The 10 Best PS4 Zombie Games

These titles are guaranteed to make your hair stand on end

Screenshot from Dying Light: the Following
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Best Overall: Resident Evil 2

Resident Evil 2

Courtesy of Amazon

Capcom has returned to the Resident Evil well in a big way in early 2019, releasing a fully recreated and remastered take on the PS1-era classic Resident Evil 2 (RE2). And Resident Evil 2 isn’t just your standard run-of-the-mill remaster either: This one was re-built from the ground up to take advantage of the processing power of the current generation.

In lieu of the old-fashioned tank controls and fixed camera angles that plagued the game before are more modern third-person shooter mechanics. Also updated is the save system. Now you can save whenever you want (unless you are really into the old-school "Ribbon" save system — that option is still available to you in Hardcore mode.) Of course, the original RE2 framework is still there. You still have the option to play as either Leon S. Kennedy or Claire Redfield, and the game still takes place in the iconic, zombie-infested burg of Raccoon City. But this old dog has been taught plenty of new tricks, making Resident Evil 2 for the PS4, unlike anything you've seen in the Resident Evil series before. 

Best Survival: 7 Days to Die

Most zombie games make plenty of effort to establish the dilapidated world you would otherwise inhabit as the result of a full scale, disastrous apocalypse. But few games take that concept quite to the extreme of 7 Days to Die. In this bleak interactive tale, you are hurled into the procedurally generated Navezgane, Arizona. There, you have one goal in mind: Survive ... for as long as humanly possible. But the threats of Navezgane aren’t just the mutated zombies ready to take you down at any moment — you also have to contend with the world itself.

Suffering through the effects of a nuclear-heavy Third World War, Naezgane is an unforgivable place, and in 7 Days to Die, you are responsible for actually living in it. That means consuming food and water, avoiding illness, and engaging in simple building techniques to fortify your home base. Heed of warning, though; once the titular seven in-game days are reached, the zombie hordes will descend upon your mortal body en masse. Be ready.

Best Graphics: Days Gone

Developer Sony Bend worked on Days Gone for over four years, which shows how much care and detail was placed into the game's environment and graphics polish. Created using the full power of the Unreal Engine 4, this PS4-exclusive title puts you in the shoes of U.S. Army veteran Deacon St. John as he traverses the post-apocalyptic landscape as a bounty hunter for hire. 

In battling the zombie hordes, hilariously called "Freakers," Days Gone introduces a variety of unique elements as a direct result of its high production value. Zombies populate the screen in massive, nigh-uncountable numbers, and their slow, clumsy movement makes for genuinely suspenseful gameplay. A full night-and-day and variant weather system also allows the completely open-world environment of Day’s Gone to shine. All of which come in support of Day’s Gone fairly polished stealth, action, and motorcycle driving gameplay. While you would be hard-pressed to describe zombie creatures as pretty, Day’s Gone certainly is. 

Best Shooter: Call of Duty Black Ops 3

Call of Duty Black Ops 3 features the best zombie game mode in a game that's not about zombies. The extra, add-on game is a full game experience with its own distinct storyline and can be played offline in split-screen mode with three other players.

The rules are simple: Players are thrown in a labyrinth map that has numerous brain-hungry zombies breaking in from different corners and it is up to you to fight them off. Points are accumulated by boarding up different entryways and killing zombies that can be exchanged for weapons bought individually or randomly, unlocking certain areas or acquiring upgrades that switch up your zombie-hunting experience. The addictive, zombie-wave-style gameplay is fast-paced with unique and fun maps, including the moon and an old, rustic, WW2-era German theater.

Best Open World: Dying Light

Traditionally, zombies have been presented as lumbering, slow-moving masses — easy to take down individually but a challenge when traveling in groups. Though that antiquated perception of the creature has since changed, "speed" is still the last thing most people think of when it comes to zombie games. But in Dying Light, speed is literally at the forefront. 

As the main character, Kyle Crane, you'll have to parkour to both avoid and fend off the living dead. Climbable objects, jumpable environments, and grappling hook mechanics make traversal fluid. Throw in the ability to craft unique weapons in order to combat the dead, plus the game’s intuitive day and night cycle (which unleashes more powerful, albeit conquerable zombies as the sun goes down), and Dying Light makes for one of the most distinct zombie games currently on the Playstation 4.

