Lifeline - what were Undead Labs thinking, releasing this?

[MrPlowjoy]

Huge, huge State of Decay fan here. Played vanilla and then Breakdown to extremes.

Then came Lifeline.

What a letdown.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

I've just 'completed' it, by detonating the nuke. Not because I wanted to rid the city of the menace but because I just couldn't be bothered any more.

The map is flat out the worst, boxed-in example of how NOT to do a map. Almost every alleyway was a dead end, with zombies spawning behind walls. Yes, I know that's supposed to represent an overwhelmed city but it just doesn't work. It couldn't be any more opposite to the vanilla map, in terms of exploration. Awful, just awful.

Then we have the base. The base you can build. The base you can defend. Except the extent of the defensive aspect is repairing chain doors that have been broken down. Unless I've missed something drastic, there's no upgrade ability to make it more resilient. You can't put sheets of metal over the wire, you can't hammer any planks into place. Nothing. All you can do is set traps outside the fence, just like outposts, except you can have multiple variants, such as barrels, then fireworks, then mines.

The basic premise is to choose whether to further the military agenda, or rescue civvies, before a base attack happens. There may be some kind of good/bad meter, I don't know, none of it seemed to be explained anywhere. There's a number on the bottom of the screen that ticks up from 1 to 2 to 3, whereupon the base is attacked. Note, there's no variance here apart from a single option in the base to have soliders keep zeds away, which lengthens the time. It's not like they attack at night, or when the base doors are broken through, or even when lots of noise is being made due to the MASSIVE airdrops that regularly take place. No, it's all predetermined. False.

Characters are badly voice acted, I didn't care for a single one of them. I don't even recall their names apart from Sasquatch. The main highway, the only way to move around the map fully, is littered with insta-stop wrecks and wreck dead-ends. "DANGER ZONE" flashes up, sometimes, as you go too far to the edge of a map. What does it mean? Dunno, nothing ever really happened.

Awful 'missions' have you dispatching the rare zombies with specific weapons. Kill a bloater with a headshot only. Kill a screamer with fire only. Weak attempt to inject some extra life into it.

Then there's the abundant bugs. Fight for your life, whilst your companions stand there watching. Odd physics when banging into stuff, causing cars and zeds to go flying around. Infestations behind walls and buildings you can't get around.

The only redeemable thing about Lifeline is vehicle trunk storage for supply backpacks. That's it. There's nothing else here that I have any intention of revisiting. Out and out bad.

If I had to review it, 3/10. Undead Labs should be ashamed. Incredibly poor.

[Le Deflagosseur]

Yeah, would have been nice to have a huge city map with several base locations but nope, instead its a tiny spreaded out map with only one base. I was very disappointed too, I didnt even finish it, there is like 2-3 different missions, supply run missions, hunt a freak missions and main missions (which are basically all the same, saving a scientist) The only good thing in Lifeline (imo anyway) is the constant sieges on your base which would have been nice in the original and breakdown even though it gets boring after a couple siege.

I'm thinking about restarting a breakdown game and only settle at the farm (walking dead style ;-p) but the original and breakdown were so full of retarded bugs like followers acting wierd, not entering your vehicule, did they fix that?

[Bigguns 93]

Originally posted by MrPlowjoy:

H
Then came Lifeline.

What a letdown.

*

10 / 10 for Lifeline. Breakdown is just vanilla SOD but with an endless mode. It should have been free. Once you play SOD, Breakdown just lets you up the difficulty.

- Lifeline limits your options to increase difficulty. Dead end alleys and limited map does a great job of depicting a large city over run with limited areas that are still passable. FYI - feel free to go into the red zone. Why not, you are that good right? If the map was bigger but all red you coud do it. Except if you really tried that you would die. Excellent representation of a large city overrun.

- Base is a forward outpost. It is not meant to be long term and is difficult to supply. Nailing boards would limit the view of the soldiers more than strengthen the fences. Go try it. Try lashing sheet metal or boards to a chain link fence. Now you can't see the Zeds, the fence is weighted and would fall faster. Just park a bunch of vehichles around the base for some added protection. Yeah, the zeds can;t see you, but they hear you and smell you. Now you can't see them or shoot them without being in a guard tower. When the swarms come, you cant shoot through the fence, throw molatoves on the fence burning climbing zeds and creating a wall of fire.

