With Resident Evil games 26-11 now behind us, it’s time to tackle the meaty Top 10 best Resident Evil games. Plenty of familiar favorites to be found here, but in what order will they appear? Read on and find out!
The Resident Evil Franchise Ranked: Part One
10. Resident Evil Revelations (2011) Multi
Another Resident Evil set largely on a boat (there’s more on boats than in mansions) and another handheld gamble on a Nintendo handheld.
Portable Resident Evil definitely paid off here. So much so that Resident Evil Revelations has since been ported to home consoles for the last two generations.
Chris and Jill return to dual lead duties for the first time since the original Resident Evil and we get some new ocean-themed monstrosities (though sadly not much variety in them). Best of all, this took the series back to the happy medium of survival horror as the mainline series drifted further away.
It’s an underappreciated spinoff that did at least get a sequel. Barebones Resident Evil, but it is still closer to the core ideas of Resident Evil than many of the entries here.
9. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017) Multi
Just when the franchise looked to be on its way down and out, Capcom pulled it from the fire and threw it back into a creepy homestead.
That wasn’t all. Resident Evil 7 switched to a first-person viewpoint (probably because horror games had really been successful from this perspective in the years leading up to it) and it brought a fantastic marriage of Resident Evil old and new.
The stars of the show are the Baker family. This unhinged and infected family unit is cruel, taunting, and in some cases, literally monstrous. A personal favorite is Baker matriarch Marguerite, who transforms into an appalling beast and has one hell of a potty mouth. The family’s tragic transformations and the reasons behind them are akin to the stories of Lisa Trevor and William Birkin in classical Resident Evil tragedy.
The final hour or so is largely a letdown, unfortunately, but the revelations of the final minutes (and the game that came before that point) do make up for it.
8. Resident Evil Code: Veronica (2000) Multi
Resident Evil departs Raccoon City and gets its first visual upgrade here just a year after Nemesis and Code: Veronica ended up being a rather divisive entry for many reasons.
The downsides for many fans were typical ones. The new setting, the new characters, and the fact it was made exclusively for the Sega Dreamcast. All minor quibbles over time (though certain characters are more annoying than theatrical). The game did also end up on PS2 the year after, expanding its audience.
Code: Veronica is the true sequel to Resident Evil 2. Sony bagged rights to call Nemesis Resident Evil 3, so history views Code: Veronica as the spinoff when it was actually Nemesis.
In reality, Code: Veronica was a breath of fresh air for the Resident Evil series. The Gothic horror atmosphere, the new locations (Antarctica!), the double dose of Redfield with Chris and Claire as protagonists (alongside newcomer Steve Burnside), the return of Albert Wesker, and the mad, mad tale of the Ashcroft family.
All of this adds up to a massively underappreciated survival horror that effectively laid down the path for a more European horror atmosphere that bled into Resident Evil 4.
7. Resident Evil: Village (2021) Multi
After Resident Evil 7 managed to right the good ship Resi, and the remakes of 2 and 3 gave classic Resi ideals to a new generation, there was much anticipation surrounding whatever came along next.
Riding on a meme-worthy hype train inspired by new vampiric villain Lady Dimistrescu, Resident Evil VIII (or Village as it’s now commonly referred to) made a big splash, and possibly no Resident Evil game since Resident Evil 4 has better encapsulated what the Resi experience has been in the quarter of a century of games that led to this point.
There’s melodrama, conspiracies, gore, outlandish monsters, and some genuinely terrifying moments (all I can say is the sound of a baby crying is monumentally disturbing to me now). Some were sour that Lady D was broomed early on, but the sheer variety that came after that point made for one of the more memorable rides in the series.
6. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) Multi
Essentially this is Resident Evil 2.5, a side-story to the events of Leon and Claire’s escape from Raccoon City. It does bring Jill Valentine back though (in a rather daft outfit for a zombie apocalypse), and the wretched Hunters return in a particularly tense hospital section.
It also brings the titular Nemesis. This hulking mess of muscle, skin, and tentacles wrapped in leather takes inspiration from Clock Tower’s Scissor Man and Resident Evil 2’s Mr. X and then blends in a terrifying amount of the Terminator’s unstoppable stalking power.
For many, Nemesis presented the first time they felt the panic of being chased by a seemingly relentless walking tank in a video game, and the T-Virus monstrosity really helped elevate what could have been a simple ‘more of the same’ semi-sequel into its own individual story that remains a high point for the series.
5. Resident Evil (1996) PS One, Saturn, PC
The original is not the best, but there’s no understating the importance of what it brought to the world of video games, and how it defined Survival Horror. Resident Evil is cherished in a manner reminiscent of so many schlocky horror film classics in that it’s remembered not only for its impeccable structure and iconic scares (the dog through the window!), but also for its endearingly daft plot, dialogue, and characters.
Zombies arguably got their revival thanks to the shuffling husks found in the Spencer Mansion, but the real star of Resident Evil is the mansion itself. A sprawling puzzle box of death that did wonders for environmental storytelling in the medium. When the game decides to leave this spectacular spookhouse and unveil the other side to it, it’s a bittersweet moment.
