Glyndwr University – Tecnocampus Mataró

BA Animation

DISSERTATION:

GAMES AND ZOMBIESA research of the zombie's genre in video games

Student’s name: Carlos Cerezo Rodríguez

Student’s number: S12005206

Teacher: Marisse Mari

Delivery date: 9th December 2013

CONTENTS

Page

1. Introduction...................................................................................... 1

2. What is a zombie? ........................................................................... 3

3. The evolution of the zombies.......................................................... 3

4. The zombie in the games................................................................. 6

4.1. Hard presence of zombies in video games.......................... 6

4.1.1. Zombies as main enemy.................................................... 6

4.1.2. Zombies as secondary enemy.......................................... 7

4.2. Phases and evolution of the zombies in the games............ 7

4.2.1. 1984, the beginning: Zombie Zombie............................... 7

4.2.2. Evolution until 1990........................................................... 8

4.2.3. Games until 1996................................................................ 9

4.2.4. 1996: Resident Evil............................................................. 9

4.2.5. Games until 2008.............................................................. 11

4.2.6. 2008: Left for Dead........................................................... 11

4.2.7. Actuality............................................................................ 13

4.2.7.1. Non-typical productions: Mods and free games.... 13

4.2.7.2. The zombie in the actual games............................ 14

5. The criticism of films in the games.............................................. 14

6. Conclusions.................................................................................... 15

7. Sources........................................................................................... 17

8. Annex.............................................................................................. 18

1

1. Introduction

I'm a great fan of videogames. Since I was kid I played a lot of them about different genres and in

different platforms.

I always liked the cinema. In an early age I began to watch movies of different genres. I used to

watch cartoons and Disney's films and, at the same time, to watch movies like Terminator, Jurassic

Park, etc. Usually, I played later with my toy cars imitating the actions and scenes that appeared in

the film. When I was 10, my parents bought the first PC for the family. With it, I discovered the

world of videogames: bit by bit, I began to left apart the toys and to “life” in the games the

experiences that before I only could watch in the movies without the possibility of interact with it.

However, before of that, I had some experiences playing a few minutes games like “Resident Evil

II” in my neighbour's house or playing “House of the Dead” in arcade machines. I really didn't

understand what was a zombie, but just for that reason I took interest in the idea of a person that

attacks the others impulsively, without any control over his body. In spite of this, in my PC I used to

play games about cars or adventures, so the interest for this genre didn't grow up.

Not so far, my fascination for this type of horror became again. In 2002 the film “Resident Evil”

(based in the game series) was released, so the audience began to be interested in zombies' films

again, after two decades of poor titles in the genre. This interest only grew up thanks to more

movies like “28 Days Later”, “Resident Evil 2” and the remake of “Dawn of the Dead”. In my

adolescence I had knowledge about what was a zombie and I was fascinated with the genre. I was

interested in familiarize me more with this type of films, so apart from watching new movies like “28

Weeks Later” I decided to watch classics like “Night of the Living Dead”, “Dawn of the Dead”, etc.

Soon this interest moved to the games too. With games like “Half Life 2”, although the zombie isn't

the main enemy, I experienced the adrenaline of being chased by the creatures that I'd seen in the

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screen many times. No more later I began to play games only about zombies, like “Zombie Panic”

and the famous “Left 4 Dead”, which made a lot of players to increase their interest for the world of

the undead. Nowadays, there is a big interest for the zombies in different media: new films, series,

games, even comics and books are being published with a great reception of the public.

When I was 17, in my last institutes’s year, I had to do another research project. I was many days

thinking about what to do it about. After talk with a friend who is a big fan of cinema, appeared the

idea of do the research about the zombies' genre. It was a genre that liked me before and likes me

now. I thought that was interesting to take cultural knowledge about the origins of zombies and its

evolution in the cinema, so I tried this topic. The work opened my eyes; I not only discovered the

evolution of the zombie, I also discovered the ideas, the philosophy and the criticism and similitude

with the humans that there are at the back of these characters...

Now I'd seen a nice opportunity to investigate two topics that like me very much: the games and

the zombies. Which has been the evolution of the zombie genre in the videogames? Can we see

the ideas and criticism, mentioned before, in the games, like the movies? These are the two

questions that are going to be answered though this work, thanks to a review about what is a

zombie, its characteristics, its evolution in the movies and its paper and progression in the games.

Before starting, thanks to Marisse Mari for her attention and to my friend Pablo Muñoz, who

encouraged me at time to investigate this genre.

Now, let us go into the terrifying and mysterious world of the undead...

3

2. What is a zombie?

Popularly, a zombie is a dead person that because of a stimulation (a magic ritual, a drug, a virus

or simply an unknown reason) returns to life to attack and eat the other people. However, the

zombie has been expressed in different forms too; in the film “28 Days Later”, for example, the

zombies are not people that had returned from dead and want to eat others. There are persons

that had been infected with a rage virus and want to attack other humans. The origins of the plague

is different according to the work piece, author and even the period or time.

Surprisingly, is possible to remote to many years before for find pieces

about people that had returned from the dead to attack the alive. One

example is the painting “Le Dit des trois morts et des trois vifs” (The

three living and the three dead), a French piece from XVII century that is

a representation of a XIII century's European popular legend. Curiously,

the legend and the picture show us the attack of three gaunt corpses to

a group of noble gentlemen, like a symbolism of the poor people that

rebel against the domination class. In fact, this will be one of the ideas that will be find at back of

some films and pieces of work of zombies' genre. However, the origins and evolution of zombies

until arriving to our days, as its know actually, are not too far and are strictly close to the cinema.

