State of Decay 2 Review Thread

Enton said:

Then you would have people complaining about how MS is limiting the developer's creative vision and all that.
It's State of Decay. It was always known what this game was going to be and who would like it. Maybe they can create a spin-off that is very different to what these games are up to now. A story-focused action game or something like that.

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People will always complain. I'm saying what maybe Microsoft needs to do in order to review better. Maybe they don't care much about MC. I think one thing that Microsoft lacks that Sony don't is astuteness. Sony knows how to present better even average games, let alone the good ones.

The bad word of mouth for Microsoft first party effors this year is crazy.

Edit: that said if it stays at 72 MC it is not actually bad. I think it is going to go down though since OpenCritic is at 68.

Urg, was really interested in getting it on PC, but with those reviews and things I've been hearing about W10 store I'll wait until it hits the 20$ mark.

ThatGuyJangle said:

The cloud tech has been a huge thorn in the side of that game since the 2014 reveal.

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I can believe that. Your input is always very much appreciated :)

Need to separate the X from PC reviews and is it worth a play at the cost of a month's game pass ?

Klobrille said:

That's interesting, as it collides with the info Matt and me have. It's still part of the package though, right?

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It's still in MP yeah, it'd be a disaster for them to not have it in at this point given the resources they've thrown at it. From what I know the plan for what the cloud tech would do in that game was much, much larger in scope from when dev started to how it's used now.

Mr.Deadshot said:

Man the obsession with metascores on an enthusiast board really is shocking. Play the damn game and rate it for yourself. If you are afraid of bugs just wait a few weeks or months. With a game that big it will most likely be patched. And if they do another Master Chief Collection you will read it here first.

We have come from consolewars bullshit last-gens to metacritic-wars bullshit this gen. These average scores don't even make a lot of sense without written review context.

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In an ideal world people would, however people don't have unlimited time and resources. So use other people's feedback to make an informed decision. That what happens with all consumer goods. In not "bullshit".

ThatGuyJangle said:

It's still in MP yeah, it'd be a disaster for them to not have it in at this point given the resources they've thrown at it. From what I know the plan for what the cloud tech would do in that game was much, much larger in scope from when dev started to how it's used now.

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Thanks for the input. Always appreciate different viewings on these things. Excited for the re-reveal of the game and how it all turned out.

MrTired said:

I know what your trying to say but that statement is wrong.

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Go on...

Mr.Deadshot said:

Man the obsession with metascores on an enthusiast board really is shocking. Play the damn game and rate it for yourself. If you are afraid of bugs just wait a few weeks or months. With a game that big it will most likely be patched. And if they do another Master Chief Collection you will read it here first.

We have come from consolewars bullshit last-gens to metacritic-wars bullshit this gen. These average scores don't even make a lot of sense without written review context.

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There's making your own mind up and then reading the EG review of a bug ridden mess that just makes you think "Nah, not wasting my time!"

ghostcrew said:

It's fine for Microsoft to push SOD2, or any game that might review in the 70s, as a tentpole release. It might not be for everyone but it's had a lot of positive reviews too. See also Gran Turismo Sport that sits at a very similar Metacritic score to SOD2 (75%). That's positioned as a tent pole PS4 exclusive and many claim it's the greatest racing game of the generation. Im sure Hyrule Warriors will be pushed by Nintendo this summer as a big exclusive and it's currently sitting at 77%, very similar to SOD2. A lot of people here love Hyrule Warriors. It's reviews. I'm sure, just like the first game that reviewed in the 70s, State of Decay 2 will find a very passionate and loving fan base.

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Hyrule Warriors is a perfect example though. If the Switch hadn't had a great recent history of exclusives, and there were no promising upcoming exclusives on the horizon, Hyrule Warriors reviewing sub 80 would be far worse for Nintendo, as there'd be much more resting on this game's critical and commercial success.

Nintendo is in the comfortable position of being able to treat HW as a "people who love musou games are going to have a great time, it's a somewhat niche game" thing, Microsoft isn't in this position.

ghostcrew said:

A PS4 70ish% game is a "good" game but an Xbox One 70ish% game is a "blunder". Come on man...

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Don't try to make this a fanboy thing. I consider both "good" games and both "blunders" at the same time. But to miss 2 out of 3 is certainly a bigger issue than to miss 1 out of like ... 8? Especially when you're in dire need of good arguments against the narrative of "Xbox got no good exclusives".
That might all change when MS reveals new upcoming titles at E3, but right now - what is there, other than Crackdown 3?

CozMick said:

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...-open-world-loot-em-up-with-catastrophic-bugs

Oh dear oh dear .

Avoid.

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Damn, that's a scathing review. I don't remember another Eurogamer 'Avoid', usually they just have no tag if it's a mediocre game.

Dark_Castle said:

I like how this scale precisely cut off at 7.8 between average and shit sux, making State of Decay 2 fell under shit sux.

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?
It's currently at 72, so several points below that line.

Isn't there is a big patch day 1? I thought Jez said that.

Kinda odd there's isn't a score for the polygon reviews. Usually they say in progress or something. But it's not there.

This is about what I was expecting. Low 70's high 60's.

