Top 10 new zombie games of 2022
so let's get started off with number 10.
"Project Z" is a pretty cool idea. So this is a first person, zombie shooter. It's cooperative, it's free to play. But it's set in World War II and you're stranded on an island filled with zombies that the Nazis have been experimenting on. That's definitely not the first time we've done that in video games, but what makes this one unique is a little bit more of a gritty and realistic atmosphere.
And an emphasis on finding things and building, similar somewhat to "Fallout 4"s settlement building system. So basically there's like a whole hub and as you go out and conquer areas, it actually will help and affect different areas that you jump into.
And in terms of playing that cooperatively, it could probably make things pretty interesting. It's also gonna have, of course, a more traditional wave-based survival mode and you know what it looks cool and simple. Good, clean, free to play fun. We don't know too much about the monetization yet or how a lot of this is gonna work out.
But if you're into Nazi zombie style stuff but also maybe something a little bit more like "Left 4 Dead" with a dash of "Fallout" building, "Project Z" seems promising! It doesn't ever a release date yet, but we're hoping to really see it this year.
Next up at number nine, we have
"Requisition VR". Because, hey, we gotta give some love to VR sometimes. Now it has some great zombie shooters overall and this "Requisition" game looks to be no slouch. Think of something like "Left 4 Dead" VR, you know? You and three other players cooperatively, or single player just blasting zombies. But with a bigger emphasis on surviving in one environment and scavenging and crafting improvised items to survive. Like, yes, there are guns, but there's a big advantage to creative crafting.
Like tape two axis together, or slap some kitchen knives on the end of a chair and just bash (laughs) some zombies. It seems pretty cool, and since it's in VR you're doing all of this with your hands, you know? Physically climbing things, grabbing stuff, and putting stuff together. I hope it feels as good as it looks.
Now, it seems like a really fun and creative idea with an additional PVP and sandbox mode if you want to just do something more traditional. But the basic setup sounds good to us. We'll definitely be checking this one out when it drops in early access this September.
Next over at number eight, we have
"Showa American Story". This is a weird seemingly sort of indie project that we've been talking about for (laughs) a while now. And as you can see on screen here, it's pretty wild. It's like this weird mashup of like a post-apocalyptic, "Devil May Cry", lollipop, chainsaw, zombie-killing, adventure game with a really unique hook.
You play as this girl who's reanimated from the deadnand she's a badass fighter, but she exists in an America that is taken over by the Japanese after World War II. But the American heartland is riddled with zombies. So it's up to you to do cool combos and use machine guns to kill 'em all.
This game seems super over-the-top in all the right ways. It could also (laughs) look a little busted. But we're hoping we get our hands on it this year because it just looks a little different and we're itching for something different. And it's got zombies, so, points for that.
Next over at number seven, we have
"No More Room in Hell 2". This is the follow up to a game from like 2011? The original "No More Room in Hell" was a source mod. That was just an incredibly fun and playable co-op zombie shooter with a pretty dark atmosphere.
But also very much heavily inspired by specifically George Romero's zombie stuff. You know, for the legend that he is now. With "No More Room in Hell 2" it seems like they're really just ramping everything up. It's all about surviving, up to eight player co-op, with just endless zombies coming at you.
But it's gonna require teamwork and coordination across pretty big maps that are featuring some randomly generated elements and procedural elements to kind of keep you on your toes. If that does sound familiar to similar games, yeah, I get you, but there's good emphasis on scavenging and making your own items. And so far visually it also looks pretty good too. The coolest part about this game, and I hope this sticks, the release date is October 31st, 2022. Hell yeah, let's go!
Next over at number six, we have a game called
"Ill". Which was one (laughs) that a lot of us were wondering if it was actually real, but as more and more gameplay snippets come out it definitely seems like it's a real game. It seems like a very small, independent project but visually it's very impressive.
This is Unreal Engine 5,and there's a lot of emphasis on the gore, blowing apart zombies in first person, the weight and physics of the zombies, and of course, tons and tons of details on these gross, icky creatures. The more they tease this game, the better and better it looks. 'Cause, like we said, at first it kind of looked like a weird prototype, but it's latest showings have looked a little bit more impressive.
We still need to see like a long lengthy gameplay trailer to really understand what's going on, but just a good, gritty, chunky, nasty, first person zombie shooter is something that we would definitely like to see. Because we talk a lot in this video about cooperative shooters and zombie hoards, but just good old fashioned survival horror elements? We need those. And we're really hoping that "Ill" delivers and we hope we see a lot more of it this year.
