Upcoming Zombie Games that Proves the Genre Just Won’t Die
Resident Evil 2
Capcom is a big winning streak at the moment following the success of Monster Hunter World and Resident Evil 7, but it’s the next in a line of remakes that the publisher has indicated an interest in pursuing that us most excited.
Resident Evil 2 for PS4 could be shaping up as the definitive Resident Evil experience and one of the best remakes of all time. The demo has already gone down a treat with gamers, racking up 1.4 million downloads since its launch.
For many, Resident Evil is the franchise that popularized zombie games, but one that hasn’t quite been itself over the past decade –with the exception of 2016’s superb Resident Evil 7.
As good as the whole first-person, house-full-of-crazy-family-members was, though, Resident Evil 7 was a different flavor of survival horror.
The upcoming remake is a return the series’ roots, by comparison, taking us back to where things all began: traditional zombies, R.P.D officers, and police departments that rely on absurdly obtuse puzzles to lock secret doors.
Of course, it’s been given an all-new makeover with sublime graphics, new content, and the over-the-shoulder Resident Evil 4 camera angle so beloved from that game. So no more tank controls and wonky voice acting… sign us up!
Upcoming Zombie Games that Proves the Genre Just Won’t Die
Dying Light 2
The first Dying Light has to go down as a sleeper hit; not that it wasn’t a great game we didn’t expect to do well, but 13 million copies well? It’s astonishing stuff, and developer Techland is certainly keen to follow-up on that with the upcoming sequel, Dying Light 2.
I’m more than confident it’ll find success, too, after what I saw at E3 2018. The off-hands gameplay demonstration I saw impressed me so much, in fact, that Twinfinite awarded Dying Light 2 one of its prestigious Game of the Show awards.
Techland really has put something together that looks extremely compelling, adding more RPG elements to the experience such as decision-making through branching narrative and a big focus on the story.
I got a flavor of how player-decision impacted the environment during the demonstration, which showcased a completely different outcome depending on a key choice made in the playthrough.
The map is also four times the size of its predecessor and seemingly packed with content. The melee combat still seemed as hefty and impressive as the first game, with even more brutal animations. And the series’ hallmark parkour looked even more streamlined.
Upcoming Zombie Games that Proves the Genre Just Won’t Die
Days Gone
No, Sony Bend, we’re not buying this “They’re Freakers not zombies” thing. They’re zombies, ok? You know it, I know it.
And honestly, Days Gone might not have won over the gaming community so far as much as other PS4 exclusives this generation have in the build-up to launch, but which zombie fan could not be excited for this game?
Huge hordes of enemies, the freedom to experiment with different weapons and traps, what seems to be a compelling story, and you get to ride around on a kick-ass motorbike like Daryl from the Walking Dead. Days Gone looks like everything zombie fans have ever wanted.
The argument from the wider community is that Days Gone is a zombie experience launching at a time when zombie games are going out of fashion. Yeah… this list is kind of debunking that one.
The hope is that Days Gone feels as good to play as it looks. So much of the game seems to rely on a balance between exciting gameplay and how dynamic the environment is. If Days Gone descends into generic open-world tropes too often, that could really spoil the experience it’s trying to create.
We’ll just have to see how it holds up when Days Gone launches on April 26.
Upcoming Zombie Games that Proves the Genre Just Won’t Die
World War Z
Speaking of hordes of zombies, Days Gone’s huge mobs of flesh-eaters certainly looks like something its developers lifted from World War Z. The hit 2013 movie starring Brad Pitt thrilled audiences with its clusters of zombies piling atop of each other.
The thing is, World War Z is getting its own AAA zombie game, complete with its own waves of zombies that mimic the movies’ visually impressive scenes.
To be fair, though, this is shaping up as a very different sort of gameplay experience. A cooperative multiplayer horde-survival game, World War Z looks like a blend of Left 4 Dead and The Division. And early signs are that it’s shaping up pretty well.
It would be all too easy to write off World War Z’s spin-off as yet another licensed game cash grab, but previews from a variety of outlets (we haven’t had a chance to play the game ourselves, yet) speak of solid gunplay and the option to use different strategies to take out zombie hordes and work toward objectives.
World War Z might not necessarily be one for the hardcore zombie enthusiast, after all. It could end up as the next go-to cooperative zombie game as we wait for the rumored Left 4 Dead 3.
