There are few settings that gamers enjoy exploring more than the end of the world. It's a morbid, disturbing truth, but there's often something hauntingly beautiful hidden within a post-apocalyptic environment. It could be that desperate, innate human desire to survive, no matter what, or it might be the freedom delivered by being one of the last survivors of a cataclysmic event.

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For some, the concept of an apocalypse is all it takes to make a game perfect. It doesn't matter if it's a zombie-fuelled outbreak, nuclear annihilation, or the arrival of an alien race, being thrown into that irresistible fight for survival is as immersive as it gets. In the last two decades or so, players have been treated to some fantastical recreations of the end of the world, but which among them can be classed as the most devastating?

7 Fallout: The Great War

a Brotherhood of Steel soldier stands in power armor

In 2077, the bombs fell in the Fallout universe, and to this day, there is still no confirmation as to who fired the first shot. Regardless of which nation pressed the big red button first, the world was left smoldering, with almost every country on the planet feeling the full force of the nuclear apocalypse. However, humanity was far from finished, and if anything, the Great War was just the beginning...

Fallout's setting is iconic, and for many, it's the pinnacle of post-apocalyptic entertainment. Since 1997, players have been exploring the wastelands found within Fallout, attempting to forge their own path through the end of the world. There's no doubt that the Great War was one of the most devastating causes of the apocalypse, effectively decimating the entire planet and forever changing the face of human existence.

6 The Last Of Us: Cordyceps Brain Infection

Ellie sits in front of a tree playing guitar

The Last of Us boasts an apocalyptic condition that's terrifying because it's real. In 2013, The Last of Us launched and rapidly became regarded as one of the most incredible post-apocalyptic experiences in modern gaming. It was a near-flawless title that went on to win hundreds of awards, subsequently spawning a sequel that was released in 2020.

In The Last of Us, an infection known as the Cordyceps Brain Virus emerges, making its way into the human population through infected crops. It's a real thing - a parasitic fungus that takes over the brain of insects, but in TLOU, it killed or mutated 60% of humanity. It's a brutal, horrifying thing that brought around the end of the world at a devastatingly rapid pace, creating the less-than-hospitable environment seen in The Last of Us.

5 Dying Light: The Harran Virus

A group of zombies stand menacingly on a city street

For a while, it seemed like The Harran Virus, first seen in Dying Light in 2015, would be contained to one fictional city. As a mutated variant of the rabies disease, The Harran Virus adopts many of the tropes that fans of post-apocalyptic games have known and loved for years. It infected humans, killed them, and re-animated them, bringing them back as bloodthirsty zombies in various states of mutation.

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Had The Harran Virus been contained to...well, Harran, it wouldn't have been anywhere near devastating enough to bring about the ultimate apocalypse. However, a shady government agency began working on the virus, attempting to weaponize it, and before long, a new strain escaped into the world. This stronger, more devastating strain caused The Fall, a cataclysmic event that eventually brought about the annihilation of 98% of the world's population.

4 Horizon: The Faro Plague

Aloy stands in the sky, looking over a world filled with robots

In the world of Horizon: Zero Dawn, the 21st century gave way to a massive technological revolution. It was thought that robotic creations were the future, and all manner of organizations were getting on board the train, including Faro Automated Solutions. Bizarrely, Faro saw nothing wrong with creating a line of robots that moved as a swarm, boasted the ability to replicate unaided, and survived by consuming biomass.

Within almost no time at all, the unstoppable robots glitched and began consuming every single living thing on Earth, bringing about a complete apocalypse. Fortunately, there were some sensible scientists that conjured up a solution to this problem - a failsafe that would hopefully rebuild the planet from the ground up after a few hundred years. It worked, but not before the human race was almost completely eradicated.

3 Mad Max: Nuclear Annihilation

Mad Max stands alongside his car on a desert road

As a franchise, Mad Max is decades old, stretching back to the late 1970s. In 2015, Mad Max was released as a popular video game, allowing players to explore a dusty, devastated, post-apocalyptic world. In Mad Max, the end of the world was brought about by relatively simple means - a nuclear apocalypse kicked off by a global conflict. It's as typical as things get in the apocalypse stakes, and it almost wiped humans from the face of the Earth.

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Before the nukes began falling, however, the world is crumbling under the weight of resource shortages. There's a desperate last grab by the world's superpowers for dwindling supplies of oil, and as the global economy and general society begin imploding, humans become increasingly feral and lawless. With Mad Max, the majority of the lore comes from the movies, and by the time the player explores Mad Max in its video game form, the world is well and truly at an end.

2 Mass Effect: The Reapers

Commander Shepard poses; behind him, Reapers attack Earth

Mass Effect, one of the most popular sci-fi franchises in the history of gaming, first launched in 2007. In the world of Mass Effect, players explore the late 22nd century, years after humans have essentially unlocked the ability to leap great distances through space after unlocking the secrets of "mass effect physics." However, shortly after, the human race - and the rest of the galaxy - learns of a grave, fast-approaching threat known as The Reapers.

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Once every few thousand years, The Reapers emerge from the darkest, deepest corners of the galaxy to wipe it clean of all organic life, specifically targeting the most "advanced" civilizations. These Reapers were created and are controlled by The Catalyst, an ancient, destructive intelligence built by the Leviathans, an even older species. As a race, The Reapers are sentient starships that dominate all lifeforms both mentally and physically, and in Mass Effect, they exist for one sole purpose - to bring about the total annihilation of all forms of civilization.

1 Gears Of War: The Locust Horde

Marcus Fenix and Co. prepare for a huge battle against the Locust

Gears of War boasts one of the most iconic legacies in the history of gaming. It's a franchise that stretches back almost twenty years, telling the story of post-apocalyptic conditions that both chill and inspire players that get to experience them. In Gears of War, the human race sits on a precipice, balancing precariously between desperate survival and absolute destruction.

Ironically, as the story unfolds in Gears of War, the player learns that it was the human race that brought about its own downfall. During an eighty-year war that was brought about by the desire to control a substance known as Imulsion, dark experiments are performed on humans. These experiments bring about the Locust, a mutated, twisted, violent race that retreats to the sub-surfaces of Sera, the game's world, and begins building its own civilization. After a while, the Locust launches an overwhelming attack on Sera, slaughtering billions within the space of a single day, aiming to wipe out the existence of humans entirely...

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