With Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil shambling into theaters this weekend, now feels like the perfect time to revisit Capcom’s hallowed survival horror video game franchise and select the best five installments of the series for a definitive list. Throughout their history, the RE games have delivered some of the best characters, action, and frights in the genre, even when some titles border on parody or venture into absurdity.
Still, even when Resident Evil games are at their worst (I’m looking at you, Resident Evil 6), the franchise manages to endure, reinvent itself, and create lasting experiences while building off a thirty-year-old formula for success. Whether you’re a tank control apologist, a dyed-in-the-wool horror fan, or want the tall, sexy vampire lady to step on your groin before taking a bite out of your neck, the Resident Evil franchise serves up memorable moments, complex lore, and power fantasies that make fighting through a zombie apocalypse look like a hell of a good time.
5) Resident Evil: Requiem
Capcom has been on a hot streak with its Resident Evil franchise ever since Resident Evil 7: Biohazard made up for the sins of the ill-received Resident Evil 6 (and its salacious box art). The latest installment of the franchise is a near-perfect blend of horror, camp, and over-the-top action that keeps players coming back for more. Requiem introduces a great new protagonist in Grace Ashcroft, a tortured FBI technical analyst who finds herself out of her depth as she digs up the bones of her buried past. The game also brings back Leon S. Kennedy, a veteran federal agent, a Raccoon City survivor, and a franchise favorite.
While Ashcroft’s portion of the game feels like a haunted house with intricate lore, Leon’s sequences are more action-oriented, creating a balance that hits hard on both sides to deliver a well-rounded RE experience. With plenty of seeds planted throughout Requiem for another chapter in the ongoing RE saga, this top-tier survival game scratches every itch left after a nasty zombie bite.
4) Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
I’ll never forget the first time I played this Texas Chainsaw-like entry in Capcom’s beloved game series. I was in the ICU for 11 days with an internal bleed, but thanks to my friends, I had a sweet gaming setup in my private hospital room. Considered by many to be one of the scariest RE installments, Biohazard introduces players to Ethan Winters, an ordinary civilian searching for his long-missing wife in Dulvey, Louisiana. While investigating a dilapidated plantation, Ethan is taken hostage by the mutated, cannibalistic Baker family. The setup alone is the stuff of nightmares, but it’s the attention to detail that earns this game a spot on my list.
The Baker property feels like a character unto itself. The house you investigate is in ruins, with insects, rotted food, and soiled linens in every room. The vibes are claustrophobic and putrid as you venture further down a rabbit hole of hidden rooms, stronger enemies, and deranged members of the Baker family breathing heavily from the shadows. While Ethan isn’t the strongest Resident Evil protagonist, Biohazard goes above and beyond to give him a story that’s mysterious, urgent, and completely bonkers. Oh, and if you’re playing the game in VR, have an ambulance on speed dial.
3) Resident Evil
People say you never forget your first, and if there’s anything better than the original Resident Evil, it’s Capcom’s remake of its survival-horror classic for the Nintendo GameCube. While the studio’s reimagining of the first RE experience doesn’t come with all the bells and whistles of more recent remakes, it stays true to the roots of the game that started it all, and it looks better, too!
Yes, there are plenty of drawbacks to playing the original Resident Evil (tank controls, harsh load times, wonky combat), but so much of that jank is part of the game’s everlasting charm. You need to crawl before you walk, and it’s astounding how much RE is a blueprint for almost every game in the survival horror genre. When you add the clever puzzles, heart-stopping jump scares, and iconic dialogue, it’s icing on a cake that’s already delicious.
2) Resident Evil 2 Remake
I’m not going to lie, it was a real toss-up between this and Resident Evil 4 Remake for the top spot on this list. Resident Evil 2 is a five-star game, made even better by Capcom’s latest interpretation of the title. The game looks and feels great after modernizing the mechanics, control, and atmosphere. Tension remains at an all-time high throughout most of the experience, and the level design offers some of the most memorable locales of any Resident Evil game. The Raccoon City Police Department portion of the game is impeccably designed, and the inclusion of Mr. X ratchets the horror up to eleven.
Capcom’s RE 2 Remake is a nostalgia-filled experience that somehow feels brand-new. It’s the game I would recommend if someone said they’re Resident Evil-curious. The gore in this entry is off the charts, the combat is strategic, and you fight a giant frickin’ alligator in the game’s second act. When I wax rhapsodic about the franchise overall, this remake is my go-to game to heap praise upon.
1) Resident Evil 4 Remake
After saying all those flowery things about Resident Evil 2 Remake, it’s time for Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 Remake to get its flowers. This is the game that brought the overall franchise to another level, thanks in part to its over-the-shoulder action and larger-than-life setting. It’s not a miracle that the best RE game features Leon S. Kennedy, as he’s the franchise’s poster child, with his one-liners, wicked skills, and zombie body count.
Resident Evil 4 Remake is Capcom at its peak, taking everything that works about this sprawling sequel and turning the volume to eleven. Going through hell and back with Ashley Graham, the U.S. President’s kidnapped daughter, isn’t nearly as much of a chore as it was in the 2005 original, and the action is dynamic and relentless. RE 4 Remake lets you feel like an action star in a zombie apocalypse, giving you countless reasons to return for another playthrough. Look at it as practice for when the shit hits the fan in real life.
What are your favorite games in the Resident Evil franchise? Let us know in the comments section below!
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