State of Decay 2's 'Heart Attack' update brings terrifying overhauls to plague hearts, infestations, and sieges

State of Decay has released a massive content update named "Heart Attack," nearly five years after its launch, bringing massive feature overhauls and changes to Plague Hearts, Infestations, and Sieges. The update makes the game world more terrifying and feel more real, thanks to major changes to several core mechanics. Seriously, if you've left SoD2 aside or never tried it before, this is the perfect time to jump into it, as it's practically a completely new game with super-rich mechanics that will give you hundreds of hours of gameplay.

The Heart Attack update makes the core of the zombie apocalypse, Plague Hearts, begin as dormant on a new map. Players must take various actions to gradually awaken them. Once a Plague Heart is awakened, it will control Infesting Hordes via Screamers and send them out to build up Infestations, which, on the other hand, are no longer randomly created around the map but deliberately created by Infesting Hordes, led by Screamers, and controlled by Plague Hearts.

Siege Sites will now be established around player Bases by Plague Hearts using Infesting Hordes. Siege Sites will launch waves of Siege Hordes to attack player Bases after they have grown strong enough or enough Siege Sites have been established. Base Threat levels influence the strength of Siege Sites and the frequency of Sieges, taking into account Base defenses and noise levels. Players can reduce Siege Site threats by intercepting incoming Infesting Hordes or targeting Screamers at Siege Sites.

Finally, players can now command their other Survivors to scout the surrounding area for Infestations and hordes through the new Radio Commands feature. With all of these changes, the Heart Attack update makes State of Decay 2's world even more dangerous and challenging than before, making it an even more thrilling experience for gamers. It's worth mentioning that apart from being able to buy it traditionally, Xbox Game Pass subscribers can play State of Decay 2 for free and experience all the new features and overhauls brought by the Heart Attack update.