Everyone knows them and everyone fears them: Zombies – the plague of the post-apocalyptic world. But they are not all the same! In this article, we introduce you to the 10 best zombies and zombie-like creatures from video games.
If you look at the video games of our time over the past few decades, zombies are simply part of the game as opponents in survival and horror titles. We have listed 10 zombies or zombie-like creatures from well-known titles, but they are not sorted.
To freshen up how the zombies have developed, here is a cool video about the zombies of the last 100 years in pop culture:
The undead infected in World War Z
Just like the infected in the accompanying film, they are incredibly fast and deadly in the World War Z game of the same name. Not to be compared with the book, where they are rather slow. If there is nothing for them to do, they fall into a sleep mode and just stand around in silence in the landscape. However, if they make loud noises or if their prey is visible, they run off and try to kill.
This is what is special about the infected in World War Z: The specialty here lies in the way in which the infected hunt. Because they are pack hunters. If you wake one of them up, it will first scream out loud to wake up all the others, and only then will attack.
And by pack, we don’t just mean a few hundred infected people. Since the game gives you good weapons at hand, the hordes are large enough to still be dangerous to you. Several thousand are not uncommon in an attack. Obstacles are simply overrun and their own losses are accepted by the masses. You only want one thing: to eat.
Type: Infected People (undead)
Specials: Bulls, Gasbags, Infectors, Bombers, Screamers, …
Occurrence: Small groups or hordes (several thousand)
Speed: very fast
Special feature: tower construction. If you are in a higher position, hundreds of infected people can stack on top of each other to reach you.
The Freakers in Days Gone
Days Gone, like many others, shouldn’t even appear on this list. Because the creatures are known as “Freakers” are actually not zombies at all. Although they are infected with insanity, they are not undead. Rather, they are just very, very confused people.
This is the special thing about the Freakers in Days Gone: Similar to WWZ, these creatures are very fast, sensitive to noise, and can appear in larger hordes of several hundred. To a certain extent, however, they have remained human. Freakers have to eat, drink, and retire to their dens to sleep during the day.
Unlike many other zombie games, the infected in Days Gone vary in gender and age. So men, women, but also children appear. Fortunately, the latter is quite shy and, if in doubt, not that deadly either.
Incidentally, the virus does not always lead to a lust for murder. Although there is only one “intelligent” Freaker in the game, there are indications that other people have remained “normal” despite the virus.
Type: Infected People (Alive)
Specials: Swarmers, Screamers, Breakers, …
Occurrence: Alone or in groups of up to 500 freaks; Nocturnal!
Speed: very fast
Special feature: Almost human behavior, must continue to drink, eat, and sleep. Usually appear in larger packs and vary in gender and age.
The Humanimals in Metro Exodus
The creatures from the newest part of the Metro franchise aren’t actually zombies either. The so-called “humanimals” are actually mutants that are human descendants, but have not been infected by a virus, but degenerated through high radiation exposure. But they too are humanoid creatures that target our flesh.
This is what is special about the Humanimals in Metro Exodus: Often withdrawn during the day in dark caves or basements, they can hit you pretty hard when you enter them. In contrast to some other species, these zombie-like creatures are more solitary, which you can find in small groups, but which do not hunt together.
They are particularly hideous in the great desert, in which they “sleep” covered in the dust next to frozen corpses in various ruins and give careless adventurers the horror of their lives.
If these creatures cannot get close enough to bite you, they will start throwing stones at you. But not a serious threat in and of itself.
Type: Irradiated mutants
Occurrence: alone or in small groups; Nocturnal!
Special feature: Some humanimals can remain in ruins, well camouflaged, motionless, so that they are often noticed much too late.
The zombies in State of Decay 2
In State of Decay 2, we finally have real zombies again. While a terrifyingly deadly pandemic is taking hold of the United States, the first dead are beginning to get up and hunt down the survivors in this game, which is no longer exclusively for X-Box owners.
They correspond to the classic image of a zombie that is already known from film, radio, and television. Day and night, these creatures stagger through the game world individually or in very loose groups. Often, however, they just stand around and seem almost unconscious – until they are woken up by a loud noise or an appetizing person. Perhaps only the red and yellow shining eyes, which can offer an interesting picture at night and are somewhat stronger than the common conspecifics, are perhaps a little unusual.