3. The evolution of the zombies

For review the evolution of the zombies thought the cinema it's necessary to

travel at the beginning of XX century to Central America, specially Haiti. By

these years, them became to be strong in the zone surprising tales about

dead people that had been returned to life and that had been seen walking

again. In recently years, different investigations about these tales had

4

discovered that provably these histories were true. Different investigators think that the fact of dead

people that had returned to live can be explained with the use of inhibitory drugs, that could be use

by shamans and the local Mafia for, at first, simulate the dead of the person and later unearth him

and use him as slave or for the persons' traffic. By these years the Central America zones had an

important presence of occidentals' habitants because of the colonialism actions, so the tales

arrived to North America and Europe countries. Soon, different occidental investigators began to

take interest in these histories, and with them the cinema's industry. Soon, it began to take place in

the screens films inspired in these histories and in 1932 was released “White Zombie”, by Victor

Halperin, which is considered the first zombies' movie. However, in this film, the zombies were too

different to the actually popular idea about them: in the movie the zombies are people that has

been resurrected thanks to a magic ritual, they don´t have conscience and are mind-controlled by a

mysterious villain (Bela Lugosi). By these years all related movies will have zombies with more or

less same characteristics. Is the first type of zombie, know as “Classic Zombie”.

The spectators needed to wait to 1968 to watch the first apparition of the

zombie that is recognized nowadays like that. In this year was released

the famous film “Night of the Living Dead”, directed by George A.

Romero, who is the father of the “Modern Zombie” (a slow and

massacred creature that resurrects, infects and eats the people). There

are two important facts that inspire to Romero to make these creatures.

At one side, the United States is submerged in the Vietnam War; with

the improvement of the press arrives to the country a lot of photos,

videos and testimonies that had not been seen before and that showed to the people the reality

and cruelty of the wars. On the other side (but very related to the last fact), it began to appear the

“anti-cultural” movement (hippies), who criticised this unwanted war and the government’s policy.

At the same time it appeared other defiance movements, like the Black Power, who spread the

equality between white and black people and denounced the discrimination of the society and the

authorities. It was a period where the idea of the classic American family (united and confident with

5

the government) began to lose veracity and, with it, the sensation of order and harmony began to

lose strength. After this release (specially during 70s), appeared a lot of movies about zombies that

followed the G. A. Romero's rules and that used the same zombie's style. By this period appeared

too the other two grand pieces of Romero: “Dawn of the Dead” (1978) and “Day of the Dead”

(1985).

By the second half of 80s and the 90s the genre lost his potential. It

weren't films that contribute with new elements or ideas, and the zombies

continued with its typical line. Fortunately, in 2002 the genre acquired

some fresh air: in this year appeared “Resident Evil” and “28 Days Later”.

“Resident Evil” is a movie based on the famous game that showed an

interesting narrative line. “28 Days Later” offered another vision of the

zombie. In this film the style of the zombie was completely different: if in

the most part of the older movies the zombie was a resurrected and slow

creature, in this film the zombie is an alive person that has been infected by a virus and that moves

very fast. In adaptation to the 21th century's fears, the origins of the plague in this two movies isn't a

ritual or toxic wastes, is a virus. More films after “28 Days Later” took use of this type of zombie,

like the remake of “Dawn of the Dead” (2004). However, in this film the zombie is a resurrected

person again. This type of zombie (infected or resurrected), which is able to run and is more

dangerous than the Modern Zombie, is the “Zombie 2.0”.

Summarized, we can identify three type of zombies clearly differenced: the “Classic Zombie”

(created by the film White Zombie, 1932), the “Modern Zombie” (showed by G. A. Romero in The

Night of the Living Dead, 1968) and the “Zombie 2.0” (introduced by films like 28 Days Later -2002-

and the remake of Dawn of the Dead -2004-).

Nowadays is hard to stablish a period for the two last classes of zombie. While the Classic Zombie

6

finalized its apparitions before the arriving of “The Night of the Living Dead”, is easy to find actual

productions and pieces of work that make use of last both. One example of this variety can be

found in the comparison between the film “28 Weeks Later” (released in 2007), which uses the

Zombie 2.0, while the actuality serial “The Walking Dead” make use of the Modern Zombie of

Romero.

4. The zombie in the games

Like other media and formats, the zombies have found in the video games another support to

expand the genre. The games are an important media for this genre, specially for two reasons:

Them permit to show this type of horror to younger people that had bit knowledge about it.

Them make possible to nourish the genre with fresh, funny and interesting pieces of work

which maximize the interest for this type of horror in different media and catch new public

for it.

4.1. Hard presence of zombies in video games

The zombies have been presence in video games since many years ago and nowadays

there are a lot of titles of the genre. In fact, there are a lot of games which script or story

aren't not about zombies, but they appear as secondary enemy.

4.1.1. Zombies as main enemy

The first game made completely about zombies was

“Zombie Zombie”, released in 1984 for ZX Spectrum. To

that game followed great titles like the “Resident Evil”

series, which made the genre more popular, and more

recently games like “Zombie Panic” or the “Left 4 Dead”

series, which have the peculiarity that the player can be a

zombie too.

Zombie Panic

7

4.1.2. Zombies as secondary enemy

An evidence of the potential of the zombie's genre in the

video games is the enormous variety of games which

incorporate the presence of zombies, although they

aren't the main enemy or the story doesn’t flow around

them. A great example of these games are the “Half Life”

series: in these games, The Earth has been invaded by

alien species; one of the these creatures are small

animals called “Headcrabs”, which possess the humans like a parasite and makes them

turn into zombies. Another recently example is “Fallout 3”, where the zombies that

appear in some zones are current people that have been intoxicated with dangerous

levels of nuclear radiation.

4.2. Phases and evolution of the zombies in the games

As had been seen in past sections, there are different styles and periods of zombie

through the time. In the video games is possible to find these diverse phases too. In this

part these differences are going to be review, paying attention to the technological

improvements too.

4.2.1. 1984, the beginning: Zombie Zombie

“Zombie Zombie” is the first game of zombies. It's a

single-player game that was released in 1984 for the

computer ZX Spectrum. It was developed by Spaceman

Ltd and published by Quicksilva Ltd, and uses basic

isometric graphics. It was distributed in cassette tape.

Half Life's zombie

Zombie Zombie gameplay

8

The zombie that appeared in this game was the typical “Modern Zombie”: slow and

crazy for eat other people. The game's idea is simple: the player had to move through a

labyrinth of walls accomplishing objectives and fighting the zombies that he was finding.

