Horde mode is a survival mode where a player must survive an endless wave of enemies while increasing the difficulty level on each wave.
These horde games are endlessly addictive, and in my opinion, the amount of diversity in the gameplay combined with a good system of progression are the key elements to make it addicting and prolongs the replayability.
The game mode is a bit niche but popular enough to be included as an extra mode on some of the biggest game franchises like Gears of War and Call of Duty.
The best horde mode games on Steam will be listed below in no particular order, and they will range from popular titles with an alternate horde mode to indie titles that focus on the horde mode in general.
World War Z: Aftermath
| Genre: | Action |
| Developers: | Saber Interactive Inc |
| Release Date: | September 21, 2021 |
| Find at: | Steam |
| Multiplayer: | Online PvP, Online Co-op |
| Average Playtime: | 10 hours |
Nothing says horde gameplay like World War Z: Aftermath and its sea of inhumanely athletic zombies. Developed and published by Saber Interactive Inc., the game was released in September 2021 and has enjoyed very positive reviews on Steam.
It can be played solo but is touted as one of the best co-op zombie shooter games that bring additional depth to the genre. Online multiplayer features cross-play, which means PC players can shoot it out with platform gamers.
World War Z: Aftermath’s single-player campaign will have you teaming up with competent AI characters to survive countless waves of rabid mutant zombies from the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.
The game is filled with engaging stories and content; the solo campaign is overshadowed by the game’s Horde mode that is best played with friends.
Your group must overcome endless rounds of zombie waves with increasing ferocity and number, and you must work together and use each player’s class’ unique skills and strengths to last the longest you can.
World War Z: Aftermath is a great zombie game that boasts a very comprehensive horde mode that puts it up there among the greats.
Tom Clancy’s The Division
| Genre: | Third-Person Shooter, Looter Shooter, Action RPG, Adventure |
| Developers: | Massive Entertainment |
| Release Date: | Mar 8, 2016 |
| Find at: | Steam |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playtime: | 24 hours |
Tom Clancy’s The Division is one of the most iconic 3rd person sandbox shooting games ever created. Developed by Massive Entertainment, the game was released in March 2016 and has garnered thousands of mostly positive reviews on Steam.
The game sets you in a dystopian world that has started to break down after a pandemic in New York City. The division, an elite independent unit of tactical agents, is called upon to bring order back to society.
Tom Clancy’s The Division is a single-player game that will have you play different game modes with either stories or just mindless gun-slinging fun.
You can also play online with a friend to team up and enjoy the dynamic and unique RPG gameplay that will have you exploring the entire world filled with unique instances.
Tom Clancy’s The Division also offers a very tight and well-crafted horde mode called Resistance, wherein you must work together to outlast endless waves of gunmen.
Aside from surviving the onslaught of enemies, some rounds will require you to finish certain objectives not to get eliminated. Fast-paced and unique, The Division is a unique take on shooter games that makes it a must-buy.
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard
| Genre: | Survival Horror, First-Person |
| Developers: | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| Release Date: | January 24, 2017 |
| Find at: | Steam |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playtime: | 9 hours |
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard is a refreshing step in the Resident Evil franchise to steer away from zombie fantasy and dive deeply into a fresh first-person horror.
Developed and published by CAPCOM, the game was released in January 2017 and has piled up thousands of very positive reviews.
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard has shifted to first-person view to give you players a more in-your-face experience that makes the game way scarier than it was ever before.
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard succeeds in leveling up the level of fear as you play survival horror in modern rural America.
You are Ethan, a normal person on the trail of her missing wife who has to lead him to a very haunted mansion in Louisiana.
From the very start, the game is filled with mystery and intrigue, which will fuel your drive to uncover secrets through creative puzzle-solving and the occasional gunfire action. Enjoy the game’s horde mode called Nightmare, which is set in Baker’s basement.
You must survive endless waves of enemies while upgrading your weapons and equipment from the loot you can find around the area.
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard has achieved its goals of delivering the scariest game of its franchise and is also one of the best story-rich games on Steam.
Gears 5
| Genre: | Third-Person Shooter, Action, ADventure |
| Developers: | The Coalition |
| Release Date: | September 9, 2019 |
| Find at: | Steam |
| Multiplayer: | Online PvP, Split Screen PvP, Online Co-op, Split Screen Co-op |
| Average Playtime: | 11 hours |
Gears 5 is one of the latest and meanest from the dynamic third-person shooting franchise of Gears of War. Developed by the Coalition, the game was released in September 2019 and has since received mixed reviews on Steam.
Gears are the game that popularized the Lancer, a very powerful rapid-fire rifle fitted with a grenade launcher and a chainsaw for extra measure.
