A Zombie Survival Game For Me

[Syphous]

So my girlfriend and I are looking for a zombie survival game. Not a "shoot zombies and find ammo" survival game, but an actual "need to scrounge up food/water and board up rooms" kind of survival game. I'll go through some bullets as to what I want. Keep in mind it doesn't have to be perfect and every recommendation is most welcome.

Must be:
- Co-op
- Preferably for PC, but Xbox 360 couch co-op is possible

Should be:
- Scary. I want zombies to actually mean something, not just fodder.
- Easy to access. While Day Z is a cool mod, it is a mod. This confuses and muddies up things, especially for my girlfriend.
- Fun, dammit.
- Open world. While this isn't required, we just prefer the open world structure.

Should NOT be:
- A Left 4 Dead or Killing Floor clone. These are not the kinds of games I'm looking for.
- Overly complicated. While what I'm looking for is going to be generally complicated, I don't want my girlfriend getting frustrated with the control scheme and giving up before we even really crack into the game.
- Day Z or Infestation (War Z). These are the right idea, but I want a complete game without being a total glitch fest.

Doesn't matter:
- Story. It's zombies, all believability is out the window. I don't care if the story sucks or is non-existent.
- Graphics. As long as it isn't ASCII, I don't care how pretty the game is. In fact, if it's TOO pretty we may not be able to run it.
- Voice over. I can read and so can she. Though I don't want a text adventure.

So these are the basic guidelines, but as I stated before any recommendation will be appreciated. And if the game in your mind fills all/most of the guidelines but doesn't have zombies but aliens/vampires/humans instead as the enemy, I am not going to care. I just want a fun survival co-op game.

Thanks everybody!

 

[chukrum47]

Well, have you considered Minecraft? While it's not purely a zombie survival game, most of what you just described is in it:

Co-op: Create a password protected server and play with just the two of you.

Scary: The "HSSSS"! of a creeper before it blows your ass to kingdom-come. Also, it takes an incredible amount of work to feel even close to over-powered, or even well-off.

Easy to access: Ehhh kinda. The controls are really basic, and as long as you have the wiki open in a different window/computer, you should be fine.

Fun: I've lost way too many hours being trapped in it.

Open world: Larger than the surface area of the Earth.


So I'd recommend at least giving it a looksie. I believe you can still download a timed demo if you want to check it out!

 

[Syphous]

I actually own Minecraft. She does not. I kind of forgot about that game, somehow. I'll have to have her try it and see what she thinks. Good idea!

 

[CrazyCrab]

Project Zomboid is a true zombie survival game, but co op is only possible with a split screen if i remember correctly. Its ridiculously scary at times and has all the elemenrs of a true survival game, like scavenging for food, water and building shelters.
I think youd like it.

 

[PrimitiveJudge]

Nazi Zombies for Black ops 1 on Der Riese. Goes by rounds, every round is harder and you have a choice to live by the "wall" or the "box". I am still down to play that map anytime, Just hope Black Ops 2 comes out with that map... my god that is a badass map.

EDIT: WTF is minecraft? people talk about it all the time but never explain what it is.

 

[Strelok]

Doesn't No More Room In Hell have all that? I tried it and it is pretty good, the child zombies are disturbing. I didn't do any online with it yet though it is free so no harm in trying. Also Nether looks great, but not really zombies, and I don't think it is co-op.

 

[Smooth Operator]

7 Days to Die is something to try.
Essentially uses Minecraft mechanics for the world(voxels, materials, crafting, tools), decent graphics and solid shooter mechanics for the zombie part so things can get pretty creepy as they groan and claw at you.
Also daytime is when the zombies are in slow hobble mode and at night they go ape shit, if they sniff you out they will actually try and dig their way into whatever hut you made... you can fight them for a while, but your resources are way thinner then the horde.

For reference

 

[IndomitableSam]

Project Zomboid and State fo Decay are my two favorite zombie games. Neither have co-op, though. Zomboid is planned, but as the development is incredibly slow, I have no idea if that's years down the line or not. Hopefully sooner now that they're on Steam and earning more money, though. Zombod is pure survival - there is no winning, it's just about seeing how long you survive. It's got older-style graphics and an isometric view, and the controls are really clunky, but it's a true survival sim. Zombies will kill you if they touch you (usually, if you get stratched or bitten, you're probably dead), you have to gather food, water, build a base and survive as long as you can.

State of Decay is a single player game for Xbox Live or for PC (I recommend PC, people are making some great mods for it), and it a little more combat oriented, but the basics of it are you contorl a group of survivors who basically have to gather up enough supplies to survive, try and keep people alive (though you can't always) and progress through a thin storyline. But it's very, very sandboxy and you don't have to do the story. You can choose from a number of places to make your base and then you upgrade it with different things like medical areas, sleeping bunks, shooting platforms, a kitchen... that sort of thing. It's more combat based.

Look up both - they've both got their merits and are very different in execution.