4.2.2. Evolution until 1990

After “Zombi Zombi” and before arriving 1990, basically there are two games to

mention:

One is “Zombi” (1986), a game based on the film

“Dawn of the Dead” by G. A. Romero. This game

was the first publication of Ubisoft, that was

founded the same year. The original version was

released for Amstrad CPC, and it was distributed in

cassette tape and floppy disk. Of course, the

zombies that appear are the Modern Zombie of Romero again. In the game, the player

can control four protagonists, which objective is to scape of a shopping-mall exploring it

and finding the different pieces needed to repair an helicopter. The game is a first-

person arcade adventure which interfaces and stages are draws.

The other game is “Sweet Home” (1989). This game,

developed by Capcom, is based on the Japan film with

the same title and it's considered the forerunner of

“Resident Evil” (1996). The development process was

supervised by the director of the film, Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

Originally it was released only in Japan for NES

(Nintendo Entertainment System). In the game, the player can choose one of five

characters, who will follow him in the stages. The objective is to complete different

missions in a haunted mansion, where the principal enemy are zombies. The zombie

Zombi gameplay

Sweet Home gameplay

9

that appears is the Modern Zombie of Romero. The game offer to the player an aerial

view that permits a nice vision of all the team and the stage. One interesting point of

this game is that offers different endings in function of the number of team members

who had survived.

4.2.3. Games until 1996

In the 90s, before the arrive of Resident Evil, the zombie's genre in the games became

to deteriorate. There were new titles, but most part of them were first-person shooters

that began to be bored and repetitive.

Just for that reason appeared the interesting game

“Zombies Ate my Neighbours” (1993), a run-and-gun

game developed by LucasArts and published by

Konami for Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis

consoles. Is a curious game because it doesn't

transmit fear; it's a funny piece inspired in movies like

“Return of the Living Dead” (1985) or “Your mother

ate my dog” (1992), both them zombie's films which tract the zombie's topic with

humour. Thanks to the improvement in the consoles, the game show better graphics

than in older years. However, the characters' design are funny cartoons, specially the

zombies, which aren't scary. The game allows to play two players in a cooperative

campaign.

4.2.4. 1996: Resident Evil

“Resident Evil” marked an important point in the zombies' games. These series, created

by Capcom (“Sweet Home”), are the reference to follow by game developers that want

to create new works about the zombie's genre. The first release's success started the

creation of more parts and nowadays “Resident Evil” is a big franchise of different

Zombies Ate my Neighbours'

gameplay

10

media which has games, movies, comics, figures and more contents.

The first release was “Resident Evil” in 1996 (“Biohazard” in Japan) for PlayStation. It

was a great success, which principal reasons can be summarized in these points:

→ The improvements in graphics and consoles made possible to create 3D stages

where the player could feel immerse in them. Resident Evil was the first game of

zombies that used this type of technology, so the interest of players for the game and

the scary moments that it would produce was important.

→ The game offered non-lineal maps, where the player needed to travel back an re-

visit stages, take alternative routes and was able to has some liberty to move though

the stages and zones.

→ There were many scary and nervous moments well-elaborated.

→ The script and story's work had very well quality. That's because a big part of the

development team were members that had experience from “Sweet House” game,

where they had supervision of the director of the original movie, Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

The zombie that appears in the first parts of the series

is the Modern Zombie of Romero. However, there

appear different mutant creatures too. It had single-

player mode. The game has clearly influences of G. A.

Romero and other zombies' films, which contribute to

create a well-elaborated story. One example of this is

that exist bad humans that are who provoke real headaches to the player and that are

more cruelty that the zombies.

Resident Evil gameplay

11

4.2.5. Games until 2008

Until arriving to the release of Left 4 Dead, in the next years the market will be

dominated by “Resident Evil” series, making the rest of titles to hide in the Capcom's

shadow.

However, the fame of “The House of The Dead” will

be notorious: a first-person shooter, similar to

“Resident Evil” in story but with linear levels,

designed basically for arcade machines. This game

will take fame in the arcade machines and more

parts will be released until our days.

4.2.6. 2008: Left 4 Dead

In 2008 appeared another whiff of fresh air for the genre in video games: “Left 4 Dead”.

The game was created by Valve (“Half Life”, “Counter Strike”, etc.) and is basically a

multi-player game, also the campaign can be played in single-player mode too. It was

released for PC and Xbox 360 and in 2010 appeared “Left 4 Dead 2”. The player can

choose one of four survivors and has to fight hordes of zombies though maps and

stages until arriving to a final objective. If the player plays in single-player mode, the

rest of survivors will be controlled by AI; if the player plays in multi-player mode, the rest

of survivors are other players.

Although the game offers linear maps, it was very acclaimed by the critics and the

players. The main reasons are:

→ The game incorporated an advanced IA called “The Director”, which objective is to

generate zombies and other enemies in different times and positions every time that a

map is played, paying attention to the rhythm and difficulties that the players have.

→ The interface and multi-player options and gadgets were very intuitive, so the

The House of The Dead gameplay

12

experience of playing and possibilities of making friends were one of the best points.

→ The game was charged with nervous scenes

where big quantities of zombies at the same time

attack the player. The game offered an

interesting engine's capacity which made

possible to generate important number of

enemies without creating lag or decelerations.

→ The graphics were very well-worked and the action scenes were very intensive.

→ Until our days, the game has been actualized with new items, playing modes and

campaigns, so the players could continue playing new contents. One of the best

aspects to mention is the incorporation of the “versus” mode, that offered the possibility

for the player of being a zombie and attack other human players.

One of the interesting points of the game is that the zombie that appears isn't the typical

“Modern Zombie”; the developers took note of recent movies like “28 Days Later” or the

remake of “Dawn of the Dead” and created dangerous and fast zombies that will cause

serious problems to the player several times.

The game marked a second important point in the games of zombies and in the

zombies' genre. Since the success of “Left 4 Dead”, the game developers took note and

incorporated variety, refreshed this type of genre and took conscience about the

potential of the multi-player modes and cooperative online campaigns. One

consequence of that are the Call of Duty's series: these games are inspired in war

scenarios, but since this, the series incorporate a cooperative “Zombie mode”, which is

one of best attractions of the game. The game “Left 4 Dead” is one of the elements that

marked the rise of the actual interest for the zombie genre of the public.

High number of zombies in Left 4 Dead2

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4.2.7. Actuality

Nowadays it is an important interest of the public for the zombie genre. Productions like

the movie “Resident Evil”, the game “Left 4 Dead” or the serial “The Walking Dead” had

rise the genre to a splendid phase.