That’s what’s special about the zombies in State of Decay 2: The twist in this game is that the pandemic is far from over. From so-called “plague hearts” – disgusting mountains of flesh that secrete red dust, certain “plague zombies” spread the disease over the whole menu.
If you stay near such zombies long enough, or if you only hit enough of them in the skull, you can get sick yourself. If you don’t get treatment in time, the group will have one survivor poorer.
Using swords, axes, small and large-caliber firearms, bombs, grenades, and other interesting toys, you can also have a lot of fun with them.
Type: Infected People (undead)
Specials: Juggernauts, Gas Bags, Runners, Plague Zombies, …
Occurrence: Alone or in loose groups
Special feature: the plague is alive! – Infection is a real danger and can cost your survivors their lives.
The fungus plague in The Last of Us
In the PlayStation classic The Last of Us and also in The Last of Us Part 2 you won’t encounter any real zombies either. In this game, a dangerous fungus spore has invaded humanity. The so-called “Cordyzeps” nests in people’s brains and turns them into wild, murderous figures.
It is interesting that after the fungus has found a host, it continues to grow and mutate the host. Unlike many representatives of the genre, there are no actual special zombies. However, as the infection duration progresses, the infected opponent gains different abilities.
This is the special thing about the opponents in The Last of Us: If a person inhales the fungal spores or is bitten, every person (except for the immune protagonist Ellie of course) goes through several phases of infection.
A few hours after infection, the fungus begins to attack the host’s brain and reprogram it. After two days at the latest, the person has already reached zombie format. He stands around motionless and starts to attack when he hears loud noises or when he has visual contact. Particularly disturbing is the fact that some of the people are still “alive” and you can often hear them whimpering or howling in pain during their slow transformation.
In the later course of the infection, the fungus begins to overgrow its host and thus shield it from external damage. Although this loses its visual capabilities, the mushroom equips it with a kind of primitive sonar.
It goes so far until after many years all that remains is a mass of human-shaped mushroom covered with armor plates, which makes life difficult for the few survivors.
Type: infected person (alive)
Occurrence: in small groups, nocturnal
Special feature: Continuous development of the host. Skills change as the fungus grows.
The infected in Dying Light
In Dying Light we are once again faced with a maddening virus that attacks its victims without killing them directly. The so-called Harran pathogen can best be compared with rabies. The usual symptoms are blurred vision, fatigue, and uncontrolled fits of anger that eventually (after all, this is the top 10 zombie list) lead to zombie-like behavior.
This is what makes the infected in Dying Light so special: the virus itself is susceptible to strong UV radiation, which is why the zombies in Dying Light are predominantly nocturnal. Unlike many other games (such as Days Gone), however, they are not only day-shy, the UV light also actively affects the zombies’ abilities. While they are rather slow during the day, unable to climb, and also nowhere near as aggressive, they become a real danger at night.
This shows above all the existence of the so-called volatiles (or also: shadow hunters), which deserve an extra mention here. They are superhumanly fast, can climb the tallest buildings in seconds, can spit poison and call “friends” and distribute them properly. This makes them the deadliest zombies you can currently encounter on PC and console. However, they are extremely sensitive to UV light and with the necessary gadgets, they can be kept at a distance.
Type: infected person (alive)
Specials: Volatile, Bolter, Viral, Goon, Toad, …
Occurrence: Alone or in small groups, more active at night!
Damage: Medium – High (T / N)
Speed: Slow – Medium (T / N)
Resistance: Medium – High (T / N)
Special features: Like vampires, most zombies can also be fought with light (bright UV flashlights) thanks to their UV susceptibility – at least they don’t like it.
The Infected Zeds in DayZ
The original Arma II Mod as well as the Standalone DayZ offer arguably the most “realistic” zombie experience on this list. Because here it really is about the classic 08/15 zombies. At least in terms of their behavior. Because actually they are only infected and not undead.
Infected by a killer virus, these so-called “zeds” roam the area in search of human flesh. They basically hang around in cities and/or near buildings. Driven by their greed, these zombies always instinctively take the direction that leads them fastest to the few survivors.