Resident Evil arrived at a time when video games were truly starting to evolve, and Shinji Mikami’s classic, dated as it is now, was a massive part of that shift in how games were made and perceived.
To think it all came about thanks to an unrelated movie tie-in game.
4. Resident Evil 2 Remake (2019) Multi
With more than 20 years of nostalgia to battle against, Resident Evil 2 Remake faced an uphill struggle to be the kind of successful remake of a beloved Resident Evil that the 2003 reimagining of the first game was. That it actually succeeded is perhaps its greatest achievement.
The core beats of the original Resident Evil 2 are interwoven with a modern set of mechanics and structuring. There’s always a familiar air of that old menace even though there are redesigns to all the key locations and set-pieces.
The biggest, most impactful change from the original is an earlier, more prominent, arrival of the trenchcoat-wearing behemoth that is Mr. X. He stalks our poor protagonists relentlessly and ends up being the natural evolution of what Nemesis did so well all those years ago.
A fine blend of lessons learned from Resident Evil 7 and an understanding of what made Resident Evil 2 such a cherished title.
3. Resident Evil 4 (2005) Multi
Resident Evil 4 can be viewed both as the greatest entry into the entire series and the reason it went so terribly downhill after. A fine example of a company taking the wrong lessons from its successes.
After Code: Veronica’s attempt to refresh the Resident Evil formula didn’t quite stick the landing for many, Resident Evil 4 essentially rebirthed the franchise with its massive overhaul of mechanics (over the shoulder camera replacing the fixed ones of old) and style (closer to a 70’s style Euro-horror than the American-styled opening trilogy). This came after much frustration and experimentation that saw the game begin almost from scratch after an early build tested poorly.
Leon Kennedy made his second series appearance here, and we got the first mainline Resident Evil with just one playable protagonist throughout (Resident Evil 3 had a brief non-Jill section).
Leon’s trip to the Spanish countryside to rescue the President’s daughter sees him caught up in a new kind of viral outbreak, a parasitic one dubbed Las Plagas that made quick, vicious, and disgusting foes of the town’s residents.
From there he endures chainsaw-wielding brutes, an almost literal Spider-Man, and a lake monster with a healthy appetite. Of course, that’s just the tip of the Las Plagas iceberg, as there’s plenty of crazy goings-on during this rollercoaster adventure.
Capcom took the more action-heavy side of Resident Evil 4 as the driving force behind the next two games but missed the excitingly eccentric horror that made that game such a complete package
2. Resident Evil Remake (2002) Multi
In the short limbo between Code: Veronica and Resident Evil 4, Shinji Mikami and company decided to revisit the first game and completely overhaul it for Nintendo Gamecube.
Remakes weren’t really a big thing in games at this time, and it was unprecedented for the original creator to redesign their own work. Yet this is what they did, and the results were astonishing.
Resident Evil Remake retains many of the locations and set-pieces of the original but adds whole new areas and monsters to the mix. Plus the visual upgrade means it holds up to this day.
The Crimson Head zombies (re-reanimated zombies who are faster and deadlier) added uncertainty and paranoia when coming back through areas you’d already been through, never knowing if that twice-dead corpse was going to get up a second time and tear your throat out with its razor-sharp talons. They weren’t even that fond of other zombies either.
Then there’s the Lisa Trevor story. Added to Remake, it was leagues above anything in the original. A tragic and frightening tale that came to life in the horrific form of Lisa herself.
Not only is Resident Evil Remake one of the finest video game remakes of all time, it usurps the original and keeps the legacy alive in a far more accessible form. This is especially true of the HD version which has the option for more modern controls.
1. Resident Evil 2 (1998) Multi
While you could lay many of the criticisms of the first Resident Evil at the door of the second (how it’s aged visually especially), Resident Evil 2’s more epic sprawl of a night from hell holds up better. Plus it doesn’t have a remake out yet to upstage it (soon enough though!).
Rookie cop Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield, sister of S.T.A.R.S. member Chris Redfield, arrive in Raccoon City just as everything going to shit thanks to the outbreak of the T-Virus. The pair gets split up and must find their way out of the city before it gets blown to smithereens.
What follows is an amplified version of the original game’s formula, where regular locations are skewed by the mystery and horror that surround them. Once again a greater conspiracy is afoot, and our dynamic duo wants nothing more than to get the hell out of it.
You never get to feel comfortable in Resident Evil 2. The citywide outbreak means this is survival horror on a greater scale, yet the game still cleverly pushes and prods you down the paths it wants you to go. It’s a masterclass in keeping things tight whilst upping the perceived size of the play area.
The escalation of enemy types also plays a major part. The zombies are a tad more varied, and the new beasties are horrifying upgrades on the established ideas of what to expect. The Licker reveal is up there among the most iconic moments in the series, and the many stages of the tragic William Birkin’s transformation pepper the narrative.
Resident Evil 2 is a superior sequel, and in so many ways, it’s the high point of the entire Resident Evil series.
What’s your favorite Resident Evil?