In the games, this is translated in variety and a lot of new titles that want to create new

experiences in the games of zombies. Examples of this, beside new releases of the

masters of the genre like the Resident Evil's series, are games like “Zombi U” (2012): a

survival game for Wii U and mobile platforms, “Yakuza: Dead Souls” (2011): a zombie-

survival production were the martial combat have a hard presence, or “State of Decay”

(2012): an open-world game where the player has to complete objectives while helps

other survivors and escapes of the zombies.

4.2.7.1. Non-typical productions: mods and free games

The interest for the zombies cannot be only quantified by the official productions of

professional developers. Thanks to creation and edition tools (sometimes provided by

the own professional studios and developers), gamers with knowledges about

programming have made “mods” (modifications over an original game) that have

resulted in splendid works of zombies' modes, sometimes very different to the original

game.

One clear example of that is the mod “Day-Z” (2012) for the game “ARMA 2” (2009).

ARMA 2 is a war-game which is not related with the zombie genre. However, the mod

Day-Z transforms it in an open-world multi-player game where the users can work

together of fight between them and the zombies.

Another great example of the opportunities that offer these tools is “Zombie Panic”

(2007), created using the Source Engine of games like “Half Life 2” (2004). Zombie

14

Panic created a completely different multi-player game where survivors and zombies

have to survive or infect, respectively. The Source Engine's property company, Valve,

rested very surprised for the success of the game and, in 2010, decided to buy the

game and modify it to make it a completely individual and self-sufficient game.

4.2.7.2. The zombie in the actual games

Several pages back, it was commented that nowadays the different media and

productions about the zombie genre, uses both Modern Zombie model and Zombie 2.0.

This fact is seen in the videogames too: actually is normal find games with fast and

dangerous zombies like Left 4 Dead and Zombie Panic, and games with the typical

slow and massacred zombie, like Resident Evil's newest releases or State of Decay.

However, is needed to mention that the typical Modern Zombie of Romero is present in

more games than the Zombie 2.0.

5. The criticism of the films in the games

In the games is possible to find the criticism or ideas which are

common in the films. However, this aspect is less worked than in

movies, although, there are different productions that have

dragged this aspect from the films. Examples of that, apart the

Resident Evil's series -which criticism has been commented in

point 4.2.4.-, are games like “Dead Rising” or “Dead Island”,

where the player has to defence himself from zombies, but also from psychopaths or, simply,

arrogant people. Moreover, in these two games the story flows around bad characters who are the

creators of the plague or, simply, want to profiteer the chaos for his own benefit.

Dead Rising

15

On the other hand, there are titles that doesn't pay attention to these aspects. Most part of these

games are multi-player productions which main objective is to offer adrenalin and intensive survival

scenes. Examples of that are games like Left 4 Dead or Zombie Panic.

6. Conclusions

After the research that has been realized and the contents that have been commented in the work,

we can extract these points:

To the question “Which has been the evolution of the zombie genre in the videogames?” we can

say that the zombie's genre in the world of video games has been growing up thought the years

since his “official” apparition in 1984 with “Zombie Zombie”. Is interesting to observe how there are

similarities between the phases that the zombie's genre found in time and the phases that it has

found in the games. For example, in 90's it were poor film productions, so the genre in the

videogames didn't grow up during these years until the arrive of Resident Evil.

We can talk too about different phases or periods in the evolution of the zombies' game, that can

be classified in:

– The beginning at 1984 and evolution until 1990: where the protagonist games are “Zombie

Zombie” (1984), “Zombi” (1986) and “Sweet Home” (1989), which mark the first steps of the

genre in the video games.

– Games of 1990 to 1996: a period of poor and repetitive first-person shooters which

propitiated the funny game “Zombies Ate my Neighbours” (1993).

– Games of 1996 to 2008: a period that starts with the great game “Resident Evil” (1996) and

that was basically dominated by the next Resident Evil's releases until 2008.

– 2008 and actuality: the actual big and varied market of zombie's games began with Left 4

Dead in 2008, that marked the importance of making projects different to older productions

16

and showed the potential of creating on-line widgets that allows the players to access to

new content, to make friends and to create communities easily. Actually, is easy to find

variety in the zombies' games, which are growing up at the same time that the genre in

different media.

About the styles of zombie we've seen how, according to the films, the figure that dominated until

2008 was the typical “Modern Zombie”. In this year, Left 4 dead introduced the “Zombie 2.0” that

appeared in recent films like “Dawn of the Dead” (2004) or “28 Weeks Later” (2007), and inspired

to other developers to change and introduce it again like in “Dead Island” (2011). However, the

Modern Zombie hasn't disappeared and nowadays, like in the movies or serials, we can find both

types in the games too.

To the second question, about if can we see in the games the criticism and the ideas that can be

found in the movies, we can say that yes, but in less frequency. There are games -specially with

single-player or cooperative stories- like “Resident Evil” series, “Dead Rising”, “Dead Rising 2” or

“Dead Island” where one of the indispensable aspects is the incorporation of human enemies and

plots that make think to the user who are the really monsters. At the same time, there are a lot of

games -chiefly multi-player games- where this aspect isn't a priority and the main element is the

action and the intensive scenes, trying to have fun the player all the time, like “Left 4 Dead” or

“Zombie Panic”.

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7. Sources

Bibliography:

– “Películas clave del cine de terror moderno” (Modern horror film key movies), by Desiree de

Fez Martin.

– “1001 movies you must see before you die”, by Steven Jay Schneider.

– Research project “El cinema de zombis” (The cinema of Zombies) by Carlos Cerezo.

Netgraphy:

– es.wikipedia.org

– en.wikipedia.org

– www.cinerama.es

– www.residentevil.com

– www.youtube.com

– http://mundoimd.com/2008/08/31/juegos-en-perspectiva-isometrica/

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8. Annex

List with most part of games about zombies or games where zombies have an important

role (extracted from wikipedia):

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

City of the Dead CancelledPlayStation 2,Windows, Xbox

Based on George Romero's Living Dead series,[20] this first-person shooter was shown at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo but dropped from release schedules when publisher Hip Interactive suffered financial troubles.

