It's never too early to prepare for the end of the world. Check out these games and begin constructing your zombie survival strategies. It'll be a bumpy ride.
10. State of Decay
What's going to get you places when the zombie apocalypse hits? Influence, and lots of it. State of Decay is going to show you just how to rank up all of this coveted influence and teach you how to pick up some friends along the way.
State of Decay plays as a third person survival action game in an open world. Players are able to switch between characters and utilize their unique skills to increase their chances of survival. While traveling across the world, players will be searching for supplies, recruiting survivors, and maintaining relationships with the people encountered, in and outside of your party. Players can rescue playable survivors who offer unique skills such as the ability to repair vehicles and craft weapons.
A wholesome good time
Preparing yourself for missions is critical because you'll never know what you'll encounter. Death is permanent in this game and when a character dies they are gone for good. Make sure that your base is well designed and fortified with outposts and plenty of traps or else your home wont be so peaceful. When in a bind remember that zombies can distracted with noticeable lights and sounds like gun shots and flares while you and your party make a break for it.
The game's currency is called Influence and is acquired through completing missions, upgrading your base, and items scavenged. Influence can be spent sending out radio calls to possible survivors for recruitment, asking for the backup of a fellow survivor, among other things. Don't forget the power of influence when your zombie days roll around.
9. DayZ
Think you're a zombie survival pro? Put your skills to the test and see how long you can survive the harsh post-apocalyptic world of DayZ.
DayZ is a zombie a survival mmo that's takes place after an unknown infection has wiped out most of the world's population, but luckily for you, you're one of the survivors. Players wander around a wasteland, fighting against crazed survivors and the infected. Each person's experience with the game will be radically different. Players can work solo or team up with others and take on the game how they wish: saving humanity or wreaking havoc of everything in your path.
Nothing can be taken for granted in this game. DayZ offers no help for players: there are no tips, tutorials, or any other means of assistance for survivors. Just like in real life there are no second chances, save points, or extra lives. A bad made mistake can be fatal. If you die you will lose everything and need to start from scratch.
The neighborhood is finally looking up
Players need to utilize whatever they stumble upon to survive. All items and equipment can be improved or made into something else. Resources are scarce so the game's crafting system is the key to survival. Players also have a great deal of customization options in the game. Weapons and clothing are fully customizable and such objects can be scavenged throughout the environment and provide various amounts of protection against other survivors, the infected, and environment.
Keep in mind that this game is currently in early access alpha and with their purchase of the game players will be actively supporting DayZ's development. Some of the planned features include vehicles, user mods, updated graphics, and wild life.
8. GoatZ
Who knows what you'll be up against in your zombie apocalypse future. Forget human zombies, there might be zombie goats, massive zombie elephants, or worst of all zombie clowns. It's time to prepare for all of those forsaken horrors in GoatZ.
GoatZ is the DLC for Goat Simulator where players take control of a zombie goat. Just like in the original game everything is still as ridiculous but with way more buggy zombie fun. Players get to explore the large DLC map either with or without zombies, but we are here for zombie outbreak training 101 so don't slack on your studies.
My kind of zombie fever dream
Just because you're a zombie goat doesn't mean you can skip out on your meals. Eating is a matter of life or death, it will be game over if you don't eat something every five minutes. Good thing zombie goats love to eat lit campfires and porcelain toilets.
Just like in Goat Simulator, the game's physics are pretty broken, but that's just part of the game's charm. Zombies can get stuck running in place and bumping your goat into them may send them flying away. The DLC offers ton of unlockables for players that really increases its replay value. Players can get different goats with unique powers and weapons such as a shotgun that fires gumballs.
Whether you become a zombie goat in a few more years or fight one to the death, it's good to cover all of your zombie training basics.
7. Deadlight
Understand what it is like to live and survive in a post apocalyptic world, where people's humanity have been discarded in Deadlight. This game plays as a stealth based platformer in a zombie infected 1980s version of Seattle. Take control of Randall Wayne, a park ranger searching for his family in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. Players will soon learn more about Randall through flashbacks and nightmarish hallucinations.
The world of Deadlight is dull and mutated. The foreground is dark where you, the zombies, and the terrain will be saturated in shadows. The zombies look mostly like shadows with glowing eyes, making them pretty eerie. The game features beautiful and diverse backgrounds. Although you do not get to explore them, you'll look onto them in awe. Randall navigates his surroundings fluidly as the game incorporates parkour elements. Players will travel from Randall's safe house to the city, over buildings, an underground labyrinth, a hospital, and a military camp.
Stat planning for how'll you will get out of this bind
Players will climb ladders, hang from ledges, jump over gaps, slide down rooftops, crawl through air ducts, among many other actions as you run from zombies. Your physical actions will use up your stamina. With each swing of your axe, your stamina will deplete, slowing down your swings and making things get blurry until you give yourself time to rest. If you run out of stamina while you are hanging from wires or ledges, you'll fall to your death.
