'State Of Decay 3' Announced, And It Looks Grimmer Than Ever

Developer Undead Labs has officially announced State Of Decay 3 for Xbox Series X and PC via a gruesome new trailer. The upcoming open world zombie survival game was unveiled during last night's Xbox Series X gameplay event, which also gave us first-looks at Halo Infinite gameplay and the new Fable.

The brief CG trailer, which you can see below, didn't give away too many details... which implies to me that it's early days for the project. Indeed, State Of Decay 2 only released in 2018, so I can't imagine we should expect to see this new entry anytime soon. Still, the trailer is suitably gory, and does hint at a new feature that should keep players on their toes: Zombie animals. Yikes.

While not all that long, the trailer does set a pretty menacing scene. We see a lone woman camping out in snow-covered woods, quite clearly scared- but wary of her surroundings. We see that a menacing wolf isn't enough to stop this hardened survivor, as she drives it off with ease. However, while exploring the forest during the day, she comes across that very same wolf being torn apart by... a zombie deer. That's one heck of a way to end a reveal trailer.

State Of Decay 3 will most likely continue to build on the foundations of the first two games, tasking players with surviving in a grim world in which zombies have taken over. As well as fighting off undead monsters, players also need to craft resources, recruit fellow survivors, and build settlements in an attempt to stay alive and start a new life.

State Of Decay 2 didn't exactly get the warmest reception when it hit Xbox One and PC in 2018. The general consensus was that its solid world and survival elements were ultimately held back by repetitive gameplay and a good number of bugs. It's worth noting that the game has been massively improved since launch and is good fun thanks to multiplayer co-op, though.

Hopefully State Of Decay 3 can find a balance between survival gameplay, horror elements, and co-op gameplay without falling back on the mistakes made by its predecessor. The gameplay reveal does imply more of a focus on wilderness survival, which could add an interesting twist to staying alive in the open world. We'll just have to wait and see.

Topics: Xbox Series X