None

Contagion TBA Windows

Contagion is an upcoming zombie survival horror title by Monochrome Games and is the spiritual successor to the Half-Life 2 mod Zombie Panic: Source.

None

Dead Linger TBA PC

The Dead Linger is a sandboxzombie survival game that willallow you to play in co-op or PVP modes.

0

Dead Rush CancelledPlayStation 2,Xbox

An third-person survival horror game featuring driving game elements. Announced atE3 2004 and set to be released in 2005. It was cancelled shortly thereafter.

None

Dead State TBA Windows

Role-playing game with turn-based combat set in the fictional town of Splendid, Texas. Players must defend their undead shelter, a school,while foraging for supplies and recruiting survivors.

None

The Grinder TBA PlayStation 3,Wii, Xbox 360

The Wii version is a grindhouse themed first-person shooter, the PlayStation and Xbox versions are top-down shooter games. The developer High Voltage Software originally revealed

None

19

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

the title in 2009 as a Wii exclusive, later revealing a different version for the other consoles. Since that time the firm has laid off staff, leaving the status of the game's development in question.

Human Element TBA Ouya (Android) None

Possession TBAPlayStation 3,Windows, Xbox 360

The Enslaver, a traveller who was turned into a zombie through experimentation, seeks revenge by converting humans into zombies and commanding them to attack the living.

None

Project Zomboid TBALinux,Windows, Mac OS X

An isometric zombie survival role-playing game under ongoing development.

None

ROAM TBAWindows, Mac OS X

A Kickstarter funded online co-op action game set in a procedurally generated world

None

Zombie Massacre TBA WiiUpcoming game to the 2013 film Zombie Massacre, developed by 1988 Games

None

Zombie Zombie 1984 ZX Spectrum

The player must rid a city of the undead by luring them over the edge of structures. These can be constructed with a helicopter, which can be landed to allow the zombies to pursue the player character.

None

Zombi 1986

Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST,Commodore 64,Commodore Plus/4, ZX Spectrum

Icon-driven graphic adventureinspired by the film Dawn of the Dead. A group of survivors is forced to land their helicopter atop a zombie infested shopping mall, the vehicle must be refueled so they can escape.

None

Beast Busters 1989Amiga, Arcade,Atari ST

Light gun game for up to three players, who must shoottheir way out of a zombie-infested city with submachine guns.

None

Sweet Home 1989 Nintendo Famicom

One of the first survival horror games, it featured zombies as enemies representing previous visitors

None

20

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

who never made it out of the mansion alive.

Horror Zombies from the Crypt

1990Amiga, Atari ST, DOS

Platform game where the player enters a mansion full ofzombies and other ghastly creatures.

None

Zombie Nation 1990 NES

A mysterious meteor called Darc Seed crashes to Earth and turns the inhabitants of the United States into zombies. Players control a disembodied samurai's head which flies across the screen and fires eyeballs and vomit at enemies.

None

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck'sRevenge

1991Amiga, DOS,FM Towns, Mac OS

Graphic adventure game. The series' antagonist, LeChuck the pirate,is reanimated as a zombie.

87 (PC)

Isle of the Dead 1993 DOS

First-person shooter with adventure game elements, the player is stranded on an island filled with zombies.

None

Zombies Ate My Neighbors 1993Mega Drive,SuperNintendo,Wii

Shooter game played from anoverhead perspective. The game parodies B-movies and features zombies amongst several other types of monster.

None

Alone in the Dark 3 1994DOS, Mac OS,Windows

Survival horror game set in an Old West ghost town. Paranormal investigator Edward Carnby must rescue Emily Hartwood, the other playable character from Alone in the Dark from a band of zombie outlaws.

55

Corpse Killer 1994

3DO, Sega CD,Sega 32X, Sega Saturn,Windows

A live-action light gun game featuring a soldier who must fight through an island full of zombies to reach 'necrobiologist' Dr. Hellman.

None

Ghoul Patrol 1994 Super Nintendo Little-known sequel to the earlier Zombies Ate My Neighbors. The local library's goblin exhibit has come to life, the ghoul patrol must fighthistorical figures who have

None

21

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

become zombies as well as other monsters.

Area 51 1995Arcade,PlayStation,Sega Saturn,Windows

Light gun game where playersfight off an alien infestation inside Area 51while fighting the personnel, who have been turned into zombies.

67 (PC)

The House of the Deadseries

1996–present

Arcade,Dreamcast,Sega Saturn,Wii, Windows,Xbox

Gory light gun Arcade games on rails which feature numerous zombies.

75 (PS3)

Resident Evil series 1996–presentWindows, Various

Survival horror series featuring flesh-eating zombiescreated by synthetic means, such as infection with the fictional T-virus.

91(Gamecube)

Blood 1997 DOS

First Person Shooter An action-horror themed game set in the 1920s. The player plays as an undead henchman, on a quest for revenge. Zombies are common enemies the player will face in almost every level.

None

Gloom 3 1997 Amiga

First-person shooter, the player dispenses with zombies which explode in a shower of limbs.

None

Nightmare Creatures 1997-1998PlayStation,Windows,Nintendo 64

A survival horror game based in the nineteenth century. A devil-worshipping cult called 'The brotherhood of the Hecate' perform ungodly experiments in London to try to create super-humans but instead makes horrid monsters. It contains a wide array of creatures including zombies.

None

Voodoo Kid 1997 Windows

The artistic concept of the game is heavily based on voodoo culture. All characters excluding the unnamed protagonist are soulless zombies bounded to a ghost ship.

None

CarnEvil 1998 ArcadeLight gun game set in an undead-infested amusement park.

None

22

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

Flesh Feast 1998 Windows

3D game in which the player must guide either a team of four characters or a single character through 17 stages of play, rescuing survivors and fighting zombies.

None

Half-Life series 1998–2011

Windows, Mac OS X, Several consoles

The player confronts several alien lifeforms that invaded Earth due to a teleport accident. The most prominentfoes are humans zombified bysome aliens called 'headcrabs'.

96

MediEvilseries 1998–2007

PlayStation,PlayStation 3,PlayStation Portable

The series stars Sir Dan, a cowardly knight slain by a wizard's army. 100 years laterthe same wizard casts a spell to raise an army of undead, raising Sir Dan in the process.