The game is one of the more fast-paced shooters, and this time the story mode follows the story of Kait Diaz and her quest to uncover the secrets that tie her and the enemies of Sera.
Horde mode in Gears 5 is available as a map in the online multiplayer mode. The mode will have you and your teammates surviving countless enemy waves with a Fabricator placed in your chosen location.
This is where you upgrade your character and weapons in between rounds using the currency called Power that you get from downing alien baddies.
Another new feature to the horde mode is the inclusion of the Power Tap system, which is an optional capture point that will yield more currency for your team to use in upgrades.
Gears 5 can rightfully be called a bloody fun game and is a must-buy for shooting game fans.
Darksiders 3
| Genre: | Action RPG, Adventure, Open World, Hack and Slash |
| Developers: | Gunfire Games |
| Release Date: | November, 2018 |
| Find at: | Steam |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playtime: | 14 hours |
Shifting away from shooter games, Darksiders 3 is a frantic hack-and-slash third-person game that offers a horde mode.
Developed by Gunfire Games, the game was released in November 2018 and has garnered mostly positive reviews from the Steam store.
In this third installment of the Darkside franchise, you return to post-apocalypse earth in the shoes of Fury, the most mysterious member of the Four Horsemen.
Equipped with her weapon conjuring spells and whip, she feels a lot more fluid to play and control compared to the War and Death from the first two games.
Darksiders 3 is a single-player fast-paced adventure game that incorporates puzzle-solving and button-mashing hack action with heavy RPG elements.
The game offers a horde mode in Crucible, which is an arena challenge that will have your surviving four stages with twenty-five waves each stage.
This is a hundred waves of increasing difficulty and fun. There is a 101st wave that will be unbeatable until you have finished the main story of the game.
Darksiders 3 is a game of satisfying carnage and grit, and adding a horde arena fills the game with endless hours of replay value.
Devil May Cry 5
| Genre: | Hack and Slash, Action |
| Developers: | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| Release Date: | March 7, 2019 |
| Find at: | Steam |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playtime: | 11 hours |
Devil May Cry 5 is one of the best hack-and-slash RPGs from the Devil May Cry series.
Developed and published by CAPCOM, the game was released in March 2019 and has been flooded with overwhelmingly positive reviews from Steam.
It is a fast-paced and visually stunning game that will have players fight demons as Dante, the iconic main character from the first game or as Nero, a young Sparda- born demon hunter, and lastly as Nico, a weapon smith that joins the battle as one of the newest playable characters.
Devil May Cry 5 also offers an iconic horde mode called Bloody Palace. You can unlock this by beating the story mode of the game using either the human or devil hunter difficulty.
The mode gives you 101 floors to traverse and overcome by defeating all the demons before going up a floor. Bloody Palace mode is timed, which means you must defeat the 101st floor before the timer runs out.
The Devil May Cry series continues to push high-octane gameplay to its full potential, and this fifth game executes well on all fronts and should be included in your Steam shopping list.
Dishonored
| Genre: | First-Person, Stealth, Action, Adventure |
| Developers: | Arkane Studios |
| Release Date: | October 9, 2012 |
| Find at: | Steam |
| Multiplayer: | N/A |
| Average Playtime: | 12 hours |
Dishonored is a refreshing take on first-person action games as you play as a ruthless assassin with supernatural abilities and unusual tech as your arsenal.
Developed by Arkane Studios, the game was released in October 2012 and has received thousands of overwhelmingly positive reviews from the Steam store.
The game is a highly immersive action experience that makes use of a uniquely flexible combat system of stealth and supernatural ability use.
Dishonored is set in the city of Dunwall, a massive steampunk city that is born from both mechanical technology and magic.
Dishonored offers its own horde mode called Back Alley Brawl, which only has thirteen rounds that need to be overcome by the player on their own.
Don’t be fooled by the small number of rounds because each one is more challenging than it seems, especially for a game that relies heavily on stealth.
The enemy waves will come from different factions and will attack members of the opposing faction.
The thirteenth round will have you fighting the final boss from the campaign, and defeating him will only trigger an endless round where you are left with nothing but the challenge of surviving countless hordes of enemies.
This mode adds a lot of playing hours to an already great game that should be checked out by any fan of stealth action games.
Dying Light
| Genre: | Survival Horror, First-Person, Open World |
| Developers: | Techland |
| Release Date: | January 26, 2015 |
| Find at: | Steam |
| Multiplayer: | Online PvP, Online Co-op |
| Average Playtime: | 17 hours |
Dying Light is one of those games that have injected new life into an existing genre by introducing first-person parkour action to a zombie survival game.
Developed and published by Techland, the game was released in January 2015 and has garnered thousands of overwhelmingly positive reviews from Steam.
