Editorials
The 10 Best ‘Resident Evil’ Games: ‘Resident Evil’ Franchise Ranked
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?
In this day and age, the word “troll” is often used to describe various online nuisances. Yet as abundant and irksome as the modern troll can be, they aren’t usually as fearsome as their mythological counterparts. I’m not talking about the small and gentler versions that have become more common to see in media. No, there are much bigger and scarier trolls out there—and André Øvredal’s movie Troll Hunter is one of the best places to find them.
It doesn’t take long for Troll Hunter (or Trolljegeren) to dump the Blair Witch Project-esque setup and aim for something a lot fresher. The trajectory of the story is augmented by Otto Jespersen’s character Hans, the titular Troll Hunter. The second he comes barreling out of the deep, dark woods and shouts “troll” at the camera, this movie takes a turn into what feels like uncharted territory. Not only subject-wise, but also conceptually.
For fantastical and made-up subject matter in cinema, found footage is a fast way to add a guise of believability. After all, what we accept to be the most crucial aspect of documentaries—the truth—rubs off on pseudo-documentaries, despite our understanding of the pretense involved. That is what Øvredal delivered with Troll Hunter: a movie so convincing that some viewers wondered if trolls really do exist. So, had this been straightforwardly made, it likely wouldn’t have been as effective. Conventional narratives would be more inclined to treat something like trolls as flat out unreal, and never try to convince the audience to think otherwise.
Hans petrifies the three-headed Tusseladd troll.
The viewers, like the characters trailing Hans, are quickly thrown into the deeper end of that extraordinary story. They have to process all this new information while staying on the go. So, although there is no significant amount of meandering, narratively or physically, there is still a good amount of atmosphere, not to mention tension building. It’s never anything frightful, but then again, Troll Hunter isn’t your standard offering of horror; it’s more on the low end of the dark fantasy spectrum. We aren’t ever spirited away to a faraway world—we stay in rather familiar surroundings, as well as dip into those less so. The outcome is a movie where you’re constantly more in awe than in terror.
As fantasy fiction might do, Troll Hunter prefers not to deal with incredulity. There is no time to waste on doubt, as interviewer Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), soundperson Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) all follow Hans around, recording whatever this character is willing to reveal about his bizarre job. Of course, the Troll Hunter himself is not an open book; in that respect, the diegetic documentary fails to fully capture and unpack the more interesting of its two subjects. Yes, all those giant, monstrous trolls are indeed incredible, but understandably, your mind wanders to their pursuer. What kind of person signs up for this gig and then chooses to stick with it for so long?
Reviews have called out Troll Hunter for its lack of character development. In regard to Thomas and his fellow documentarians, that criticism is valid, but bear in mind, they aren’t the focus of the story, either. Meanwhile, Hans is a well-crafted character. At least better than first realized. Before he was introduced, Hans had already grown tired of the troll grind. Fed up with that low compensation for his services, resentful of the bureaucracy, and wanting to expose his employer on a large scale, Hans’ discontent is glaring.
Then there are those finer details about the Troll Hunter, such as that indifference to both the natural splendor of his everyday surroundings and the affections of an obviously smitten colleague, that also suggest some level of despondency. So it is fair to say this movie doesn’t feature any sizable growth for its characters; however, the namesake isn’t underwritten. No doubt, putting a real-life character like Otto Jespersen in that role is partly why Hans is so fascinating—maybe even relatable.
Otto Jespersen as Hans the Troll Hunter.
There is always a small risk whenever using the term “mockumentary” to describe a found-footage movie, as the word could imply humor where there is none. In the case of Troll Hunter, the term’s usage is appropriate. Some folks have claimed the English-dubbed version has the more comedic tone, however, the Norwegian cut isn’t exactly humorless. Apart from the trolls’ absurd appearances, this is a movie where the characters nearly choke on the monsters’ farts, and Christians are like walking targets. Hans’ complete apathy towards everything is another cause of laughter. Overall, the comedy is intentionally dry and inconsistent. Unfunny, though? Absolutely not.
In a movie where endemic creatures are maltreated, as well as disavowed from living freely and peacefully, it’s hard not to notice the ecological message buried beneath the story. In addition to that is the unmistakable political satire. There is this whole business about intrusive and unsightly power lines—like trolls, they’re big blemishes on the land—that leads to what is perhaps the movie’s funniest moment. The scene in question is that one where certain electric lines, the ones secretly being used to keep the trolls at bay, go in a loop and don’t actually send power to any residents. Yet the monitors of said lines don’t find this at all weird. So it stands to reason that Øvredal was having a go at those who accept the government’s doings without question.
Looking past the fact that trolls aren’t actually real, this movie is an enlightening source of information. And not just for international audiences; Norwegians, too, get schooled about their homeland’s own mythology. It’s also evident from everything on screen that Øvredal and his crew were enthusiastic about the topic. The creature designs are the most indicative of that zeal; those imaginative yet myth-accurate manifestations are equally amusing and grotesque. One second you’re laughing at their phallic noses, the next you’re white-knuckling during a hairy sequence. Most surprisingly is how well the trolls’ visual effects hold up after fifteen years. It’s not all spotless, but on the whole, they remain impressive.
Vouching for a mockumentary about trolls isn’t easy, but those who do come around and give it a shot will more than likely be grateful for the recommendation. For Troll Hunter is a real find in that vast and varied genre we call “found footage“.
A bridge troll reaches up for food and finds Hans decked out in armor.
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