- attack sequence is designed to show the ebb and flow of zombie hoards. After you clear an attack, it would take some time for the the Zeds to build up. It also puts more pressure on the missions, unlike vanilla SOD or Breakdown where once you build enough outposts, your base is always completely safe.

- you can furhter the miitary agenda, focus on civies, or do both. What exactly is your choice in SOD vanilla? Oh , one, escape. And Breakdown? Oh, one, exactly the same as vanilla. Whether you nuke or don't nuke is only part of the end of Lifeline. Did you focus on resucing the main objectives, did you save civilians first? Or did you manage to do both at the same time, hard but possible. So 6 (six) possible outcomes. You can redo it six times to get each outcome. Play vanilla SOD six times, six exact same objectives.

- spefic Sasquatch missions have a specfic goal. And you don't have to do them. If you do help him, it gives increasingly harder tasks, each explained in a logical way at the completion of the mission Kill a Juggernaut with melee, what?! Manage to do it and it explains why, logical and in context with the story line.


I found Lifeline to be better than SOD. 10/10 vs 8/10 and a 1/10 for Breakdown simply because it should have been free. Breakdown is nothing but endless mode. SOD vanilla, Breakdown, and Lifeline all have bugs and glitches, but still enjoyable, especially if you got it on sale.

Loved the military aspect of Lifeline, using drones, calling in mercaneries and sharpshooters, being torn between military missions and saving civilians, having Sasquatch giving tougher and tougher misssions, all the time constantly having to run home to fight of massive attacks. It was litterally a blast.

[redeyedraven]

Originally posted by Bigguns 93:

1/10 for Breakdown simply because it should have been free

Well then, perhaps you should start your own company and see how far you will come without more income (with the shown attitude, you'd be bankrupt pretty quickly).
Games that sell like crazy can allow to get free DLC's released, some MMO's can afford to have time-limited free stuff. Games that once sold very well, now basically not anymore can become giveaways (like EA sometimes did with their older titles).

SoD is not very old and didn't sell as much as overhyped BS like Call Of Dumbness Warrior Moneyfare XII. UL don't get ALL the money they need from MS.

[Vin]

Originally posted by Bigguns 93:

Originally posted by MrPlowjoy:

H
Then came Lifeline.

What a letdown.

*

10 / 10 for Lifeline. Breakdown is just vanilla SOD but with an endless mode. It should have been free. Once you play SOD, Breakdown just lets you up the difficulty.

- Lifeline limits your options to increase difficulty. Dead end alleys and limited map does a great job of depicting a large city over run with limited areas that are still passable. FYI - feel free to go into the red zone. Why not, you are that good right? If the map was bigger but all red you coud do it. Except if you really tried that you would die. Excellent representation of a large city overrun.

- Base is a forward outpost. It is not meant to be long term and is difficult to supply. Nailing boards would limit the view of the soldiers more than strengthen the fences. Go try it. Try lashing sheet metal or boards to a chain link fence. Now you can't see the Zeds, the fence is weighted and would fall faster. Just park a bunch of vehichles around the base for some added protection. Yeah, the zeds can;t see you, but they hear you and smell you. Now you can't see them or shoot them without being in a guard tower. When the swarms come, you cant shoot through the fence, throw molatoves on the fence burning climbing zeds and creating a wall of fire.

- attack sequence is designed to show the ebb and flow of zombie hoards. After you clear an attack, it would take some time for the the Zeds to build up. It also puts more pressure on the missions, unlike vanilla SOD or Breakdown where once you build enough outposts, your base is always completely safe.

- you can furhter the miitary agenda, focus on civies, or do both. What exactly is your choice in SOD vanilla? Oh , one, escape. And Breakdown? Oh, one, exactly the same as vanilla. Whether you nuke or don't nuke is only part of the end of Lifeline. Did you focus on resucing the main objectives, did you save civilians first? Or did you manage to do both at the same time, hard but possible. So 6 (six) possible outcomes. You can redo it six times to get each outcome. Play vanilla SOD six times, six exact same objectives.

