Zombie Games Are Fun. But Multiplayer Zombie Games Are Awesome
There's nothing like fighting for your life with your friends against hordes of the brain-eating undead.
Sometimes modern life just gets too easy. Sometimes, you need to sit down and enter the world of a simulated zombie apocalypse to really put things into perspective. And sometimes, you need to do it with your friends, so that you’re all struggling together, because misery really does love company. So here are the top 11 games to help you struggle against the undead and the end of the world with the people you love most:
11. Dead Frontier 2
“Dead Frontier 2 Gameplay (Early Sneak Peek)”
Dead Frontier 2 is a survival MMORPG that focuses on pitting players against the undead instead of each other. You are one of the last humans in this rundown world and will have no down time in this fight for survival. The zombies, or “infected,” as they are referred to in the game, lurk around nearly every corner and you have to be ready to empty bullets into them until their heads explode. And yes, just like any good zombie game, there are exploding heads.
Typical of RPGs, you can create your own custom character and hunt for loot. Dead Frontier 2 will be completely free-to-play, with only cosmetic and utility upgrades being sold for real money, so that nobody has a pay-to-play advantage, and the in-game economy is realistic, featuring taxes and supply and demand, and player driven.
The developers of Dead Frontier 2 are Creaky Corpse Ltd., a UK based indie game company. They are the creative minds responsible for the first Dead Frontier, March of the Living, and Doom Warrior.
Explorable Interiors: The buildings in this MMO aren't just for decoration; they're entirely explorable, and full of possible loot and the infected.
No Talk, All Bite: These new monsters are nothing to bat an eye at. Some of the infected have fused together.
10. Miscreated
“Miscreated Ep: 1 – The Journey Begins”
Miscreated is a survival online open-world sandbox based in the aftermath of a nuclear fallout. While not strictly a zombie game, the mutants that roam the world are just as unfriendly as any undead you could come across. This apocalyptic world has been reclaimed by nature and features dynamic weather, explorable caves and caverns, and vehicles that traverse both land and water.
Miscreated was developed by Entrada Interactive, an entirely internet-based game company, which consists of about 20 employees spanning the globe. They communicate solely through Discord, and began developing Miscreated as volunteers.
Not All Mutants are created equal: A more recent addition to the Miscreated universe is this spider-like mutant. He's ugly, he's gross, and he'll probably eat you.
More Than Mouth: Some mutants are more than your mindless zombie. Some are armed. This guy, Spiker, has a spike for an arm, and looks adapt at using it.
9. 7 Days to Die
“7 Days to Die – The Horde!”
7 Days to Die is every game wrapped up in the ultimate survival package. You can explore the open-world with friends, build extensively, craft using over 500 recipes, and you can grow your character through over 60 multi-tiered skill and perk groups. It’s a first-person shooter horror survival game with a randomly generated map. The game also acts as an RPG and tower defense game. Your sole purpose within the game is to survive for as long as possible, braving extreme temperatures and terrain, and outlasting violent hordes of the undead.
The creative minds behind 7 Days to Die belong to those of The Fun Pimps, a small dedicated group of experienced Game and Software developers who love not only making games, but playing them. Their goal is to create a lasting gaming experience you can’t get anywhere else. For them, their work is a labor of love more than anything.
Catch and Cripple: When fortifying your base, one of your best bets to outlasting the zombie hordes is to set up obstacles that incapacitate them. Wall of spikes? Check. Deep hole in the ground? Check.
Hungry Hordes: Make sure you're safe on horde nights, because the running and screaming undead come in swarms.
8. Unturned
“Unturned Gameplay – Learning Unturned”
Unturned is a free-to-play survival game based in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. You can play solo, or with a group of friends. Originally created on a Roblox server, the graphics are simple and endearing. Your ability to survive relies on what you can find and how good you are at avoiding and fighting zombies. Overall, the gameplay is simple and typical FPS survival fun.
The game also has extensive server options. There are servers available for younger players just looking to shoot at other people and decimate the undead, and there are roleplaying servers available for anyone who wants to work in a group to create a living story. There is also an expansive mod community. The game works on such a basic level, that anything is impossible. Build what you want, play how you want, and add any mod you want.
