Zombie Outbreak Arena — Play Free Online

Survive as long as you can

Zombie Outbreak Arena is an endless top-down shooter from dekman about holding out against the undead; the in-game credits name Gokhan Tarcan. It began as a Flash game in July 2010, came back as an improved HTML5 version in June 2019, and got a further update that October with more upgrades, bigger maps and objects you can destroy. There is no finish line. Zombies keep coming, the pressure rises over time, and the game over screen sums up your run with the time survived, zombies killed and experience gained.

Controls

• Move with WASD or the arrow keys.
• Aim with the mouse and click to shoot.
• Cycle through the weapons you are carrying with Q and E.
• Shift or the space bar makes your survivor dash forward, which is your main way out of a crowd.

Phones and tablets get on-screen controls with an analog stick. An option in the menu decides whether you switch to a new gun automatically when you pick it up.

Maps, enemies and weapons

Before each run you pick an arena from Cross Road, Train Station, Maze, Park and Road, and choose whether to play by day or at night. Rain can be switched on or off in the options. After dark your flashlight cone decides how much you can see, and parked cars can catch fire and explode.

The undead come in several kinds: ordinary walkers, crawlers, dogs, bombers, spitters and spawners. You are not entirely alone either. Other survivors roam the map, shooting at the horde and panicking when it gets close, and now and then a wingman joins you.

You start with a pistol and find stronger guns lying around, among them a shotgun, rifle, machine gun, minigun, sniper rifle, flame thrower, rocket launcher and a rocket swarm. Bonus pickups add short-lived effects such as fire, exploding or piercing bullets, frozen enemies, slow time, infinite ammo, triple XP, night vision, a light stick, a shield, a nuke and extra health.

Ranks and upgrades

Kills earn XP, and every new rank gives skill points to spend in the Skills menu. Upgrades come in tiers, so you buy the first level before the next one opens. Some of the options:

• More Health, Regeneration and Strong Lungs for staying power and faster recovery after a dash.
• More Damage, Faster Fire Rate, Faster Reload, Longer Range and More Ammo for every weapon.
• Flashlight upgrades, Night Sight and Field of View to see further into the dark.
• Dash Damage, which hurts zombies you charge through, and Strong Feet, which lets you crush crawlers by running over them.
• Sixth Sense, which warns you about zombies behind you, and a perk that swaps the starting pistol for a submachine gun.

Tips

• Use the dash to break out when you are boxed in, and consider Dash Damage so the getaway also hurts the zombies you pass through.
• Spend early points on health and dash recovery, since the dash is what gets you out of trouble.
• Grab bonuses quickly; they disappear after a while and their effects only last a short time unless you buy the longer-duration upgrade.