- spefic Sasquatch missions have a specfic goal. And you don't have to do them. If you do help him, it gives increasingly harder tasks, each explained in a logical way at the completion of the mission Kill a Juggernaut with melee, what?! Manage to do it and it explains why, logical and in context with the story line.


I found Lifeline to be better than SOD. 10/10 vs 8/10 and a 1/10 for Breakdown simply because it should have been free. Breakdown is nothing but endless mode. SOD vanilla, Breakdown, and Lifeline all have bugs and glitches, but still enjoyable, especially if you got it on sale.

Loved the military aspect of Lifeline, using drones, calling in mercaneries and sharpshooters, being torn between military missions and saving civilians, having Sasquatch giving tougher and tougher misssions, all the time constantly having to run home to fight of massive attacks. It was litterally a blast.

its good to see people who understand and respect concept are still around love you <3 ~_^

[MrPlowjoy]

Originally posted by Bigguns 93:

Originally posted by MrPlowjoy:

H
Then came Lifeline.

What a letdown.

*

10 / 10 for Lifeline. Breakdown is just vanilla SOD but with an endless mode. It should have been free. Once you play SOD, Breakdown just lets you up the difficulty.

- Lifeline limits your options to increase difficulty. Dead end alleys and limited map does a great job of depicting a large city over run with limited areas that are still passable. FYI - feel free to go into the red zone. Why not, you are that good right? If the map was bigger but all red you coud do it. Except if you really tried that you would die. Excellent representation of a large city overrun.

- Base is a forward outpost. It is not meant to be long term and is difficult to supply. Nailing boards would limit the view of the soldiers more than strengthen the fences. Go try it. Try lashing sheet metal or boards to a chain link fence. Now you can't see the Zeds, the fence is weighted and would fall faster. Just park a bunch of vehichles around the base for some added protection. Yeah, the zeds can;t see you, but they hear you and smell you. Now you can't see them or shoot them without being in a guard tower. When the swarms come, you cant shoot through the fence, throw molatoves on the fence burning climbing zeds and creating a wall of fire.

- attack sequence is designed to show the ebb and flow of zombie hoards. After you clear an attack, it would take some time for the the Zeds to build up. It also puts more pressure on the missions, unlike vanilla SOD or Breakdown where once you build enough outposts, your base is always completely safe.

- you can furhter the miitary agenda, focus on civies, or do both. What exactly is your choice in SOD vanilla? Oh , one, escape. And Breakdown? Oh, one, exactly the same as vanilla. Whether you nuke or don't nuke is only part of the end of Lifeline. Did you focus on resucing the main objectives, did you save civilians first? Or did you manage to do both at the same time, hard but possible. So 6 (six) possible outcomes. You can redo it six times to get each outcome. Play vanilla SOD six times, six exact same objectives.

- spefic Sasquatch missions have a specfic goal. And you don't have to do them. If you do help him, it gives increasingly harder tasks, each explained in a logical way at the completion of the mission Kill a Juggernaut with melee, what?! Manage to do it and it explains why, logical and in context with the story line.


I found Lifeline to be better than SOD. 10/10 vs 8/10 and a 1/10 for Breakdown simply because it should have been free. Breakdown is nothing but endless mode. SOD vanilla, Breakdown, and Lifeline all have bugs and glitches, but still enjoyable, especially if you got it on sale.

Loved the military aspect of Lifeline, using drones, calling in mercaneries and sharpshooters, being torn between military missions and saving civilians, having Sasquatch giving tougher and tougher misssions, all the time constantly having to run home to fight of massive attacks. It was litterally a blast.

The problem is, Lifeline just isn't very appealing as a sandbox-type game. It's too restrictive on where you can and can't go. It has too many patently false barriers in place to limit player exploration.

