“So we’re looking at a community that’s just been through a nasty rough patch”, said designer Richard Foge, as we looked at State of Decay’s brand new community tab, featuring a group of very sickly looking survivors. “They started building a facility and they made a lot of noise and brought zombie siege. One of them took on a juggernaut but not before the juggernaut took out a few of the survivors - you can see their tombstones there. And she’s taken some damage herself, cracked ribs, concussion.”

see deal State of Decay 2 - Xbox One $59.99 on Gamestop

This was the beginning of the Gamescom demo of State of Decay 2

Loading

“The goal for State of Decay 2 is simple,” said Strain. “We’re taking that original formula and we’re deepening the survival fantasy. Through deeper character progression systems, more extensive base building options, larger world, a more sophisticated simulation engine, and the number one fan demand - co-op.”

The scenario was ripe to show off the latter feature. A woman named Jenni was the only healthy survivor, one of her comrades has been beaten up by a juggernaut, and another infected by the blood plague, State of Decay 2’s version of a traditional zombie bite.

Loading

Loading

“Laden here, while he was out on a scavenger hunt he contracted the blood plague,” said Foge. Once you contract blood plague through a blood plague zombie, it starts a timer, and once that timer finishes they're going to turn into a blood plague zombie themselves.Opening the base tab, Foge pointed out that his community was low on just about everything, with morale to match. The infected Laden had knowledge of surgery, which allowed the community to have access to certain medical facilities in their base, so his survival is important, but not vital. Jenni could put a bullet in his brain, or go out on a risky mission through zombie-infested small town USA in order to find a cure, putting her other fellow survivor at risk if Laden turns.Of course, the bullet would be the easy way out, and State of Decay 2’s new co-op mode at least gives Jenni a fighting chance.“Jumping into multiplayer in State of Decay 2 is really straightforward,” says Foge. “If I’m playing and the game is open, my friend can just jump in, same goes the other way.” There’s also a flare system, which taps into a pool of players looking to jump into multiplayer, allowing drop in/drop out a la Dark Souls. However, State of Decay has always been about permadeath, and if you die in your friends’ game, you also die in your own.“Decisions matter and consequences matter,” reiterates Strain.The State of Decay 2 Gamescom demo ended in a breathless encounter with several blood plague zombies (you’ll know them by their red eyes) and a juggernaut. Laden ended up being exiled, and we gained two new survivors, both of whom needed urgent medical attention. There was nothing to do but go back out again.“Our community is really beat up,” said Foge. “We need other survivors, so we can start building facilities. But we don’t ever know if they're going to be helpful or what they'll do. We just don’t know.”

Lucy O'Brien is Games and Entertainment Editor at IGN’s Sydney office. Follow her on Twitter.