Unturned is probably one of the most unique games developer-wise. Originally created by Smartly Dressed Games, the Canada-based company consists of a single developer, Nelson Sexton, who created Unturned entirely on his own at age 16. He insists on keeping the game entirely free-to-play, and 24 million downloads later, still maintains and updates everything himself. He is nothing if not skilled and dedicated.
Dedicated Development: Unturned features multiple extensive maps, such as Russia, Germany, and Prince Edward Island (PEI).
Simple and Surprising: Even though it has simple blocking graphics, the world is still beautiful and immersive.
7. State of Decay 2
“State of Decay 2 Early Gameplay Walkthrough Intro”
State of Decay 2 is the long-awaited sequel to the hit State of Decay which was released in 2013. It’s a strategic survival RPG. You must set out to find other survivors, build your base, start a community, manage your resources, and, of course, kill zombies. Make choices for your group, find weapons ranging from pipes, to guns and machetes, and hack and slash your way through hordes of the undead. State of Decay 2 is unique in that it has its perma-death feature; once a character dies, they’re gone for good. And you can’t pause the game, so you’re pretty much never safe.
State of Decay 2 was developed my Undead Labs, a company based in Seattle, Washington. The company was founded by Jeff Strain in 2009. Strain is an MMO veteran and a former member of Blizzard Entertainment. He is passionate about creating games and is determined to fill Undead Labs with the most skilled and talented individuals in the industry.
Undead Unloosed: State of Decay 2 by no means has a small map, but that doesn't hinder the game at all in placing as many enemy zombies as possible around every corner.
As far as the eye can see: Get to the strategic high ground and scan as far as you can for possible materials, resources, and potential bases.
6. Project Zomboid
“Project Zomboid Gameplay/ Let’s Play #1”
Project Zomboid is a top-down(ish) open-ended sandbox overrun with zombies. You can choose your location from a handful of places in Kentucky, on which the maps are loosely based. You have the options of playing alone or with friends, but either way, the game focuses on realistic survival. The game features a full line of sight system and real-time lighting, sound, and visibility mechanics, so lock your doors, cover your windows, and stay quiet at night, or the undead will flock to your windows. The goal of the game is to survive on cunning, luck, and how well you can avoid the zombie masses.
Project Zomboid was created by The Indie Stone, an indie development team based in the UK and Canada. They are full of zombie enthusiasts, and all share a deep affection for their animated mascot, Spiffo the Racoon.
They see, they swarm, they pounce: The hordes of zombies are equipped with swarm mechanics and in-depth visual and hearing systems.
Build, Block, Barricade: They can't get in. You can't get out. Overall, this is the life of isolation all gamers want. Wait, there's no internet!
5. Left 4 Dead 2
“Prison Break (Left 4 Dead 2 Zombies)”
Left 4 Dead 2 is set in the Deep South of the United States during the zombie apocalypse, and is the long awaited sequel of Left 4 Dead, the #1 co-op game of 2008. The Left 4 Dead series brings horror first-person shooter co-ops to life, and in Left 4 Dead 2 features procedurally changing weather and maps for a new gaming experience every time you play. Battle hordes of zombies while thinking on your feet with your friends. Survival depends on your teamwork.
Left 4 Dead 2 was created by Valve Corporation based in Bellevue, Washington. You may know them for the Steam platform, Half-life, Counterstrike, Portal, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, and Dota. Valve was founded in 1996 and Half-Life was their debut work. Steam was launched in 2003, which accounted for half of digital PC sales by 2011. Today, Valve as hundreds of employees and is worth over 3 billion U.S. dollars, making it the most profitable company per employee in the United States! All of this from a couple of guys who used to work at Microsoft.
From Georgie to Louisiana: L4D2 has five expansive campaigns to play.
If you haven't been paying attention: This is what a zombie horde looks like before it gets blasted to a bunch of gooey bits.
