Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
11
Premium Benefits
24/7
Access Available
21K+
Active Members
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
Trending
  • Amazon Spring Sale
  • New Games for 2026
  • Crimson Desert
  • Submit your clips. Win prizes
  • Pokopia
Don't miss these
A close-up shot of Pinhead from Hellraiser
Horror Games Upcoming horror games for 2026 and beyond
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Survival Horror Games "They're not good enough," joke devs behind "self-feeding" horror giant stuck in the Steam Top 50 while others rot
The Girl approaches Grace in Resident Evil Requiem, who is hiding in a well-lit room
Resident Evil Resident Evil Requiem's terrifying stalker sounds that way because its actor "went through two jugs of milk"
Horses
Horror Games Steam made him "radioactive," but creator of banned game Horses wants next project to be disturbing
A close-up of Leon, frowning in a big black coat, in Resident Evil Requiem
Horror Games The 25 best horror games worth playing in 2026
Nvidia DLSS 5 example featuring Grace Ashcroft from Resident Evil 5 with right side showing DLSS "On" and left side showing DLSS 5 off.
Resident Evil Death Stranding 2 developer offers nuanced take on Resident Evil Requiem's DLSS 5 makeover: "No"
Dying Light: The Beast
Action Games The 10 best zombie games that will munch your brain
Dying Light: The Beast
Survival Horror Games Dying Light: The Beast's Restored Land update puts the survival back into survival horror
A close-up of Grace talking with someone through glass in Resident Evil Requiem
Resident Evil Resident Evil Requiem review: "A soaring piece of survival horror theater"
Ellie and Joel during The Last of Us
Survival Horror Games The Last of Us sparked "internal fight" at Naughty Dog, says veteran designer: "'It's not just another zombie game'"
Resident Evil 4 Remake screenshot of Leon holding a pistol
Horror Games 10 games like Resident Evil to scare you silly in 2026
A close-up of Grace talking with someone through glass in Resident Evil Requiem
Resident Evil Resident Evil Requiem's Grace actor did "a lot of research" into panic disorders, which makes playing the game with a real-life anxiety condition the scariest the series has ever been
Faces of Death
Horror Movies New Faces of Death film stills look like The Poughkeepsie Tapes meets Manhunter
Mio stands next to a doll
Fatal Frame I'm convinced the greatest horror game of all time is the Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly remake
James holds the Alice stuffie in concept art by Jean Walter
Adventure Games Alice Madness Returns creator American McGee is making a spiritual successor, and he's not worried about EA
  1. Games
  2. Action
  3. The Last of Us

The Last of Us: Close-up zombies look like Silent Hill demon-popcorn, chewed up by Guillermo Del Toro

News
By David Houghton published 26 March 2012

Seriously, they're bloody horrible

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

Monsters without proper faces. For some reason they freak me the hell out. I'm not talking about disfigured monsters, or monsters with one giant laser eye, or something like that. No, I'm talking about the ones with missing features and horrible structural aberrations where they should have normal face bits. Stuff like the Silent Hill nurses, or The Thin Man from Pan's Labyrinth, or that mouth-face girl from the remake of The House on Haunted Hill. They're all a special kind of bloody horrible.

Maybe it's some issue to do with their lack of identity, or inability to percieve and communicate. Either way, I find a uniquely strong revulsion toward the things, and feel a particularly shuddery skin-crawl when I come up against them in games, which can only be exorcised by destroying every last one of the shambling nightmares into absolute nothingness. Or running the hell away.

And now it turns out that The Last of Us' zombies are going to be exactly that sort of enemy. Great. Thanks, Naughty Dog. I know this because of a photo that appeared on ND co-founder Evan Well's Twitter account over the weekend, featuring a sculpted bust of one of the things. Of course, I'm not being entirely sarcastic when I say "Thanks". The character design is brilliant. It's one of the most rotten, stinking, horrible enemies I've seen in a game in a good long while. It's going to scare the crap out of me in-game. Particularly given that The Last of Us' melee emphasis is going to make me get really damn close to the things in order to kill them right the hell up. I'm shuddering just thinking about having to do that. Actually doing a little involuntary motion with my shoulders and everything.

Article continues below
You may like
  • Ontos Ontos is channeling the spirit of the most upsetting horror game I've ever played, and I'm not sure I can do it again
  • The two protagonists in Reanimal walk through a dark train carriage surrounded by human skins strewn across the seating, with only a small light source to see - with the GamesRadar+ Big in 2026 frame "We wanted to make something darker", Reanimal's devs tell me: Without "the safety net charm of Little Nightmares"
  • A character in Ontos' key art sits in a chair that merges purple, floral, biological design with high-tech cables - their face is blurred with multiple expressions showing inner turmoil while their eyes are closed - with the GamesRadar+ Big in 2026 frame Soma successor Ontos is "like Shadow of the Colossus" says its creative director: The moon-set horror is "built around the looming excitement and dread of what the next big Experiment will be like"

Still, some poor sod actually had to sculpt this thing. Touch it with his actual hands, Shape it into being with delicate caresses of his naked finger tips, knowing full well as the thing slowly wretched into life that he, and he alone, was responsible for its existence.

