll foster a community while you search for a new RV and the necessary materials to get it up and running. When you accomplish this goal and take flight from the toxic gash that’s become Trumbull Valley – that’s when Breakdown really begins.

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Shortly after the hysteria of the Xbox One launch resides, developer Undead Labs will give zombie survival fans a reason to go back and fire up their “old, antiquated” Xbox 360s.

Next week on, November 29, the first DLC for State of Decay, entitled The Breakdown, will be released at the cost of $6.99. The expansion, which is largely based on gamers’ feedback, is said to be “less story, more survival.” Based off of the trailer, The Breakdown DLC will contain infinite play, increased difficulty, new playable heroes, new weapons and new challenges.

Also, on the same day, title update four for State of Decay will be released. The update consists of “bug fixes and goodies like the new loot distribution system.”

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Xbox Live Arcade began its life on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 simply enough. When eager gamers bought up Xbox 360s on launch day (November 22, 2005), they found a free copy of Hexic HD pre-loaded on their hard drives. Of course, it was another launch title that secured the platform’s success. Bizarre’s Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved both gave birth to the twin-stick shooter craze and demanded gamers take Xbox Live Arcade, which started in disc form back on the original Xbox, seriously as a digital games platform. Bizarre’s side project paved the way for the enormous variety of retro revivals, HD remakes, original indie projects, major studio releases, free-to-play games and more that have come to call XBLA home in the years since.

Today, we’re approximately one month away from the launch of the Xbox One, which will signal the end of XBLA as we have come to know it these past eight years. While Microsoft’s Xbox line will continue to be home to myriad low-cost downloadable video games, the XBLA moniker will not make the transition to Xbox One. It’s going down with the figurative (and literal) Xbox 360 boat. So what better time than now to count down the best XBLA games to ever grace the Xbox 360?

It wasn’t easy, but our staff has sorted through all of the best XBLA releases over the years and picked the ones that we feel are the true standout stars of the platform. Check back with us throughout the week as we run down five of Xbox Live Arcade’s top games every night. And don’t forget to head to the comments to let us know how much you love (or hate) our picks.

(Editor’s Note: voting was conducted in early September. No games released post-Summer of Arcade 2013 were considered eligible.)

20.) State of Decay

Matthew Smail, Contributor — Featuring a solid 10 to 20-hour-long campaign, a fun and engaging storyline and a range of deep and rewarding gameplay mechanics, State of Decay is considered by some to be a better game than many boxed AAA zombie titles. Arriving as it did in 2013 (during what is essentially the Xbox 360’s twilight year) State of Decay has certainly proven one thing: digital delivery of serious gaming content not related to Minecraft can be both commercially and critically successful on the Xbox 360.

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Undead Labs, the development team behind the smash Xbox Live Arcade zombie-apocalypse simulator State of Decay, has detailed what to expect when Breakdown hits Trumbull Valley later this month. Breakdown is Labs’ first …
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Undead Labs have announced that State of Decay has now reached one million players. The figure includes both Xbox Live Arcade downloads and the Steam Early Access release on …
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Whoever coined the phrase, “Too much of a good thing,” likely never played a video game. Sure, mostly because the saying dates back to well before Pong ever pinged a virtual paddle, but in some small part because anyone that’s ever really connected to a great game knows the bittersweet sorrow of wrapping it up. Xbox Live Arcade is no stranger to great games — however you choose to define the word: fun, dense, deep, powerful – there’s something for everyone in our little digital corner of video games proper.

With that in mind, we take a look back at the heavy hitters, the ones that make you set down the controller upon completion and want to know more. XBLAFans’ Friday Top Five is back, bringing you the top five Xbox Live Arcade games (in no particular order) that require a sequel.

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