Summary
- Resident Evil defined survival-horror gaming, with iconic titles like RE4 setting the standard for the genre.
- Games like Code: Veronica and Zero introduced innovative gameplay mechanics that still hold up today.
- Outbreak paved the way for co-op horror experiences, influencing future titles in the genre significantly.
When it comes to a video game series that not only defined a genre but revolutionized gaming as a whole, there are few that have had quite the same impact as Resident Evil. The survival-horror titan has been around for over two decades, and in that time, the world has been gifted with so many iconic and high-quality titles that have since been remastered and made even better.
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Back in the day, however, the games didn't have a twenty-year lineage on their backs, and yet they still provided some of the most immersive and unforgettable gaming experiences of all time through their horror, action, and general level of quality that was rarely seen elsewhere. A few stand above the rest as particularly groundbreaking, demonstrating a sense of forward-thinking that cemented the series as a mainstay for years to come.
7 Resident Evil Survivor
A Glimpse At What Was To Come
Resident Evil: Survivor
- Released
- January 27, 2000
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence
- Developer(s)
- Tose
- Genre(s)
- Action, On-Rails Shooter
While not a title that is remembered overly fondly, Survivor was certainly a step forward that brought with it plenty of innovation and creativity that would be used later in the series. An early look at first-person horror, the exploration and gunplay felt very different from the previous entries, and it was a forward-looking approach that would take several decades to be adopted fully in Resident Evil 7.
Despite some clunkiness and a fairly lackluster reception, the game introduced many concepts to the franchise and served more as a learning tool than a huge leap for the developers. Experimentation doesn't always have to mean success, but the significance of this game cannot be understated, especially considering how great the later first-person titles are in comparison.
6 Resident Evil Revelations
The Future Of Handheld Horror
Resident Evil Revelations
- Released
- January 26, 2012
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Game Experience May Change During Online Play, Intense Violence, Language
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
Designed from the ground up for the Nintendo 3DS, Revelations delivered a full-length RE experience right in the player's palms. Maintaining a lot of the elements from the previous titles, the game steps away from shore and swaps infected zombies for aquatic threats of various shapes and sizes, providing a slightly different gameplay feel and allowing the player to still get all the same horrors in a much smaller form factor.
The game really made use of the dual-screen setup of the console and developed plenty of the systems in the series that had otherwise been overlooked, like the episodic structure that broke the game up into smaller, more manageable chunks. While it was released elsewhere later on, the design and the innovation given the form factor were still impressive, and even without the 3DS elements, the game still holds up and demonstrates that the horrors can persist regardless of whether they are viewed on the big screen or right in the player's lap.
5 Resident Evil Zero
Character Swapping On The Fly
Resident Evil Zero
- Released
- November 12, 2002
WHERE TO PLAY
Resident Evil Zero is a particularly interesting title that brought with it the option to swap between characters at the click of a button, letting the player control two characters in real-time in order to solve puzzles and take down the undead. Item boxes were gone, which meant that inventory space was scarce and required careful management between the characters and strategic swapping depending on health pools and certain areas.
The system brought a decent amount of complexity to the game and demonstrated that the maps didn't have to feel like one constant backtrack and could instead be broken up into parts to be digested all at once. It was a departure from the previous format and a leap forward into a character management system that still holds up today and feels just as responsive and fun to use as it did twenty years ago.
4 Resident Evil - Code: Veronica
A 3D Title That Could Be Fully Appreciated
Resident Evil CODE:Veronica
- Released
- March 28, 2000
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
Code: Veronica was the first Resident Evil game to feature fully real-time 3D environments, moving past the series’ reliance on pre-rendered backdrops. It brought dynamic camera angles and more cinematic direction, giving cutscenes and exploration greater fluidity as opposed to the fixed cameras that cutscenes relied on for most of the intense action and storytelling.
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The narrative also took a leap forward, boasting more ambitious story direction and character development that took a step beyond what was seen in the previous titles. For its time, it felt like the most next-gen Resident Evil, setting a visual and emotional tone that future entries would follow and continue to innovate for many years after this iconic release.
3 Resident Evil Outbreak
Co-Op Horror Before It Was Cool
Resident Evil Outbreak
- Released
- March 31, 2004
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- m // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Capcom Production Studio 1
- Platform(s)
- PS2
Resident Evil Outbreak was years ahead of its contemporaries, offering online cooperative gameplay on the PlayStation 2 at a time when multiplayer shooters were still very much in their early stages of growth. In this title, players work together with unique characters, each with different stats and personalities, to survive tightly designed horror scenarios that still hold up in their quality.
With no voice chat and limited communication options, teamwork required some creativity and careful thinking, and the results were pretty chaotic at times, but when the coordination worked, it really paid off. While the hardware limitations held it back, the game’s core ideas would eventually influence later co-op horror experiences in a big way, paving the way for some of the best titles in the genre.
2 Resident Evil
Defining An Entire Genre
Resident Evil
- Released
- March 22, 1996
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation (Original), Sega Saturn, Nintendo DS, PC
The first in the series and a leap ahead of the competition, Resident Evil was by no means the first survival-horror game, but it was for sure the most well-rounded and polished. Setting up not only the franchise but also developing what the genre would soon become, the gameplay style of the fixed cameras has since become iconic, set in an equally iconic mansion that still haunts players many years later.
At a time when consoles were lacking high-quality horror, Resident Evil really stepped up and showed what was possible. Introducing countless mechanics that would quickly become staples in the genre, it cemented itself at the top of the gaming charts not just for horror, but for the entire space. It was a true pioneer that wasn't afraid to go big and is unapologetically one of the best horror games of all time.
1 Resident Evil 4
Third-Person Survival Horror Perfection
Resident Evil 4
- Released
- January 11, 2005
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
A franchise reboot that took an existing concept and dialed everything to eleven, Resident Evil 4 is widely considered the pinnacle of the series, and it's pretty easy to see why. It features an iconic protagonist, fluid gunplay, and an overarching narrative that doesn't take itself too seriously whilst still delivering on the action and horror from start to finish.
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Third-person shooters just simply wouldn't exist if it weren't for this game, and the other mechanics, like real-time item management, would show up countless times in future titles both in the series and the wider genre. It features no more clunkiness but all the same charm and flair of the original games, combined with more fast-paced gameplay that delivers in every aspect and with a remaster that is beyond faithful to the original.
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