Highlights

• ZombiU for the Wii U is an inventive and overlooked zombie game that utilizes the GamePad controller for a tense and spooky experience. The multiplayer mode, King of Zombies, allows players to deploy zombies to sabotage and slay their opponents.
• Three Dead Zed is a whimsically cartoony indie game where players control a mutant brain-eater with the ability to transform into different forms. It offers a unique and fun action romp.
• Contagion is a horror-shooter with a fun multiplayer mode called Hunted, where players can face off against AI zombies and even respawn as zombies themselves to hunt down the living. It adds a creepy spin to multiplayer games.

Zombies and video games tend to go together like peanut butter and jelly, as illustrated by the onslaught of games wrought by the undead. It's no surprise why, given the typical zombie traits, which make for suitably creepy enemy fodder. There are many entertaining romps centered around these sauntering, brain-eating foes, which allow trigger-happy players to slay zombies by the hundreds and even thousands.

Yet, there does seem to be lots of unrealized potential when it comes to games featuring playable zombies. As it happens, there are some games that allow for this amusing role reversal, many of which have quietly crept under the radar. Zombie lovers rejoice.

Updated November 29, 2023 by Mark Sammut: Zombie games are very common, but games with playable zombies are another story entirely. Still, there are a few titles that should be able to scratch someone's desire to control the living dead.

RPGs with undead-type classes with not be included.

9 ZombiU

King Of Zombies Multiplayer Mode

While Nintendo's Wii successor wasn't well-received following its 2012 release, Ubisoft utilized the unique hardware to craft one of the most inventive and overlooked zombie romps of the decade. ZombiU has players use their GamePad controller as a virtual survival kit, all while fending off the undead in real-time. While the second screen proves a handy tool, the added burden of having to gaze down at the controller makes the experience all the more tense and spooky.

Perhaps the most notable highlight of this cult hit is the multiplayer function called King of Zombies. In this asymmetrical competition, the wielder of the GamePad can deploy zombies in key spots by way of a touch screen top-down map, in order to sabotage and slay their human opponent.

8 Three Dead Zed

Zombie Who Can Transform

Both whimsically cartoony and gore-laden, Gentleman Squid Studio's Three Dead Zed shows that a fun zombie slayer need not be fleshed out with sleek 3D landscapes or complex bells and whistles. In this indie game, players control a mutant brain-eater with the ability to morph into a few unique forms. These include a swift, nimble "Sprinter," and a strong, fist-swinging "Brute."

Zombie-lovers will no doubt enjoy powering through the slew of hazard-laden stages as they mash and munch their human prey. While a bit rough around the edges, this labor of love shines as a uniquely fun and zany action romp.

7 Undead Knights

Necromancers

Despite falling under the radar amid a crowded PSP library, Undead Knights from Tecmo Koei quietly shines as a thrilling, inventive action game. Players find themselves in a blocky medieval setting, taking charge as one of three undead-summoning overlords, who seek revenge on a murderous king.

As one might expect, this premise alone sets the stage for some satisfying gameplay. The experience is akin to an intense hack and slash a la God of War fused with a dark fantasy thriller. Yet, there are also tinges of tactical gameplay, as players can command bands of zombies to do their bidding in various ways.

6 Contagion

Respawn As Zombies In The Hunted Mode

With its added atmosphere and dynamic, realistic feel, virtual reality can truly add to the survival horror experience, and it can prove a great complement to a zombie game. Enter Contagion by Monochrome LLC; a horror-shooter that puts a fun, creepy spin on multiplayer games.

One of the four modes includes Hunted, in which up to 16 players can face off while being terrorized by AI zombies. The intensity continues creeping in as the game progresses, and the defeated players can respawn as the undead themselves. While in this form, they can hunt down the living, in order to give them a taste of the zombified death inflicted on them. This feature extends to the co-op mode called Extraction, where zombified players can disrupt their friends' efforts to complete missions and save AI survivors.

5 Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare

Join The Zombie Army

Following the rampant success of their tower defense, PopCap Games put a new spin on the appealing Plants Vs Zombies franchise with this third-person shooter. Rather than just fending off waves of sauntering undead, players can take the fight to the plants and control swift, gun-wielding zombies.

While quite different from the original mobile games on which it's based, this team-based shooter proves equally tactical and addictive, as players can control different units with distinct abilities and functions. Taking the role of plant-eating zombies is particularly fun, as players can use them to summon lesser undead forces and utilize other powers not seen in the original games.

The sequel is also great.

4 Left 4 Dead

Versus Mode

This 2008 release from Valve fast became a multiplayer phenom, thanks to some frenzied zombie-slaying gameplay and deep cooperative elements. While it's endlessly fun fending off ravenous zombies with friends, a lesser-appreciated feature in Left 4 Dead is the ability to play as Special variants of the Infected.

Versus mode allows up to four players to take the role of these brain-eaters, harassing and spooking their human counterparts in intense showdowns. With these units — such as the swift Charger and massive Tank — holding distinct powers and skillsets, these face-offs bring more chaotic and tactical gameplay to the already fast-paced shooter.

3 Dying Light

Be The Zombie Mode

Techland's 2015 survival-horror shattered expectations with some epic cinematic gameplay that balanced thrilling action with nuance, depth, and a gritty sense of realism. And this dynamic, open-world formula has only further been expanded upon with the 2022 sequel.

But while Dying Light thrives on the eerie feeling of vulnerability through solitude, it's also home to a fun multiplayer feature that has players take the role of a potent "Night Hunter." Known as Be the Zombie, this mode pits players against one another in thrilling fashion. The ravenous mutant can attack players and invade their servers, while players stave them off and neutralize infected nests.

2 Stubbs The Zombie In Rebel Without A Pulse

Zombie Love Letter

This zany thriller from Wideload has quietly become a cult hit with its colorful motifs and unique concepts. Initially released for the Xbox in 2005, this zombie game has seen new life with a remaster on modern consoles. Unlike many of its ilk, Stubbs the Zombie allows players to control a brain-eating undead as the central feature, rather than being a simple add-on.

Players will wreak havoc within a retro-futuristic city as a Depression-era undead, scorned by the murderous father of his girlfriend. Silly, satisfying, and decorated with fun 50s themes, Stubbs is truly a zombie lover's playground.

1 MediEvil

Sir Daniel Fortesque, The Undead Knight

As he resembles a skeleton rather than a conventional zombie, it can be easy to forget that MediEvil's iconic protagonist is 100% an undead protagonist. If he had died just before Zarok recast his necromancy spell, Sir Daniel Fortesque would have awoken with a far fleshier exterior; nevertheless, he fits the bill. Producing two classics during the PS1 era, MediEvil oozes Halloween imagery out of every frame, all the while still firmly falling within the action-adventure category rather than the horror genre.

While some aspects are dated, these games are still charming and fun to play nowadays. Alternatively, newcomers can check out the 2019 PS4 remake if they want something a bit more modern, although this version is relatively faithful to its predecessor.

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