Rarely will you need to fight zombies, mostly you'll avoid those in the foreground and background. But if you're feeling saucy you can yell at and taunt the zombies. Players will get a revolver and shot gun in the game where each bullet will need to be individually loaded. Ammo for these weapons are limited, but players can find more in the bodies that they encounter. This is how the game reinforces the idea that confrontation with the zombies is discouraged. These weapons will be utilized to shoot out windows and destroy locks.
How will you take on the army of the undead? It's time to learn how to be crafty with your aim, and learning how to jump from building to building wont hurt either.
6. 7 Days to Die
Things are going to get pretty real with 7 Days to Die. This game plays as the gateway to living the zombie survival dream like never before. 7 Days to Die takes place after the fall of civilization in a world that is entirely buildable and equally destructible, combining elements of exploration, scavenging, and base-defense. All of these elements will prove to be important for your apocalypse training.
Each player's session with the game will be entirely unique as the player's world is randomly generated and features expansive cities, mountains, caves, and other forms of wilderness. Scavenging is the key to success, players will need to search abandoned cities or take to the wilderness to gather supplies in order to build their own tools, weapons, defenses, and shelters. Anything in the game can be destroyed and scarped for resources, even the terrain can be destroyed and mined. These resources are necessary for crafting tools, weapons, and homes for players.
Hammer the terrors away
Players can take this world on alone or with friends at their side to increase their chances of survival. With an ally at your side you can create sturdy shelters and defenses quickly and safely. Unstable buildings will fall apart and can kill you. Players can spend their time growing plants, hunting animals, developing skill trees to enhance abilities, and completing missions for NPCs in exchange for experience and items. The game also offers full character customization with body morphing and customizable features such as skin, eye, and hair color making 7 Days to Die a truly unique and immersive experience.
As 7 Days to Die in currently in its alpha stage, all of these features will be expanded upon in future developments, adding more depth and additional dangers.
5. Dead Rising 2
What's life going to be like once we've all grown used to our zombie neighbors and built back our lives? If it's anything like Dead Rising 2 get ready for a slew of campy zombie reality TV shows. Dead Rising 2 takes place in Fortune City which is pretty much Las Vegas with zombies thrown in for fun.
Players take control of Chuck Green, a motocross star whose wife was killed by zombies years ago and daughter became infected, but takes medication to stay human. Chuck is a contestant on the show Terror is Reality where players drive motorcycles with chainsaws attached to them to slay the most zombies for a cash prize. After the show, there's a zombie uprising that Chuck gets blamed for and all hell breaks lose.
The most beautiful bond is between father, daughter, and zombie
Chuck has a busy three days ahead of him, which is all the time he has before the military comes in to blow up Fortune City. In this time he has to get medication for his infected daughter, save survivors, take on crazy humans, and survive hordes of zombies. Players will need to get crafty to survive. Everyday objects like an umbrella, toy gun, and fire extinguisher can be combined with duct tape in order to create deadly weapons. Combo cards can be unlocked and will show players what items are the best to combine. You'll need your crazy weapons when you'll have to fight thousands of zombies.
Each day players will be given missions to complete in a set amount of time. With each mission completed players will gain more experience which means more health, inventory slots, and moves.
Dead Rising 2 offers two online modes. There is a two player co-op campaign where you and a friend can run through the game together. There is also a four player "TV show" that pits humans against zombies. All of the money earned in this show will carry over to players' respective games. Maybe some reality TV will be in your zombie filled future.
4. Resident Evil 5
By this time in the long running Resident Evil series, the Umbrella Corporation's lethal viruses have either been destroyed or contained, but now an even more dangerous threat has emerged. Many years after surviving the events in Raccoon City, Chris Redfield has been searching for and fighting against those who create bio-organic weapons across the world as a member of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA).
Chris' latest mission is to investigate a biological agent in Africa that has been turning people into aggressive and disturbing creatures. Chris is joined by Sheva Alomar, a fellow BSAA agent, and the two work together to uncover the truth and fight the infected.
Chris' arms are bigger than our future
One of the biggest changes that Resident Evil 5 brings to the series is the addition of a partner character who supports you throughout the entire game. If playing alone, Sheva is controlled by an AI that doesn't make her feel like extra baggage but a valuable ally. If you play with a friend, either in person or online, then the two of you can control Chris or Sheva for as many chapters as you'd like. Whether you play with a friend or not, teamwork is necessary for talking down powerful enemies, solving puzzles, and navigating the environment.
