Action-oriented games almost always have sections dedicated to loads of enemies. Others are all about wave after wave of bandits, monsters, or robots looking to tear you apart, that you get to slay through. To do it right requires great combat, game design, and stellar foes for you to kill.
Like anything in gaming, sending hordes of enemies is an art. Too many games fall short, making it a chore to get through one more wave of oncoming hostiles. When it is done right, however, it can become the driving force that ticks away the hours you pour into that experience. Here are some of the best.
Updated on January 26, 2023 by Tristan Zelden: The great thing about games that throw hordes of enemies at you is that you have plenty of options. We have added three more games for you to litter rooms with guts and limbs.
13 Gears 5
The horde mode became a craze after Gears of War 2. The hype died down over the years when the rest of the industry stopped chasing after that success, but Gears did not stop.
The formula of a Gears of War has changed slightly over the years. Its core combat has stayed roughly the same, with new additions here and there, but the cover shooter still has some of the goriest and most satisfying fighting in any third-person shooter. If you want to blow up, chainsaw in half, and shoot aliens, then there is nothing better than the Xbox flagship series.
12 Destiny 2
Bungie stuck to its FPS roots from Halo and took what it learned into Destiny, then expanded that recipe with multiplayer and RPG elements. Between both entries in the series, people over the years have gotten to know its interesting characters, hostile creatures, and the best gear to collect.
Whether it is an event, quest, or raid, Destiny 2 loves to throw all types of opponents for you to blast away. With superb shooting mechanics, time flies by when mowing down each incoming wave.
11 Left 4 Dead 2
A classic zombie shooter that unfortunately hasn't seen a third entry, although we did get Back 4 Blood. Not many games have stood the test of time quite like Left 4 Dead 2 has in terms of player count over the years.
There is a good reason why the zombie shooter has endured since its release in 2009 — it is a great game to play with a group of friends. Few things can beat gathering some buddies as you bash, shoot, and slice your way through the undead to make it to a safe house.
10 Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Aliens, robots, and zombies have gotten stale, so why not kill rats? Vermintide 2 is like a fantasy Left 4 Dead, set in the Warhammer universe, as you kill rat-like creatures with various classes for you to select.
The combat has that visceral feeling which never feels stale when hacking away the flesh of hordes of enemies. The various classes open the door for different playstyles, and the loot gathered also lets you build up your preferred class. That extra depth gives it more meat than a typical slasher.
9 Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
Mount & Blade II allows you to virtually reenact epic battles, giving you the same feeling you might get from your favorite medieval films. Seeing an army of men in armor has a cinematic quality that delivers a grand scale to the experience.
The different modes let you find different ways to enjoy yourself, with both online and singleplayer offerings. Get into massive multiplayer battles, or goof around in the sandbox world of the singleplayer. Bannerlord is all about player choice, whether that is combat-focused or not.
8 Killing Floor 2
A modern Left 4 Dead-like that takes out the objectives and focuses on slaying waves of the undead, each with unique abilities and strength. Killing Floor 2 has plenty of classes that let you hone your skills with assault rifles, fire-based weapons, and more.
To make a match messier is the mechanic that blood does not despawn. Sure, body parts that have exploded all over a room eventually disappear. The blood stays, so as you go through each wave, you paint the level in red.
7 7 Days To Die
The core premise of 7 Days to Die is quite simple: survive each night by finding food, water, and shelter. On night seven, the moon goes blood red, and hordes of zombies come to hunt you down. Its twist on zombie survival games is refreshing, and brutally difficult.
It is perfect with a crew, as you create a community and see how many days or weeks you can survive in the wasteland before getting eaten alive or dying from dysentery. The likelihood of the latter is quite high.
6 Hades
Hades is full of sexy gods, and that is not even the main reason why it is one of the best fantasy roguelikes around. People who are hesitant because of its genre should check it out, as it is one of the best for beginners.
Getting into the right rhythm in a roguelike is vital. The excellent movement and combat make that moment the game clicks an experience that changes everything. Once you get into that groove you become unstoppable, as you go from one area to the next.
5 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Insomniac has been on a roll, with two Spider-Man games under its belt and the latest Ratchet & Clank installment. It seems like the PS5 generation will be the studio's time to truly shine.
A good reason for that is how fluid, polished, and satisfying its combat and movement are in every release, such as in Rift Apart. It does not need gore to make the combat feel so good. An array of devastating and sometimes silly weapons mean that when the inevitable horde of aliens and robots comes after the Lombax and his robot companion, it never gets old.
4 Doom Eternal
id Software gave Doom an incredible modern revival with its 2016 reboot, and followed that up with Doom Eternal. In the sequel, the devs upped every aspect of the game, from its fluidity to its number of demons. It is nonstop, blood-pumping action to a heavy metal soundtrack.
After its release, update 6.66 came with a horde mode. While the game already felt like that, with the constant shooting you do throughout the campaign, it meant that players could now play with even more violence — something which seemed impossible before.
3 Vampire Survivors
Looking at any video or screenshot of Vampire Survivors may cause a headache. It is full of chaos and enemies for you to slaughter, with all sorts of creatures and colorful pixels that fill the screen. In reality, it is simple game, yet an utter blast that will glue you to it for an ungodly amount of time.
Try and survive 30 minutes in this roguelite, where all you have to worry about is moving and selecting the right abilities to upgrade yourself on a current run. Your character automatically attacks, focusing on strategic movements to avoid taking too much damage to surpass your time record and defeat Death itself.
2 Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
If you like Warhammer, but are not a fan of Vermintide's fantasy, you are in luck, as Darktide is effectively Left 4 Dead in the Warhammer 40K universe, with some light RPG elements.
Darktide puts you and your friends in a squad through an epic campaign. You can lightly customise each character, but they're all differentiated by the different playstyles they offer. Add that to the gear and upgrades, and you can become a killing machine to turn the tides against the enemy.
1 The Binding of Isaac
The Binding of Isaac is a great entry in the roguelike genre with its horror elements, art style, and other genres it blends for a standout experience. Go carefully through randomly generated rooms, as each will hold something rewarding or nightmarish for your sad little protagonist.
Isaac makes for a cute little hero who will motivate you by pulling your heartstrings with how sad and scared he looks. By building up skills and the right abilities, you will carry him through this awful situation he has found himself in, or turn him into a horrific, mutated demonic monstrosity.