Brave.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
TOPICS
Naughty Dog Sony
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming PlayStation Xbox Platforms
David Houghton
David Houghton
Social Links Navigation
Former GamesRadar+ Features Writer

Former (and long-time) GamesRadar+ writer, Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.

Read more
Ontos
Horror Games Ontos is channeling the spirit of the most upsetting horror game I've ever played, and I'm not sure I can do it again
 
 
The two protagonists in Reanimal walk through a dark train carriage surrounded by human skins strewn across the seating, with only a small light source to see - with the GamesRadar+ Big in 2026 frame
Horror Games "We wanted to make something darker", Reanimal's devs tell me: Without "the safety net charm of Little Nightmares"
 
 
A character in Ontos' key art sits in a chair that merges purple, floral, biological design with high-tech cables - their face is blurred with multiple expressions showing inner turmoil while their eyes are closed - with the GamesRadar+ Big in 2026 frame
Survival Horror Games Soma successor Ontos is "like Shadow of the Colossus" says its creative director: The moon-set horror is "built around the looming excitement and dread of what the next big Experiment will be like"
 
 
Resident Evil Requiem On the Radar screenshot of a zombie biting a fire poker with an orange overlay
Resident Evil Resident Evil Requiem is my new favorite Saw movie thanks to one of the most upsetting survival horror levels in history
 
 
Silent Hill Townfall screenshots from the reveal trailer
Silent Hill Silent Hill Townfall looks like the most Silent Hill game in years, and I never thought that could be a bad thing until now
 
 
Mio stands in front of a fleet of red butterflies
Horror Games True Japanese horror games respect that "frightening things can be beautiful," Fatal Frame 2 directors say
 
 
Latest in The Last of Us
Ellie in The Last of Us 2
The Last of Us The Last of Us Part 3 hopefuls are convinced Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann is hinting at another sequel
 
 
Protagonist Jordan in a screenshot from the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
The Last of Us Neil Druckmann's teasing the return of a The Last of Us actor in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
 
 
Ico
The Last of Us The Last of Us director's biggest inspiration for his new game was Ico, the first game to ever make him cry
 
 
Ellie in The Last of Us 2
The Last of Us Behold, the "very broken" Last of Us 2 multiplayer mod that modders built after Naughty Dog canceled Factions plans
 
 
best zombie games
The Last of Us The Last of Us 2 multiplayer might still be possible thanks to modding efforts 2 years after the spin-off was canceled
 
 
The Last of Us Part 1
The Last of Us Amid Divinity's controversy, The Last of Us co-creator doubles down that "we don't need AI" and hopes to avoid it
 
 
Latest in News
Crimson Desert: Cliff Macduff looking out into the distance during the new game, Crimson Desert.
Open World Games Crimson Desert "makes me feel a sense of wonder I've not felt since Oblivion," says Palworld publishing chief
 
 
Divinity
RPGs Larian chief says Divinity's development has progressed to the point "where you sense that a game is coming alive"
 
 
Homelander waking Soldier Boy in The Boys season 5
Superhero Shows Homelander sentences Billy Butcher to death by Soldier Boy in The Boys season 5 teaser
 
 
Homelander smiling smugly in the Oval Office of the White House
Superhero Shows The Boys' final season is done as creator Eric Kripke says farewell to the r-rated superhero show
 
 
Players attack a frontier building in The Legend of California
Survival Games Jeff Kaplan has "over 5,000 hours" in Rust, which is "the pinnacle of PvP games"
 
 
Pokemon Pokopia gameplay showing Ditty in human form, frowning in front of a lighthouse
Pokemon Pokemon Pokopia player builds straight-up jail for their least favorite 'mons: "They are (mostly) comfortable"
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Princess Peach and Mario in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
    1
    The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ending explained: is there a post-credits scene and does it set up a Smash Bros. movie?
  2. 2
    The Super Mario Galaxy Movie post-credits scenes: how many are there and what does it mean for a threequel?
  3. 3
    Everything we know about The Super Mario Bros. Movie 3
  4. 4
    The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Easter eggs: All the Nintendo references and cameos you may have missed
  5. 5
    Crimson Desert "makes me feel a sense of wonder I've not felt since Oblivion," says Palworld publishing chief

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...