This is an incomplete list of video games strongly featuring zombies. These games feature creatures inspired by the archetypal flesh-eating zombies seen in horror films, B-movies and literature; such as in the films of George A. Romero. Other variants, such as the faster running zombies, are also included.[1][2] Particular zombie rationale and depictions vary with the source.
Zombies are common or generic enemies in video games. The ZX Spectrum computer game Zombie Zombie, released in Europe in 1984, is considered to be the first video game focused on zombies.[1][3] Zombie games became more prevalent after the release of the survival horror game Resident Evil in 1996.[1] This release, coupled with the 1996 light-gun shooterThe House of the Dead, gave rise to "an international craze" for zombies, in turn impacting zombie films.[4]Resident Evil sold 2.75 million copies within the United States alone,[4] and its success resulted in it becoming a major horror franchise encompassing video games, novelizations, and films.[1]The House of the Dead is also credited with introducing fast running zombies, distinct from Romero's classic slow zombies.[5]
An open-world, voxel-based, role-playing survival RPG set in the aftermath of a third world war. The player controls a survivor trapped in Arizona in the year 2034, where zombies run rampant after an unknown virus infects the remaining surviving population. The player must find food, water, weapons, and other supplies, as well as craft and build up defenses to survive against the relentless horde of the undead.
A downloadable top-down view shooter game with role-playing game elements. Up to four players must survive a zombie apocalypse. The sequel to Burn Zombie Burn!.[8]
Downloadable survival horror game. A scientist must escort an eight-year-old girl through a city devastated by an airborne virus that turns those infected into zombies. The scientist is infected and must manage her condition.[10]
Real time strategy game viewed from a top-down perspective where players must coordinate military units in order to rescue civilians from a zombie horde.[13]
First-person shooter game set in the 1920s. The player plays as an undead henchman on a quest for revenge. Zombies are common enemies the player will face in almost every level.
Vehicular combat game featuring six arenas filled with zombies, players control drivers who must either defeat zombies or other drivers, dependent on which level is being played.[15]
First-person shooter survival mode of Call of Duty: Black Ops. A zombie cooperation mode, titled "Zombies", is included in the game. Originally featured in World at War, it was revamped to be included in Black Ops. It is a four-player online and two-player split screen co-op mode (which can also be unlocked online). Based on the original game, in the map "Five", players take the roles of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Robert McNamara, and Fidel Castro as they fight zombies at the Pentagon. Another map, called Kino der Toten ("Theater/Cinema of the Dead" in German), features the characters from World at War – Edward Richtofen the German, Tank Dempsey the American, Takeo Masaki the Japanese, and Nikolai Belinski the Russian. Limited editions of the game offer graphically enhanced versions of the four zombie maps from World at War, featuring the newer weapons from the rest of the game. There is an unlockable top-down, two-stick arcade-shooter version of Zombies known as Dead Ops Arcade.
First-person shooter survival game, part of the Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Treyarch has confirmed that the Zombies mode will return for Black Ops II with new game modes. Its predecessors were Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops. This is the third time for the Zombies mode to appear in a Call of Duty game, and the first time to have game modes other than the traditional Survival mode. Treyarch has also confirmed that Zombies will run on the game's multiplayer engine, allowing for a deeper community experience, along with new features. A new 8 player co-op game called Grief is also supported, featuring 2 teams of 4 players competing to survive, unlike Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops, which only supported 4 player online co-op. As with the previous game, each map contains "Easter eggs" side quests, which is used to progress the story.
First-person shooter survival horror video game, part of Call of Duty: Black Ops III. Treyarch confirmed, zombies will return in Call of Duty: Black Ops III, with an alternative expanded campaign. The classic survival horde mode from previous titles returns. The storyline from the previous games is also continued as the four characters; Tank Dempsey, Takeo Masaki, Nikolai Belinski and Doctor Edward Richtofen attempt to save the universe.
First-person shooter survival horror video game, part of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Unlike previous titles, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's zombie mode does not have 4 main protagonists, instead playing as operators from the Multiplayer mode.
First-person shooter survival mode of Call of Duty: World at War. All versions but the Wii feature the minigame Nazi Zombies, which consists of 1–4 players fighting an unlimited number of waves of Nazi zombies. Players can work together with other people to assassinate the zombies in a "co-op" (cooperative) mode either offline with two players or online with 2–4 players. The players gain points by injuring or killing the zombies or repairing boarded-up windows, which are used to remove blockages inside the bunker and to gain access to more useful weapons than the starting M1911 pistol and unlock more rooms. Zombies continually break the windows to gain entrance and to find and beat the players; when all players are damaged enough to fall, the game is over. Three extra maps for the Nazi Zombies game mode were added with the World at War map packs. These maps, Shi No Numa, Verruckt and Der Riese added on to the Nacht Der Untoten map which came with the game.
