In Microsoft’s 2019 E3 conference, an expansion for State of Decay 2 was announced. Not only that, but it released that very day. So, how does it hold up?

State of Decay 2 is a great zombie fighter, with a ton of survival tactics involved. In fact, if you don’t enjoy the base building aspect of some of the more intricate survival games, you likely won’t be into SoD 2. I loved the base game, although any review you read is going to point out the game bugs being quite annoying and distracting. I was curious to see if the Heartland expansion would fix any of that, and after playing through it, I’m happy to say it did feel less buggy. Still, there are moments where the screen tears a bit, and a few minor frame rate drops. It’s much better though, which is crucial.

SoD 2 was a pretty easy game, just like its first entry. Once you get into the habit of exploring the area for resources and claiming camps, it’s a fun sandbox for zombie fights and survival gameplay. Heartland returns to the game’s first setting, Trumbull Valley. The two narrative plots are basically the same. Two separate characters (one in each plot) are searching for someone in the zombie-infested town.

Rather than coming across random survivors like the base game, Heartland introduces you to key characters you team up with, making for a much more structured experience. It’s a little nicer, since your campmates are all, well, competent, as opposed to accidentally recruiting a useless survivor in the base game.

The Heartland expansion is way more difficult. In the base game, only some zombies carry the blood plague, a disease which you slowly contract with more and more contact with the walking dead. It’s terrifying, actually, and when you play at night, the fields of red eyes are truly eerie. It’s also way cooler, and very, very appreciated as someone who felt a little too calm playing State of Decay 2. The thing that makes Heartland so great is that it walks you through everything in a much more intuitive way. I’d recommend if you have never played State of Decay 2, for newcomers to start with Heartland.

Characters in Heartland can’t come over to the base game, but that’s okay. The stories are a great narrative that the base game kind of lacks, and you can get a great feel for the game in a structured way before heading over to the main game, where things are sort of a free-for-all.

Bottom line: if you’ve played State of Decay 2, you’ll like the Heartland expansion, especially if you played the first State of Decay. If you are new to the series, start here. No matter what, this is a great game, and highly recommended. Xbox Game Pass subscribers can play State of Decay 2 and the new Heartland expansion for free.

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State of Decay 2: Heartland

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Great Narratives
• Harder, but Fair Combat
• Survival at its Best
• Wonderful Return to the Original Setting of the Series

Cons

• Can't Transfer Characters to Main Game