There are tons of exceptional zombie games out there, with some leaning more into the horror element of the genre and others focusing on providing a campy, combat-forward experience. Whatever your preferences are, there’ll be a blood-soaked title to suit you perfectly.
- The Escapist recaps
- For a dark, unnerving experience, choose The Beast
- Combat and exploration are equally enjoyable in both games
- Ask The Escapist
- References
Two games that are worth considering are Dying Light: The Beast and Dead Island 2 – both suitably gory and fun in their own right. But which one is better? Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the two zombie titles, looking at everything from combat to story.
The Escapist recaps
- Dying Light: The Beast is the newest installment in the Dying Light franchise, created by the team at Techland. It’s gory and apocalyptic, with punchy combat, speedy parkour, and a decently interesting story.
- Dead Island 2 is a campier take on the apocalypse, with unique zombie models and the perfect blend of comedy and horror. It’s got an engaging story, fun combat, and a delightfully apocalyptic world to explore.
- Both games are solid in their own right, but Dying Light: The Beast offers a darker, more intense experience in terms of combat, story, and atmosphere. It’s the best pick for fans who want an action horror game to get lost in.
- In contrast, Dead Island 2 offers a lighter take on the apocalypse and is a blast to play through. There’s less of an emphasis on horror – although there are still some unsettling moments – and it has a solid survival system.
For a dark, unnerving experience, choose The Beast
Putting Dying Light: The Beast and Dead Island 2 into the same conversation highlights how vast the world of zombie games can be. Both are a hell of a lot of fun, but they offer strikingly different experiences for players, particularly with their story and narrative style.
Dead Island 2 centers on L.A. and features a number of iconic locations across the map. Players will be put into the shoes of their choice of protagonist, known as Slayers, with options ranging from an athlete to a mechanic. Each has their own backstory and fighting style.
The chosen Slayer must fight for survival after a brutal plane crash, attempting to find refuge with other survivors despite experiencing a nasty run-in with a zombie. The story unfolds from there; without spoiling it, there are themes of virus immunity, conspiracies, and corruption.
Despite some heavier themes and an intensely gore-packed combat system, Dead Island 2 feels campy and fun for the most part.
The world is huge and vibrant, packed to the brim with memorable and sometimes irritating characters, and there are plenty of quips and one-liners to help enhance the b-horror atmosphere it offers.
In contrast, though, Dying Light: The Beast provides a grittier, more intense experience. The player experiences the game through the eyes of Kyle Crane, the protagonist from the first Dying Light, escaping captivity after years of being experimented on and tortured.
The Beast is a revenge story with heavy themes of survival, loss, and anger. There’s a great variety of characters to meet and interact with throughout the game, and the story feels cohesive in both the main campaign and side tasks.
Picking the best zombie game out of the duo purely based on story will largely depend on your personal preferences, but we’d argue that Dying Light: The Beast takes the crown over Dead Island 2 in this regard.
Combat and exploration are equally enjoyable in both games
Both of the game worlds in the two zombie titles are wickedly fun to explore, with plenty of secrets to uncover and items to pick up.
Some zombie games feel exceptionally dreary to explore; this can be neat for world-building purposes, but The Beast and Dead Island 2 both feel lively and vibrant, despite all of the encroaching death.
Combat is evenly matched between the two games as well, although a handful of fans from either franchise may not agree here. There’s a solid variety of weapons to pick up while exploring, the effects are suitably gory, and the controls feel responsive.
If blood-splatter and gore are make-or-break elements of a zombie game for you, Dead Island 2 offers more head explosions, limb removals, and decapitations than The Beast.
Both are gory and intense, but Dead Island 2 seems to relish in the viscera. Combat in this game is incredibly responsive, offering up gnarly animations in response to your weapon of choice and where you strike an enemy.
If you’re stuck choosing between Dying Light: The Beast and Dead Island 2, we’d suggest The Beast for fans of darker experiences and Dead Island 2 for those who want a little more sparkle in their zombie games. Both are incredibly fun, but the former is more intense, while the latter feels more akin to a b-horror movie in places.
Ask The Escapist
While there are a few tense moments, no, The Beast is not a particularly scary game. Nighttimes can be intense due to chases, but it’s largely atmospheric and action-oriented instead of being frightening.
Yes, Dead Island 2 has numerous DLC options, SoLA and Haus, along with additional weapons packs and cosmetics.
On average, a playthrough of Dead Island 2 will take you roughly 16-18 hours if you focus purely on the main campaign, with a completionist run entering the realm of 35-40 hours.
A purely campaign-focused run of The Beast will take you anywhere from 15-18 hours, with completionist runs generally going over the 45 hour mark, as per HLTB.
References
- How long is Dying Light: The Beast? (HowLongToBeat)
Last Updated On: Oct 3, 2025 11:12 am CEST