Which Resident Evil games do I consider to be the best?

 

Rating the Resident Evil series is a hard thing to do. The beloved gaming series developed by Capcom has been roaming the Earth for over 20 years and it has been a big part of my life. I’ve been playing the Resident Evil games since I was 5 years old, the first one being Resident Evil 3.  I have fond memories of Nemesis chasing me and hearing him saying STARS. It was then that I got hooked on the Resident Evil series and it became one of my favourite video game series.

There are quite a few Resident Evil games and figuring out which entries belong in which tier was a challenge. After a lot of thinking I have finally decided which games belong in which tiers. You may disagree with some of the placements and that’s fine, the beauty of tier lists is that they are subjective.

Without further ado, here is my Resident Evil Tier List.

 

 

Let’s start from the bottom of the tier list to the top.

 

Not played

Resident Evil Gun Survivor 2: Code Veronica

Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D

Resident Evil Gaiden

 

F Tier

Umbrella Corps

This game is bad. Umbrella Corps was Capcom’s attempt at making Resident Evil into an esports game and it failed. Cool Concept? Sure, but it was executed poorly and felt like it should have been a multiplayer mode to a mainline entry in the series.

 

Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City

Operation Raccoon City isn’t a terrible game, it’s bad but it’s one that you can clearly see the potential it had. It had a cool gameplay concept and several great ideas but none of them gelled together. That clear sense of missed opportunity is the reason why it is in F Tier

I’d be down for Capcom trying something like this out again but only if they put 100% into it.

 

E Tier

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

I enjoyed Umbrella Chronicles a fair bit and I was looking forward to the sequel. Whilst Darkside Chronicles can be fun it had one big flaw that puts it below Umbrella Chronicles, the shaky cam. Shaky cam isn’t new to light gun games and some use it minimally but Darkside Chronicles was just awful with it. There were times I felt sick when I played this because of the awful shaky cam.

That feature was implemented so poorly that it nearly killed the experience for me. I completed it once and I won’t be going back to it anytime soon.

 

D Tier

Resident Evil Survivor

I have a bit of soft spot for this game. Yes it is clunky as hell and it has some odd design choices but there’s something about this game that makes me like it in a weird and quirky way. Resident Evil Survivor is not a great game and it hasn’t aged well but there’s something about it and every year or so, I replay it and have a blast.

 

Resident Evil Dead Aim

Dead Aim is the best entry out of all of the “Gun Survivor” games. It mixes the light gun shooting elements and third-person movement. It doesn’t work as well as intended but it is an admirable effort. I found the game to be fun and even a little bit creepy at times. I also have to praise the save room music in Dead Aim, as it is incredible and is one of the best save room themes in the series.

 

Resident Evil The Umbrella Chronicles

I enjoyed Umbrella Chronicles a lot, it was as if Capcom wanted to make their own House of the Dead. If that was indeed the case then I can safely say that they succeeded. I liked that we could experience parts of older Resident Evil games like RE1 Remake and RE3 with a new coat of paint and in a new way gameplay-wise.

Out of all of the Resident Evil light gun games, Umbrella Chronicles is by far the best one in the series.

 

C Tier

Resident Evil 0 (Zero)

Resident Evil 0 is a good game but what stops it from being great and belonging in A or B tier is the item system. I get what Capcom tried to do with this as you can hoard item boxes. RE 0’s item system prevents that but what it does do, is that it creates a lot of backtracking.

RE 0’s story is great and its playable characters Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen are great characters and I hope that one day that we get to play as them again. I’d like to see Capcom remake Resident Evil 0 like RE2 Remake.

 

Resident Evil 6

I like Resident Evil 6 and I think people give it more crap than it deserves. I like that RE6 has so much content on offer that it is bursting at the seams with RE goodness. However, this game suffers an identity crisis and even fans who like RE6 like myself, know that the game does suffer this.

Does RE6 want to be a full-on action game? Does RE6 want to be a survival horror game? It gave us tastes of both but it never stuck to one. There are four campaigns in RE6 and there is one for everyone. RE6 also boasts the best mercenaries mode in the series, a game mode I have sunk countless hours into.

 

Resident Evil Code: Veronica X

Code Veronica is a good Resident Evil game but goddamn the backtracking in this game is REAL. I replayed this a few years back and I enjoyed it apart from two things, respawning enemies and the arduous backtracking.

Resident Evil games feature backtracking but Code Veronica takes it to an extreme. Respawning enemies do my head in, if I kill all of the enemies in an area, then the area should remain threat free.

Despite my grievances with Code Veronica, it is a good Resident Evil game and was an evolution on the classic formula that myself and many others fell in love with. Maybe Capcom could remake this game?

 

B Tier

Resident Evil Revelations

I have a soft spot for Revelations, its TV-style episodic approach in storytelling and its gameplay. One of the reasons I like Revelations so much is that we get to play as Jill Valentine, my favourite RE protagonist.

I replayed this on PS4 last year and I enjoyed it a lot more than before.