First-person shooter set during World War II where a military bunker must be defended from attacking Nazi zombie soldiers. Based on the zombie mode of Call of Duty: World at War.[18]
Survival horror, an explosion aboard a large ship has released a virus which transforms the infected into mutants similar to the Resident Evil zombies.[20]
Hardcore rogue-like adventure game set in a post apocalyptic world, featuring a wide variety of zombies as well as Triffids, Fungal Monsters, and otherworldy creatures such as Flaming Eyes. The game features robust systems for character traits, stats, skills, and a very wide variety of items, vehicles, buildings, and map features randomly generated when each word is created. This game is still in development with an open source code.[21]
Based on George Romero's Living Dead series,[22] this first-person shooter was shown at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo but dropped from release schedules when publisher Hip Interactive suffered financial troubles.[22][23]
Survival horror, the survivor of a plane crash in the wilds of Canada discovers that other passengers on the plane are being transformed into zombie-plant hybrids.[26]
First-person shooter in a Wild West setting. A train robber turned vampire must defeat enemies such as zombies and skeletons while trying to reclaim his humanity.[27]
An open-world action-adventure game where you play as Deacon St. John, a Drifter and bounty hunter who would rather risk the dangers of the broken road than live in one of the "safe" wilderness encampments. The game takes place two years after a global pandemic has killed almost everyone, but transformed millions of others into what survivors call Freakers.
An ARMA 2 mod which features survival horror and shooter gameplay in an open world. The game is online multiplayer. Players must feed their character as well as deal with other players and the living dead. The mod now also has a stand-alone version for PC owners.[28]
Players race through a short series of increasingly difficult levels trying to escape from zombies that increase in speed over time. The goal is to last as long as possible to earn money to buy and upgrade new vehicles and weapons. The player unlocks weapons and vehicles by completing tasks to progress through the ranks.
The sequel to Dead Ahead, Zombie Warfare features a different play style and a wider variety of zombies than its predecessor. The player travels between multiple locations completing levels in order to continue their journey. The player hires and upgrades units that they deploy during the levels in order to eliminate the zombies and mutated monsters and clear roadblocks. Similar to Dead Ahead, the player collects XP to rank up and unlock new units and locations.
The Dead Effect series is a horror, first-person shooter, RPG, zombie game developed and published by BadFly Interactive a.s. The second release features a co-operative Multiplayer and PvP Multi-player. the player has to battle with zombies, soldiers, bosses and cyberdogs to gain points and cash for buying and upgrading weapons, armour, etc. The game contains a story mode and other missions like generic, survival, bio-hazard, etc.
Single-player or multiplayer open world games with role-playing elements and an emphasis on combat. Upcoming releases include a new game in the main series, a stealth-focused spinoff and a MOBA game.[32][33]
PlayStation Network twin-stick shooter. The game detects players' geographic locations and groups them accordingly within the game world, displaying players' progress in that region.[34]
Third-person action games which allow the player to destroy zombies with various ordinary items and weapons, from benches and lawnmowers to guns and swords.[35][36]
A third-person survival horror game featuring driving game elements. Announced at E3 2004 and set to be released in 2005. It was cancelled shortly thereafter.[37]
Science fiction survival horror games where Necromorphs, generated from corpses infected by an alien pathogen, are the primary enemy.[38] They are most effectively killed by "strategic dismemberment", cutting off their limbs.[39]
Role-playing game with turn-based combat set in the fictional town of Splendid, Texas. Players must defend their shelter while foraging for supplies and recruiting survivors.[40]
The players are randomly divided into groups of 40, and each group is allocated within a small town where they must survive as long as possible. Every night at midnight (23:00 game time) the zombies launch an attack on the town.
Open World survival horror game set in the fictional quarantined city of Harran, an expansive urban environment overrun by a vicious outbreak. The player is sent to infiltrate the city and must survive by relying on parkour free-running and traps, while scavenging resources and crafting weapons to defend against the growing infected population.
Open World survival horror game set in the last bastion of humanity, city of Villedor, an expansive environment overrun by a vicious outbreak. The player is gone to the city searching for his sister. He must survive by relying on parkour free-running and traps, paraglider and hooker, while scavenging resources and crafting weapons to defend against the growing infected population.
PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One
A gory survival horror game played from a third person viewpoint. Contains both stealth and action sequences. Zombies must be dispatched and burned to prevent them returning to life.[43]
3D game in which the player must guide either a team of four characters or a single character through 17 stages of play, rescuing survivors and fighting zombies.[44]
is a side-scrolling platforming game developed by Capcom for video arcades and has since been released on several other platforms. It is the first game in the Ghosts 'n Goblins franchise.
