Biohazard fever is sweeping the nation again – Resident Evil 4‘s remake is just that good. For every legendary installment in this franchise, though, there are a couple of weird spinoffs, and it’s high time we rank all of Capcom’s bizarre experiments.
However, there needs to be some groundwork before we get into the nitty-gritty. Firstly, we won’t be listing mobile games at all, as most are no longer available on digital storefronts – apologies to everyone who loves the Resident Evil: Degeneration tie-in (nobody). Secondly, the release date and platform information vary slightly from title to title. We’ll mostly be going off North American launch dates to make things easier, so please no “but actually” over something like when the Resident Evil Survivor 2 arcade cabinet came out in Japan – it doesn’t matter all that much, eh?
Alright, let’s stock up on healing herbs, ink ribbons, and cheesy one-liners – it’s time to rank every Resident Evil spinoff from worst to best.
15
Umbrella Corps
Release date: June 21, 2016
Platforms: PS4 and PC
Oh, boy – we’re off to an ugly start, eh? Umbrella Corps is a throwaway 3v3 third-person shooter that lives in infamy – mainly since there’s no semblance of gameplay balance, and every clumsy mechanic feels Frankensteined together. There’s long been speculation that Capcom didn’t put “Resident Evil” in the title as a last-ditch effort to minimize any damage to the brand’s reputation. Who knows if that’s true, but it’s not hard to believe.
14
Resident Evil Re:Verse
Release date: Oct. 28, 2022
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, and PC
Believe it or not, Resident Evil Re:Verse is alright – but only if you’re a hardcore fan of the franchise. Living out fantasies like Leon S. Kennedy squaring off with Jill Valentine is enough to make it worth a try, but only for a few matches at best. However, as a third-person deathmatch shooter, it’s pretty forgettable – aside from the fact Capcom shrunk character models down to make maps look bigger than they were in the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 remakes (yes, really) Though at the end of the day, Re:Verse was a free pack-in for Resident Evil Village, so it’s hard to be mad about what we got.
13
Resident Evil Survivor 2 - Code: Veronica
Release date: Nov. 8, 2001
Platforms: Arcade and PS2
Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica is probably the most elusive entry to western fans, as there was never a North American release. It’s a relatively bog-standard light gun shooter that loosely adapts the story of Resident Evil Code: Veronica X – enormous emphasis on ‘loosely’ here, as only the board narrative strokes remain intact. Steve Burnside is in this one too, which automatically makes it a low-tier entry (sorry, not sorry).
12
Resident Evil Gaiden
Release date: June 3, 2002
Platforms: Game Boy Color
For many years, fans thought Resident Evil Gaiden was the worst installment by a country mile. It’s not bad, though – more just weird. Resident Evil Gaiden swaps between a top-down camera while you’re exploring and a first-person puzzle-like point of view when fighting zombies. You might think that sounds like an uncomfortable mishmash of ideas, but it’s pretty decent! Give Capcom some points for pulling this off on the Game Boy Color, folks.
Plus, the story is a neat little non-canon scenario. The unlikely duo of Leon S. Kennedy and Barry Burton team up for some zombie-squashing shenanigans on a luxury cruise liner. It’s like that Deep Rising movie, only better.
11
Resident Evil: Resistance
Release date: Apr. 3, 2020
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, and PC
In truth, Resident Evil: Resistance should be much higher on this list. Capcom’s stab at the 4v1 multiplayer asymmetrical horror genre is too bland, though – even if you can play as iconic monsters like Mr. X.
The bigger issue with Resident Evil: Resistance is match balance (or lack thereof). Players on the “Mastermind” team (bad guys) could spawn as fast-moving zombie types that stunlock the survivors – leading to a lot of rage-quitting.
In fairness, Resident Evil: Resistance did give us Martin Sandwich – arguably the best name for any video game character in human history.
10
Resident Evil: Dead Aim
Release date: June. 17, 2003
Platforms: PS2
The less said about Resident Evil: Dead Aim, the better. This light gun game is the third and final Survivor offshoot that most fans try to forget. Partially because constantly flipping between first and third-person is mighty disorientating, and only because the story is utterly ridiculous in almost every conceivable way.
The plot involves “Anti-Umbrella Pursuit Investigation Team” operative Bruce McGivern investigating an ocean liner (another one) called the Spencer Rain. Naturally, there’s a zombie outbreak aboard, and it’s up to Bruce to sort things out. Eventually, there’s mention of a “t+G virus” that alters people into monstrous versions of the opposite gender. Yes, really – deeply problematic stuff for a whole slew of reasons.
9
Resident Evil Survivor
Release date: Aug. 30, 2000
Platforms: PS1 and PC
Resident Evil Survivor was the franchise’s first-ever light gun game. It stars Ark Thompson, an amnesiac that’s awoken to a viral outbreak on the fictional Sheena Island. From there, he battles loads of undead uglies in pursuit of the truth regarding how he found himself in this situation.
It’s a forgettable game, save for the fact that it underwent sweeping changes during localization. More specifically, the title was “Resident Evil Gun Survivor” before Capcom changed it due to the game coming out not long after the then-recent Columbine High School massacre.
