Focusing less on gore and more on the practical realities of life in the zombie apocalypse, State of Decay 2 is an engrossing blend of strategy and fantasy marred somewhat by grindy repetition and a lack of polish. If you're the kind of person who likes to hypothesise about how well you'd do when society falls to a horde of the undead, this is the perfect place to test your theories. Ok, so there is also quite a bit of gore.

Veterans of the original State of Decay will notice immediately that this sequel is very similar. Filled with randomly-generated hero characters, missions and rewards, the game plays out like a tabletop strategy role-playing game, with a touch of hack-and-slash combat. The game's been given a big upgrade in the graphics department this time around, and there's a heap more content, but unfortunately there's also the exact same raft of technical issues and idiosyncrasies.

After establishing a home base — in one of three maps — with a group of other survivors, your primary concern is how to maintain a pipeline of food, medicine, weapons and ammo to keep you all alive. The opening hours of the game are a scramble to explore your immediate area and salvage everything you can carry, while making sure your survivors don't get too tired or sick to work. Equipping survivors can be fiddly, and upgrading your various facilities is time-consuming, but those who love their stat spreadsheets and management sims will feel right at home. Unfortunately given their random nature and lack of customisation options — not to mention the general lack of polish in the game's spoken dialogue and animations — I never really grew fond of any of the characters or cared about their plights.

If you play your cards right the establishment of farms, infirmaries and workshops can turn your makeshift base into a well-oiled machine, and by a dozen hours in you're probably ready to move to a bigger, much more interesting location. There's never time to rest and enjoy the fruits of your labour however, as you'll constantly be switching between your survivors to utilise their special skills and heading out on expeditions to secure much-needed supplies and remote outposts.