Just as they’ve proven enormously popular in television and film, zombies have maintained a prominent presence in gaming for decades. Some of the most essential horror video games revolve around zombies trying to sink their teeth into the character to add to their voracious ranks. From interactive story games to first and third-person survival horror experiences, the zombie sub-genre is alive and well in gaming. With this article, we’re sharing our personal favorite zombie games that keep clawing their way into our gaming rotations.
To clarify for the purposes of this list, not all zombies necessarily involve the conventionally undead ghouls risen from the grave. We’re defining this classic monster as those infected by pathogens that result in them turning into mindless predators with an insatiable need to attack the uninfected. Whether it be a fungal infection affecting the brain or the insidious T-Virus, there are numerous ways games have introduced their respective zombie depictions. Here are the five best zombie video games of all time, ranked, each featuring their own take on the ravenously infected.
5. The Walking Dead
If there’s one property that might be responsible for the 21st century’s resurgence in zombie media, it’s “The Walking Dead.” Games based on the comic book series and its television adaptation have been a mixed bag, but the 2012 title originally developed by Telltale Games is the definitive best. The game features an episodic story following a young survivor named Clementine as the zombie apocalypse begins in Georgia. Player choices in each episode affect how the narrative unfolds as Clementine and her initial caretaker, Lee Everett, face constant life-and-death decisions.
Regardless of the source material involved, “The Walking Dead” is one of the best interactive story games of all time. With its branching paths and the number of pivotal choices that players can make, the title strongly encourages replayability to see the different ways things can go. The game also features a gripping emotional story as players get steadily more invested in Clementine’s journey as they advance. A reminder of how stellar the franchise was before it got bogged down by countless spin-offs and tie-in games, “The Walking Dead” is a stirring translation of the story.
4. Dying Light: The Beast
The 2015 game “Dying Light” brought an open-world scope not unlike the “Far Cry” series to zombie horror games. After the standalone follow-up “Dying Light 2,” the first game received a direct sequel with 2025’s “Dying Light: The Beast.” The game features the return of protagonist Kyle Crane, now genetically enhanced by experiments using the infected’s DNA. This grants him superhuman abilities as he seeks revenge while exploring a rural community within the Swiss Alps.
“Dying Light: The Beast” retains the first-person parkour mechanics of prior games, with the mountainous environment really distinguishing itself from its predecessors. But even with a growing powerset, players still need to be wary whenever the sun goes down as zombies grow stronger and more aggressive at night. It’s a delicate balance between player empowerment and maintaining the survival horror tension that the series is known for, but developer Techland pulls it off. Bringing a heightened intensity to the franchise, “Dying Light: The Beast” is the best in the series so far.
3. Left 4 Dead 2
The presence of zombies doesn’t necessarily mean players have to face these teeming hordes all by themselves. Valve Corporation’s “Left 4 Dead” series has made zombie-killing a team-building activity, played with first-person shooter mechanics firmly in place. The 2008 original game received a sequel the following year introducing a new cast with new campaigns to complete, revamped weapons and items, and new modes added to the experience. The broader gameplay formula remains intact, with teams of four survivors trying to proceed to safe houses and escape points while battling through waves of zombies.
“Left 4 Dead 2” takes everything great about the first game and dials it up considerably, with more varied and intuitive gameplay. The combat remains as frenetic as ever and whenever players are pressed by overwhelming hordes, including deadly special infected, the intensity ramps up accordingly. Through DLC, some of the classic characters and maps from the preceding game are also available in the sequel, making it even more comprehensive. Valve never released “Left 4 Dead 3,” but the two games we did get certainly stand among the best zombie games ever made.
2. The Last of Us
Sony Interactive Entertainment
For all intents and purposes, the clickers in “The Last of Us” are like zombies, with their condition fueled by a fungal infection rather than a conventional virus. Those afflicted have a lot less agency than, say, those infected by Las Plagas in “Resident Evil 4.” The 2013 game takes place in a world where those affected by the brain-destroying fungus have caused the collapse of modern civilization. Protagonist Joel Miller escorts a teenager named Ellie across the ruins of the United States, battling the infected and hostile survivors along the way.
With its hardscrabble survivalist premise, “The Last of Us” is one of the best post-apocalyptic video games ever made. The violence is unflinchingly brutal and the ruinous landscape is richly rendered as the backdrop of Joel and Ellie’s cross-country journey. And whenever the clickers do show up, the game’s suspense ratchets up considerably, often favoring stealth over open combat to survive. Still the better of the two games in the series, the 2013 “The Last of Us” settles into the grim implications of a world overrun by the mindless infected.
1. Resident Evil 2 (2019)
The original “Resident Evil 2,” released in 1998, is one of the best PS1 games of all time, so expectations were high when Capcom announced it was developing a remake. Fortunately, the resulting 2019 release proved to be a pitch-perfect retelling of the classic survival horror story. Protagonists Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield arrive in Raccoon City only to find that it’s been completely overrun by zombies. Taking shelter in the city’s police headquarters, the two survivors proceed separately to find a way to escape the city of the dead.
“Resident Evil 2” effectively makes zombies scary again, along with the other monsters cooked up by the nefarious Umbrella Corporation. From trying to navigate the darkened halls of the police station to delving into the city’s infested sewers, players are on their toes from beginning to end. Moreover, the game visibly honors its 1998 source material but still provides its own distinct experience, rather than being a carbon copy with an updated technical presentation. One of the best in the entire series, the 2019 version of “Resident Evil 2” uses the first game as a springboard to something far more terrifying.