4. No More Room in Hell
“No More Room In Hell Co-op Gameplay. First Look”
No More Room In Hell was created as a tribute to Giorgio Romero’s Of the Dead series, drawing inspiration from the famous quote, “When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.” The game is a co-op realistic first-person survival horror game that first started out as a mod for Valve Corporation’s Source Engine, featuring cooperative gameplay with up to eight players. Each map comes with objectives, and not all zombies are the same. Some are typical walkers, and some run at you without warning, so keep your wits about you! This game also takes infection to another level. In other zombie survival games, you die or you live, but here if you are bitten, you have the choice to stay silent and look for a cure, or alert your teammates. If you don’t find a cure in time, you could be a risk not only to yourself, but your team.
The developers of this game are simply referred to as the No More Room in Hell Team. They describe No More Room in Hell as “a Half-Life 2 Zombification.” The mod for No More Room in Hell was first created in 2003, and after switching hands a couple of times, a new team took over in 2009. The team is currently working on No More Room in Hell 2.
Get Bit, Get Shot: If you aren't careful you could get infected and turn on your teammates. Or they could turn on you.
Face the Hordes: Fight off waves of zombies in survival mode. How long can you last?
3. Killing Floor 2
“Killing Floor 2: Lockdown Solo Support Long Game”
After a failed experiment on continental Europe pretty much ruins mankind and spreads a zombie plague at a momentum which freezes the European Union in its tracks, a single group of brave civilians and ruthless mercs band together to wipe out the outbreak and its crazed victims. Killing Floor 2 is a 6-player co-op first-person shooter filled with nonstop gore. You will tear limbs from bodies, rip off heads, and spill guts. There is also a 12-player Survival Mode, so not only do you get to decimate zombies, you can BE them!
Killing Floor 2 was created by Tripwire Interactive, who has been producing games like Killing Floor 2 since the first Red Orchestra mod that won the “Make Something Unreal” Competition in 2004. Their games average 40 hours of play time, per player, per game! Their goal is create games that grab a gamer’s attention and keeps them coming back for more.
Gore Galore: The developers specifically added new gore mechanics to the game. They're serious about being macabre.
Grim and Ghastly: I think that zombie game developers have an silent competition on who can make their monsters the most gross. This game is placing pretty high, so far.
2. Resident Evil 5 (Co-op)
“Resident Evil 5 – Co-Op Walkthrough – Part 1 – Chapter 1 - 1”
For the first time in the Resident Evil series, you can play a two-player cooperative game. The plot of the game involves an investigation of a bio-terrorism threat by Bioterrorism Security Assessment Agents Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar in Kijuju, a fictional region in Africa. It’s also more of an RPG action game than the other Resident Evil games, which tend to stick to the survival horror genre more than anything. But Resident Evil 5 had to be doing something right, because not only was it the best-selling game of the Resident Evil franchise, it was also Capcom’s best-selling game ever as of September 2017.
Capcom is a Japanese video game develop and publisher, known for a multitude of bestselling games, including Street Fighter, Devil May Cry, and Dead Rising. It was founded in 1979 and is now an international enterprise with subsidiaries in North America, Europe, and East Asia.
Horror No More?: Just because the game went in a more action-based direction doesn't mean all the horror is gone. There are still some big ugly bugs to look out for.
Story Heavy: Immersive and realistic, you will be as rivetted by the story and the cut scenes as you will be by the gameplay.
1. ARMA 3 Dayz Mod
“ARMA 3 DayZ Exile – Panthera”
DayZ is a multiplayer open-world survival third-person shooter mod for ARMA, a tactical shooter game. The mod places you in the fictional post-Soviet region of Chernarus, which is pretty much the zombie version of Chernobyl. You have limited resources and must scavenge the world for food, water, weapons, and medicine.
DayZ was developed by Bohemia Interactive and was released in 2013. Bohemia Interactive is a development studio based in Prague, in the Czech Republic. They mainly focus on military simulation games, but have also worked on creating a standalone game version of the DayZ mod.
Chernarus: Both pretty and expansive, Chernarus gives you plenty to explore and much to look at.
Kill or Be Killed: Or you can try to hide, like this guy is doing. But that doesn't always work.