66 (PSP)

Zombie Massacre 1998 AmigaFirst-person shooter, clone of the popular Amiga first personshooter Doom

None

Shadow Man 1999

Dreamcast,Nintendo 64,PlayStation,Windows

Players assume the role of Mike Leroi, who is cursed to be a zombie slave but has also been chosen to be the Shadow Man. Shadow Man isable to travel between the living world and Deadside, which features zombies and flying corpses.

None

They Hungerseries 1999 Windows

A trilogy of single-player modsfor Half-Life, the first is set in a rural area of the United States of America. Later in the series settings such as missile silos are explored.

None

The Typing of the Dead 1999Dreamcast,Sega, Windows

A touch typing trainer version of The House of the Dead 2.

83 (Sega)

Zombie Revenge 1999 Arcade,Dreamcast

Beat 'em up where players choose one of three characters to pummel zombies.

None

Carrier 2000 Dreamcast

Survival horror, an explosion aboard a large ship has released a virus which transforms the infected into mutants similar to the Resident Evilzombies.

GameSpot Review

23

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

D2 2000 Dreamcast

Survival horror, the player-character Laura Parton has survived a plane crash in the wilds of Canada only to find that other passengers on the plane are being transformed into zombie-plant hybrids.

69

Evil Deadseries 2000–2005Dreamcast,PlayStation,PlayStation 2,Windows, Xbox

Trilogy consisting of Hail to the King, A Fistful of Boomstick andRegeneration. Ash from the Evil Dead films slices through Deadites, "zombified demons", with his arm-mounted chainsaw and double-barrel shotgun.

58 (Xbox)

Martian Gothic: Unification 2000PlayStation,Windows

A science fiction survival horrorstarring three astronauts who investigate an incident in a scientific-research base on Mars. The trio must combat zombies while solving puzzlesand piecing together what happened to the colony.

64 (PS)

The OneChanbaraseries 2000–presentPlayStation 2,Wii, Xbox 360

Hack and slash games involving a bikini-clad female protagonist cutting swathes through an army of undead with a katana.

39 (Xbox 360)

Return to Castle Wolfenstein 2001Linux, Mac OS X, PlayStation 2, Windows,Xbox

First-person shooter from the Wolfenstein series, players fight nazi soldiers and numerous zombies. The object of the game is to prevent the raising of an armyof undead nazis.

88 (PC)

Hunter: The Reckoningseries

2002–2003GameCube,PlayStation 2,Xbox

Trilogy of action games basedon the role-playing game, one or more players are tasked with defeating the undead evilthat manifests in the town of Ashcroft.

70(Gamecube)

Warcraft IIIseries 2002-2003Mac OS, Mac OS X, Windows

The Undead Scourge race contains classic flesh-consuming zombies (Ghouls and Abominations). The Forsaken race in the later World of Warcraft MMORPG are zombies who had rebelled against the Scourge.

92 (PC)

24

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death

2003GameCube,PlayStation 2,Windows, Xbox

First-person shooter, Judge Dredd faces numerous zombies, vampires and mutants whilst attempting to stop Judge Death from destroying the world's population.

55 (PC)

Siren series 2003–presentPlayStation 2,PlayStation 3

Survival horror series. The primary enemies of the game, "shibito", are living dead who can be 'sightjacked' by the player, allowing them to observe the gameworld through the shibito's eyes.[85]

72 PS2

Survival Crisis Z 2004 Windows

Features two different play modes, story and arcade, the former involves surviving a zombie holocaust by scavenging and interacting with other survivors, the latter is a straightforward shooter game.

None

Darkwatch 2005PlayStation 2,Xbox

First-person shooter in a Wild West setting. A train robber has been turned into a vampire and must defeat enemies such as zombies and skeletons while trying to reclaim his humanity.

74 (PS2)

Infected 2005PlayStation Portable

Fast paced shooter game set two weeks before Christmas in New York City. Players assume the role of a rookie police officer and must rescue civilians from themarauding undead.

74

Killing Floor 2005–presentLinux, Mac OS X, Windows

A multi-player mod of the Unreal Engine. Players assume the role of squad members that must stop increasingly powerful waves of zombies. Ammunition is scarce but can be bought withpoints awarded for defeating zombies.

72 (PC)

Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green

2005 Windows, Xbox First-person shooter set withinthe same universe as the George Romero film Land of the Dead. Players control Jack, a farmer who must fight

36 (PC)

25

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

through different environments in order to find safety within the City of the Living.

Postal 2: Apocalypse Weekend

2005Linux, Mac OS X, Windows

Expansion pack for first-person shooter game Postal 2 featuring a zombie attack onthe fictitious town of Paradise.

45 (PC)

Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse

2005Mac OS X,Windows, Xbox,Xbox 360

A third-person comedy game played as the titular zombie. Humans are converted into zombies when killed by Stubbs, creating an army of zombies.

72 (PC)

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect

2005PS2, Xbox,GameCube

The third installment of the popular Time travel themed First Person Shooter contained playable multiplayer characters and enemy AI that are commonly referred to as Zombies.

Urban Dead 2005 Browser

A massively multiplayer onlinegame where players choose whether to play as a human survivor or a zombie in the battle for control of a quarantined city.

None

Dead Risingseries 2006PlayStation 3,Wii, Windows,Xbox 360, iOS

Third-person action games which allow the player to destroy zombies with various ordinary items and weapons, from benches and lawnmowers to guns and swords.

85

Dead Head Fred 2007PlayStation Portable

Private investigator Fred is murdered, only to find him self reanimated and able to steal enemies' heads to perform different attacks.

75

Touch the Dead 2007 Nintendo DS

On-rail, first-person shooter. Aprisoner named Rob Steiner escapes from jail while battling countless zombies, the player attacks by using the console's touchscreen.

56

Zombie Panic! Source 2007 Windows A multiplayer Half-Life 2 mod, in which players are divided into two teams, survivors and zombies. When survivors are

None

26

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

killed, they become zombies.

Call of Duty: World at War – Zombies

2008iOS, Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

First-person shooter set during World War II where a military bunker must be defended from attacking Nazi zombie soldiers. Based on the zombie mode of Call of Duty: World at War.