Dying Light will have you roaming post-apocalyptic earth, which is currently battling for survival against infected humans that have turned into zombies.
It is an open-world sandbox game that offers unparalleled mobility, especially in vertical movements that will see you jumping off building rooftops.
Dying Light is a fast-paced platform-zombie shooter game that emphasizes using your wit and experience to make the most of the environment to defeat and survive countless zombies that litter this large sandbox world.
The infected will also act differently depending on if it’s day or night, and this makes missions or exploration interesting and time-based. It also offers a different take on the horde mode gameplay in its DLC called the Bozak Horde.
The mode will have you starting with a bomb strapped to your leg and will require you to finish a series of quests in order to survive and win.
Dying light has breathed new life into the undead shooter genre and should be checked out at the Steam store.
Killing Floor 2
| Genre: | First-Person Shooter, Survival |
| Developers: | Tripwire Interactive |
| Release Date: | November 18, 2016 |
| Find at: | Steam |
| Multiplayer: | Online PvP, Online Co-op |
| Average Playtime: | 13 hours |
Killing Floor 2 is the sequel to the game that raised fun and horror to new heights. Developed and published by Tripwire Interactive, the game was released in November 2016 and has enjoyed very positive reviews from Steam users.
Like the original game, Killing Floor 2 is an FPS horror shooting survival game that incorporates impressive slow-motioned gore action with a minimalistic HUD that elevates the immersive experience.
It can be played solo or played with your squad of friends through online multiplayer modes.
Killing floor two will still pit you against zombie-like failed experimental clones and is set in continental Europe where society has collapsed, and only a few lucky stragglers are doing whatever it takes to survive.
Helping in the fight is the game’s long list of unique weapons that add more flair and flying entrails to your clone kills. The game also follows the standard horde gameplay of surviving a set number of waves of enemies while upgrading your equipment during the waves.
The Infinite Onslaught update introduces the Endless Mode, which pits players into a survival mode that will only end with all the player’s death.
Killing Floor 2 is an amazing zombie shooter that will have you killing more time than planned, and it will be an impressive addition to anybody’s game library. You could also include Killing Floor as one of the best FPS games on Steam because it is an incredibly underrated game.
Star Wars Battlefront 2
| Genre: | Third-Person Shooter |
| Developers: | DICE |
| Release Date: | November 16, 2017 |
| Find at: | Steam |
| Multiplayer: | Online PvP |
| Average Playtime: | 6 hours |
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is a Star Wars fan’s dream come true of being able to play a character from the legendary series. Developed by DICE, the game was released in November 2017 and has garnered thousands of very positive reviews from the Steam store.
Playable solo or with friends through online multiplayer, Battlefront 2 offers an immersive FPS experience with an extensive list of playable characters across a variety of game modes.
The game offers more than twenty-five hero appearances and over a hundred trooper and reinforcement appearances.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 boasts massive multiplayer instances that will bring you in the midst of iconic battles that occurred across the entire canon timeline. It also offers an option to play as a new and customizable hero, complete with an independent storyline that spans three decades.
The in-game arcade mode is customizable, and you can design your own horde mode where you can pick which type of enemies you’ll encounter and how many waves you have to survive.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is a game that has done great justice to its source material and is a must-buy for any Star Wars Fan.
Sniper Elite 5
| Genre: | Third-Person Shooter, Action, Adventure |
| Developers: | Rebellion |
| Release Date: | May 25, 2022 |
| Find at: | Steam |
| Multiplayer: | Online PvP, Online Co-op, Cross-Platform Multiplayer |
| Average Playtime: | 10 hours |
A returning installment from an award-winning series, Sniper Elite 5 is everything a sniper wannabe wants in a game. Developed and published by Rebellion, the game was released in May 2022 and has enjoyed mostly positive reviews from Steam users.
It is a game that mixes 3rd person mobile combat with its iconic scoped-sniping view that beautifully portrays your bullet’s journey of an enemy headshot.
Sniper Elite 5 boasts faithful recreations of real-world WW2 battlegrounds, and players now have improved movement capabilities to explore these immersive maps.
Sniper Elite 5 is set in France in 1944, and you play in the footsteps of Karl Fairburne, whose mission is to do whatever it takes to aid in weakening the Atlantic Wall, an extensive coastal defense system made by the Nazis.
Aside from the well-crafted sniper shooting system, the game’s strength is also in building other mechanics around looking through a scope and killing a target.
Sniper Elite 5 offers an impressive horde mode in its Survival mode, where up to four players can team up and defend their outpost from an endless wave of enemy soldiers.
It has never been more fun to watch high-caliber bullets pass through the brain membrane and the unlimited number of heads to pop makes this game a fine addition to your Steam game library.
