6 Best Zombie Games On GOG

Key Takeaways

• Zombies are very popular in gaming, with some standout titles like “They Are Billions” offering intense base defense gameplay.
• “Days Gone” offers a unique open-world experience with dense undead hordes and rewarding traversal mechanics.
• “Telltale’s The Walking Dead” provides a memorable narrative journey through a zombie apocalypse with well-written characters.

Zombies and the undead in general are a tried and tested foe across all kinds of fiction, with roots in classics such as George A. Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead. Classic video games such as Left 4 Dead and Plants Vs. Zombies have managed to stand the test of time, representing the height of zombie popularity in gaming.

It could be argued that the zombie theme has been outplayed, but it’s not uncommon for the occasional game to climb through a sea of mediocrity to really impress modern audiences. The old classics are also often worth revisiting, and GOG offers several games, new and old, for zombie fans to enjoy.

6 They Are Billions

Base Defense Against Unrelenting Zombie Hordes

Those who enjoy management and real-time strategy should certainly consider They Are Billions, a base-defense game that tasks players with building, managing, and defending a colony from truly massive hordes of zombies. It can get repetitive, but mounting defense after defense against the increasingly challenging hordes can also be a rewarding experience.

In the game, players are able to defend their colony using a combination of combat units and defensive structures, with a tactical pause that allows players to construct buildings and order their troops without pressure. They Are Billions does feature a campaign, but the game arguably shines best in survival mode.

5 Days Gone

Evading Zombie Hordes As A Nomad In An Open-World Wilderness

Days Gone may feature a fairly bog-standard structure that will be familiar to anyone who has played plenty of AAA or AA open-world games before, but it differentiates itself with dense hordes of undead and a nomadic gameplay loop that has players journeying through mountainous regions via a motorcycle. Players are likely to find traversing the rich and wild setting of the Pacific Northwest just as rewarding as evading or mowing down the various undead.

By building the game around quick and easy traversal, Days Gone offers players immense freedom that, unlike some open-world games, rarely leads to tedium. With its variety of weapons, memorable environment, and unique gameplay loop, Days Gone is sure to entertain fans of zombies and open-world games alike.

4 Dead Road To Canada

An Arcade Road-Trip During A Zombie Apocalypse

• Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
• Released: 2016
• Developer(s): Rocketcat Games, Madgarden
• Genre: Action Roguelike

Ever played The Oregon Trail? Death Road To Canada borrows plenty from it — primarily the core loop of dangerous road-tripping — and adds in a bucket-load of flesh-eating zombies to spice up the moment-to-moment gameplay. The arcade feel, crunchy lo-fi pixel-art, and addictive gameplay loop make Death Road To Canada a game that’s easy to pick up and hard to put down.

Death Road To Canada tasks players with managing their resources and making meaningful choices on the fly, crashing abandoned facilities in search of supplies while hacking their way through undead hordes. Much of the time, this ends in death. However, failing a run is a little less painful and a lot more fun when playing in local co-op with a friend.

3 DOOM + DOOM 2

Classic DOOM In One Neat Package

Known for its expressive run-and-gun gameplay and diverse variety of monsters, DOOM and its immediate sequel are stone-cold classics in the FPS genre. Fluid movement and intuitive level designs make for a painless experience that’s fast-paced and action-packed, and this is a large reason why these games are still worth playing today.

Although it features its fair share of demons and other nasty critters, some of DOOM’s most iconic enemies are the zombies. In DOOM and DOOM 2, these zombie men are possessed soldiers that, while not threatening alone, can be bothersome in larger groups.

2 Resident Evil

A Classic Of The Horror Genre — Reborn

Exploring the Spencer Mansion is just as awkward and intermittently spooky as it once was, made more readily accessible through a recent release on GOG. The tank control scheme of the original Resident Evil games certainly has its critics, but by making the simple act of moving around a laborious task, an encounter with just a single zombie, especially at the start of the game, can be terrifying. This is far from the case with the more recent Resident Evil remakes, however exhilarating those adaptations may be.

Players may prefer to enjoy the HD remake, which maintains a similar atmosphere and overall feel to the original, but this faithful re-release of Resident Evil is a true classic experience. Co-developed by GOG, veteran fans of this 1996 classic, or perhaps younger survival-horror fans seeking a lens to view the past, are more than likely to get a kick out of battling through this iconic title.

1 Telltale’s The Walking Dead

A Harrowing, Memorable Journey Through A Zombie Apocalypse

While those that prefer more action-oriented experiences may shy away from Telltale games in general, the studio’s take on The Walking Dead is a memorable experience through-and-through that’s a must-play for fans of narrative games. The game is built around a series of basic puzzles, quick-time events, and narrative choices, but it’s elevated by a slew of memorable, well-written characters.

The Walking Dead, especially the first season, is a rewarding, emotional, and at-times harrowing journey. It’s jam-packed with meaningful moments and a few scares here and there, and there’s plenty of shambling undead — but it’s the living that players are sure to remember for years.