With Sony appearing to ease its stance on PC ports, Days Gone will be the next game to appear on PC this spring. An open-world adventure set in the wilderness after a global pandemic, players control Deacon St. John, a drifter that fights to survive the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. In particular, Days Gone received praise for its open world exploration and its interesting progression system.
While the PC port for Days Gone might be a few months away, the PC has become a fantastic platform for zombie and survival games over the years. Thriving on mod support and a heavier emphasis on sandbox games, PC zombie games have remained popular as they blend together different genres and mechanics. Fans looking forward to the release of Days Gone should give some of the other zombie games available on PC a try.
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Perhaps the most definitive zombie game available on PC, 7 Days to Die takes all the elements of a typical open-world survival game and combines them with sandbox mechanics. Players are able to craft, build, loot, survive, and co-operate with others in order to survive the zombie apocalypse. With so many different mechanics, from tower defense, to mining, to character progression, 7 Days to Die often feels more like a RPG than a typical zombie survival game. Although there's a learning curve, the community is quite friendly and many of the servers are accommodating of newer players.
Though 7 Days to Die has been in early access limbo for a number of years, the game does get updated consistently, and there are plenty of things to do in its current state. Newcomers will likely have to watch videos or playthroughs in order to decide whether the game is in an acceptable state for them, but 7 Days to Die is easily one of the deepest zombie survival games available based on the sheer amount of content. Fans of Day Gone looking to ramp up the crafting system or explore an even bigger sandbox should try 7 Days to Die.
Although Left 4 Dead 2 was originally released over a decade ago, it has aged gracefully thanks to its mod support and unmatched multiplayer experience. Featuring a diverse cast and interesting storyline, players must fight their way through five different campaigns and numerous types of zombies in order to survive. With a heavy emphasis on co-operative gameplay, Left 4 Dead 2 became the definitive multiplayer experience for PC zombie games for a number of years.
It's not an exaggeration to say that Telltale's The Walking Dead series revolutionized video game storytelling for the better. Featuring a distinct take on interactive storytelling, players were limited in interactions with the game world itself but had to make impactful decisions which would lead to different narrative branches. Though Telltale didn't pioneer the concept, The Walking Dead series popularized it and would eventually lead to strong narratives becoming an important selling point of many zombie survival games.
Much like other Telltale games, The Walking Dead series mostly revolves around point-and-click mechanics, and many of the player interactions with the world are limited to quick time events. Making decisions along the storyline, players must learn to deal with potential consequences and adjust their choices on the fly. Fans of Days Gone who are looking for a more narrative-driven experience, or enjoy the narrative aspect of the game, should try The Walking Dead series.
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The PC platform offers a way for developers to create ambitious games, and Project Zomboid is a perfect representation of that potential. Developed by an indie studio called The Indie Stone, Project Zomboid offers the most in-depth apocalypse simulator available on PC. Although the graphics and UI are simplistic, the rest of the game more than makes up for it through its vast map, co-op play, sandbox mechanics, and crafting systems. Players must even learn to grapple with depression and boredom while trying to survive in the game.
Although the game is still in early access, there are consistent updates every few months, and Project Zomboid has a great community with mod support backing it. Project Zomboid has a bit of a learning curve to it, but once players master some of the mechanics, it becomes an extremely rewarding zombie survival simulator. With a permadeath feature and a tough difficulty, Project Zomboid is the perfect sandbox zombie game for Days Gone fans looking for a even bigger challenge.
Developed by Techland who had originally released Dead Island in 2011, Dying Light takes the survival mechanics to new heights with its dynamic day-night cycle and parkour movement system. Played from the first-person perspective, players must traverse an open-world environment that is being overrun by zombies. During the day, the zombies are slow and pose little threat but they turn extremely aggressive at night. What sets Dying Light apart from other zombie games is its focus on atmosphere during the night time. Players are encouraged to take risks but the constant suspense of a potential attack further heightens the survival elements of the game.
Dying Light continues to receive updates and regularly scheduled community challenges despite being released in 2015. Players can also join forces with others as the story campaign allows up to 4 players at once. Moreover, its unique parkour system allows a different style of play from typical zombie survival games. Deciding whether to fight or run from zombies becomes an important decision to make and players will need to climb ledges, slide, jump, and use ziplines in order to traverse the environment. Days Gone fans who are looking for a fluid, fast-paced type of zombie game should give Dying Light a try.
Days Gone is available now on PS4 and PS5 with a PC port scheduled for Spring 2021.