State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition – Panic on the Streets of London

Late last week in London, a number of upcoming Xbox One exclusive titles were shown to European media, including State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition. At the event, State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition’s release date was confirmed to be April 28, 2015 worldwide, a few days earlier than previously stated for European audiences. A Day One Edition was also revealed, granting early adopters the Prepper’s Pack for a limited time. This pack offers up a special supply drop featuring the following items:

  • SKS Firearm – A classic Soviet-era semi-automatic carbine, modded up with all the latest furniture, including a 40mm grenade launcher under the barrel. Perfect for picking zombies off one-by-one…then blowing them all to pieces when things go south.
  • Prepper SUV – The ultimate marriage of cargo capacity and durability, this rugged off-road vehicle was a solution waiting for a problem. The reinforced body offers top-of-the-line resistance to zombie incursions, with plenty of room in the back to store all your best survival gear.
  • Folding Axe Melee Weapon – An essential piece of survival hardware. It’s light, portable, and made of modern materials that will keep a sharp edge, even after multiple brainings.


With that information in hand, I took
State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition for a spin to try a new “mysterious supply drop” mission. Lily radioed me from our home base to let me know that a beacon was emitting a strange, garbled message, and that I ought to go check it out. A new icon appeared on my map, situated in a vast expanse of rolling farmland.

Taking control of survivor Gurubani Kaur, previously revealed to be an exclusive unlock for those that purchased State of Decay on Xbox 360, I set out toward the source of the signal. After screaming across the map in a rusted-out sedan, I approached the drop site at a crawl.

A large crate was swarmed by undead – at least a dozen – including some Freaks, indicated by larger red spots on the minimap. With eight bullets in the chamber of my suppressed Wingate Commando rifle and only three more in hand, stepping outside the car at this point would mean certain death. Slowly I reverse away from the crates. The zombies are oblivious to me… until a honk of the horn sends them running in my direction. I gun the engine, taking out six or seven zeds and knocking over a dangerous Feral in one go. I circle around like a knight on a jousting track and charge again. Three more find death (again!) underneath my tires, but the car has clearly had enough.

I exit the car, fire off a few shots, then walk up to the final zombie on site and relieve it of its head with a swing of Gurubani’s heirloom antique Talwar sword. I approach the crate and begin searching, holding LB to speed things up; noise is not a factor at this point. As I sort through the loot – military-grade ammo, grenades, medicine – my eyes lock on an “experimental revolver shotgun.” Just in time, too – the loot drop begins emitting a piercing klaxon, sending more zombies running in my direction. I could run, but I can’t help but try out my new toy immediately. The explosion of undead is worth it. And here, the demo comes to an end.

State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition releases for Xbox One digitally and at retail on April 28, 2015 worldwide. State of Decay Xbox 360 owners will receive a 33 percent discount on State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition when purchased through the Xbox Games Store till June 30, 2015.