Although zombie antagonists might feel a little long in the tooth and after decades of movies, not even that threatening anymore, there's no denying that slaughtering them by their thousands can be a great stress reliever. There have been many great games that do just that and others still that show a different side to those sorts of stories.
With a spate of new zombie games landing in 2019, here are our favorite zombie games that you can play right now.
Left 4 Dead 2
Arguably the game series that started the modern zombie craze on PC, the original Left 4 Dead was a fantastic zombie slaying experience with a competitive multiplayer mode and a decent story structure to the missions. The sequel was even better and with extra weapons, maps, and the inclusion of most of the original game's content, there's little reason to go back to it.
Left 4 Dead 2 is still a fantastic cooperative experience almost a decade on from its release and we still love pulling it out of the bag with friends every LAN.
They are Billions
A unique spin on the classic zombie game, They Are Billions is a single player RTS that's built entirely around the concept of defending against zombie hordes. You'll have to slay smaller numbers as you expand your base, your defences and your economy, but every once in a while thousands upon thousands of zombies will attack your base and only your cleverly layered and primed defences will be able to stop them.
World War Z
A modern take on the Left 4 Dead formula, World War Z continues to distance the property from its source material with an expansive zombie shooter that draws on the hordes of the movie to create a terrifying and deeply satisfying experience. It's a little content light and there's not a huge depth to it after a few run throughs, but if Left 4 Dead doesnt' scratch that zombie slaying itch any more, World War Z might just do it.
Telltale's The Walking Dead
A core tenet of The Walking Dead comics has always been that the story isn't about the zombies, but the people surviving them. That's very much the case for Telltale's take on the Walking Dead, which sees you following in the footstpes of a few key characaters as they talk and try to survive in a world of the dead.
Arguably the first season was the best, with the follow ups offering similar, but hardly stellar experiences. Whether you enjoy just one or all of them though, The Walking Dead will have you talking your way through to survival (probably) but you'll need to learn to let some people go along the way. Have some tissues handy.
Project Zomboid
Still in Early Access after over a decade of development, Project Zomboid is the zombie survival game you always dreamed of the big studios making. You'll need to avoid even a scratch from the undead, lest you risk infection and death yourself. You'll need to scavenge for food, build a base, ward off attacks from NPC enemies, and try to survive as long as you can.
You probaly won't last long, but you'll have a lot of fun each time you try.
Honorable mentions
Although these are our favorite zombie games, there are a lot of other great ones out there worth considering, here's a list of some others that we've had fun with over the years. If what we've listed above doesn't do it for you, try these out:
- Stay of Decay 2
- Killing Floor 2
- Resident Evil 2 Remake
- Dead Rising 1-3
- Dying Light
- 7 Days to Die