Dead State Gameplay Video Demonstrates Zombie-Smashing Combat

DoubleBear Productions provided a video update on their zombie PC RPG Dead State today. The nine-minute video gives us a long look at the game's turn-based combat.

Dead State is set in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Players create their own safehaven to keep themselves and other friendly survivors alive. They must then defend this base against marauding zombies.

In order to get supplies to keep the base running, players will have to venture into the surrounding areas. This video shows off one such supply run. The player, along with an A.I. companion, explores a hardware store and diner in search of food and equipment. They encounter hostile survivors as well as zombies in the process.

The game doesn't encourage players to just kill everything. Ammunition is limited and the sounds of combat can attract additional enemies. Furthermore, you earn experience for completing objectives and finding supplies rather than for combat. Your best bet, then, is to sneak through these areas, quickly grab whatever items you can find, and keep fighting to a minimum.

"It shouldn’t be seen as a preview of a final game, but as a milestone that shows a lot of our basic systems coming online as a playable whole," DoubleBear said of the video. "There’s still a lot to create and balance, but the basics of the game that you helped fund is taking shape. "

Dead State was funded through a Kickstarter campaign last summer. The game's Kickstarter page estimates a December 2013 launch.