The map is essentially, what, 4-5 'zones' broken down by access from a highway ringroad. Go on the highway, choose a junction, enter a zone. A very small zone, containing at best 3-6 houses that can be explored. It's just extremely badly designed. I was expecting a vanilla town but on a much bigger scale. I was expecting a GTA-like layout. Not this horrible, artificial and forced 'areas' approach they've taken.

And on the base, there's no excuses here for why it can't be made more defensible. You can't even choose where the watchtowers go. You can't even upgrade them. Why can't you add MG posts? Why can't you reinforce the gates? Hell, why can't you build more fences? It's extremely weak. Sure, vanilla suffers from the exact same issue but at least with vanilla you can change your base location. At least with vanilla you get to see some new scenery once in a while. At least with vanilla you get the relocation danger of having to rebuild from scratch. Where's any of that in Lifeline? It's totally absent. It's been built with a "Wouldn't it be cool to play as the soldiers and have insta-access to loads of guns and ammo!?", and sadly no its not cool. Far from it, in fact.

Lifeline loses everything that makes vanilla so appealing. That sense of danger. You rag on Breakdown but let me tell you, several escapes in, when you're alone and trying to rebuild, having rares and masses of zeds on the doors of the RV from the get-go is incredibly tense and nerve-jangling. Something Lifeline badly, badly misses.

[nobrien]

SoD BD LL all are 10/10, now alot of people dont understand how LL works and thats a shame because it does what it is very well and those who do got a pretty sweet ride from it, in a very diff way in many ways to the first 2 which was possablys the point UL wanted to show.

Either way i personally didnt finish LL because at the end of the day i wanted different things but that takes nothing away from what UL have been able to do.

[MrPlowjoy]

Originally posted by nobrien:

SoD BD LL all are 10/10, now alot of people dont understand how LL works and thats a shame because it does what it is very well and those who do got a pretty sweet ride from it, in a very diff way in many ways to the first 2 which was possablys the point UL wanted to show.

Either way i personally didnt finish LL because at the end of the day i wanted different things but that takes nothing away from what UL have been able to do.

I think you badly underestimate people.

I know how LL works. You're in a purposefully blocked off, tiny map, with a single route to get around and after a predetermined amount of time, nothing based on your actions in the game, the base is attacked and you spend 5 minutes shooting at zeds with little sense of danger becase, well, the base is stacked with gun-toting soldiers and the perimeter is stacked with mines, gas bottles and fireworks.

What I don't understand is, why didn't they make LL exactly like vanilla, in an open-scape city, with different areas to build a base? In fact, if the goal was to make your way to a base big enough to land an escape chopper or something it would have increased the challenge ten-fold.

It's a weak piece of DLC that adds very little but removes a hell of a lot of what made vanilla and BD so appealing.

[nobrien]

You call it weak because it doesnt appeal to you or you wanted it made differently and in alot of ways so did i, How ever they got burned by ppl who said BD is weak and boreing all you do is vanilla without the story and so on and then alot put LL as better and the BD a letdown,

Diff ppl have different tastes and although LL didnt hold me more than a day or 2 probably 30-40 hours i understood what they did and possably why and they did it very well and even tho i didnt finish it i still got my moneys worth of entertainment.

its a letdown for you i understand that but LL was done well i think even tho it was not my cup of tea either, i suppose ULs will allways have this problem with SOD its so good ppl want alot more of it and dont want it to end.

[Bigguns 93]

Originally posted by redeyedraven:

Originally posted by Bigguns 93:

1/10 for Breakdown simply because it should have been free

Well then, perhaps you should start your own company and see how far you will come

Name another game where the company charges you to increase the difficulty setting. That is basically all Breakdown adds. Next time you buy a game, tell them that you will pay extra every time you want to go from normal to hard to very hard.

[Bigguns 93]

Originally posted by MrPlowjoy:

The problem is, Lifeline just isn't very appealing as a sandbox-type game. It's too restrictive on where you can and can't go.

Why can't you ???????

