Resident Evil is among the most important video game franchises around, especially in how it pushed horror games into the limelight.
Since 1996, there have been highs, lows, and complete misfires along the way, and after a dark time for the survival horror giant, it’s started to reclaim some of its majesty in recent years.
The question is, where do those highs and lows rank in the Resident Evil pantheon? We’ve taken every Resident Evil title, spin-offs and all, and ranked them. Of course, you may feel differently where their order is concerned.
In this first part (because there’s a lot of games), we count down from 23-11.
23. Umbrella Corps (2016) PS4, PC
The Resident Evil series has been rife with spinoffs in its two decades plus lifespan, and while some have been fine additions that build the Resident Evil name up, there are just as many that tear it down. Umbrella Corps is the just about the worst of those.
Umbrella Corps is a team-based shooter that just happens to grab certain Resident Evil assets in a foul-smelling attempt to leech off any goodwill fans still had for the name.
Its main crime (beyond missing the point of Resident Evil, which is a common crime on this list’s lower half) is that it’s perhaps the blandest take on a game universe that features horrific monstrosities and ridiculously endearing B-movie acting. Umbrella Corps does nothing to showcase that, nor does it ever threaten to.
It is a dull, uneven shooter that doesn’t even have the decency to be entertaining. An insult to Resident Evil, which is probably why the name was ditched in the first place.
22. Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City (2012) Multi-Format
Before Umbrella Corps came along and vomited on the rapidly-decaying corpse of the franchise, there was the similarly reprehensible Operation Raccoon City.
This co-op shooter takes you on a what-if? tour of the events of Resident Evil 2, as you play the role of Umbrella specialists sent in to retrieve delicate Umbrella info and, if you fancy it, kill the floppy-haired boy wonder, Leon Kennedy.
The emphasis on multiplayer here saw the single player serve up an utterly dreadful, hellish experience that radiated the poor level design and shoddy A.I. to lethal levels. Multiplayer team-ups made the nonsense a touch more tolerable, but even then, what should be a fun romp through familiar locales and characters is somehow just thuddingly yawnsome for large swathes of time.
21. Resident Evil Gaiden (2001) GameBoy Color
The white-hot popularity of the Resident Evil series in its early years meant that fans wanted more zombie-smashing adventures on all sorts of platforms. As with many popular games of the day, there was high demand for a portable version of Resi.
Up stepped Resident Evil Gaiden on the Game Boy Color in 2001, and as with the previous spin-off Survivor, it missed the mark in trying to do something a little different.
Here, Resident Evil went top-down aboard a luxury passenger ship where that pesky Umbrella had caused yet another viral outbreak. Lucky Leon Kennedy and Burly Barry Burton are on the case, ready to foil another potential bioweapon beast along the way.
Combat went first-person, with players having to hit a reticle on a sliding bar to register a hit. It was one of many misfires. The save system (carried over from mainline Resident Evil) was ill-suited to gaming-on-the-go and the cerebral puzzles were swapped out for dreary fetch quests for keys.
It did have an entertaining story to tell at least. Stocked up with the signature melodrama and conspiracy that made the franchise so beloved. Sadly it wasn’t enough to make the rest tolerable.
20. Resident Evil Survivor (2000) PS One/PC
Survivor marked the first in a surprisingly long line of Resi-themed on-rails shooters and is a great example of how not to do such a game.
In essence, Survivor is a light gun game, and yet outside of Japan, it wasn’t actually compatible with one. That made it a very fiddly game to aim with, so you can sort of understand why Capcom went with the franchise’s patented slow-paced gameplay to compensate for the treacly controls.
Unfortunately, that translated into a pretty painful shooting gallery that was done no favors by some painfully unappealing visuals. Slowly, but surely, this side-series became more refined and shaped the rotten core into something that was actually pleasant and intense to play. The first Survivor could easily have killed the rest though.
19. Resident Evil Survivor 2 Code: Veronica (2001) Arcade/PS2
The second attempt at a Resident Evil light gun game did thankfully improve upon the misshapen horror that came before it. Here we had an actual arcade shooter based on Code: Veronica and the natural visual bump was the first noticeable upgrade from the previous year’s dingy effort.
Survivor 2 is a ‘reimagining of the events of Code Veronica via the dreams of Claire Redfield. As a result, enemies from Resident Evil 3 Nemesis made their way into the game, including the Nemesis itself (if a timer runs out the monster stalks you)
On console (PlayStation 2), light gun support was present, and the overall controls were tweaked on the Dual-Shock to not be such a laborious exercise this time.
Survivor 2 still felt too slow-paced for a light gun shooter, however, and thus it proved to be another middling effort.
18. Resident Evil: Dead Aim (2003) PS2
By the time 2003 rolled around, Resident Evil as a franchise was starting to wane, not yet revitalized by the sharp turn of Resident Evil 4.
The light gun Survivor series still had room to improve though and Dead Aim on PlayStation 2 provided a unique blend of third and first-person action that saw the best entry in this spin-off series.
