Resident Evil is a name long associated with a long string of incredibly successful titles. This series of games has managed not only one but two successful genre reinventions. It has also spawned a series of movie adaptations that, despite their dubious quality, have never failed to bring in box office gold.
Still, Resident Evil has become such a large brand with so many side games on so many different systems that some great games have ended up overshadowed by the bigger games in the series, like Resident Evil 4, and other blockbusters from their time that overshadow them. Here’s a look at the most overlooked Resident Evil games out there.
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September 9, 2004
m // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
Online Multiplayer
A group of regular people working together online to escape Raccoon City during its worst night seems like an instant classic idea. Unfortunately, the reception to both entries in the Resident Evil Outbreak subseries was tepid at best. It’s a shame, because it was one of the first games to truly explore the fun side of the PlayStation 2’s online gameplay capabilities.
A similar concept would later end up popularized by Left 4 Dead. It’s definitely a much better game than Outbreak File 2, but the latter definitely deserved way more love than it originally got — especially in Europe, where Outbreak File 2 finally got online gameplay, which was somehow completely absent in the first game.
Resident Evil 5 almost got a spot on this list. It’s a fantastic game, especially when played on co-op, but it’s also a mainline entry that sold very well despite negative comparisons to RE4. In an attempt to honor both Resident Evil 5‘s memory and another game that deserves it, it’s worth discussing Revelations 2.
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This game is a true blast of even better co-op action for fans of one of Resident Evil 5’s best elements. The plot of Revelations isn’t exactly memorable, but the fun players will have turning zombies into Swiss cheese with their friends more than makes up for any perceived shortcoming.
What ended up as Resident Evil 3 wasn’t originally meant to be a mainline entry, but a spinoff. Luckily, that “promotion” paid off. Resident Evil 6, however — despite its huge production budget — turned out so bad it should have become a spinoff. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, many say, rightly, should have been the one promoted to mainline entry this time around.
It’s a straightforward light gun action title, though one that’s extremely fun to play, and it explores a bunch of already beloved characters in the series. Though Umbrella Chronicles doesn’t reinvent the wheel like Resident Evil 4 did, it’s sure to please the fans of the more action-oriented gameplay introduced by the most successful game in the series.
The original Resident Evil Survivor definitely won’t show up in this list. It’s one of the worst games ever made, and likely the worst to ever feature the Resident Evil name. It’s an absolute slog that somehow makes using a light gun on the PlayStation less fun than shooting via the controller. It’s truly baffling, especially for players experiencing the game in PAL regions, where the game somehow isn’t even compatible with light guns.
Survivor 2, however, improves upon most shortcomings of the original. It also uses the underrated setting of Resident Evil Code Veronica to come up with a much more compelling and fast-paced action scenario.
June 17, 2003
m // Blood and Gore, Violence
Capcom Production Studio 3
If there’s one thing RE purists complain about when it comes to Resident Evil 4, it’s the clear switch from survival horror to full-on action horror, roundhouse kicks, suplexes, and all. The problem with that argument is that RE4 is amazing and proved an essential step forward for the franchise. Gamers would know that if they had played Resident Evil: Dead Aim, a pretty good RE title that didn’t pull off the move to action territory as well as Resident Evil 4 did.
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It plays as a regular third-person action game that switches to first-person Lightgun action when the player approaches the zombies. The transition might be a bit jarring at first, but it’s a fun game, nonetheless. Even those who don’t vibe with it will at least see it as an important stepping stone into what would later become Resident Evil 4.
November 12, 2002
M For Mature 17+ Due To Intense Violence, Blood and Gore
Before Resident Evil 5 nailed the campaign by allowing players to do it in full co-op mode, there was Resident Evil 0, which had one player controlling two different characters in a way that made it feel like a co-op game. It was a bit more confusing than it should have been, as was the more punishing inventory system that required players to drop stuff to pick up later or to abandon altogether.
However, there was a lot of good in it, as well. It was a fresh take on the series that still kept those beautiful 3D environments from REmake. Starring Rebecca Chambers and a mysterious co-main character nobody knew anything about, the story was filled to the brim with stakes. Though 0 isn’t perfect, the only reason it didn’t garner a more dedicated fanbase was that it was stranded on the excellent but unsuccessful GameCube for too long.
April 30, 2002
Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Violence
Capcom Production Studio 4
1
Nowadays, gamers get showered with fake trailers whenever there’s a new gaming event coming out. Back in 2001, when Nintendo rolled out the first trailer for “REmake“, fake trailers still weren’t a thing, but this game just looked too good to be true. It showed a never-before-seen combination between pre-rendered backgrounds and the GameCube’s fantastic 3D that had to be played to be believed. Then, the game came out, and it was the most horrifyingly beautiful thing anyone had seen up until then.
The game itself improves upon the original in every single way, and it got great reviews, but it was stuck on the unsuccessful GameCube for too long to snowball into something huge. A few years later, fans got Resident Evil 4, which killed the interest in horror games with pre-rendered backgrounds, so the original REmake remains the swansong of that particular genre of horror. Even years later, and especially because of the HD remaster that further improves the game, REmake remains one of the best Resident Evil titles out there.
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