The best Resident Evil games have been terrifying the generations for over 25 years. Since 1996, The Umbrella Corporation has dominated how we think about zombies and sinister pharmaceutical companies in media. And the good news is that, like a rampant virus unleashed in Raccoon City, the series is still growing. In fact, we've had countless mainline installments, remakes, and campy spin-offs, and we still can't get enough of Capcom's legacy survival horror franchise.
While not every game in the series ranks among the best horror games – as much as I love Dead Aim's villain Morpheus – the best Resi games still would take up most of the spaces on that list by themselves. So, to give this iconic series the spooky spotlight it deserves, we've gone through all the classic and new games in the undead catalog and ranked the essential experiences below. Whether you're still on team Leon or have rallied behind Ethan since day one, choosing your favorite RE title will be much easier with our breakdown.
We've also kept in mind that some of the best Resident Evil games are hard to get hold of on modern consoles. So, we've flagged the most relevant games to save you the hassle of digging your PS1 and Dreamcast out of your mother's attic, too. So here are the 10 best Resident Evil games to play right now as we look ahead to RE9.
10. Resident Evil Revelations 2
Released: 2015
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One
Resident Evil Revelations 2 felt like something of a homecoming, particularly after the cinematic action-focus the series had become enamored with following the success of Resident Evil 5. Designed around cooperative play and initially released as an episodic adventure, Revelations 2 was able to take the over-the-shoulder gunplay popularized by Resident Evil 4 and ground it once again in a world of survival and horror.
Resident Evil Revelations 2 remains an entertaining side attraction to the mainline series, a way to spend some additional time with fan-favorite characters and get a sense of how the series may have evolved had Capcom taken it down a different path.
RELATED: Resident Evil Revelations 2 review: "Two teams of complementary characters make this a fantastic cooperative experience"
9. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Released: 1999
Platform(s): PC
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis found success in its capacity to subvert expectations. The introduction of Nemesis, an unkillable monstrosity that made the streets of Raccoon City more deadly than ever before, made it so there was never a safe place to hide; triggering a door animation would create a little distance, sure, but never a feeling that you were truly safe from harm.
In presenting a world thick with tension, along with improved combat mechanics and mobility options, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is one of those rare survival horror games that grips you within minutes and never dares to let you loose.
RELATED: Resident Evil 3 Remake review: "A tense, jumpy retelling of the PS1 classic in a modern gaming language"
8. Resident Evil Village
Released: 2021
Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One
Resident Evil Village sought new ways to scrutinize the Resident Evil playbook and largely succeeded. Capcom furthered the story of Ethan Winters, intertwining it more explicitly with the wider Resident Evil universe, and pushed to strike a better balance between humor and horror.
The outsized torture of Ethan's hands was a body horror breath of fresh air against some of the more overt scares – the stalking by Lady Dimitrescu and the Witches Three, not to mention a dollhouse section that rivaled the best Silent Hill games in terms of pure tension. Resident Evil Village may have had the occasional stumble. Still, it proved to be another compelling example of the power Resident Evil can wield when it casts its action from a first-person perspective.
RELATED: Resident Evil Village review: "The excellence of some parts only highlights the more ordinary moments"
7. Resident Evil – Code: Veronica X
Released: 2000
Platform(s): PS3, Xbox 360
Resident Evil – Code: Veronica was originally designed to carry the Resident Evil series into the future. While Nemesis ultimately landed with 'Resident Evil 3' emblazoned across its title screen, it's clear today that Code: Veronica was deserving of the title.
It introduced real-time 3D environments and a more dynamic camera to sit in them, furthering Resident Evil's foray into action territory without exorcizing the spirit of survival that embodied its core scenario design. Code: Veronica closed out Resident Evil's first chapter; it's a time capsule that honors Resident Evil's past and hints at where it will go in the future.
RELATED: Resident Evil Code: Veronica X HD review: "The story is still as engaging as ever"
6. Resident Evil 4 Remake
Released: 2023
Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X
Resident Evil 4 Remake is one of the best action games of the modern era. Capcom was not only able to preserve the spirit of the 2005 original but successfully modernize elements of its design – updating the plot, artistic direction, and structure to make it more palatable to players joining the series in 2023.
