Nowadays, it's near-impossible to find any first or third-person shooter title that doesn't include an extra horde mode in one way or another, with the challenge of surviving against relentless waves of enemies after completing the campaign now being a core part of the post-game experience.
However, what this did result in was a wide range of games introducing their own version of a horde mode to differing levels of quality, some withering away into obscurity, and others becoming incredibly successful and defining what this mode could be and how intense it could become at those higher rounds.
While the basic formula for a standard survival mode in a game has been well established by now, there are still some games out there that tinkered with it slightly to make for an exciting and thrilling experience that is so much fun to jump into with a few friends.
9 Resident Evil 7
The Mercenaries mode that features in many of the Resident Evil games could be called a type of horde mode, but in truth, it is much more of an arcade-shooter minigame rather than a fight for survival, but Resident Evil 7 decided to lean a lot more into the survival aspect in its Nightmare scenario.
Rather than playing as a well-equipped special agent in this mode, players instead take control of Clancy, a poor stranger who has been locked in the basement of the Baker Estate by Jack Baker himself. The aim is to survive until dawn with whatever weapons and healing items the player can find as they try to fend off waves of terrifying Molded enemies, making for a brutal challenge that only hardened survival horror fans will be able to complete.
8 Darksiders 3
Once players had proven their combat skills by beating the main campaign of Darksiders 3, the final challenge came in the form of The Crucible DLC which added a grueling arena mode where the player would be tasked with surviving against 100 waves of enemies overall.
Because of how focused and refined the action is in Darksiders 3, it really tested just how efficient the player had become at using all the tools at Fury's disposal during their time running through the story. The enemies are the same on each round, so there are not really any surprises with this one, but that does also make speed running and learning the mode incredibly fun.
7 Titanfall 2
The Frontier Defense mode in the first Titanfall game was so popular that it was brought back in Titanfall 2 with a new Titan progression system, more maps, and a few extra difficulties to ramp up the challenge. The fluidity of the movement in Titanfall 2 really helps to bring this mode alive, making it easy to leap between walls all while trying to fend off up to five waves of enemies.
Matches of Frontier Defense are admittedly on the shorter side, but the five difficulty settings and Aegis Ranks which were earned after every match really helped to add to the replay value, creating an addictive gameplay loop of upgrading a Titan and then taking it for a spin in another match right after the previous one had ended.
6 Mass Effect 3
When it was announced that multiplayer was coming to Mass Effect 3, many fans understandably dismissed it as an extra mode that would be fairly small in scope which was only included to appeal to the immensely popular multiplayer shooter market, but no one could have expected just how much fun it would actually be.
As players teamed up to try and survive against hordes of Cerberus, Geth, and Reaper enemies, they would need to combine their abilities to stand any chance of overcoming each wave. Players could even choose what species they wanted to play as, and the points earned in multiplayer would even go towards the Galaxy at War system in single-player, which is a unique crossover feature that really hasn't been seen in any game since.
5 Doom Eternal
Courageous players who decide to jump into Doom Eternal's brutal Horde Mode are expected to have a good understanding of the weapons and enemies who appear in the game because if they don't, they will quickly find themselves being slaughtered by demons in little to no time.
Players will be required to complete several unique objectives while facing the monstrous hordes which will all net a higher score at the end. While Doomguy is able to respawn in this mode which can initially make it sound a little more forgiving, doing so sacrifices a huge amount of points and will leave players ill-prepared for the tougher encounters later on, so this really is a test of survival that will require a lot of prior demon-slaying experience to handle.
4 Devil May Cry 5
Fans were overjoyed to see that Bloody Palace was making a comeback in Devil May Cry 5, especially since it gave players an opportunity to test out three wildly different characters against the large roster of enemies that are faced throughout the main campaign. As the rounds progress and the demons start becoming tougher to take down, there will also be a few bosses who make an appearance that can easily throw the player off their game if they aren't prepared.
All in all, Bloody Palace is incredibly fun thanks to just how refined the combat of Devil May Cry 5 is, and is a mode that can either be taken seriously as a high-score challenge, or that can be jumped into just to experiment with a few combos and have some fun.
3 Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3
Call of Duty's Zombies bonus mode has become iconic in the gaming community, with many people having very fond nostalgic memories of buying weapons off the walls and hoarding perks to try and survive against the undead for as long as possible with their buddies, but while the mode was constantly being refined and improved, it was in Black Ops 3 that it was truly at its best.
With the Zombies Chronicles map pack, players now had access to 8 classic maps that were completely remastered. Pair this with the sleek graphics and brand new Gobblegum feature that granted unique abilities, and it's made the Zombies mode in Black Ops 3 by far the best iteration the series has ever seen.
2 Halo 3: ODST
While Halo Reach did also have a co-operative Firefight mode, the Covenant enemies that swarmed the player felt much more threatening in Halo 3: ODST where the soldiers were much weaker than their Spartan counterparts. What really stood out for a lot of people was the sheer difficulty of this mode on ODST, especially if the game-modifying skulls were turned on beforehand which were great for spicing up each match.
With only five lives each, and barely any ammo to start with, Firefight in ODST was an incredibly frantic and fun experience that worked so well with the signature open-sandbox level design of Halo, and while the mode has featured in nearly every Halo game since, the version in Halo 3: ODST is often viewed most favorably by the fanbase.
1 Gears Of War 3
The gruesome cover-based gameplay of Gears of War almost feels like it was made specifically for its Horde mode, which is why it became so addictive to play in Gears of War 2, but while the brutal difficulty and weapon variety already made it incredibly fun in that game, Epic went above and beyond with Horde mode in Gears 3.
This time around, players would earn money after each round which they would need to spend on fortifications, or they could decide to pick up a few new weapons instead, adding a nice element of strategy to the game. Additionally, players could also hop in the Silverback mechs to clean up groups of Locust, and would also run into terrifying bosses including Brumaks and Berserkers. With extra challenges, crate rewards, and mutators that essentially work the same as Halo Skulls also being thrown into the mix, Gears 3's Horde Mode is undoubtedly the best version of this mode the series, and gaming in general have ever seen.