State of Decay: Lifeline puts you in control of the military

Lifeline, the upcoming expansion for State of Decay, will put you in control of a military unit with new objectives and abilities, developer Undead Labs announced on its blog.

You’ll control Greyhound One, a small military unit sent to the city of Danforth to rescue scientists whose research is critical to fighting the zombie outbreak. The game will start at the height of the crisis, when you still have access to off-map support from the military, but support will diminish with time as the situation deteriorates. This is opposite the progression structure in the original game, where you start off small and become increasingly stronger as you recruit more people and gather resources.

One of your first objectives will be to secure a landing zone and base where you can receive supply drops and extract civilians, a new goal in the game. Lifeline will also add new military facilities, defenses, weapons, and a new map.

“In zombie fiction, the military is often the go-to bad guy,” Undead Labs said. “They’re the hammer to which every problem is a nail, blindly mowing everything down to serve some unknown goal. But this view is fairly one-sided and naïve. On the State of Decay team, we have a different perspective (some of us firsthand) — the military is made up of many good men and women who stand on the line that divides safety and civilization from chaos and war.”

Earlier this year, Undead Labs confirmed that it had signed a multi-year, multi-title agreement to extend its development relationship with Microsoft, leading to speculation of a possible State of Decay sequel. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's review.