Summary
22 years after the initial publication of its comic book, and 15 years after the first episode of the TV show aired,The Walking Deadcontinues 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 withinThe Walking Deaduniverse so they can lose themselves in the mess of its brutal world.
However, despite the stellarTelltale games andfew select others,The Walking Dead’strack 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 thatThe Walking Deadkindled all those years ago, making them perfect for fans of the franchise.
Assuming the role of bounty hunter Deacon two years after a zombie apocalypse,Days Gonecapturesthe nomadic lifestylethe various survivors inThe Walking Deadoften 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 giveDays Gonea go.
Fans who especially like the run-down urban environmentsThe Walking Deadoften places its characters in should giveDying Light 2 Stay Humana try. Set 15 years after the events of the first game and set in the city of Villedor,Dying Light 2grants players access to an enormous urban jungle that has been ravaged by both the apocalypse and time. Though more fantastical thanThe Walking Deadwithits superhuman zombies,Dying Light 2’s setting is still sure to win fans of the franchise over.
Undyingwill immediately feel familiar to fans of Telltale’s adaptation ofThe 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.
Anling’s ticking time bomb scenario is a gut-punching concept fans saw with Lee and Clementine as well as other zombie media likeCargo,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 ofThe Walking Deadare likely familiar with.
7 Days to Dieis a classic zombie survival game that, despite being initially released in 2013, only just launchedout of early accessin July last year. The game’s full release brought with it new visuals and revamped mechanics, but none of that was needed to enjoy7 Days to Die. Ever since launching into early access, the game has managed to blend traditional survival mechanics andtower-defense basebuilding that immediately resonated with fans. Those looking to capture the fantasy (or horror) of settling down and fortifying a base inThe Walking Deaduniverse should try7 Days to Die.
One aspect ofThe Walking Deadthat is repeatedly hammered home is thathumans are the real monsters.DayZembodies 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.
There is one goal inProject 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.
There is no real end goal inProject Zomboid,as player failure is a promise baked into its concept. Players just have to see how far they can get. Fans ofThe Walking Deadwho are looking for a hardcore experience that replicates the one depicted in the franchise shouldn’t miss this indie gem.
Like a lot of games on this list,State of Decay 2comes 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 heavilyon 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 ofThe Walking Deadis the characters' efforts to build something they can call home in the apocalypse, andState of Decay 2embodies that idea in its core principles.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinnersis 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 actuallytherein 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 bestWalking Deadgames, but one of the best VR titles in general.
