The best zombie games of all time

The Infected in The Last of Us aren’t technically zombies since they haven’t died and risen again, but let’s face it, they share the same basic traits. They have a hunger for flesh and move at Joel and Ellie with the same voracious intensity seen in other zombie games. They’re frightening, especially in Clicker form, with their disgusting fungus limbs and mushroom heads. The Last of Us excels in every imaginable facet, from its methodical third-person action gameplay to its stunning presentation to the delivery of its sterling story. Even if you are completely sick of zombie games, The Last of Us is a must-play. The Infected are far better developed than most traditional zombies, and the overarching story is one of the best the medium has seen, especially as a horror game on the PS4. The sequel is in a league of its own as well, but can’t quite match the surprise and originality of its tight predecessor.

While we tried to only include one game from each franchise on this list, we’d be remiss not to feature Resident Evil 4, one of the greatest action games of all time. Capcom’s turn to an action-oriented Resident Evil was somewhat controversial, but wow, did it deliver. Leon Kennedy’s solo adventure to rescue the president’s daughter from a rural area in Europe overrun by villagers turned to zombies was simply memorizing. Ammo was more plentiful and true scares were somewhat subdued, but the zombies themselves were better designed than ever before. Resident Evil 4 ushered the iconic franchise into a new era emphasizing more frequent firefights against larger groups of zombies. Sure, we’re happy the franchise returned to its roots with Resident Evil 7, but RE4 remains a high point of the series.

Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead: Season One offered a different type of zombie experience. Using Telltale’s patented brand of interactive storytelling, The Walking Dead was light on mechanics, reserving them for dialogue decisions, quick-time events, and other button prompts. More interactive fiction than anything else, The Walking Dead relied heavily on its story. And the beginning of Lee’s and Clementine’s adventure was breathtaking. The episodic format split the impressive narrative into five chunks, each more consequential and revealing than the last.

Plants vs. Zombies from PopCap Games is a colorful, cartoony game about protecting your garden from zombies. It’s decidedly less bloody and gory than most of the other games on this list, and the zombies are actually kind of cute? Designed as a tower defense game, you place various plant-based protectors along your garden grid to stave off the invading zombies. It’s not the most complex tower defense game around, but it is certainly one of the most charming and addictive. A sequel, Plants vs. Zombies 2, and a big-budget spinoff series, Garden Warfare, are also available. All of the Plants vs. Zombies games are worth your time, but nothing beats the sublime simplicity and joy of the original.

ZombiU is one of the most underrated games of the last decade. Originally a Wii U exclusive (probably didn’t help), Ubisoft took us to London for a survival horror experience unlike any other. With a focus on scavenging and a surprisingly neat story, ZombiU had an eerie atmosphere filled with cool weapons and stellar frights. By far, the best part of ZombiU was how it played with permadeath. You could die relatively easily, and once your character died, they were dead for good. The dead character’s body transforms into a zombie as you take on a new character. To take back your items, you’d have to kill zombie-you (ZombiU).