 

Resident Evil (PS1 Version)

The original, the game that started it all. It had to be high up on the tier list because of its legacy but what’s surprising is how well it holds up. The original Resident Evil is 24 years old and it is still as terrifying now as it was back in the 90s.

This game was the start of one of my favourite video game series of all time and for that, I am thankful.

 

Resident Evil Outbreak File #2

This co-op Resident Evil is brilliant and it’s just behind the first Outbreak game because I’ve spent more time with the first game. It’s a brilliant game that was honestly way ahead of its time. If the Outbreak games were re-released now, we would have co-op Resident Evil experience that would make everyone happy.

 

Resident Evil Outbreak

Resident Evil Outbreak had a unique gameplay system and could be played solo or co-op. The Outbreak games are incredible and even though you can co-op these, the survival horror element was not lost. The Outbreak games are some of the tensest experiences I’ve had in gaming.

Capcom should re-release these as online gaming is more accessible now and I truly believe that the Outbreak games would thrive.

 

A Tier

Resident Evil Revelations 2

Revelations 2 is an evolution and improvement on what Revelations did, it’s a sequel done right. You get to play as Claire Redfield and the legendary Barry Burton. Barry Burton is a playable character that’s reason enough as to why it belongs in A tier.

 

Resident Evil 5

I can see this being a controversial one. I know RE 5 divides opinion and I like RE 5 a lot. RE 5’s campaign is great until the last couple of chapters before the last boss. There is a lot of tension, action and a few puzzles. There are parts in RE 5 that get the heart pounding and there’s one part that still to this day creeps me out a bit. The Native villages are creepy, the atmosphere is drastically different from the locales that came before it. The enemies do more damage and are more resistant. Also, watch out for that crocodile.

Co-op in RE 5 is incredible and is one of the best co-op experiences I have played to date. Again, I know opinions are divided on RE 5 but I like the game and I played it again a while back and I still love it. Wesker is also the big bad, what’s not to like there?

 

Resident Evil 2

The original RE2 is fantastic and it would have been up in GOD TIER if the remake wasn’t as good as it was. Claire and Leon are both incredible characters and the pacing of the story is brilliant. It moves along at a good pace and it’s because of this and many other reasons as to why RE2 is so fondly remembered.

I’ve done speed runs of this game and each time gets more fun. It’s a testament to how well designed the game is. 20 years on and RE2 still holds up as a survival horror classic.

 

Resident Evil 7

I and many others wanted a horror game and Capcom delivered on that and then some with RE 7. Resident Evil 7 changed a lot of stuff, it’s first-person, no legacy characters (until the end that is) and gone are the zombies and the high action gameplay. RE 7 is first and foremost a horror game and it is an incredible, heart-pounding, hot sweat-inducing horror game that keeps you on your toes.

Resident Evil 7 is incredible and if the next mainline entry is going to be first-person, then I am all for it.

 

GOD TIER

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

My first Resident Evil game, the game that got me hooked. I’ll admit there is a bias here with RE3, it’s special to me as without it I probably wouldn’t be playing Resident Evil games. I have many fond memories of running around a destroyed Raccoon City as Jill Valentine, shooting zombies, seeing Brad, watching Brad get killed by Nemesis and having Nemesis chase after me whilst saying STARS.

I love RE 3 and it’s a game that to this day I replay it regularly.

 

Resident Evil 4

This game will be high on many people’s Resident Evil tier lists. RE 4 does a lot of things right and very few things wrong. Leon is an incredible character who really does come into his own. The pacing in RE 4 is quite possibly one of the best in any video game. The story goes along at a good pace, the game chucks enough enemies at you for it to be challenging, tense and fun.

Resident Evil 4 is one the best games ever made and it belongs in GOD TIER.

 

Resident Evil Remake

How do you remake a survival horror classic and make it scarier than before? Simple, ask Capcom. The remake of the first game is a modern classic and is one of the scariest games I’ve ever played. The game looks gorgeous, the original Gamecube release still holds up to this day.

It was a masterclass on how to do a remake. One of the best survival horror games and one of the best Resident Evil games in the series.

 

Resident Evil 2 Remake

Capcom it seems are the masters when it comes to remakes as not only did they make a great game with RE 2 Remake, they also surpassed the original. The remake of Resident Evil 2 is absolutely phenomenal, it looks gorgeous, the RPD has never looked better. The survival horror aspect is back and arguably the best it has ever been in the series.

I got an immense feeling of dread when Mr X is roaming the RPD and you can hear him stomping around. When I saw my first licker I froze because I didn’t want to grab his attention. RE 2 Remake is filled with moments like this and they all add up to make one of the scariest and tensest games I’ve ever played.

Resident Evil 2 Remake, in my opinion, is the best Resident Evil game.

 

What about the upcoming Resident Evil 3 Remake?

I think Resident Evil 3 Remake will be incredible but will it surpass the original game? We shall see soon enough but given Capcom’s track record, they are going to knock it out of the park and then some.

 

What do you think of my Resident Evil Tier List? What games would be at the top of your tier list? Let me know in the comments below.