Resident Evil 5 offers tons of extra content and rewards for players. In-game points are collected at the end of each mission depending on how well the mission were completed. These points can be spent on collectible trophies of characters, enemies, infinite ammo versions of fully upgraded weapons, additional costumes, and graphic filters. The Gold Edition of the game is currently on sale and contains extra gameplay focusing on when Chris loses his former partner Jill Valentine.
Don't underestimate the power of good teamwork, your friend might be your only chance for survival.
3. Left 4 Dead
It's time to figure out who your most dedicated friends are, you'll need them once the apocalypse comes into town. Weave out the weak and unfaithful in Left 4 Dead.
Left 4 Dead is a co-op action horror game for up to four players. You and three of your friends can take control of Bill the war vet, Louis the IT guy, Zoey the college student, and Francis the biker. Each character's skills don't vary, you'll just be picking what character model you want to control. The game has a strong emphasis on team-based strategy and objectives. You can tackle the game alone with AI controlling the other characters, or try to get in some good zombie bonding time with your friends.
It's a team building exercise
You and your group will need to survive the swarming hordes of zombies and horrifying mutants in each level. The game features unique zombies like exploders that vomit on you, stalkers that pounce on you, and witches that stay huddled until exposed to light.
Players will travel across an abandoned city, ghost towns, and dark forests as they attempt to escape the source of the infection. Each level begins in a safe room where your party can collect themselves and sort their inventory. You and your party will have a big sigh of relief when you reach the safe room at the end of each level, with tons of angry zombies clustered at the door.
The game features matchmaking, stats, rankings, and an awards system showing things like who killed the most zombies and took the most damage. There's also a versus mode where you can compete against three of your friends either as a human trying to get rescued or as a massive zombie who wants nothing more than to destroy them. Either way, you'll be racking up a list of who to keep around you when things get crazy.
2. The Walking Dead (Season 1)
Can you guess what series has been prepping us for years on the zombie apocalypse? Ding, ding, ding - it's The Walking Dead. Maybe the title gave it away? The video game for The Walking Dead takes place in the same universe as its comic and television counterparts and will be just as heart wrenching. People who are new to the series don't need to have watched the show or read the comics to play the game, but it will add depth to the series for those who have enjoyed it on both mediums. Season one of The Walking Dead contains five episodes that take about two hours each to complete.
Players take control of Lee Evertt who is a convicted criminal and just got his get-out-of-jail card from the zombie out break. Lee finds a young girl named Clementine whose parents are gone and is hiding in her tree house. Clementine radiates sweetness and Lee quickly takes her under his wing and vows to protect her.
Got to love that cell shaded gore
The game features exploration, problem solving, and quick time events where players must stay alert and crafty. The Walking Dead features a wonderfully crafted and devastating story that will make even the most passive player emotionally invested in the characters. The characters that Lee and Clementine encounter are so richly created that they will stay with players long after the game is over.
The Walking Dead forces players to frequently make difficult decisions in real time. Each player's storyline will be tailored based on these decisions, these changes can be minute or massive. As there are a wide array of choices players will often wonder if they made the right decision. At the end of each episode, you can compare some of your choices with those of others who have played the game.
This game will wholly immerse players like no other zombie game. It is difficult not to be deeply invested in the characters, especially Clementine who is undoubtedly the sweetest girl in all of gaming, and will constantly be on edge by the horrors that threaten these characters.
1. Dying Light
Think you can survive in a vast an dangerous open world? Maybe in the day you feel safe, but what about the horrors that come with night fall? Dying Light will show you just how terrifying the night can be.
Dying Light plays as a first person action survival game. Players are quarantined in a city devastated by a strange epidemic that has turned people into zombies. The game features an extensive world where players fight different kinds of enemies such as zombies and rival humans who want the loot you have.
How badly do you now want to kick a zombie off of a building
The game features a day and night mechanic that greatly impacts the game play. During the day, players can roam the city scavenging for supplies and weapons to fight zombies. At night the player becomes hunted as the infected creatures become even stronger and more aggressive. Players need to do everything that they can to survive until daybreak.
Players have tons of customization options so they can tailor their character to fit their needs and be the most effective zombie killer. The game also offers a diverse selection of weapons such as axes, bats, pistols, and shotguns among many more. Players can also craft weapons so that they have an arsenal of efficient combat tools at their disposal.
Dying light features a co-op mode where up to four players can play through the entire game together. Friends can also participate in competitive co-op events where they'll try to be the one who kills the most zombies, save the most survivors, gather the most loot, and be the first to race to an objective. There's also an online mode where players can become a zombie and hunt survivors.
This isn't a game you want to miss out on, you might find yourself trapped in an dangerous and infected city before you know it.
Do you feel ready yet for the zombie apocalypse? If not then now's the time to dedicate yourself to horror games to build up the necessary survival skills.
Is there a great zombie apocalypse game that you think will help out the rest of humanity? Comment below so we might all have a fighting chance once the apocalypse comes around.
