The best games where you fight hordes of enemies

Action-oriented games almost always have sections dedicated to tons of enemies. Others are about wave after wave of bandits, monsters or robots that want to tear you apart, which you have to fight through. Getting it right requires great combat, game design, and great enemies for you to kill.

Like everything else in gaming, dispatching hordes of enemies is an art. Too many games fail, making it difficult to get through another wave of oncoming enemies. When done right, however, it can be the driving force that ticks away the hours you pour into that experience. Here are some of the best.

Updated October 12, 2024 by Hilton Webster: There are few joys in life more enticing than dashing onto a battlefield and cutting a bloody swath through leagues of enemies without breaking a sweat. We've added even more games that let you fulfill that fantasy.

16 Days gone

Days Gone wasn't the most interesting game in the world, and the subsequent reaction from the game's writers to its reception was… odd, to say the least. Deacon St. John may not have been the most exciting protagonist, but he at least let you confront hordes of zombies with some exuberance.

The big draw of Days Gone was the massive hordes of zombies roaming the world. Mind you, these hordes don't actually start appearing until the end of the game, but they're genuinely huge, with each member of it a fully realized enemy. It's silly fun blowing holes in their numbers while speeding around on your bike.

15 Dynasty Warriors

Everyone has heard of Dynasty Warriors by now, having absorbed the absurdity of the games by osmosis even if you've never played them. The Dynasty Warriors games draw heavily from the book Romance of the Three Kingdoms and let you play as pseudo-legendary figures from Chinese history.

The people are real, of course. The pseudo-legendary part comes in the fact that they can face literally thousands of enemies one-on-one. But what does realism matter when entire battlefields become fodder for your sword to cleave through?

14 Demon Chaos

Here's one you probably haven't heard of. The PS2 is celebrated for its technological advancements, many of which haven't quite been replicated. A lot of that was in the way it processed the graphics, allowing you to do some genuinely impressive things without dragging down performance. A tech demo that became a real game, Demon Chaos is an example of the PS2's prowess.

Also known as Ikusagami in Japan, Demon Chaos ran at what was a functionally locked 60fps while having a maximum of 65,535 enemies on screen at once. In other respects, it plays quite similarly to Dynasty Warriors, although the absurdity of having over 65,000 enemies at once is a number that no other game has yet reached.

Ikusagami was never released in North America, with the name Demon Chaos only used in its European release.

13 Switches 5

Horde mode became a craze after Gears of War 2. The hype died down over the years as the rest of the industry stopped chasing that success, but Gears didn't stop.

The formula for a Gears of War has changed slightly over the years. Its core combat has remained much the same, with new additions here and there, but the cover shooter still has some of the most brutal and satisfying combat in any third-person shooter. If you want to blast, chainsaw, and shoot aliens, there's nothing better than the Xbox flagship series.

12 Destiny 2

Sticking to its FPS roots from Halo, Bungie brought what it learned to Destiny, then expanded the recipe with multiplayer and RPG elements. Between both entries in the series, over the years people have come to know its interesting characters, hostile creatures and the best gear to collect.

Whether it's an event, mission, or raid, Destiny 2 loves to throw all kinds of opponents for you to blast away. With outstanding shooting mechanics, time flies by as you mow 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 seen in terms of player count over the years.

There's a good reason why the zombie shooter has endured since its release in 2009 — it's a great game to play with a group of friends. Few things can beat gathering some buddies as you punch, shoot and slash your way through the undead to get to a safe home.

10 Warhammer: Vermintide 2

Aliens, robots and zombies have become obsolete, 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 different classes to choose from.

The combat has that visceral feel that never feels stale as you hack away at the flesh from hordes of enemies. The different classes open the door to different playstyles, and the loot collected also allows you to build your preferred class. The added depth gives it more meat than a typical slasher.

9 Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

Mount & Blade II allows you to virtually recreate epic battles, giving you the same feeling you can get from your favorite medieval movies. Seeing an army of men in armor has a cinematic quality that gives the experience a grand scale.

The different modes allow you to find different ways to enjoy yourself, with both online and single player offerings. Jump into massive multiplayer battles, or slog around in the single player sandbox world. Bannerlord is all about player choice, whether it's combat-focused or not.

8 Killing Floor 2

A modern Left 4 Dead-like that takes out the objectives and focuses on killing waves of the undead, each with unique abilities and strength. Killing Floor 2 has tons of classes that allow you to hone your skills with assault rifles, fire-based weapons, and more.

Making a match messier is the mechanic of blood not disappearing. 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 red.

7 7 days to die

The essence of 7 Days to Die is quite simple: survive each night by finding food, water and shelter. At night seven, the moon turns blood red, and hordes of zombies come to hunt you. Its twist on zombie survival games is refreshing and brutally difficult.

It's perfect with a crew, as you create a community and see how many days or weeks you can survive in the wasteland before being eaten alive or dying of dysentery. The probability of the latter is quite high.

6 Hades

Hades is full of sexy gods, and that's not even the main reason it's one of the best fantasy roguelikes out there. 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 crucial. The excellent movement and combat make that moment when the game clicks an experience that changes everything. Once you get into that groove, you'll be unstoppable as you move from one area to another.

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 the PS5 generation will be the studio's time to really shine.

A good reason for that is how fluid, polished and satisfying its combat and movement are in each release, like in Rift Apart. You don't need gore for the combat to feel so good. An array of devastating and sometimes silly weaponry means that when the inevitable horde of aliens and robots come 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 it up with Doom Eternal. In the sequel, the developers upped every aspect of the game, from its fluidity to the number of demons. It's nonstop, blood-pumping action to a heavy metal soundtrack.

After launch, update 6.66 came with a horde mode. Although the game already felt that way, with the constant shooting you do throughout the campaign, it meant that players could now play with even more violence – something that previously seemed impossible.

3 Vampire Survivor

Watching a video or screenshot of Vampire Survivors can cause a headache. It's full of mayhem and enemies to slaughter, with all sorts of creatures and colorful pixels filling the screen. In reality, it's a simple game, yet a total blast that will have you glued to it for an ungodly amount of time.

Try to survive 30 minutes in this roguelite, where all you have to worry about is moving and choosing the right abilities to upgrade yourself on a run. Your character automatically attacks and focuses on strategic moves to avoid taking too much damage to beat your time record and defeat death itself.

2 Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

If you like Warhammer, but aren't a fan of Vermintide's fantasy, you're in luck, because Darktide is actually 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 easily customize each character, but they all differ in the different play styles they offer. Add that to the equipment and upgrades and you can become a killing machine to turn the tide against the enemy.

1 The Binding of Isaac

The Binding of Isaac is a fantastic entry into the roguelike genre with its horror elements, art style and other genres that it mixes for a unique experience. Carefully go through randomly generated rooms, as each room will contain something rewarding or nightmarish for your sad little protagonist.

Isaac is a cute little hero who will motivate you by pulling at your heartstrings with how sad and scared he looks. By building skills and the right abilities, you will carry him through this dire situation he has found himself in, or transform him into a hideous, mutated demonic monstrosity.