Zombie video games: an absolute classic genre of the gaming sphere. Infinite different games, each with unique style and mechanics (except the carbon copy Call of Duty games). These unique aspects have allowed for the genre to continue throughout the years, ensuring that none of the games feel uninspired. With each new take, it begs the question: which one of these games would be the most difficult world to survive in? Which zombie population would be the hardest to fight against?
Before getting into ranking, some ground rules will need to be set. 1.) We assume that I am transported directly into the game world. I am still me, not whatever characters are present in the game. 2.) I have to abide by the mechanics of the game, but also by real-life conditions. For example, if a specific game doesn’t have eating as a necessity, it will still be a necessity for me. 3.) This is not a list about how difficult the game itself is, but rather how difficult the apocalypse would be to survive. 4.) This list is comprised of either my favorite zombie games or games that I believe have great stories and background. Apologies if your favorite didn’t make the list.
Project Zomboid: 5/10
By far my favorite zombie game of all time. Project Zomboid is a realistic zombie apocalypse simulator. Tap water and electricity no longer work after a certain amount of time, you can become infected yourself and you’re one of the only survivors left in 1993 Kentucky. You either constantly move looking for supplies or learn to grow food and collect rainwater to sustain yourself. You have to continuously fight off depression, boredom, anxiety, hunger, weight, heat, and holes in your clothes that make you easier to scratch. While the game is hard, the world is realistic, so I would have to learn to deal with these problems anyway. For that sake, it can’t be placed much higher than the middle of the pack.
The Last of Us: 7/10
The way these zombies get infected is absolutely horrific. You unknowingly eat a fungus that has infected your food and within 2 days it has control over your body. The fungus mutates and takes over more of its host until it gains full autonomy and allows the host to die. The infected move through stages of infection, growing bigger and stronger with each one. Simply because of their evolving nature, I would worry about survival. But if they only get bigger and slower, I would soon be able to avoid them pretty easily.
Left 4 Dead 2: 8/10
Insanely fast zombies, constant hordes surrounding you and special zombies with different powers. The witch would be able to kill me nearly instantly if I anger them, the tank would take no mercy pummelling me into the ground, the hunter would tear me to shreds, and the boomer has the possibility of bringing massive hordes to surround me. Even with the easy access to guns and medical equipment every mile or so, I don’t think I have the best odds.
Plants vs. Zombies: 1/10
This feels like a simple one. The zombies literally write you letters before sending large invasions at you. A kind gesture for sure, but it steeply increases my odds of surviving. Plus, if I’m running a constant sunflower garden, I will have incredible stocks of sun to plant an army of plants.
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare: 10/10
This addition changes the franchise entirely. Suddenly, the zombies aren’t bumbling bufoons anymore. They are a fully fledged military. The zombies are now infantry with access to rocket launchers, guns, teleportation and jet packs. Luckily, this isn’t the second Garden Warfare; otherwise, the zombies would have a superhero on their side as well. If I have to go against zombies with greater power than the United States military, I don’t think I’m making it even a week.
Call of Duty Zombies: 3/10
Two words: monkey bomb. For those unaware, the monkey bomb is a little cymbal monkey toy that makes a ton of noise and attracts all the zombies in the area before exploding, killing all the zombies surrounding it. As long as I have access to monkey bombs, I’ll be perfectly fine. In the event I do not have a monkey bomb, the game makes acquiring guns easier than in a rural conservative town. I can hold my own until I get more monkey bombs.
Resident Evil: 7/10
I’m going to have to generalize the series together, so bear with me. While these zombies are brain-dead, the Resident Evil world is unforgiving. Finding ammunition and weapons is extremely difficult, so continuing to fight through the zombies becomes very difficult. The real difficulty comes from the big antagonists, such as Mr. X, a massively sized guy who is barely killable and is hell bent on getting you. If I can avoid his slow marching approach, I could maybe manage to survive.
Dead Space: 15/10
Space zombies, what a nightmare. They also have zombie moons. This is the sort of thing you couldn’t get yourself to believe you could survive. It’s over before it even begins.
Dying Light: 11/10
I am not nearly in good enough shape to handle this. A key aspect of Dying Light is constant movement and parkour, which, on its own, likely removes my survival from the equation. However, the stronger zombies in this game would make my survival impossible, especially because of the activity these zombies have at night. If I slacked for even a moment, I would be dead. No thanks, I’d prefer nearly anything else.
