Summary
- The Walking Dead games' quality varies; Days Gone captures nomadic life well for fans.
- Dying Light 2 showcases urban decay, appealing to lovers of run-down settings.
- Undying's emotional zombie survival narrative mirrors the franchise's melancholy vibe.
22 years after the initial publication of its comic book, and 15 years after the first episode of the TV show aired, The Walking Dead continues to float around the cultural zeitgeist to this day. Fans across the world have fallen in love with Robert Kirkman's gritty setting and the complicated characters that inhabit it. Though the franchise has strayed from its glory games, fans are still clamoring for video games set within The Walking Dead universe so they can lose themselves in the mess of its brutal world.
However, despite the stellar Telltale games and few select others, The Walking Dead's track record with video games hasn't been great, forcing fans to turn to other franchises to get their open-world zombie kicks. The games collected below place players in sandboxes that capture the same rotten spark that The Walking Dead kindled all those years ago, making them perfect for fans of the franchise.
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8 Days Gone
Nomadic Zombie Adventure
Days Gone
- Released
- April 26, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Bend Studio
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Action, Adventure
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
Assuming the role of bounty hunter Deacon two years after a zombie apocalypse, Days Gone captures the nomadic lifestyle the various survivors in The Walking Dead often have to adopt. Though players never stop to set up and pack up camp, the sheer act of traveling through dilapidated Oregon on Deacon's bike still conjures that feeling of displacement and wandering. Players looking for that sort of exploration in their zombie games should give Days Gone a go.
7 Dying Light 2 Stay Human
Zombie-Infested Urban Jungle
Dying Light 2 Stay Human
- Released
- February 4, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Fans who especially like the run-down urban environments The Walking Dead often places its characters in should give Dying Light 2 Stay Human a try. Set 15 years after the events of the first game and set in the city of Villedor, Dying Light 2 grants players access to an enormous urban jungle that has been ravaged by both the apocalypse and time. Though more fantastical than The Walking Dead with its superhuman zombies, Dying Light 2's setting is still sure to win fans of the franchise over.
6 Undying
Gut-Punch Set-Up
Undying
- Released
- December 7, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
Undying will immediately feel familiar to fans of Telltale's adaptation of The Walking Dead. The plot follows a woman named Anling as she tries to teach her son how to survive after she's been bitten by a zombie.
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Anling's ticking time bomb scenario is a gut-punching concept fans saw with Lee and Clementine as well as other zombie media like Cargo, where an infected father tries to transport his daughter to safety in remote Australia. Undying's use of the same setup shrouds the game with the melancholic inevitability that fans of The Walking Dead are likely familiar with.
5 7 Days to Die
Tower Defense Survival
7 Days to Die
- Released
- June 28, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
7 Days to Die is a classic zombie survival game that, despite being initially released in 2013, only just launched out of early access in July last year. The game's full release brought with it new visuals and revamped mechanics, but none of that was needed to enjoy 7 Days to Die. Ever since launching into early access, the game has managed to blend traditional survival mechanics and tower-defense base building that immediately resonated with fans. Those looking to capture the fantasy (or horror) of settling down and fortifying a base in The Walking Dead universe should try 7 Days to Die.
4 DayZ
Zombies Aren't Your Biggest Worries
DayZ
- Released
- December 13, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Bohemia Interactive
- Genre(s)
- Survival
- OpenCritic Rating
- Weak
One aspect of The Walking Dead that is repeatedly hammered home is that humans are the real monsters. DayZ embodies this principle by dropping players into expansive maps infested with zombies as well as up to 60 other players. Though zombies, especially in high numbers, can still prove to be a threat, players should be more afraid of other players.
Encountering a human can lead to groups forming or neutral acknowledgments, but more often than not, it instead ends in a gun fight. Players can spend hours looting towns and building up their gear only to have it stolen by someone who sniped them from across a field.
3 Project Zomboid
Classic Zombie Survival
Project Zomboid
- Released
- November 8, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- The Indie Stone
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
There is one goal in Project Zomboid: survive for as long as possible. The Indie Stone's zombie survival hit places players in an expansive sandbox that shows them the meaning of survival. Players will have to manage nutrition, health and even the happiness of their character as they try to survive the apocalypse.
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There is no real end goal in Project Zomboid, as player failure is a promise baked into its concept. Players just have to see how far they can get. Fans of The Walking Dead who are looking for a hardcore experience that replicates the one depicted in the franchise shouldn't miss this indie gem.
2 State of Decay 2
Building Your Own Safe Haven
State of Decay 2
- Released
- May 22, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Undead Labs
- Genre(s)
- Action, Survival Horror
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
Like a lot of games on this list, State of Decay 2 comes with the traditional survival mechanics and zombie-bashing gameplay fans have come to expect of the genre. However, the game sets itself apart from its ilk by focusing more heavily on base building. Players construct and maintain a community by rescuing survivors, gathering supplies and deciding how exactly to run their safe havens.
Players also never assume control of a set protagonist. If a player dies, the character they were playing is gone, meaning they have to take control of someone else. A key aspect of The Walking Dead is the characters' efforts to build something they can call home in the apocalypse, and State of Decay 2 embodies that idea in its core principles.
1 The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
VR Survival
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
- Released
- January 23, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Skydance Interactive
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is an instance where the franchise did itself justice. It isn't fully open-world, with the game instead separating the walker-infested New Orleans into explorable areas. However, these zones are still large enough and layered enough to give players that same sense of freedom they get from traditional open worlds.
What's more, developer Skydance Interactive's choice to build the game around VR makes it incredibly immersive. Players are actually there in New Orleans, creeping through the streets, grabbing supplies, reaching for their weapons, and taking down walkers. It's a shame that the broken state of the game's sequel, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution, has somewhat tarnished the series' reputation. The first installment is not just one of the best Walking Dead games, but one of the best VR titles in general.
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