Next over at number five we have
"Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle". This is the follow up to "Daymare: 1998", which was a really awesome indie experience, heavily inspired by the classic "Resident Evil 2" Raccoon City outbreak. And it was just a good solid third person shooter with survival horror elements and good spooky scares and atmosphere.
And so what they're doing here, with "Daymare: 1994 Sandcastles", going for a bit of a prequel vibe. Involving government spies and you working for a secret organization where you're dropped into locations to extract and search.
Very much giving off Umbrella soldier vibes, but it totally works for this type of thing. As of right now, it is given a 2022 launch window. So we don't know for sure when exactly we're gonna see it in 2022, but we're really looking forward to it. If you haven't played "Daymare: 1998" consider checking it out.
Next over at number four, we have a game called
"Aftermath". This was revealed at a gaming livestream event and the original trailer really blew us away. We've been thinking about it ever since. In it, you play as Charlie Gray, an astronaut who gets caught up in the events of this world that is just absolutely messed up and filled with zombies and you're searching for your sister and everything just looks really chaotic and scary.
As you can see, it's very much a third person zombie shooter where you're mowing down hordes. But it does look like it's got a little bit more of an artsy storytelling vibe to it, a lot more atmosphere and music and scary visuals. That is something we are absolutely into and we can use that in our zombie games more and more.
Especially with this sci-fi spin. There's just a lot going on, you know. The initial trailer you might not realize that there are zombies but there's definitely some zombie killing going on here. And we're really excited to see how it plays out. "Aftermath" is slated as coming soon for PlayStation consoles and PC.
Now next over at number three, we have surrounded, uh,
"SurrounDead", get it? (laughs) God, I love zombie game puns. Anyway, this is an open world survival game with a really cool art style, I mean look at it. It kind of reminds me of a cross between "Valheim" and "Minecraft". Now this was actually made from a solo developer and it's in early access. And so far people have been really digging it.
Now instead of another competitive world, what's refreshing about this one is that it's more of a classic chill survival game where you just fight off zombies, use guns and melee weapons, you find stuff, you trade, and you up little areas to survive. And really build things up, you know? There's a lot of loot and there's limited ammo which kind of makes you pay attention more and gives it a little bit of a survival horror element, which we definitely like!
There's a solid inventory system, some good crafting. And zombies are, you know, okay on their own but if you're surrounded or facing off against a few that's where fight or flight is gonna have to kick in. That's where things can really get sweaty. Now again, it's in early access, so there's not a ton of content, but what is there shows tons of promise.
I mean, look at social media or Steam reviews. People seem to be really excited to see where this goes next and there is a roadmap. Now we'd like more to do, more to see, maybe even a bit of co-op? But if you like survival and you like building, but you want something that just has a little bit of a different vibe, "SurrounDead" could be something great. So we're mentioning it here and keeping our eye on it.
Now down to number two, we have
"Dying Light 2". We've talked about this one, a ton. It released earlier in 2022. And if you love zombies and open world adventuring, whoo boy, man, does this game have a lot for you. Now, I'm still processing, I'm not sure if I like it more than the first game but it has a ton of cool zombies to kill. It has a ton of cool moves and weapons to upgrade and learn to just improve your zombie killing efficiency in a pretty brutal and interesting world.
That is just really, really well developed. Not to mention the fact that you can play it cooperatively with friends so you can run around, parkouring around the city, killing zombies, grappling, hooking, doing your thing.
And not only that, we expect the developers to add a lot more content for years to come. If they support it anywhere near as much as they did with the first game, there's gonna be a lot of cool stuff coming to this if you haven't played it yet. It's on all the major platforms. And if you haven't checked it out, you should.
And finally down at number one, the
"The Callisto Protocol". This "Dead Space" inspired, third person, action-adventure, survival horror type game just seems absolutely awesome. And totally what the doctor ordered! You were fighting against gruesome, horrific undead-looking creature dudes that were seemingly once human.
And it's all very unfortunate, but also nice and nasty. If you've played a "Dead Space" game, which this game is not ashamed to admit they are inspired by, expect lots of gore and cool ways to take these things out. But also, a good amount of stress. With a survival horror game, things are not always easy and you're not always this powerful badass just crushing your way through hoards of enemies.
Sometimes one of these nasties can just take you out and that's what makes these games stressful and enjoyable. The horror tension, the survival aspect elements seem to be there. We're really looking forward to getting our hands on this one in December. We're hoping that release date sticks because we just love games like this, to be honest.
We definitely want to hear from you down in the comments.