With its slick, claustrophobic combat and stunning set pieces, RE4 Remake is absolutely worth your time and attention. Naturally, there's some debate as to whether or not the Remake is able to beat the original, but as far as we're concerned, it's a fantastic interpretation of one of gaming's masterpieces.
RELATED: Resident Evil 4 Remake review: "A spectacularly pretty game loaded with atmosphere"
5. Resident Evil 2 Remake
Released: 2019
Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One
To play the Resident Evil 2 Remake is to look through a window into an alternate history. The way it is able to coalesce the methodical challenge of the original Resident Evil games with the tight, over-the-shoulder third-person combat popularized by Resident Evil 4 shows where the series could (and should) have gone after Capcom changed the nature of play in 2005.
It's a stunning love letter to the legacy of Resident Evil 2 and is fearless in its attempt to make the past feel fresh for the present. Resident Evil 2 Remake is an incredible reimagining of a legendary game that stands as one of the best survival horror games of the modern era.
Related: Resident Evil 2 Remake review: "A lovingly crafted return that perfectly recaptures what made the original great"
4. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Released: 2017
Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One
Following the disappointment of Resident Evil 6, the future of the series seemed uncertain. It had gotten too messy and convoluted for its own good, a series bloated by time and expectation. It's in this environment that Resident Evil 7 was born, a true overhaul that kickstarted a new era for the Resident Evil series.
Cast from a first-person perspective, set in an intricately-designed single-set location, framed around a core set of monstrous (and no less larger than life) characters, and a return to the survival horror foundations the series was first built upon, Resident Evil 7 emerged as one of the best horror games of the modern era.
RELATED: Resident Evil 7 Biohazard review: "About as an essential a horror experience as you can get"
3. Resident Evil 2
Released: 1998
Platform(s): PC
Creating the foundation for a successful franchise is one thing; developing a successful sequel to it is something else entirely. Resident Evil 2 took the suspenseful action of its predecessor and the suffocating atmosphere that lingered in the Spencer Estate and draped it across a sprawling city under siege from the living dead.
Resident Evil 2 is an ingenious survival horror game, bringing meticulously crafted spaces together with perfectly paced scenario design to form an experience that's as gripping today as it was in 1998. Resident Evil 2 is one of the greatest sequels ever made and the game that established Resident Evil's place in history as one of gaming's best franchises.
RELATED: The evolution of Resident Evil's combat: From clunky tank controls to slick first-person survival horror
2. Resident Evil 4
Released: 2005
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Resident Evil 4 is arguably one of the best shooter games of all time and undoubtedly one of the most important releases of the last two decades. When it arrived in 2005, Resident Evil 4 was a sweeping reinvention of the Resident Evil framework, the camera's perspective fixed firmly over the shoulder of Leon S. Kennedy.
It's perfectly paced and utterly relentless, an experience designed to overwhelm from the first minute through to the last, and self-aware enough to revel in the ridiculousness of its own narrative arc. Resident Evil 4 is a truly remarkable game, one that changed the entire industry around it.
RELATED: The making of Resident Evil 4: "By that point in the series, zombies were simply no longer scary to players"
1. Resident Evil Remake
Released: 2002
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Resident Evil Remake was truly astounding when it landed on GameCube back in 2002, and it has lost none of its power in the years since. It's a lovingly crafted REmake (if you will), taking the bones of the 1996 original and rendering it anew – introducing new terrifying threats in the Crimson Head zombies, improved combat mechanics, and refined resource management to make what was once old feel fresh again.
Resident Evil Remake is also stunningly evocative, its overhauled visual design so impressive that it is still able to make the jaw drop, so many years later. Resident Evil Remake took an impressive game weathering the decay of time and preserved it in amber, ensuring that one of survival horror's most formative experiences would remain as good to play today as the day it was first unleashed upon the world.
RELATED: The making of Resident Evil with creator Shinji Mikami: "One by one staff would resign from the job"
Looking for something else to play outside of the Resident Evil series? Then check out all of the upcoming horror games on the near horizon.
