Resident Evil Requiem is now officially on its way, set to come out in February 2026, just in time for the franchise’s 30th anniversary. The classic survival horror title has become Capcom’s biggest money-earner, and has gone from strength to strength, from the action highs of Resident Evil 4’s Spanish spills, to the unnerving horrors in RE7’s Louisiana bayous.
20 Best Resident Evil Games, Ranked
The Resident Evil series is expansive, housing some of the best action and horror games ever made.
But the most iconic location in the series is Raccoon City and the surrounding Arklay County. It’s where the horror began with the outbreak in the Spencer Mansion, and when Umbrella’s different viruses reached the city itself. RER is set to return to what’s left of the town, so now’s a good time to look back at all the titles that take place in Raccoon City, from main entries to spin-offs.
This list goes over the chronological entries in the Resident Evil franchise that feature Raccoon City and Arklay County.
16 Resident Evil 0
Before the Outbreak
Resident Evil 0
- Released
- November 12, 2002
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
If this list were stricter, Resident Evil 0 and RE1 wouldn’t count as they take place further out in the Arklay Mountains. But the mysterious murders that occurred out there were close enough to the city for their police department's Special Tactics and Rescue Service (STARS) to investigate the situation. RE0 chronologically comes first, as STARS’ Bravo team was the first unit sent onto the scene.
The game saw Rebecca Chambers work with ex-con Billy Coen to take on William Marcus, or what was left of him after his experiments with the Progenitor Virus turned him into a gestalt entity of leeches. In this new form, he tried to get revenge on his old employers, Umbrella, but was ultimately foiled by Rebecca and Billy before he went on the run, and she left to regroup with the Bravo team at a certain mansion.
15 Resident Evil
The First Infection
Resident Evil
- Released
- March 22, 1996
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation (Original), Sega Saturn, Nintendo DS, PC
Before RE0 changed things, people just assumed Rebecca was the sole survivor of the Bravo team, as Resident Evil 1 had the STARS' Alpha team take refuge in the same Spencer Mansion to avoid falling to the undead outside. While exploring its grounds, they find the other members of the Bravo team who have succumbed to the zombies, mutants, and other threats hiding in the building's wings.
It was up to Alpha team members Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine to investigate further, figure out where these monsters were coming from, and learn what the mysterious T-Virus is. This was where the RE series all began 29 years ago, though it soon showed its age with its blocky graphics and dodgy voice acting. But it would establish the survival horror genre and inspire a multitude of imitators across consoles and computers.
14 Resident Evil (2002)
The Classic RE Formula Gets Refined
Resident Evil
- Released
- April 30, 2002
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Capcom Production Studio 4
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Wii
The original RE1 was a hit on the PS1, though series’ creator Shinji Mikami felt it had room for improvement. RE: Director’s Cut was made to tide people over until RE2 came out, and RE: Deadly Silence managed to cram the game into a Nintendo DS with touchscreen elements. But Mikami’s own Resident Evil remake (or Remake) became the definitive version of the game.
Every Resident Evil Remake, Ranked
Capcom has generally delivered awesome Resident Evil remakes, but some are better than others.
It tells the same story, with Chris and Jill trying to see what happened to the Bravo team and what the Spencer Mansion truly is. But it offered new mechanics that made players think twice about their resources, like whether to kill zombies and risk them becoming Crimson Heads, or save their stock to survive Lisa Trevor, the game’s tragic yet horrifying stalking terror. For many fans, it's still the best classic RE game.
13 Resident Evil 2
The Terror Reaches the Town
Resident Evil 2
- Released
- January 21, 1998
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, PC, PS1
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
RE0 and RE1 (and their remakes) pretty much take place in Raccoon City’s backyard. Resident Evil 2 was when the action came home, as the T-Virus made its way into the city, contaminating the water supply and infecting everything from animals to humans. People died, and the undead mutated into monsters, forcing the city to be quarantined, trapping any survivors with the BOWs.
It left rookie cop Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield, Chris’ sister, trying to find a way out of the city. In the process, Leon would meet a seemingly ordinary woman called Ada and learn more about Umbrella’s corporate intrigue. While Claire would look after a lost girl called Sherry, who was more important than she looked. Unlike its predecessor, it's held up well over the years, and still manages to be a shocking experience.
12 Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Leon and Claire's Return to Raccoon City
Resident Evil 2
- Released
- January 25, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Genre(s)
- Horror
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
People loved the RE1 Remake, but for years, it was the only full-on remake in the series. A RE2 Remake was considered, but Mikami didn’t want to divert resources away from Resident Evil 4, which had spent years in development by that point. Still, fans couldn’t help but think what a remade RE2 would be like. Whether it'd stick to its survival horror roots or dive deep into RE4’s bombast.