It sees the return to sea as you encounter yet another outbreak, this time aboard an Umbrella Ocean Liner named the Spencer Rain.
What’s remarkable about Dead Aim is it was a rare early Resi that allowed players to aim and move at the same time, a good compromise that proved to be the closest mix of Resident Evil and Arcade gun game yet.
Again though, this wasn’t exactly a great light gun game, rather a strange, but an ambitious hybrid that at least made a good fist of what it wanted to be.
17. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (2011) 3DS
Mercenaries mode is one of the greatest video game extras of all time, spanning multiple Resident Evil titles and providing plenty of longevity beyond the core game. It was surely a matter of time before a standalone spinoff happened and surprisingly it came on the Nintendo 3DS.
In The Mercenaries 3D, you took a character around Resi-themed stages, racking up points and a high-score as you look to unlock new outfits, weapons, and characters along the way.
The Mercenaries 3D made the most of the 3DS’ tech, handing off the inventory management to the handheld’s second screen. It also saw the return of movement and aiming together (it’s still odd to think of that as a rarity).
Still, it isn’t quite as good as the majority of Mercenaries modes elsewhere in the series, as the 3DS struggles to fully replicate the best of the mode.
16. Resident Evil 6 (2012) Multi-Format
Resident Evil 6 is a commercial high point of the entire series, and it is sadly the biggest mess of the mainline series. Largely due to the irregular pacing and an abundance of QTE moments.
It does have its merits as a game. Leon’s campaign captures some of its predecessor’s zombie-ridden claustrophobia for example, and the combat was generally the same as Resident Evil 5. Easily the highlight of this game is this marriage of 90’s Resi atmosphere and Resident Evil 4’s mechanics.
Yet the shift into a more action-orientated game that happened to feature monsters, that started with Resident Evil 4, became obnoxious at this point and Resident Evil 6 ended up a lopsided, bloated shadow of what the series once was.
15. Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004) PS2
While Resident Evil did go through a stage of playing ‘Me Too’ to popular gaming trends in the later years, there was a time when the series would delve into fresh ideas.
The online-based Outbreak games were fine examples of this. Coming at a time when internet gaming, especially on a console, was a thing of luxury.
Even when Outbreak File #2 came along, the world at large just wasn’t ready for this online co-operative survival horror, and both it and its predecessor are not remembered in quite the way they should be.
Anyway, more on that later. Outbreak File #2 is slightly weaker than the original game, but it does have zombified zoo animals.
14. Resident Evil Revelations 2 (2015) Multi-Format
Resident Evil goes episodic! Revelations 2 gave us the gift of a playable Barry Burton and the debut of his potty-mouthed daughter Moira in a five-part story that also sees the long-awaited return of Claire Redfield.
It’s a bit rough around the edges compared to other modern third-person Resi’s, but it is closer to the spirit of Resident Evil than most of those. Also, Mercenaries Mode returns and is still a good time!
13. Resident Evil Outbreak (2003) PS2
Resident Evil Outbreak was miles ahead of its time. It created the delectable balance of trust and paranoia that you’ll find housed in many examples zombie-themed media.
You and a group of other sods lucky enough to have internet doodads for the PS2 and live in the correct country were caught in Raccoon City’s viral outbreak and need to work together to escape certain death by a rather large bomb.
Should you fall by fair means or foul, you could come back as a member of team undead, and getting delicious revenge on a lousy former teammate is on the menu.
Outbreak is one of those last few Resident Evil games that really should get a remake or remaster. Unfortunately, the closest we get to multiplayer Resi now is Umbrella Corps.
12. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (2009) Wii, PS3
The Darkside Chronicles continues the on-rails shooter series with a mix of retellings of old stories and some interesting expansions of them.
It’s a largely Leon focused game, with a sort of prequel to Resident Evil 4’s story concerning the partnership of Jack Krauser and Leon, and in between, there are abridged on-rails versions of Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica.
It’s an okay light gun-style game that is worth a look thanks to its mix of nostalgia and lore-building.
11. Resident Evil 5 (2009) Multi-Format
Resident Evil 5 can be viewed as a perfectly acceptable action game with some impressive co-op action. As a Resident Evil game though? It takes a few too many of the wrong lessons from Resident Evil 4’s success.
It also somehow takes the nonsense factor up a notch. The final battle between Chris Redfield and long-time nemesis Albert Wesker is equal parts amazing and absurd as the pair fight on a volcano, and Chris famously punches a boulder (that’s Chris, the human man, not Wesker, the guy with superhuman strength, punching a boulder).
Resident Evil 5 is an action game first and a horror game second. This led many to be disappointed by the switch in priorities, but it’s fair to say it does a does occasionally tickle the belly of horror in a satisfying manner. A big plus to the return of the Lickers. Made all the more terrifying with a fresh coat of graphical paint.
The Top 10 Resident Evil Games will be posted next week
