Best Zombie Games Ever: Dead Rising
Shotguns and chainsaws have been the main weapon of choice for dispatching zombies in videogames down the years. But what happens when one gets REALLY creative with their slaying of the undead hordes? That’s the question Dead Rising asked back in 2006, and in the process an iconic franchise in modern gaming was born.
Based around the simple idea of using any inanimate object as a weapon, Dead Rising combined this with an open-world setting and innovative ‘ticking clock’ mechanic to create a fabulously visceral experience. Keeping the action in one location helped add to the atmosphere as events progress in real time over 72 in-game hours. And as for that weapon mechanic? You’re in a shopping mall – use your imagination. Planks of wood, frying pans (Rik Mayall would be proud), hedge trimmers, lawnmowers, shower heads and more could be used to gleefully beat down on the zombie swarms. The second game added the ability to combine items together to create even more hilarious weapon combinations, and Dead Rising 3 even added the ability to combine vehicles into the mix.
Tense, atmospheric and riotous fun – everything you’d ever want from a zombie game. And that’s why we love the Dead Rising series.
Best Zombie Games Ever: The Last Of Us
In a total contrast to our previous entry, The Last Of Us is almost everything Dead Rising is not. It’s a good demonstration of how ubiquitous zombies can be though. In some games they are fodder to be hilariously blown away by the player. In other games – like this one – they are a genuinely menacing threat and part of a harrowing in-game world.
Players follow the story of Joel and Ellie as they try to survive in post-apocalyptic America, with the zombie enemies requiring a mix of tactics to takedown. No shredding through the hordes with lawnmowers here, no sir. Stealth and the ‘Listen Mode’ mechanic can be your best friend in this one. And crucially, zombies are just one part of the lonely and atmospheric game world, which serves the dark and emotional story beautifully. Fellow humans can be equally as big a threat as any zombie here – a prophetic message? Perhaps.
Either way, The Last Of Us is an emotional rollercoaster of an experience and one of the all-time great zombie games.
Best Zombie Games Ever: Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead
Speaking of narrative-driven zombie games, it’s around now Telltale Games throw their hat into the ring and appear on our list. And rightfully so. The Walking Dead is a great demonstration of how to utilise a zombie apocalypse setting and episodic gaming to tell an engaging – and truly interactive – story.
Based on the comic book series as opposed to the TV show, this is not your traditional survival horror experience. The focus is squarely on the player and their choices throughout each episode, with each one affecting relationships with – or even the fates of – other characters. Dialogue choices and your decisions during quick-time events can have vast consequences to yourself and those closest to you. A video game where the focus isn’t on the gameplay is always a risk, but Telltale Games have been smashing this series out of the park for six years and counting. With the first episode of the final season due any week now, let’s hope The Walking Dead gets the conclusion it deserves.
And no matter what, it’ll still be a lot better than Survival Instinct.
Best Zombie Games Ever: Call Of Duty: World At War
Oh look, it’s another WW2 shooter on this list. And unlike Return To Castle Wolfenstein, there’s no zombies whatsoever in the main campaign mode of World At War. So what on earth is it doing on this list?
Well, you and I both know exactly why it’s here. Nazi Zombie mode.
This was the first COD game to feature the Nazi Zombies minigame, ostensibly added by Treyarch as a bonus co-op multiplayer mode. And the fact this mode has been in every single COD game since in one way or another tells you all you need to know. It’s such a simple formula; gun down zombies, keep the boarded-up windows from being broken down, repeat for as long as possible. Simple it may be, but it’s been ruthlessly effective – and most importantly, endlessly fun. So whilst World At War itself might not be a zombie game, it deserves a place here for birthing one of the most iconic zombie add-on modes in history.
Best Zombie Games Ever: House Of The Dead: Overkill
After The Walking Dead and The Last Of Us, let’s get back to the goofy end of zombie gaming. And what better game to do that with than the most over-the-top, garish entry in the House of the Dead franchise?
A series stretching back to 1997, House Of The Dead was a simple rail-shooter series about pointing plastic controllers at screens and murdering lots and lots of zombies. Can’t get much more simple than that – eat it, Call of Duty. Overkill decided to mix up the formula by cranking the silly-o-meter right up to 11. Taking inspiration from exploitation B-movies like Planet Terror, the story and characters are bombastic and outrageous. There’s a hard-drinking sassy cop, mad scientists and a film-grain filter on-screen at all times. If Quentin Tarantino made a videogame, it would be this one.
And most importantly, the core lightgun gameplay is as solid and satisfying as ever, translating to Nintendo Wii perfectly.
Throw in the traditional Typing of the Dead spin-off – no game has ever redefined the phrase ‘keyboard warrior’ so well – and you have an endearing addition to the zombie-killing genre.
Best Zombie Games Ever: Zombies Ate My Neighbours
Let’s end our list by going all the way back to 1993, and an old-school classic of zombie gaming.
Released on the SNES and Sega Genesis, this zany shoot-em-up failed to find an audience upon release. But it has become a cult classic – and it’s not hard to see why. The graphics are great for their time, and the entire game is played for laughs with tongue firmly in cheek. The title is misleading; player-characters Zeke and Julie end up doing battle with everything from vampires, werewolves, aliens and huge demonic babies. If it appeared in a classic horror movie, it’s an enemy in this game alongside the titular zombies. And in keeping with the tone, weapons include flamethrowers, dinner plates, weed whackers and explosive soda cans.
No, that last one isn’t a typo.
Games like Dead Rising absolutely owe a debt to Zombies Ate My Neighbours. It’s a pioneer in the zombie game genre, and it still holds up upon revisiting it today.
