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E3 2018: Post-apocalyptic game scorecard

Apocalyptic chic takes over E3, from zombies to natural disasters to more zombies.

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Dan Ackerman
2 min read
Bethesda

Maybe it's a sign of the current social and political zeitgeist, maybe it's just people trying to cash in on the success of TV shows like The Walking Dead or films like Mad Max: Thunder Road. Whatever the reason, an awful lot of games at E3 2018 deal with the end of the world (or other worlds). 

Sometimes it's zombies, other times hordes of people infected with some horrible disease that makes them suspiciously zombie-like. If not the undead, then rioting mutants or roving gangs of wasteland toughs. In almost every case, the aesthetic style is filled with the muted browns and greys of collapsed buildings, or the green of creeping vines and vegetation taking back our ruined cities. 

Whatever the style, it's all part of the current craze for apocalyptic chic, where the only foregone conclusion game developers (and many TV and film producers) seem to be able to agree on is that humankind is toast. 

days-gone-screen-03-horde-ps4-us-13jun16

A zombie conga line from Days Gone.

Sony

Highlights this year at E3 include the online-only Fallout 76 (nuclear war); Rage 2 (rogue asteroid); and The Last of Us Part II (zombie-like virus). If it sounds like there's a lot of overlap between all this post-apocalyptica, you're right. That's why I've put together this handy scorecard to keep track of your favorite end-of-the-world games. 

I'll update this during E3 as we see and hear about more games, and if you know of one we've missed, let us know in the comments below. 

E3 2018 post-apocalyptic game tracker

Game PublisherPlatformsZombies (or zombie-like) main antagonistsTakes place on EarthOnly or mostly online
Resident Evil 2 CapcomPC/PS4/XboxYesYesNo
The Walking Dead 505 GamesPC/PS4/XboxYesYesYes
Fallout 76 BethesdaPC/PS4/XboxNoYesYes
Dying Light 2 TechlandPC/PS4/XboxYesYesNo
The Division 2 UbisoftPC/PS4/XboxYesYesYes
Gears of War 5 MicrosoftXbox/PCNoNoNo
Metro Exodus Deep SilverPC/PS4/XboxNoYesNo
Anthem EAPC/PS4/XboxNoNoYes
Doom Eternal BethesdaPC/PS4/XboxNoYesNo
Rage 2 BethesdaPC/PS4/XboxNoYesNo
The Last of Us Part II SonyPS4YesYesNo
Days Gone SonyPS4YesYesNo

Biggest games of E3 2018

See all photos

[Originally published June 11, and updated with additional games.]

E3 2018: Everything you need to know

E3 2018 coverage at CNET: All of our E3 2018 coverage in one place.

Watch this: E3 2018: A deeper look at Fallout 76

E3 2018 coverage at GameSpot: Wall-to-wall coverage of the show from our sister site, GameSpot.

E3 2018 coverage at Giant Bomb: Still more commentary and news from E3, from our colleagues at Giant Bomb.