That’s what makes the Infected Zeds in DayZ so special: They still have enough brain left to e.g. Breaking doors or climbing ladders, everything else is too high for them. Similar to most predators on this planet, Zeds can pursue their target relentlessly and focused, but lose interest in it relatively quickly. If the first attack is unsuccessful and the target disappears from their view, they ultimately give up the pursuit.
Unlike most of the other zombies in this article, Zeds are not really pack-hunters. They can also chase you in larger groups, but that’s actually only hundreds of individuals with cravings. Zeds are also severely degenerate socially, do not consciously hunt in groups and, above all, do not call friends when they spot you.
Nevertheless, it is quite difficult to avoid them, as you will always come across some here, even apart from large zombie groups.
Type: an infected person
Specials: walkers, hops, crawlers
Occurrence: the loner; mainly found in cities
Special feature: zombies / infected people as you know them from films. They have part of their intelligence, but otherwise do not pose too much of a threat.
The zombies in Left 4 Dead
In Left 4 Dead we also encounter relatively normal zombies again. After a pathogen (the green flu) has attacked humanity, the infected have gone mad and try to kill everything that is not infected. Their behavior corresponds to that of a run-of-the-mill zombie.
However, the game offers us two aspects that cannot be found in many other zombies.
This is the special thing about the zombies in Left 4 Dead: On the one hand, they are anything but friendly towards other infected people in Left 4 Dead. It does happen that zombies (especially those that are in different stages of infection) attack each other. Cannibalism is also said to have occurred.
On the other hand, Left 4 Dead doesn’t just offer special zombies in the true sense of the word. The characteristics of “ordinary” zombies often depend on the clothes they are wearing. While the infected construction worker cannot hear you thanks to his noise protection helmet, the clown can draw attention to himself with squeaking noises and the soldier with a bulletproof vest may even have a grenade with him.
Type: Infected People (Alive)
Specials: Boomer, Hunter, Smoker, Witch, …
Occurrence: Alone or in small groups
Special feature: Different professional groups also among the normal zombies. Often attack in waves. Special zombies require different tactics.
The cases in the original Fortnite
Although you run the risk of being lynched by some gamer just for mentioning the title, Fortnite must also appear on this list. Because before its big breakthrough as a battle royale shooter, Fortnite was just a PvE title that can still be played for a fee today. The principle was to build a base during the day and defend it against various “zombies” at night.
The term zombies don’t quite fit, however. The developer Epic has already made it clear that the creatures are not zombies (via The Verge). He prefers “covers” or “monsters”.
This is what is special about the cases in Fortnite: Where these characters come from, how they were created, and how they actually “think” is not known. It is only clear that they appear in many different variants and are both nocturnal and swarming animals. They attack your base in various waves and suddenly appear. Your goal is to prevent a missile from launching that you have to protect.
Often one tries to explain their existence with some kind of magical manifestation.
Type: ??? (magical manifestations?)
Specials: covers, huskies, throwers, zabbers, lobbers, …
Occurrence: In small groups; Nocturnal!
Speed: Medium – Fast
Resistant: Low – Medium
The ghouls in Fallout
Finally, we take another look away from the classic “evil” zombies and look at the ghouls from the Fallout series.
These are actually quite quickly explained: Due to the mass detonated atomic bombs of World War 3, and the associated nuclear fallout, almost all people who could not save themselves in the underground vaults were irradiated. The survivors lost their smooth skin, hair, and, most of the time, their minds. Some even started to glow. The ghouls were born.
They can still be found in numerous ruins 200 years after the war, where they wait for fresh human flesh.
This is the special thing about the ghouls in Fallout: some “lucky” contaminated people could keep their wits. Depending on the tolerance of the other members of the community, ghouls are “completely normal” people with normal jobs who help you in the wasteland, provide you with quests, or even serve as loyal companions.
Type: Radiated human (alive)
Occurrence: Alone or in small groups
Special features: “Completely normal people” – at least a few of them.
Every zombie, infected, mutant, or hell knows what else has its own charm. They are simply an indispensable part of our favorite titles. Which creature is your favorite or are you missing something from the list? Comment down below!