Sequel to Zombies Ate My Neighbors. The local library's goblin exhibit has come to life, the ghoul patrol must fight historical figures who have become zombies as well as other monsters.[46]
The Wii version is an exploitation-themed first-person shooter,[48] the PlayStation and Xbox versions are top-down shooter games. The developer High Voltage Software originally revealed the title in 2009 as a Wii exclusive, later revealing a different version for the other consoles. Since that time the firm has laid off staff, leaving the status of the game's development in question.[49]
MMO open world survival game set in a post-apocalyptic rural United States infected by the H1Z1 outbreak; an effective and intense mutation of the H1Z1 virus. The player must survive with emphasis on mainly crafting, cooperation, and scavenging resources against the swarming zombie population, vicious animals such as wolves and bears, and potentially hostile survivors.
The player confronts several alien lifeforms that invaded Earth due to a teleport accident. The most prominent foes are humans zombified by some aliens called 'headcrabs'.
Trilogy of action games based on the role-playing game, one or more players are tasked with defeating the undead evil that manifests in the town of Ashcroft.[54][55][56]
Released on Microsoft's Xbox Live Indie Games channel, up to four players shoot droves of attacking enemies, including zombies, while collecting power-ups.[57]
Fast-paced shooter game set two weeks before Christmas in New York City. Players assume the role of a rookie police officer and must rescue civilians from the marauding undead.[58]
A survival horror game similar to DayZ in which the player must survive for as long as possible. A lot of controversy has surrounded this game due to its close resemblance to DayZ.
First-person shooter, Judge Dredd faces numerous zombies, vampires and mutants whilst attempting to stop Judge Death from destroying the world's population.[60][61]
Killing Floor was originally a total conversion mod for the game Unreal Tournament 2004, first released in 2005.[62][63] Players assume the role of squad members that must stop increasingly powerful waves of zombie-like clone soldiers.[64][65]
First-person shooter set within the same universe as the George Romero film Land of the Dead. Players control Jack, a farmer who must fight through different environments in order to find safety within the City of the Living.[66]
An overhead-perspective rescue game in which the player character is a humanity-loving zombie who must guide civilians to escape points in monster-infested cities.[67]
An action-adventure survival horror video game. Played from a third-person perspective; players use firearms and improvised weapons, and can use stealth to defend against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures. Considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time, it won year-end accolades, including multiple Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications, critics, and game award shows, making it one of the most awarded games in history.
Sequel to The Last of Us, an action-adventure survival horror video game. Played from a third-person perspective; players use firearms and improvised weapons, and can use stealth to defend against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures.
Multiplayer first-person shooter games in which four survivors must cooperate to survive against the hordes of the infected and mutated monsters in an apocalyptic pandemic.[68][69]
A surreal game where an outbreak of zombies infects many classic fairy tale settings, leaving only Little Red Riding Hood and Momotarō to defend themselves from the invasion.[70]
A science fiction survival horror. A trio of astronauts must combat zombies while solving puzzles and piecing together what happened to a research colony on Mars.[72]
The series stars Sir Dan, a cowardly knight slain by a wizard's army. 100 years later the same wizard casts a spell to raise an army of undead, raising Sir Dan in the process.[73]
A survival horror game based in the nineteenth century. A devil-worshipping cult called 'The brotherhood of the Hecate' perform ungodly experiments in London to try to create super-humans but instead makes horrid monsters. It contains a wide array of creatures including zombies.
A multiplayer-focused survival game, initially created as a Source Engine mod. The game mainly focuses on co-operation and survival rather than dispatching zombies. Heavily inspired by George A. Romero's Living Dead series, the zombies are mainly slow-moving and are dangerous in large formed groups, though freshly turned cadavers as well as reanimated children move faster due to the lack of rigor mortis.[75]
A real-time strategy simulation game in which the player can evolve different pathogens in order to extinct the human race. Players have the option to play as a zombie plague called the Necroa Virus. Once zombified, humans cannot be cured, so an anti-zombie force called Z-Com becomes the biggest enemy for the player.