Best Arcade-Style: Killing Floor 2

If you just want to jump straight into non-stop zombie killing and have a whole lot of fun doing it, get Killing Floor 2. There are a lot of slow-motion effects, weapons and upgrades. The arcade-style, first-person shooter has gameplay that involves fending off waves of various zombies either alone or with friends.

With up to five other players online, Killing Floor 2 has players choose one of ten different classes, including a demolitionist with a focus on big explosions, a sharpshooter who can dual wield pistols and constantly fire off rounds, as well as a simple field medic who can heal other players. The more zombies you kill, the more money you will get for purchasing in-game weapons, ammo and armor between rounds. Simultaneously, you'll also build up experience points for perks involving your class type, including faster reloading and stronger healing. It isn’t too repetitive, but it is addicting; Killing Floor 2 has 14 different zombie types who vary in size, speed and lethality, with four difficulty settings and 19 different maps.

Best for Kids: Plants Vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2

Believe it or not, zombies aren’t all just about blood and gore but can be cute and silly. Case in point: Plants Vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2, the best PS4 zombie game for kids. The third-person, over-the-shoulder shooter can be played with four players offline in a split-screen, co-op mode, which is perfect for friends and family.

Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 features six online multiplayer game modes and two, four-player, co-op modes where players can choose to be on the zombie or plant team, each of which, have various abilities and actions that can be performed that vary up gameplay. There are 100 playable characters with 14 different classes, including everything from zombie scientist-astronauts to sunflowers with fire abilities. Among its various modes, players will get to defend areas against increasingly difficult swarms of either zombies or plants, battle in online 24-player team deathmatches and even jump in a practice mode to get used to characters and explore various maps.

Best Horror: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a scary zombie game that builds on the unnerving feeling of just turning a simple corner or opening a door. The most horrific PS4 zombie game on the list changes up traditional Resident Evil gameplay by putting you in a first-person mode as you explore a derelict plantation inhabited by an undead mutant cannibal family.

You’ll walk down a decrepit stairway and into a dim cavern hole in the ground where a long blue veiny pale hand reaches out to grab the only lantern in sight. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard emphasizes exploration and horror as players solve various puzzles and fight off hard-on-the-eyes grotesque looking enemies with handguns, shotguns, flamethrowers and other weapons with limited ammo. If you’re feeling extra brave, the game is compatible with the PlayStation VR headset that amplifies the fear in an immersive nightmare that’ll make you double check your locks at night.

Best Unique Experience: The Evil Within 2

With the help of Shinji Mikami, the director of the original Resident Evil series, The Evil Within 2 successfully captures the same essence of survival, horror-style games by creating a new fleshed out original game. The developers behind The Evil Within 2 are all seasoned veterans in the video game industry’s horror genre and have come together to mold a new terrifying experience for fans who’ve grown up with the classics and yearn for an original hair-raising experience.

The Evil Within 2 is a third-person, survival horror game (with an optional first-person mode) that details the life of a depressed former police detective who discovers his daughter is still alive and must undergo, against his will, an experiment where he enters a virtual world with a machine called STEM. The subconsciousness of those in the STEM system creates the reality of the main game, a suspenseful horrific nightmare realm full of undead beings and mutated monsters who’ll gurgle and growl with rage upon your presence. Players can relax or challenge themselves with three difficulty modes, using unique weaponry such as trip wires, hiding and ambushing enemies, crafting items and even upgrading their attributes (like health and athleticism) with the game’s RPG-like level up system.

Best Classic: Resident Evil 4

You can thank Resident Evil 4 for evolving the survival horror series, as well as being the pioneer of the famous “over-the-shoulder,” third-person view that you see in so many games today. The defining game won multiple Game of the Year awards back in 2005 for its narrative, voice acting, and gameplay, and now comes to the PS4 with graphical updates and a constant 60FPS for smooth, quick gameplay.

Resident Evil 4 focuses on more frantic and intense combat sequences than its survival horror predecessors by putting multiple enemies on screen and being able to fend all of them off instead of individually. Gamers get to play as Leon S. Kennedy (a fan favorite who first showed up in Resident Evil 2) who investigates the kidnapping of the President’s daughter by a mysterious cult set in a rural area of Spain that's full of violent villagers infected with a virus. The game still lives up to today’s standards, thanks to its fun gameplay. The beloved Mercenaries Mode allows players to choose their own characters with specific weapons and fend off hordes of enemies while racing against a clock.