State of Survival Gameplay Impressions | The Walking Dead Hero Collector RPG

Zombies suck, don’t they? Oh, wait, that’s vampires, actually! But zombies aren’t too friendly either, with their persistent brain eating disorder and lingering pace. Still, they make for quite some cool movies and video games.

Today I’m going to tell you about State of Survival, as we’ve been sponsored to give it a shot. This is a new mobile RPG with hero collector elements but at its core it’s a city-building game… you know, one of the genres that many players seem to despise, but millions of you secretly play it whenever you can.

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But I’ve got to admit it right now, State of Survival is extremely enjoyable, I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be this much fun. I’ve been playing for a few days now and progress has been surprisingly smooth – there is always something to keep you busy, either resource management or the tactical combat missions. The loot drops are generous, and I’ve had no shortage of food or materials to keep my settlement going. Several days in and I didn’t feel the need to spend any money to keep levelling up, and that’s a big plus in my book. Give it a try by clicking this link if you’re liking the style of it.

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The first thing that caught my eye in State of Survival is the hero roster. The game has a nice story going for it, with a group of survivors that hit every note in the zombie survival genre. You have the strong and determined general, the brave woman, the young but ambitious girl, and the reckless and dirty redneck, among others. I’ve experienced a fair share of surprises during my playtime, a twisting storyline that keeps me guessing, and fans of Walking Dead will appreciate it even more.

You only have a few heroes to begin with, but soon after you will get a group to take on the first explorer trail missions. This is where the game shifts from the city-building aspect into a close-up tactical perspective where you control your heroes exploring and shooting the zombie hordes, in a sort of tower defense twist. There are tons of trail missions to enter and these are vital to get some precious loot, heroes, and unlock additional parts of the story.

Most importantly, you can use each hero’s strengths and complement each other as they face the different types of zombies. The Sarge is a badass hunter with a larger-than-life machinegun, but the thing I like the most about him is the deployable turret that adds to his firepower. Rusty is a biker with a shotgun, and one of his skills is an impact blast, but he is also at home when it comes to kicking the zombies in the groin with his boots. Ghost is a graffiti artist that brings an Uzi to the fight, and he lays down drums of paint that slow down zombies when they explode. In my brief time with the game, I’ve managed to get these and three more heroes just by collecting fragments: the gross nose-picking chef, the athletic Eva, and police officer Mike. Not bad for a few day’s work.

There are 15 heroes with unique abilities that you can unlock, and I’m really yearning to play a few of them. I can’t say for sure yet if Becca is a playable character – I highly doubt that she is. But her pronounced Lara Croft style and relentless confidence would surely turn her simple handgun into a massive zombie threat.

Maddie and Frank are a worthy duo as well. Maddie brings her crossbow to the fight and is capable of throwing pipe bombs, but Frank is the real highlight here. This pitbull just loves taking a bite or two out of the zombies. These are just a few of the hero highlights, but there are others that add to the diversity – one of them has a colossal mutated arm, and others bring an energy weapon and a falcon, among other things.

You unlock heroes by picking hero fragments during intel missions, in special events, or hero search drops. Recently there was an event to locate Jane, a cowgirl with a revolver and a wired fence to keep the zombies at bay. You can also get Lucky, a green-haired girl that looks like she could be related to Harley Quinn, with a substantial dose of wackiness to vouch for her as well. She shoots sawblades and brings a big flame-throwing teddy to the arena. Earning hero fragments isn’t always a straightforward thing, but if you focus on the events and intel missions, you’ll steadily watch your fragment count rise.

The city-building aspect of State of Survival is a tried-and-tested one. You have a few resources and construct buildings to improve your camp. The central point of your camp is the headquarters, which you must level up to further unlock your heroes’ ranks and experience, and expand the camp’s area. You must watch out for the requirements in order to keep things moving along nicely, as there is a certain logic to the way that you upgrade buildings. As you should expect, there are timers to consider, but as you can see by this footage, I’ve managed to reach level 16 in a few days without any hiccups – you can rent a second building spot with in-game biocaps, and this was very handy to smooth up production.

I can truly appreciate the fact that you can customize your camp as you want to. I’ve had my share of games where I can’t even choose where I place something, so I’m glad that I can freely move everything around as I please. You can place roads and decorations anywhere, make your own routes, and the only thing lacking is rotation, but the camp isn’t 3D, so that’s a no-go there. Otherwise, there’s a nice level of customization compared to other mobile city-builders.

Besides farms and lumberyards to cater for the most crucial resources and walls to keep you safe, you have the barracks, range, and garage to train different kinds of troops. While these won’t follow you in the tactical missions, they are important to escort you in the region map, as you scavenge the land for rewards, resources, and fight other zombie threats. The bigger your army, the easier it will be to complete these missions.

I was pleased with the fact that State of Survival doesn’t overburden you with micro-management. Sure, you must constantly jump between menus and keep things moving, but it’s not like you need to be on top of everything or the camp development will stall. Just remember to collect the resources and intel, upgrade the structures, and things should progress nicely.

There are a few skill trees that add buffs to your camp development, battle performance, and economic operations, with diverse bonus such as faster healing, infantry attack power, and others.

Obviously, you should join an alliance to keep on the safe side. The help and protection that you get is valuable, with timer buffs and regular rewards. As your headquarters reach level 12, the PvP mode comes into play, so it’s better to have some friends by your side.

I can’t say for sure just how enjoyable State of Survival is going to be when PvP is at its peak. I’m not a big fan of having my camp raided by over-excited players, as I am enjoying the storyline and hero collecting too much to be distracted from it. I’ll have to see where it goes from here, but so far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised, my camp seems relatively safe from raids, and I have no qualms in saying that I’m addicted to the game. State of Survival may not the kind of game that you’ll play for entire journeys, but in short daily bursts it’s been nothing but great fun. Give it a try by using the link in the video description and let us know what you think of it.