By 2019, they no longer had to wonder, as Capcom finally remade the game. They combined the third-person action of RE4 and its follow-ups with the classic formula that kept players on their toes. Raccoon City and its levels remained as intimidating as ever, while being smoother to navigate. With its host of side content and alternate scenarios, it’s one of the best remakes in the series.
11 Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Meanwhile, In Another Part of the City...
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
- Released
- November 10, 1999
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube, PC, PS1
While Leon and Claire were handling the Birkin family, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis saw Jill Valentine try to escape from both the city and the Nemesis T-Type, a Tyrant variant set to target members of STARS. Her best chance of survival comes from the surviving members of the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (UBCS).
Resident Evil 3: 5 Ways The Remake Is Better (And 5 Ways The Original Is)
Resident Evil 3 is the latest in a long line of legendary video game remakes, but even the original RE3 is better than the remake in some ways.
It's from them that she learns the US government planned to bomb the city with thermobaric missiles to eradicate the viral outbreak. Their only hope of escape lies in reaching the city clock tower to contact a rescue chopper. If they don't get there in time, and don't get betrayed, get infected with one of the many viruses in the city, or the Nemesis' different mutations, they'd be torched to death instead. So, no pressure then.
10 Resident Evil 3 (2020)
Jill's Raccoon City Escape Gets Redone
Resident Evil 3
- Released
- April 3, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Genre(s)
- Horror
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Typical. Fans wait nearly 20 years for a new RE Remake, and then they get two at once. Since RE3 also took place in Raccoon City at the same time as RE2, Capcom considered making the Resident Evil 3 Remake pretty much as soon as they started work on the new RE2. That way, they could have a complete trilogy of Raccoon City-based remakes for fans to pick up.
The gameplay is much the same as the RE2 Remake, blending action setpieces with horror. It also tweaked the story a bit to make Jill and Carlos' escape grittier and more intense, and made the Nemesis smarter and more resilient, while tying its events closer to RE2 (and even RE4). Though it's a shorter game than the RE2 Remake, it's still a tense and testing experience.
9 Resident Evil Outbreak
RE's First Foray Online
Resident Evil Outbreak
- Released
- March 31, 2004
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom Production Studio 1
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Platform(s)
- PS2
Raccoon City was reduced to burnt rubble at the end of RE3, but that didn’t mean Capcom was done with the place. Resident Evil Outbreak went back to the town during the events of RE2-3, where it would follow eight characters through their own episodic campaigns. Each one detailed how they tried to avoid becoming either zombie chow or getting roasted by the missiles.
Some characters stood out more than others, like Kevin Ryman, a Raccoon City cop and failed STARS applicant, and Alyssa Ashcroft, a journalist who’s been investigating Umbrella since 1993. The game was made to see how the RE formula would work online, as players could work together to get through its scenarios. It could've been better, as the online mode only worked in Japan and North America, but it was a fair RE game.
8 Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2
So Nice They Went Online Twice
Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2
- Released
- September 9, 2004
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 2
The original Outbreak was made to see if classic RE gameplay could work for online play. Though it only worked in Japan and North America, Capcom must’ve been pleased with the results, as they made a sequel , Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2. Kind of. It’s more of a collection of extra scenarios following Outbreak’s original survivors, with a few gameplay improvements.
Every Resident Evil Game On PS2, Ranked
After its success on the PS1, Resident Evil skyrocketed into the mainstream on the PS2, with a number of standout entries on Sony's 6th-gen console.
For example, Alyssa would end up back in the mountains, where she’d recover her memories of investigating Umbrella before STARS when she tried to escape via an abandoned hospital. While David King was in a race against time to get himself and his fellow survivors out of Raccoon City with a cure for the T-Virus before the missiles wiped them all out.
7 Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
Escape From the City One Shot at a Time
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
- Released
- November 13, 2007
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom, Cavia
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Genre(s)
- Shooter
On-rails shooters have largely gone extinct, but they had a brief resurgence thanks to the Wii and titles like Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. It retells the events of RE0, RE1, and RE3 by letting players run through preset paths and shoot zombies and BOWs while picking up health packs. It didn’t add much plot-wise, as they largely follow their main game’s stories.
But they did add extra details here and there to explain what happened to certain characters. Like how Wesker and Ada managed to come back for more games following their debuts. It also recreated the 4th Survivor, an extra mode in RE2 that followed HUNK, the only Umbrella agent to survive an encounter with the mutated William Birkin and retrieve the G-Virus for the company.