State of Decay 3 Gets 72-Minute Gameplay Showcase of Early Alpha Build

Undead Labs recently revealed gameplay footage of State of Decay 3, and YouTuber Brian Menard had a chance to play an early version of the game. He’s now shared a detailed, almost 72-minute video showing what the beginning of State of Decay 3 gameplay looks like.

The video showcases the varied gameplay players can expect, including stealthily navigating zombie-filled wreckage and searching for supplies in ruined buildings. The beginning of the video highlights the sheer scale of the zombie outbreak, featuring disturbing, spore-emitting growths.

Menard appears on screen to clarify that the gameplay footage is from a very early version of State of Decay 3. Because of this, viewers should expect to see various problems, including performance issues and odd glitches with how players and enemies interact.

Players who enjoyed State of Decay 2 will be pleased to know that State of Decay 3 will offer a similar survival experience. This includes familiar features like fixing your vehicle with scavenged parts. The game will also maintain the open-world exploration of the previous title, letting you freely choose where to go and how to deal with the zombies.

As a fan, I’m really glad to hear that sneaking around and getting good at close combat are still super important in this game! It sounds like bullets are going to be seriously hard to come by at first – you won’t be blasting everything without thinking. But thankfully, it also looks like we’ll eventually be able to craft our own ammo, which is a huge relief and means we can become self-sufficient as we progress.

Later in the video, you can see Menard fighting through an area overrun by a Plague Heart. This creates fast-paced combat against waves of both normal and special zombies, and the player has to carefully manage limited supplies while doing so.

Okay, so I just watched the gameplay for State of Decay 3, and it already looks way better than State of Decay 2 did when it first came out. But you can definitely tell it’s still early days. I noticed a lot of the lighting wasn’t quite finished – things looked a little flat because there weren’t always shadows where you’d expect them. It’s a work in progress, for sure, but it’s still promising!

Even though it’s still an early version, the video demonstrates what Jez Corden from Windows Central meant when he said Undead Labs has successfully created the high-quality feel that was missing from State of Decay 2. The game appeared to run very smoothly, and it seems the cooperative multiplayer experience has also been improved, giving players more incentive to play together.

State of Decay 3 is planned for release on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S in 2027. Hopefully, the game’s development won’t be affected by the recent reports of layoffs at Xbox in July.

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2026-06-18 16:42