Zombies are one of the all-time great foes to tak eon in a videogame. They’re relentless and single-minded, and all they want is to eat you. With the announcement that Killing Floor 2 will be hitting Steam Early Access on April 21, it looks like it’s time to start killing them again. If you want to get some practice before then to sharpen your zombie-killing eye, we’ve got you covered. These eight games are your best bet for taking out your frustrations on the living dead.
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
Zombies in the old West? It may sound far-fetched, but if you played the Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare DLC, you know just how great the idea really was. Just imagine the original game, except everyone is now a zombie, except for a few key characters you have to save. Heck, even the horses are zombies. Add in the new weapons, new quests, and new areas to explore, and you’ve got a zombie-laden expansions that’s well worth shambling off to your TV.
Day Z
The sandbox survival gameplay of Day Zis almost as terrifying as the zombies themselves. Dropped on a island with only a torch, you must scavenge for the food and water you need to survive. Unfortunately, there’s a server full of players doing the same thing, which means you’ll often find things have already been looted. Even worse, you might find someone in the act of looting. Meeting another person is even worse than running into a zombie, because you never know if that person will befriend you or take you out. The dual threat of zombies and other players makes Day Z that much more challenging.
Project Zomboid
While Project Zomboid is an open-world survival game, it shouldn’t be confused with Day Z. Project Zomboid goes much deeper into the idea of survival simulation. The world will actually change around you. You’ll start out with electricity, but soon lose it. You’ll have to provide food and water for yourself through scavenging, farming, and collecting rain water. You’ll even have to construct your own weapons. Finally, you’ll have to find other survivors you can trust and band together with them to raise your odds of survival.
Dead Rising
You’re a photographer trapped in a shopping mall filled with zombies. You have to fashion what weapons you can and make it out in three days or less, while completing missions along the way. That’s Dead Rising in a nutshell. While it may sound like standard zombie fare, it’s the ridiculousness of the game that really sets it apart. You can don almost any outfit from any store in the mall, as well as using nearly anything as a weapon. Everything breaks down, so while that fire ax may seem like a great weapon, what will you do when it breaks? Solutions vary in effectiveness from plastic lightsabers to lawn mowers, and include almost everything in between. For sheer hilarity in a zombie game, Dead Rising takes the crown.
Call of Duty: World At War (Nazi Zombies)
More of a game mode than an entire game, Call of Duty: World At War’s Nazi Zombies revolutionized the game’s multiplayer with its cooperative approach. As more maps were added, each one brought more to the formula, whether it was Zombie Verruckt’s perk machines or the Pack-a-Punch machine in Der Riese. In subsequent games, the feature has been added onto, becoming a staple in Treyarch’s Call of Duty titles.
Resident Evil 2
Back in Raccoon City, pretty much every citizen is a zombie now, thanks to Umbrella’s T-Virus. Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy have made their way to the police station, only to find most of the people dead. They decide to split up and try to find survivors and then escape. You get the chance to play bas both protagonists, and actions you take in one playthrough can affect the other. Thanks to its great setting and amazing soundtrack, your time in Raccoon City may be perilous, but it’s also quite enjoyable.
The Walking Dead
Telltale took the reins of a hugely popular series, and managed to do a stellar job with it in The Walking Dead. There’s very little crossover between it and the comic book or the television series, as Telltale’s effort focuses on new characters and experiences. It’s more of a story than an action game, but the shock of taking on a zombie is still very real. In fact, it’s intensified a bit by the very scarceness of the experience. The bond you’ll develop with the characters will keep you coming back, and will sometimes horrify you at the choices you have to make. It’s a stellar experience.
Left 4 Dead
Turtle Rock Studios (who also created 2015’s Evolve) captured the essence of a Hollywood zombie movie almost perfectly in 2008’s Left 4 Dead. Four survivors of the zombie apocalypse have banded together to fight their way to what they think will be a rescue. Its cooperative gameplay set players against hordes of AI controlled zombies, as well as the “special infected” as well. All the enemies in co-op were controlled by an AI “director,” allowing each playthrough to be altered based on player behavior. The director also controlled the placement of items and pickups that would be found. Thanks to the game’s popularity and Valve’s support, a sequel was released in 2009.