Lifeline loses everything that makes vanilla so appealing. That sense of danger. You rag on Breakdown but let me tell you, several escapes in, when you're alone and trying to rebuild, having rares and masses of zeds on the doors of the RV from the get-go is incredibly tense and nerve-jangling. Something Lifeline badly, badly misses.

All of your questions were answered in my extensive post. Let me sum up, it isn't supposed to be sandbox, it is goal oriented with specific restrictions to increase difficulty and to emulate a specific scenario. You rag on Lifeline, but it delivers. If you have not been able to save every single high value target while also saving every civilian , which means you also repulsed every single siege, you won't get how hard and enjoyable it is

Why can't you...

You could ask that all day long of each game. Why cant I dismantle buildings in SOD and build a giant fence around and entire neighborhood? Why can't I use the fire truck and deploy the hose to clear zombies in SOD? Why can't clear a house, board it up, and keep it zombie free in SOD? Why can't I capture screamers, hang them off a cliff with a rope, and use them to lure zombies to fall to their death ? I have plenty more. Fyi you can't upgrade the fence in SOD or BReakdown, but its an issue in Lifeline?

Again, explained maps, fences and other in my legnthier post.

Breakdown is simply a difficulty setting. Yeah, going from difficulty 3 to difficulty 7 should be more tense, its more difficult. Never paid for a difficulty setting before. Okay its endless mode with difficulty setting. Break down should have been a free feature of SOD.

Lifeline is designed to be specific scenario, not a completely open sand box. Lifeline is a whole new scenario, new map, new characters, new missions, with up to six different endings. Seven if you include teh possibility of failure.

[MrPlowjoy]

Originally posted by Bigguns 93:

Originally posted by MrPlowjoy:

The problem is, Lifeline just isn't very appealing as a sandbox-type game. It's too restrictive on where you can and can't go.

Why can't you ???????

Lifeline loses everything that makes vanilla so appealing. That sense of danger. You rag on Breakdown but let me tell you, several escapes in, when you're alone and trying to rebuild, having rares and masses of zeds on the doors of the RV from the get-go is incredibly tense and nerve-jangling. Something Lifeline badly, badly misses.

All of your questions were answered in my extensive post. Let me sum up, it isn't supposed to be sandbox, it is goal oriented with specific restrictions to increase difficulty and to emulate a specific scenario. You rag on Lifeline, but it delivers. If you have not been able to save every single high value target while also saving every civilian , which means you also repulsed every single siege, you won't get how hard and enjoyable it is

Why can't you...

You could ask that all day long of each game. Why cant I dismantle buildings in SOD and build a giant fence around and entire neighborhood? Why can't I use the fire truck and deploy the hose to clear zombies in SOD? Why can't clear a house, board it up, and keep it zombie free in SOD? Why can't I capture screamers, hang them off a cliff with a rope, and use them to lure zombies to fall to their death ? I have plenty more. Fyi you can't upgrade the fence in SOD or BReakdown, but its an issue in Lifeline?

Again, explained maps, fences and other in my legnthier post.

Breakdown is simply a difficulty setting. Yeah, going from difficulty 3 to difficulty 7 should be more tense, its more difficult. Never paid for a difficulty setting before. Okay its endless mode with difficulty setting. Break down should have been a free feature of SOD.

Lifeline is designed to be specific scenario, not a completely open sand box. Lifeline is a whole new scenario, new map, new characters, new missions, with up to six different endings. Seven if you include teh possibility of failure.

Yes, it delivers a very narrow, small amount of content, whilst keeping you in an unfairly restrictive map because, well...I don't know?

These endings, what are they? Rescue one civvie, rescue two civvies? What? What kind of ending is that? Its garbage. Absolute rubbish. I literally couldn't wait for it to end but I forced myself to wait until the game served the end up, not by just switching it off. Nuke? Yeah, please. That woman who keeps broadcasting offers to disarm the nuke if you take her to it? What? Really? And when I said no, she said something like "♥♥♥♥ you", ran towards a tent in the base and disappeared.