Upcoming Zombie Games that Proves the Genre Just Won’t Die
GTFO
One cooperative zombie survival experience I have had hands-on time with is GTFO, and if this isn’t a game that’s on your radar then it absolutely should be.
Developed by Swedish indie studio 10 Chambers, GTFO is about a team of four characters trapped in a prison-like stasis. They do not know why, and they do not know their captors. Each night they’re fired down an elevator tube to the depths of an underground facility, tasked with a desperate struggle to make their escape, only to be rewarded by having the whole nightmare start over.
It’s a creepy concept, and the game’s ambiance is suitably terrifying. GTFO is a myriad of spooky corridors and dark rooms, with zombie-like creatures often lurking in the shadows. These creatures are typically blind, alerted by sound rather than sight, so it’s all about stealth… until someone screws up, and then it’s a mad shooting fest as the horde descends on you.
I played an hour or so demo of the game at E3 2018 with the boys from 10 Chambers and it was one of my favorite experiences of the show. There’s a huge amount of teamwork required in each playthrough. It’s way more tactical than something like Left 4 Dead, with weapon choice, abilities, trap-laying, and recovery all needing to be coordinated.
You can read my full preview of GTFO from E3 for more details.
Upcoming Zombie Games that Proves the Genre Just Won’t Die
Overkill Walking Dead
Overkill’s The Walking Dead was all over E3 2018; there was a big marketing push from 505 Games to promote the game, complete with actors clad in full bloody make-up wandering around the show floor.
Ultimately, though, the world’s biggest zombie franchises’ AAA zombie game was kind of breezed over by the gaming community.
Was it because it looked more like a spin-off than a proper production? Was the original cast of characters not as compelling as playing the TV series’? Or perhaps The Walking Dead just not the draw it used to be?
It’s hard to say exactly, but Overkill didn’t seem to have a huge buzz leading up to its launch, and the subsequent mediocre critical reception for the Steam release hasn’t helped its cause. The game has reportedly been a commercial failure for publisher Starbreeze Studios.
Still, fans of the franchise will be more than enthused to see Overkill’s The Walking Dead launch on PS4 and Xbox One this February, and there’s plenty about this cooperative shooter to enjoy if you’re a fan of zombie games in general.
Upcoming Zombie Games that Proves the Genre Just Won’t Die
Walking Dead Final Season
We’re sad to say that another Walking Dead game is biting the dust this year. As the unfortunate circumstances around Telltale Games recent closure unfolded, it was the developer’s excellent The Walking Dead Final Season that was in the firing line.
Thankfully, Skybound Entertainment has since stepped in to help fund the remaining two episodes’ production, so the series will be completed.
It’s a small consolation for both fans of the series and the developers behind it, and we’ll be keenly anticipating the grand finale to what has been among the best story-driven adventure games in recent memory.
For any zombie fans that aren’t up to speed: Telltales’ The Walking Dead isn’t your typical zombie experience. Part adventure game, part interactive story experience, player engagement is typically limited to decision-making through dialogue options, which in turn, shape the outcome of the story.
It is the quality of the game’s writing, the strength of its voice-acting and the intrigue of the various different branches of the narrative make The Walking Dead a must-play.
Upcoming Zombie Games that Proves the Genre Just Won’t Die
The Last of Us Part II
The Last of Us was one hell of a swan-song title to end the PS3 era. It surely ranks as one the best games ever made, a near-perfect blend of exceptional gameplay and a nail-biting story that us guessing until the very end.
The long-awaited sequel is nearing its completion, and it’s set to thrust the whole zombie genre right back on to the gaming industry’s center stage.
One of the things I loved about The Last of Us is that it found a way to create that same sense of drama in its story and between its characters that first made The Walking Dead so compelling. Yet it did so in its own unique way, through the father/daughter bond shared between the game’s two main protagonists –a theme that has since been copied in countless movies, shows, and video games since.
From what we’ve seen in gameplay demonstrations so far, the sequel looks as though it’s dialing-up the brutality even higher. Prepare for extreme, graphic violence –the type that’s up close and personal, as Ellie goes on a journey of revenge.
Will Joel feature in the game, or is he dead? What has happened to the Fireflies, and what is the general state of the world since Ellie’s last outing? There are so many questions we can’t wait to discover the answer to when The Last of Us Part II finally releases.
Let’s hope it isn’t too far out.
Published: Jan 14, 2019 03:01 pm