State of Decay (Xbox) Review courtesy of www.xboxramble.com (featuring Will Hamilton, from Dumbarton) I'm going to make a slight, but important disclaimer before beginning this review properly.

I don't want there to be any doubt about my thoughts of this game, whether I think it's worth 1,600 Microsoft Points or �15 of your cash and a fair chunk of your gaming time over the next few weeks.

Undead Lab's, State of Decay is a brilliant game and it is available to download now from the Xbox Live Arcade market place.

State of Decay is a game that manages unaided to extol the virtues of just what Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) has become and can offer as a legitimate market place.

At the time of writing it has already become the second fastest selling game in XBLA history, with it being beaten only by Minecraft.

The �15 price tag an absolute bargain for the depth and scale this game offers. While it doesn't quite get everything right, what it does achieve more than makes up for its shortcomings.

The actual meat of the game is a survival resource em-up and reminded me straight away of the flash game�Rebuild 2,�in which you select survivors based on their strengths to either scavenge, find other survivors or other tasks to strengthen and protect your community and further your chances of long term survival.

You'll quickly find yourself as part of a group of survivors, all of whom have the basic needs of food, medicine, safety, and protection.

To ensure you have happy campers you'll need to get out there to locate and scavenge oil, building supplies, weapons, ammo, and medicine.

These resources allow you to upgrade your base and in turn attract other survivors to join you, thus raising the need for more and more supplies.

If you fail to gather enough food or take your time in building a sleeping space for your companions, the camps morale will drop and eventually they may leave or take even more drastic action.

Early on in the game this won't ruin your play through, but if you don't keep on top of it, one or two survivors upping sticks and leaving could become the pivotal moment that condemns you and the remainders of your camp to a grisly end.