78

Corpse Craft: Incident at Weardd Academy

2008 Browser, Flash

A simplified real-time strategy game concerning warring students of an academy for corpse reanimators.

None

Dead Frontier 2008 Browser

Free browser-based top down massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in an open world. Dead Frontier takes place in a post-apocalypse setting, where theworld is overrun with zombies.It focuses on the city of Fairview, a typical concrete jungle, teeming with zombie life. Most of the action takes place in the Inner City where survivors are attempting to scavenge supplies in order to survive.

None

Dead Spaceseries 2008–presentPlayStation 3,Wii, Windows,Xbox 360

Science fiction survival horror games where necromorphs, generated from corpses infected by an alien virus, are the primary enemy. They are most effectively killed by "strategic dismemberment", cutting off their limbs.

89 (Xbox 360)

Die2Nite 2008–present Browser

The players are randomly divided into groups of 40, andeach group is allocated withina small town where they mustsurvive as long as possible. Every night at midnight (23:00game time) the zombies launch an attack on the town.

None

The Last Guy 2008 PlayStation 3

An overhead-perspective rescue game in which the player character is a humanity-loving zombie who must guide civilians to escapepoints in monster-infested cities.

77

27

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

Left 4 Deadseries 2008–presentMac OS X,Windows, Xbox360

Multiplayer games in which four survivors must cooperateto survive a zombie apocalypse. Notable for not being horror-based, instead playing out like a movie, complete with level-specific posters, end credits, idle conversation, and even a message at the end of a level stating "[number of zombies killed] were killed during the making of this film."

89 (PC)

Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ

2008 Nintendo DS

A surreal game where an outbreak of zombies infects many classic fairy tale settings, leaving only Little Red Riding Hood and Momotarō to defend themselves from the invasion.

68

Soulless 2008 Mac OS X

A pre-rendered indie action run 'n' gun platformer with Space Marines that have to rescue their own against a zombie invasion on the Ziltronspace station. Rescued marines can then be played on later levels.

None

Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys!

2008 Nintendo DS

Platform game with puzzle elements, players control three zombies with different abilities in order to thwart the alien brains which have invaded Earth.

67

Alive 4-Ever 2009 iOS Overhead shooter game where the player picks one of four characters and attempts to stave off a zombie horde whilst completing objectives.

None

Burn Zombie Burn 2009PlayStation 3,Windows, Mac OS X,

Zombies appear in waves andmust be destroyed by being set alight.

76 (PS3)

Fort Zombie 2009 Windows

Players must barricade themselves within a building and survive a zombie onslaught.

60

I Made a Game with Zombies in It!

2009 Xbox 360 Released on Microsoft's Xbox Live Indie Games channel, up to four players shoot droves

None

28

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

of attacking enemies, including zombies, while collecting power-ups.

Minecraft 2009Windows, Xbox 360, iOS

A survival sandbox game where you need to survive by building a shelter, and building tools to keep zombies and other monsters away.

93 (PC)

Plants vs. Zombies 2009Mac OS X,Windows, Xbox360, iOS

Tower defence game featuring a homeowner defending their home against zombies, whichmust be defeated by an assortment of plants with different offensive abilities.

87 (PC)

Shellshock 2: Blood Trails 2009PlayStation 3,Windows, Xbox 360

First-person shooter, a zombie outbreak in Vietnam during the Vietnam War is caused by a virus called WhiteKnight.

35 (PS3)

Undead Knights 2009PlayStation Portable

A hack 'n slash game featuring a trio of undead knights who can reanimate their victims as zombies and send them into battle.

None

Zombie Apocalypse 2009PlayStation 3,Xbox 360

The player has to shoot or decapitate zombies across seven different areas.

61 (PS3)

Zombie Driver 2009 Windows

An overhead-view mission-based driving game taking place in a zombie apocalypse.

60

The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned

2009PlayStation 3,Windows, Xbox 360

Zombie-themed downloadable content for Borderlands featuring a swamp island filled with undead.

84 (PC)

Zombie Tycoon 2009PlayStation Portable

Downloadable real-time strategy game. Players control three teams of up to eight zombies to attack the living.

68

Zombie Wranglers 2009 Xbox 360

An Xbox Live game where players choose one of four characters to "wrangle" zombies through twenty levels.

49

Blood Drive 2010 PlayStation Vehicular combat 40 (Xbox 360)

29

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

3,Xbox 360

game featuring six arenas filled with zombies, players control drivers who must either defeat zombies or otherdrivers, dependant on which level is being played.

Call of Duty: Black Ops: Zombies

2010iOS, Android,PlayStation 3,Xbox 360, Wii

First-person shooter spun-off from the zombie minigame in Call of Duty: Black Ops, up to four players can co-operateusing voice chat to survive the zombie onslaught.

70

Corpse Craft 2010 IOSBuild an army of reanimated corpses to destroy your foes in this puzzle-action hybrid.

86

Dead Nation 2010 PlayStation 3

PlayStation Network dual-stick shooter. The game detects players' geographic locations and groups them accordingly within the game world, displaying players' progress inthat region.

77

Pixel Force: Left 4 Dead 2010 Windows

A fan demake of Left 4 Dead. Unlike the source game, a first-person shooter, this game is an overhead shooter.

None

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

2010PlayStation 3,Xbox 360

Downloadable content for the open-world wild west game Red Dead Redemption. Players try to find a cure for the plague which is turning locals into zombies.

87 (Xbox 360)

Rock of the Dead 2010 WiiPlayers must bring down attacking zombies with music by using a guitar controller.

None

Zombie Panic in Wonderland

2010 Wii

WiiWare game likened to the arcade game Cabal, players move their character left or right along the bottom of the screen while attempting to rid nine stages of zombies.

65

Zombie Wonderland 2010 iPhone OS

Chuck must defend four different homes from zombie attack by securing windows and blasting zombies with his shotgun.

60

All Zombies Must Die! 2011 PlayStation 3,Windows, Xbox 360

A downloadable top-down view shooter game with role-playing game elements. Up to

58 (PC)

30

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

four players must survive a zombie apocalypse. The sequel to Burn Zombie Burn!.