Tower defence game featuring a homeowner defending their home against zombies, which must be defeated by an assortment of plants with different offensive abilities.[78]
The Enslaver, a traveller who was turned into a zombie through experimentation, seeks revenge by converting humans into zombies and commanding them to attack the living.[79]
Touch-controlled mobile game where players must quickly defeat hordes of zombies, using soccer balls, before the protagonist Jax succumbs to the effects of the zombie infection.[81]
An isometric action adventure game with 13 levels. Zombies, spiders and snakes must be avoided in order to reclaim the crowns stolen by an evil cleric.[83]
First-person shooter from the Wolfenstein series, players fight Nazi soldiers and numerous zombies. The object of the game is to prevent the raising of an army of undead Nazis.[87]
Players assume the role of Mike Leroi, who is cursed to be a zombie slave but has also been chosen to be the Shadow Man.[90] Shadow Man is able to travel between the living world and Deadside, which features zombies and flying corpses.[91]
Survival horror series. The primary enemies of the game, "shibito" (屍人), are living dead who can be 'sightjacked' by the player, allowing them to observe the gameworld through the shibito's eyes.[93]
A shooter game set in space, containing role-playing and strategy elements. The titular zombies emerge late in the game and operate in a similar manner to the Borg of Star Trek, by assimilating space ships and crew into an undead horde.[94]
Unlike games such as Left 4 Dead and Dead Island, State of Decay will focus more on survival, stealth, evasion, distractions, securing the player's resources, and moving through the world than actual zombie combat.
Sequel to State of Decay. It places emphasis on how the player's leaderships skills fare against an onslaught of problems, such as diminishing survival resources, group trust and morale, zombie extermination, base defenses, and people's lives. The game combines elements of shooters, stealth, role-playing and strategy games and the game challenges players to survive by exploring, scavenging, and fighting the undead.
Features two different play modes, story and arcade, the former involves surviving a zombie holocaust by scavenging and interacting with other survivors, the latter is a straightforward shooter game.[96]
One of the first survival horror games,[97] it featured zombies as enemies representing previous visitors who never made it out of the mansion alive.[98]
Platform game with puzzle elements, players control three zombies with different abilities in order to thwart the alien brains which have invaded Earth.[99]
A trilogy of single-player mods for Half-Life, the first is set in a rural area of the United States of America. Later in the series settings such as missile silos are explored.[102]
A fast-paced Roguelike where a knight has to stop the invasion of zombies coming from another time. Playable alone or online. Featuring pixel art in a fun environment.
The third installment of the popular time travel-themed first-person shooter contained playable multiplayer characters and enemy AI that are commonly referred to as Zombies[103]
On-rail, first-person shooter. A prisoner named Rob Steiner escapes from jail while battling countless zombies, the player attacks by using the console's touchscreen.[104]
A massively multiplayer online game where players choose whether to play as a human survivor or a zombie in the battle for control of a quarantined city.[108]
The artistic concept of the game is heavily based on voodoo culture. All characters excluding the unnamed protagonist are soulless zombies bounded to a ghost ship.[109]
The Undead Scourge race contains classic flesh-consuming zombies (Ghouls and Abominations). The Forsaken race in the later World of Warcraft MMORPG are zombies who had rebelled against the Scourge.
Survival Strategy Browser Game currently in closed beta testing. Players compete for resources in order to keep their group of survivors alive in a zombie plagued Los Angeles.[111]
The game is a co-operative, third-person shooter in which 4 players fight against massive hordes of zombies in locations including: New York, Jerusalem, Moscow, Tokyo, and Marseille, France.
A survival horror game based on the television series, The X-Files. The player can play as either Fox Mulder or Dana Scully, who are investigating a town overrun by zombies.
Part of Sega's Yakuza series, the martial combat of previous titles has been replaced with an emphasis on gun battles. The city has been infected with a zombie plague and now a third of the population are zombies.[112]
Single-player turn-based strategy games, portrayed mostly via a map and diary. The games require management of survivors' interpersonal relationships in addition to standard zombie survival actions.[113]
Icon-driven graphic adventure inspired by the film Dawn of the Dead. A group of survivors is forced to land their helicopter atop a zombie infested shopping mall, the vehicle must be refueled so they can escape.[114]
Players act as the gunner on an AC-130U Spectregunship. The object is to destroy as many zombies and monsters as possible, while helping as many human civilians as possible reach the safety of a bunker, before the zombies reach the bunker or too many friendly fire incidents occur.
A top-down/third person social networking Facebook game. Players must repair their neighbourhood after a zombie apocalypse and locate their missing wife and dog.[118]
Shoot 'em up in which players control a disembodied samurai's head. A mysterious meteor called Darc Seed crashes to Earth and turns the inhabitants of the United States into zombies.[119][120]
A multiplayer Half-Life 2 mod, in which players are divided into two teams, survivors and zombies. When survivors are killed, they become zombies.[121]
The player must rid a city of the undead by luring them over the edge of structures. These can be constructed with a helicopter, which can be landed to allow the zombies to pursue the player character.[126]
A stealth game inspired by the Thief game series. Some missions include zombies.
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