5 Ways State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition Improves on the Original

Now available on Xbox One, State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition is a zombie apocalypse simulator for the ages. The game was (rightfully) a huge hit on Xbox 360 and Windows PC, and has only improved in its transition to the high-powered Xbox One hardware. Here are five ways Year One Survival Edition makes an amazing game even better.

1) Visual Delights

Right out of the box, players will notice that State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition significantly improves the game’s visuals. The game has been remastered to run at 1080p (compared to the 720p of the original Xbox 360 version), and looks sharper and cleaner (aside from the still-copious amounts of blood, naturally). A host of new character animations help bring the undead action to life as well, and the game’s draw distance is greatly improved, allowing players to see more of what’s coming to get them.

2) Tons of Content

Year One Survival Edition features the original game, plus both of its add-on content packs, Breakdown and Lifeline – which amounts to quite a bit of stuff to do. The original campaign tells a roughly 10-to-15-hour story, while Breakdown functions as something of an endurance mode, and Lifeline offers more of the focused story experience found in the original game. To summarize: There are many hours of zombie-killing fun to be found here, and every one of them is included in the Year One Survival Edition package.

3) Everyday Carry

Developer Undead Labs has overhauled one of the most glaring shortcomings of State of Decay during the transition to Xbox One, by affording unarmed survivors with something fantastically useful: a knife. It may sound trivial, but this simple affordance allows players to silently take down a couple of wandering zombies; while it won’t do much against an entire horde of them, this means you’re not screwed if you’re out of ammo (or if your melee weapon breaks).

4) New Challenges

In Year One Survival edition, Challenges allow the developers to create time-limited objectives with in-game content attached as a reward. Anyone who participates in community challenges will unlock unique items if the goal is met. Each month, players will be presented with a new goal to complete before the month ends.

5) Don’t Stop, Achieving

Year One Survival Edition builds on the original State of Decay, boasting an impressive 1500 total Gamerscore points across 26 Achievements, with rewards that encompass the main game itself, along with the two pieces of DLC. Achieve away!

State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition is available for Xbox One. Get in on the zombie-killing, post-apocalyptic fun now!