Call of Duty: World at War

Nazi Zombies began as a hidden bonus: finish World at War’s campaign and Nacht der Untoten unlocks — one boarded-up bunker, no perks, no objectives, just rounds. Three DLC maps then built the whole grammar of the mode. Verrückt brought Perk-a-Colas and electric traps, Shi No Numa introduced Hellhounds and the four playable characters who would carry the story for a decade, and Der Riese added Pack-a-Punch and the teleporters that turned a survival gimmick into a franchise.

Everything later games elaborate is already recognisable here: the point economy, the door-buying map flow, the Mystery Box gamble, and the first threads of the Aether story hidden in radios rather than cutscenes. The four maps remain the reference points the community measures “classic Zombies” against, and all four were remastered in Black Ops III’s Zombies Chronicles.