The essentials: the ones that define the genre
If you're only going to play a couple, make them from this list. Dying Light 2 Stay Human is the perfect way in, and right now the cheapest: it blends parkour and survival in a huge city where you explore by day and flee by night, and it just so happens to be free on PS Plus this August, so you've no excuse not to start there.
In the serious-horror corner, two surnames rule. The Last of Us Part I is less about zombies than about the people left when the world ends, with the cordyceps fungus as an excuse for one of the medium's best stories. And the Resident Evil saga is still the queen of scares: the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 remakes are considered among the genre's best, with that over-the-shoulder camera that turns every corridor into a trap. They're single-player, but the kind you remember for years.
To play in company: zombies four-handed
The undead are twice the fun with friends, and here are classics that don't age. Left 4 Dead 2 is still, over a decade later, the gold standard of four-player co-op: the perfect mix of full-throttle action and unbearable tension, with an AI 'director' that decides when to drop the horde on you. World War Z: Aftermath picks up that baton with its tides of thousands of infected running as a single organism, and Back 4 Blood — Left 4 Dead's direct heir — has improved a lot through patches since launch.
If shared-sofa plans beyond zombies are your thing, we have a whole guide to the best co-op games for PS5 with more ideas. But to get scared as a crew, these three are a safe bet.
Open world and survival: when the zombie is the least of it
There's a zombie for every taste, and this family is about surviving more than shooting. Days Gone gives you a motorbike and hordes of hundreds of infected that move like an avalanche, across an open world that grew on people over time. Dead Island 2 bets on the opposite: sunny Los Angeles, black humour and a dismemberment system that's almost obscene, turning the carnage into an art.
And for those who really want a hard time, there are the tough survival ones: Project Zomboid, an isometric sandbox where you're not a hero but someone trying not to die of hunger, cold or a silly bite; and State of Decay 2, about managing a community of survivors where each can die for good. Here the zombie is just the weather; the game is you making bad decisions under pressure.
So, which do I start with?
Time to take a side, since this is a guide. If you've never touched the genre and want a cheap, spectacular entry, start with Dying Light 2, which you already have free. If you want the best story, The Last of Us. If you want to be genuinely scared, the Resident Evil 2 remake. If you're playing with friends, Left 4 Dead 2 without a second thought. And if the tension of surviving with just what you've got is your thing, Project Zomboid will steal weeks from you.
The lovely thing about the zombie is that it never goes out of fashion: the wrapping changes — parkour, horror, co-op, strategy — but the shiver of hearing a growl behind you is always the same. Which one are you switching the lights off with tonight?
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