ANerdzLife

*Presses Start*

BOOM…Resident Evil…

Resident Evil remains a powerhouse in the gaming landscape, and with the rumors of Resident Evil 9 nearing it’s reveal…let’s rank the games that have come out so far in the main series.

14.) Resident Evil 5

I know, I know…this game is easy to dunk on and for good reason. At times, Resident Evil 5 doesn’t feel scary…and that’s a problem for a game claiming to be survival horror. Add in frustrating AI companion controls and you have the worst game in the series. I do think the setting and story are interesting and would love to see what Capcom could do with a remake.

13.) Resident Evil 3 REmake

This game was in strong contention for last place. RE3 Remake felt like such an afterthought after the behemoth that was Resident Evil 2 REmake. It was short, had very weird pace and a few frustrating ‘levels’ that weren’t all that fun.

12.) Resident Evil 6

I’m going to say something controversial: Leon’s campaign in RE6 is actually really good! The problem comes when you play the other 2/3 of the game. Chris’ campaign continued to be a weird super hero power fantasy and Jake’s campaign has no real redeeming quality to it. The long awaited Leon v Chris faceoff was undeniably HYPE AF though.

11.) Resident Evil: Code Veronica

Code Veronica holds a special place in my heart and if I were to make a personal favorite’s list…this would be near the top. Not for it being good necessarily, but more so the memories of playing this game with my brother and getting lost in the world. Objectively though…this story is super campy, and the controls are still stuck in that PS1 tank era. For those reasons, I can’t rank it super high.

10.) Resident Evil 0

RE0 is another one that I loved growing up. I should go back to it at some point to see if my feelings are still validated. RE0 feels like the last hurrah of the old guard of Resident Evil before it started barreling forward into the RE4 over the shoulder era. I loved the pre-RE1 setting and I maintain that Billy and Rebecca are near the top for protagonists in the RE universe.

9.) Resident Evil

Where it all started! A title deserving of it’s glory and notoriety. It changed the game and established the genre of survival horror for decades to come. The series has naturally progressed and gotten better in many ways over the years, but this game is still fantastic…even in 2025.

8.) Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

The best looking of the original 3 PS1 games, and with the added terror of an impending Nemesis attack this game is near the top for me. Returning to Jill’s story as she seeks to escape Raccoon City before complete antihalation was super tense and maybe the scariest of the original 3 as well.

7.) Resident Evil: Village

Man, someone really needs to give Ethan Winters a break. Send him on a vacation or something jeez. Ethan’s torture continues in RE Village as he seeks to find his daughter Rosemary in the far away land of Europe. RE Village was never super scary to me, but the visuals are stunning…the story is great and it gave us some of the most iconic villains in modern gaming.

6.) Resident Evil REmake

This game took the classic that is RE1 and modernized it in every way. The added story elements from the book (Lisa Trevor) made this game feel fresh and even more terrifying than the original release. The crazy part comes when you go back and play this game now and see that it actually somehow still looks great.

5.) Resident Evil VII: Biohazard

Resident Evil 7 is the scariest Resident Evil game in the series in my opinion. The Cajun setting, the Bakers (all of them) and the way in which Mia drifts in and out of evilness kept me on the edge of my seat and my palms sweaty the entire time. This game still looks incredible also, with the RE Engine doing an incredible amount of heavy lifting.

4.) Resident Evil 2

My personal favorite. Again, a time and a place thing. The thing that has always stuck with me about RE2 is the tone and vibe of this game. The soundtrack, the characters, the creepy police station…it all makes you feel uneasy, worried about what’s coming around every corner. It also has my personal favorite story of all of the RE games. The contrast of Leon’s ‘what the hell is going on here?’ and Claire’s quest to find Chris was great.

3.) Resident Evil 4

I think this would be near the top for a lot of people. Yet another modern classic from Capcom. RE4 changed the game (again) for survival horror…introducing the over the shoulder 3rd party view. Add in heart racing action…advanced enemy AI and super creepy villains and you have one of the greatest of all time.

2.) Resident Evil 4 REmake

Aaaaaand we’re right back into Spain fighting the Las Plagas. REM4ke (see what I did there?) is incredible. It took what was already a modern classic and improved in almost every way. Visuals, combat, level design, soundtrack, controls are all expanded for the better in this 10/10.

1.) Resident Evil 2 REmake

While the RE4 Remake took RE4 and made it better…the RE2 remake took the improvements to even greater lengths. Changing story beats, changing the actual layout of the police station while keeping the same eerie scenes. The addition of Mr X to Leon’s campaign…they all made an already great game and made it an all time great.