Castia said:

72 is gaming terms is turd, the meta score is even lower in the 60's.

It's been a shite few months for MS with the reception of SoT and now this.

The scary part is how many people are accepting it has 'oh well at least it's on gamepass'....fecking hell.

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Don't be ridiculous. It's basically "fans of the genre" territory. A good game if that's what you want but nothing particularly noteworthy, especially with all the great games coming out these days.

Anyway, is Metacritic's Awards and Rankings box on the top right (where SoD2 is named the "#34 Best Xbox One Game of 2018") new or is it something I've completely missed until now?

Daffy Duck said:

There's making your own mind up and then reading the EG review of a bug ridden mess that just makes you think "Nah, not wasting my time!"

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Basically.

It's gone from me saving my gamepass trial for Sea of Thieves to saving it for this game and now i'm saving it for Crackdown 3. I'd rather revisit an older game I'm yet to finish or piss about with some new mods on Assetto Corsa or something than get frustrated by a buggy game in my gaming time. I'll check it out later down the line if it gets patched up.

Kilgore said:

maybe Microsoft needs to assist and give more direction to their studios instead of giving them much freedom. State of Decay haven't been rushed, Undead Labs have had plenty of time to develop the game.

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At this point MS needs to buy proven developers, building up studios is just not working out for them anymore. 5 years to make a sequel in which broken tethered co-op is the only meaningful advancement over the original is a head scratcher.

THEVOID said:

Isn't there is a big patch day 1? I thought Jez said that.

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Yes.

Klobrille said:

Thanks for the input. Always appreciate different viewings on these things. Excited for the re-reveal of the game and how it all turned out.

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I'm also looking forward to the next showing, it's been a while since I've heard or seen anything of it. Crossing all my fingers because I love the original Crackdown. :)

pswii60 said:

Go on...

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Are both games not being patch and dlc being added? How then can you say one is more complete than the other?

Ouch at these scores. Well I've seen streamers have fun with the game so I'm sure it'll sale well at least. Just polish the technical issues.

https://metro.co.uk/2018/05/17/stat...098/?ito=desktop.article.share.bottom.twitter

metro 4/10

Marcus Brutalius said:

Urg, was really interested in getting it on PC, but with those reviews and things I've been hearing about W10 store I'll wait until it hits the 20$ mark.

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It's almost there already, lol.

Dot Matrix said:

At this point MS needs to buy proven developers, building up studios is just not working out for them anymore. 5 years to make a sequel in which broken tethered co-op is the only meaningful advancement over the original is a head scratcher.

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Buy or only hire Studios don't make a difference per se. Microsoft as an editor can control much of the developments, and I don't think having "fun bug unpolished games" is bad for Microsoft. But if they want their exclusives to review better, they need to be more astute. Again, maybe they doesn't care about critic receptions. I don't know.

Decent scores, looking forward to trying it for myself. Hopefully there are updates to fix some bugs.

THEVOID said:

Isn't there is a big patch day 1? I thought Jez said that.

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Theres been like a 6GB patch or something applied already.

Napalmjam said:

https://metro.co.uk/2018/05/17/stat...098/?ito=desktop.article.share.bottom.twitter

metro 4/10

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"The State Of Decay concept still holds plenty of promise but this sequel is so broken that laughing at its bugs and glitches becomes its primary source of entertainment."


Can't wait for AngryJoe review!

Everything Brad said to describe this game on the Bombcast this week made it sound like an utter chore.

Kilgore said:

Buy or only hire Studios don't make a difference per se. Microsoft as an editor can control much of the developments, and I don't think having "fun bug unpolished games" is bad for Microsoft. But if they want their exclusives to review better, they need to be more astute. Again, maybe they doesn't care about critic receptions. I don't know.

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Of course they do lol

A review thread having more pages than the OT is a sure fire way of knowing a game is an Xbox exclusive!

Why are the powers that be at Microsoft content to release games in this state?

Xbox is now firmly under Spencer & Greenberg's direction, and yet they see fit to put out the likes of Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2. Such lacking content and bugs shouldn't be acceptable for Microsoft.

It makes you wonder why they should be trusted with major projects years down the line. Here and now, they have the power to delay and polish their offerings, but put out broken and undercooked ****.

JaggedSac said:

It's almost there already, lol.

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Yes, but I'm cheap and in no rush ;P

bombshell said:

Of course they do lol

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Then they are not being smart enough to improve that area. State of Decay 2 wasn't going to be a 90 MC game like never, but with a couple of tricks and direction it could have been a solid 80+ instead of 70+.

Ouch, I expected 7s and 8s but not the low scores we're seeing here. Seems like bugs are the biggest issue, so hopefully the worst ones are addressed in the day one patch. The original was buggy but I still loved it, so I'm not worried.

Fliesen said:

Hyrule Warriors is a perfect example though. If the Switch hadn't had a great recent history of exclusives, and there were no promising upcoming exclusives on the horizon, Hyrule Warriors reviewing sub 80 would be far worse for Nintendo, as there'd be much more resting on this game's critical and commercial success.