8
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
Release date: Mar. 20, 2012
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, and PC
Ah, what potential there was with Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. The premise is still exciting: a four-player co-op third-person shooter where Umbrella special agents must cover the company’s tracks amidst the zombie outbreak in Raccoon City. It was supposed to be like Left 4 Dead only, you know, with a Resident Evil finish.
Sadly, it just wasn’t good. Virtually every enemy was a giant bullet sponge, and the story isn’t even canon, so it’s not worth checking out for lore – only for those with a morbid curiosity. The sections with Nemesis were pretty cool, at least.
7
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
Release date: Nov. 17, 2009
Platforms: Nintendo Wii and PS3
Ever wonder what Leon S. Kennedy was up to between Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4? Here’s your answer. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles mostly follows Leon and his commanding officer Jack Krauser during an investigation into the T-Virus in South America.
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicle is a fan-favorite installment because it’s crucial to the franchise’s overarching story. Seriously, they even mention the events of this game in Resident Evil 4‘s remake. It doesn’t hurt that this one is a lot of fun in co-op too.
6
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
Release date: June 28, 2011
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS
Despite Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D being pretty great, it has a lousy reputation. Mainly because it took a popular battle mini-game from the mainline games, blew it into a “full” release, and came with a hefty price tag – all while being made up of mostly reused assets.
Again, it’s good! Especially if you love The Mercenaries from Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5. Just adjust your expectations accordingly.
5
Resident Evil Revelations
Release date: Feb. 7, 2022
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch
After the series took a hard left into action territory, Resident Evil Revelations brought things back to survival horror basics. It’s a slower, more methodical game with puzzles and obtuse scenarios that fans love – there’s even a Metroid Prime-like scanning mechanic to provide more backstory.
Unfortunately, Resident Evil Revelations suffers from being an odd combination of utterly silly while also not being ridiculous enough. It takes place on an ocean liner (yes, again) where Jill Valentine has to figure out why another giant boat is swarming with biological weapons – slight spoiler: it has to do with a futuristic city called Terragrigia getting destroyed by evildoers. Without getting into further plot details, Resident Evil Revelations certainly goes places that may or may not be your thing.
4
Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2
Release date: Apr. 26, 2005
Platforms: PS2
Talking about Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2 without discussing the original is tough, as this is more or less just an expansion – so we’ll spare many of the details until later. Back in the PS2 days, when consoles (mostly) didn’t have hard drives, sequels like this that are essentially DLC came out often.
We can tell you that Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2 has a level set in the Raccoon City Zoo. Zombie elephants are all over the place, friends – it’s great.
3
Resident Evil Revelations 2
Release date: Feb. 24, 2015
Platforms: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch, and PC
Resident Evil Revelations 2 is only a sequel in name only. The first game’s events are not integral to understanding what’s happening, and gameplay ditches the scanning mechanic entirely. Thankfully, this is all for the better – as Resident Evil Revelations 2 is bloody brilliant.
First off, the episodic nature of Resident Evil Revelations 2 works wonderfully with its oh-so-cheesy vibes. Claire Redfield makes her triumphant return alongside Barry Burton’s daughter Moira, and all three characters must come together to escape (another) island that’s teeming with undead monsters.
2
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
Release date: Nov. 13, 2007
Platforms: Nintendo Wii and PS3
None of the franchise’s light gun offshoots nail the premise better than Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. It bridges the gap between Resident Evil Code Veronica X and Resident Evil 5 in a fantastic way, giving fans the Umbrella Corporation takedown mission we’d all dreamt of before Resident Evil 4.
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles also made brilliant use of the Nintendo Wii’s motion controls. Shaking off zombies with the Wiimote’s trademark waggle just felt right, and aiming was relatively easy, thanks to the reticle that light gun games typically lack.
1
Resident Evil Outbreak
Release date: Mar. 31, 2004
Platforms: PS2
None of Resident Evil’s spinoffs check every box quite like Outbreak. This wildly ambitious multiplayer game utilized the PS2’s often-rickety online service during a time when most people didn’t even have cable internet. So there wasn’t any voice or text chat while in-game – players used character emotes and gestures to communicate. Want to share ammo with a friend? That’ll take a lot of “useful item here” barks to get the point across. Limited interactions like that forced you to get creative, and completing missions was too satisfying for words. Think of Thatgamecompany’s Journey – only with zombies.
Resident Evil Outbreak is also special in that anyone can play as Raccoon City’s citizens while the city is overflowing with undead monsters. In almost every other Resident Evil game, you’re playing as a supersoldier or mercenary-type – heroes that could easily make it on the Avenger’s shortlist. Outbreak bucks that tradition to answer age-old questions like “could the coffee shop waitress survive the zombie apocalypse?” It turns out they can, and that’s precisely what makes Resident Evil Outbreak great. Please, Capcom – bring this back!
For more Resident Evil hot takes, check out our mainline series rankings. Or, if you’re playing the Resident Evil 4 remake, we have guides on everything from questlines to weapon optimization.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