Janky, disjointed with no feeling at all of what made SoD and by extension BD so compelling. Lots of guns, lots of soliders, lots of bombs outside the base, 'waves' of zombies (literally the word 'wave' is used, talk about immersion killer) to satisfy the gun-happy players. That's all it is, shoot, shoot, shoot. And lets not even get onto the buildings you can explore. What is there, 3-4 in each 'location' around the highway?

I fired up BD a couple of days ago again, modded up with graphics and with some tweaks to zombies, removal of glowing eyes, all that, and its about as close to the perfect zombie survival game as I've ever been, with the challenge BD offers being real and substantial each time it iterates. LL has precisely zero of that.

[nobrien]

Alot of ppl like all 3 for diff reasons most dont like them all or in their dissapointment about one dont see the actual game for what it is and b i t c h about it, ULs have made 3 good games even the one ill never finish { LL } i can still see thru my inital disapointment to see thats its a good game for those that prefer that type of situation.

[Daliena]

Originally posted by Bigguns 93:

Originally posted by redeyedraven:

Well then, perhaps you should start your own company and see how far you will come

Name another game where the company charges you to increase the difficulty setting. That is basically all Breakdown adds. Next time you buy a game, tell them that you will pay extra every time you want to go from normal to hard to very hard.

Metro: Last Light? ^^

[Bigguns 93]

Breakdown ... setup 6 outposts around your based... go to sleep. Same map over and over and over and over and over. I escaped !!! .... no I am back.... but this time I escaped !!!1.... no I am back. This time its completely different. How? there are some more zombies.

But wait, Breakdown is an "open" sandbox. Boy it is fun exploring an open field. I can look at this piece of grass or that piece of grass or marvel how a four wheel drive truck flips if you run over peble. There are no waves of zombies, some hoards, but you back over them or let the traps at the outposts handle them. zzz zzz zzz No real danger.

Sure I could run off with just a melee and no car and go far outside of my outposts. I could do that on LL too.

Breakdown won't let me reinforce the fence at Snyder trucking. Why? Its a trucking company that is sure to have welding equipment. And I can only build one tower? Why wouldn't I build more? Why are the number of outposts limited by the base I chose? That makes no sense at all. Take this building and you can have 6 outpost but This building , this one you can have 8 outposts? What???? I have the same number of people, outposts aren't limited by how close they are. Its an imaginary limitation to try and force you to move from one base to another for absolutely no reason at all.

Lilly is weak and worthless but she is essentially in charge? All she does is work the radio, others could take turns doing that. She says things that make no sense or directly contradict the last thing she said. Why is Lilly the only one approving Outposts? Who put her in charge? Makes absolutely no sense at all. It is an invented processes to control what we do and if we are allowed to do it. And why does Lilly always get to go on the RV? I have heroes and people with multiple skills who can't come but I am forced to choose Lilly?

Why is there an airplane downed in the field but absolutely no story line or mission associated with it? is there an airfield nearby? If so, why aren't we flying out? That makes more sense than an old RV. if there is no airfield why is there a plane? Why is there not a single mission, discussion about the plane? Why aren't there some items of value there? I can find more in the middle of an open field.

But its an "open" sandbox. Basically you get a cluster of buildings in four locations and then a lot of field with barriers - mountain, river, etc. So not really that open. And the "open" area is mostly grassy fields that are not in any way interesting, so they are just invented obstacles to keep us distracted while we go from one area to the next.

Lots of farm land but not a single farm vehicle. I am thinking a big reaper or other farm vehicle would be awesome for litterly mowing down zombies. But, not a single farm vehicle.
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................


Wouldn't those arguments sound silly? They are just as silly as the rant about LL.

Want to poke holes. Want to complain about inane nonsense. I can play that game and win comparing BD to LL.


If you don't like LL its cool. Pretending its somehow inferior and you can "prove" it? No, sorry, just opinion. You like vanilla ice cream and think coffee ice cream is stupid because coffee is a drink... got it in the first post. Opinion, no facts, just personal preference. Let it go.

[SirMars]

Screw all of this Serious Talk about Lifeline. I have 1 Question and 1 Question only about this game. WHO PUTS THE ORANGE MARKERS BACK ON THE HIGHWAYS!?!?!