Nintendo is in the comfortable position of being able to treat HW as a "people who love musou games are going to have a great time, it's a somewhat niche game" thing, Microsoft isn't in this position.



Don't try to make this a fanboy thing. I consider both "good" games and both "blunders" at the same time. But to miss 2 out of 3 is certainly a bigger issue than to miss 1 out of like ... 8? Especially when you're in dire need of good arguments against the narrative of "Xbox got no good exclusives".
That might all change when MS reveals new upcoming titles at E3, but right now - what is there, other than Crackdown 3?

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I understand that MS should do what they could to ensure every exclusive is the best it could be but are you saying they shouldn't properly advertise the game because it's not a AAA blockbuster?

Mediocre games get mediocre scores.
Top reviewed games of this generation is really varied. We got all kinds of games and all kinds of genres on the top spots.

Devs should focus on making great games and they will get high praise for them.

MrTired said:

Are both games not being patch and dlc being added? How then can you say one is more complete than the other?

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Why do you think GT Sport received a 75 Metascore?

Daffy Duck said:

There's making your own mind up and then reading the EG review of a bug ridden mess that just makes you think "Nah, not wasting my time!"

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Huge portions of the internet are eating themselves alive, besides themselves with hype for a new STALKER game, and while STALKER is obviously "best game ever made" material it was also pretty darn rough. STALKER scores weren't really affected by the performance issues, stability issues, and game breaking bugs because it was such a compelling experience. It does sound like SoD2 needs some extra TLC as soon as possible, though.

nekkid said:

A review thread having more pages than the OT is a sure fire way of knowing a game is an Xbox exclusive!

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Game had yet to come out for most people. But let humour your statement. Isn't that more of an indictment of Microsoft inability to make exclusive games excite the community to want play said game?

Napalmjam said:

https://metro.co.uk/2018/05/17/stat...098/?ito=desktop.article.share.bottom.twitter

metro 4/10

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"The graphics are terrible, the artificial intelligence is almost non-existent, and it's so full of bugs it's like visiting the insect house at London Zoo."

nekkid said:

A review thread having more pages than the OT is a sure fire way of knowing a game is an Xbox exclusive!

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What do you mean?

Fliesen said:

No doubt about that. The difference here though, is that GT is just one "good" game in what is by now a long line of fantastic exclusives. The pressure that rests on SoD2 is certainly higher because every new blunder only supports the narrative of Microsoft's exclusives being lackluster compared to Sony's or Nintendo's.

Also, racing games are like ... <10% of the market, i think - so having a less-than-perfect racing game doesn't quite have the same perceived impact as being unsuccessful in more prominent genres.

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You really cannot compare a game by a massively experienced and large developer like PD, or ND and SOD2 by undead labs. It really is not in any way comparable. UL were a tiny indie dev. They scaled up somewhat for this project but they always intended to make a larger version of the first game. The whole indie/AA/AAA stuff isn't helpful here. No way did this game ever have the intention to be on the same production scale as God of War or anything like that. They intended to scale up the world and overall size of it, and underlying mechanisms to be more in line with a larger game. The reduced price reflects what the game is. Mechanistically it is up there and superior to many huge releases. But the polish and production clearly are still way below. But it isn't surprising.

And the only people who make this into something are those who talk about its positioning with the "Xbox lineup" vs the PS4 lineup. It is silly. The game is what it is.

Its not as if making a good video game is a mysterious magical art, Undead Labs would of had access to the feedback of gamers with decades of gaming experience. Polish, innovation and ambition are not subjective, you can make a good game that lacks ambition or innovation but your chances of making a great game without those factors are very low. Take away polish, innovation and ambition and you have no chance of making a great game.

pswii60 said:

Why do you think GT Sport received a 75 Metascore?

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Because reviewers as a collective felt it warranted that score. What about question I previously put towards you?

Once again I'll make up my own mind, the amount of times I used to pick a game up because it was "Highly Rated" only to be bored of the game after a few hours and "Low Rated" games that I had a blast playing was unreal.

Tecnniqe said:

X is unlocked as well looking at some of the earlier performance looks, it was between 30-35 FPS with an average of 31.

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Ah yeah, the (nearly) monthly 31 framerate release.

When will developers finally learn?

Digital Foundry to the rescue, please!

Edge said:

Ah yeah, the (nearly) monthly 31 framerate release.

When will developers finally learn?

Digital Foundry to the rescue, please!

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Yeah would be nice to see them do a take on it.

MrTired said:

Because reviewers as a collective felt it warranted that score. What about question I previously put towards you?

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Your question is irrelevant because we are strictly talking about the state the games launched in. All modern games receive post launch updates. Reviewers criticised GT Sport because it launched with minimal content. The gameplay itself was not the issue.

Yep this is a State of Decay 2 metascore

Dr. Caroll said:

Huge portions of the internet are eating themselves alive, besides themselves with hype for a new STALKER game, and while STALKER is obviously "best game ever made" material it was also pretty darn rough. STALKER scores weren't really affected by the performance issues, stability issues, and game breaking bugs because it was such a compelling experience. It does sound like SoD2 needs some extra TLC as soon as possible, though.

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We live in different times now though