Atom Zombie Smasher 2011Linux, Mac OS X, Windows

Real time strategy game viewed from a top-down perspective where players must coordinate military units in order to rescue civilians from a zombie horde.

75 (pc)

Dead Block 2011PlayStation 3,Windows, Xbox 360

Players must barricade themselves within a building while exploring to find items inorder to complete each level.

63 (PS3)

Dead Island 2011PlayStation 3,Windows, Xbox 360

First-person open world gameset on an island inhabited by zombies.

71 (PS3)

No More Room in Hell 2011–present Windows

A multiplayer focused Half-Life 2 mod with a focus on survival rather than dispatching zombies. Currently in beta. The zombies are the slow-moving variety, though freshly turned cadavers move faster due to the lack of rigor mortis.

None

Rise of Nightmares 2011 Xbox 360

The game uses full-body control via the Kinect motion sensor, players attack zombies using different types of weapons which degrade over time.

54

Space Pirates and Zombies 2011 Windows

A shooter game set in space, containing role-playing and strategy elements. The titular zombies emerge late in the game and operate in a similarmanner to the Borg of Star Trek, by assimilating space ships and crew into an undead horde.

74

Trapped Dead 2011 Windows

A tactical real time strategy game. Control characters in a3rd person isometric view through a Zombie survival scenario.

50

Yakuza: Dead Souls 2011 PlayStation 3 Part of Sega's Yakuza series, the martial combat of previous titles has been replaced with an emphasis on

63

31

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

gun battles. The city has beeninfected with a zombie plagueand now a third of the population are zombies.

Zombie Parkour Runner 2011 iOSA parkour game where the player must retrieve the itemsstolen from them by zombies.

81

Zombie Gunship 2011 iOS

Players act as the gunner on an AC-130U Spectre gunship. The object is to destroy as many zombies and monsters as possible, while helping as many human civilians as possible reach the safety of a bunker, before the zombies reach the bunker or too many friendly fire incidents occur.

79

Zombie Lane 2011Facebook,Google+

A top-down/third person social networking Facebook game. Players must repair their neighbourhood after a zombie apocalypse and locate their missing wife and dog.

None

Zombies 2011Windows Phone, Xbox 360

None

Zombies Attack! Free 2011Windows Phone, Android

A game where the player choose one of four bombs and drop them on a variety of zombies. The game gets more difficult as it progresses through 50 levels.

None

Amy 2012PlayStation 3,Windows, Xbox 360

Downloadable survival horror game. A scientist must escort an eight year old girl through a city devastated by an airborne virus that turns thoseinfected into zombies. The scientist is infected and must manage her condition.

25 (Xbox 360)

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 2012 Xbox 360,PlayStation 3,Wii U, Windows

First-person shooter Continuation of the zombies mode from Black Ops. New game modes and maps include Green Run, Tranzit, Grief (up to 8 players), Great Leap Forward,Die Rise, Turned, Alcatraz

83 (Xbox 360)

32

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

and Mob of The Dead, Buried,and Origins.

DayZ 2012 Windows

An ARMA 2 mod which features survival horror and shooter gameplay in an open world. The game is online multiplayer. Players must feedtheir character as well as dealwith other players and the living dead.

80

Lollipop Chainsaw 2012PlayStation 3,Xbox 360

An action game which stars a chainsaw-wielding cheerleader who must rid her high school of zombies.

67 (PS3)

No Zombies Allowed 2012 iOS

Zombie hordes are looking to take over and munch on survivors. It’s up to YOU to save your town. Start by recruiting survivors and building up your town.

60

Infestation: Survivor Stories 2012 Windows

Survival horror, Survive as long as you can, similar to DayZ. A lot of controversy hassurrounded this game due to its close resemblance to DayZ

20

The Walking Dead 2012

Mac OS X,PlayStation 3,Wii, Windows,Xbox 360

Based on the comic series and being developed by Telltale Games, this licensed video game is due to be "multi-year,multi-platform, multi-title".

92 (PC)

Zafehouse: Diaries 2012 Windows

Single-player turn-based game, portrayed mostly via a map and diary with dynamically created text. Almost all in-game content is randomly generated, including the town, the survivors and their backgrounds. The focus is on managing the relationships between characters until rescue is achieved, otherwisethey'll argue, fight and sabotage each other's efforts.

None

Deadlight 2012 Xbox 360, PCSide-scrolling Survival-Horror game.

78

ZombiU 2012 Wii U A 2012 survival horror game. The player controls a random survivor who must attempt to

77

33

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

survive a zombie apocalypse running amuck in London.

Dead Island: Riptide 2013PlayStation 3,Windows, Xbox 360

None

Death Wave 2013 Browser

First-Person Shooter where youare the only survivor of a nucler accident and you need to defend yourself from the radioactive undead citizens

None

The Last of Us 2013 PlayStation 3

Released June 14, 2013. A plot-driven action adventure game set in a post-apocalyptic world. Humanity has been decimated by a parasitic fungus, the remaining survivors risk becoming contaminated and controlled by these cordyceps as well, turning them into zombie-like creatures.

95 (PS3)

State of Decay 2013Windows, Xbox Live Arcade

Unlike games such as Left 4 Dead and Dead Island, State of Decay will focus more on survival, stealth, evasion, distractions, securing the player's resources, and moving through the world than actual zombie combat.

None

Survivor FPS 2013 WindowsSurvivor FPS is a multiplayer zombie survival game for Windows PCs

None

The Walking Dead: SurvivalInstinct

2013PlayStation 3,Wii, Windows,Xbox 360

None

World of the Living DeadResurrection

2013 Browser

Survival Strategy Browser Game currently in closed beta testing. Players compete for resources in order to keep their group of survivors alive in a zombie plagued Los Angeles.

None

Zombies Ate My Friends2013 IOSgame played from an RPG.[122]

None

Zombie Killer Squad 2013 iPhone, IOS,Android

A 2013 infinite running game created by famous you tubersTom Cassel (Syndicate) and

None

34

NameRelease

yearPlatform Description

MetacriticRating

SeaNanners (Adam).

Dying Light 2014Play Station 4,Wii, Windows,Xbox One

Open World survival horror game where you have to find resources to survive.

None

35