Editorials
The ‘Resident Evil’ Franchise Ranked: 26-11
Resident Evil is among the most important video game franchises around, especially in how it pushed horror games into the limelight.
Since 1996, there have been highs, lows, and complete misfires along the way, and after a dark time for the survival horror giant, it’s started to reclaim some of its majesty in recent years.
The question is, where do those highs and lows rank in the Resident Evil pantheon? We’ve taken every Resident Evil title, spin-offs, and all, and ranked them. Of course, you may feel differently where their order is concerned.
In this first part (because there are a lot of games), we count down from 26-11.
26. Umbrella Corps (2016) PS4, PC
The Resident Evil series has been rife with spinoffs in its two decades plus lifespan, and while some have been fine additions that build the Resident Evil name up, there are just as many that tear it down. Umbrella Corps is the just about the worst of those.
Umbrella Corps is a team-based shooter that just happens to grab certain Resident Evil assets in a foul-smelling attempt to leech off any goodwill fans still had for the name.
Its main crime (beyond missing the point of Resident Evil, which is a common crime on this list’s lower half) is that it’s perhaps the blandest take on a game universe that features horrific monstrosities and ridiculously endearing B-movie acting. Umbrella Corps does nothing to showcase that, nor does it ever threaten to.
It is a dull, uneven shooter that doesn’t even have the decency to be entertaining. An insult to Resident Evil, which is probably why the name was ditched in the first place.
25. Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City (2012) Multi-Format
Before Umbrella Corps came along and vomited on the rapidly-decaying corpse of the franchise, there was the similarly reprehensible Operation Raccoon City.
This co-op shooter takes you on a what-if? tour of the events of Resident Evil 2, as you play the role of Umbrella specialists sent in to retrieve delicate Umbrella info and, if you fancy it, kill the floppy-haired boy wonder, Leon Kennedy.
The emphasis on multiplayer here saw the single player serve up an utterly dreadful, hellish experience that radiated the poor level design and shoddy A.I. to lethal levels. Multiplayer team-ups made the nonsense a touch more tolerable, but even then, what should be a fun romp through familiar locales and characters is somehow just thuddingly yawnsome for large swathes of time.
24. Resident Evil Survivor (2000) PS One/PC
Survivor marked the first in a surprisingly long line of Resi-themed on-rails shooters and is a great example of how not to do such a game.
In essence, Survivor is a light gun game, and yet outside of Japan, it wasn’t actually compatible with one. That made it a very fiddly game to aim with, so you can sort of understand why Capcom went with the franchise’s patented slow-paced gameplay to compensate for the treacly controls.
Unfortunately, that translated into a pretty painful shooting gallery that was done no favors by some painfully unappealing visuals. Slowly, but surely, this side-series became more refined and shaped the rotten core into something that was actually pleasant and intense to play. The first Survivor could easily have killed the rest though.
23. Resident Evil Gaiden (2001) GameBoy Color
The white-hot popularity of the Resident Evil series in its early years meant that fans wanted more zombie-smashing adventures on all sorts of platforms. As with many popular games of the day, there was high demand for a portable version of Resi.
Up stepped Resident Evil Gaiden on the Game Boy Color in 2001, and as with the previous spin-off Survivor, it missed the mark in trying to do something a little different.
Here, Resident Evil went top-down aboard a luxury passenger ship where that pesky Umbrella had caused yet another viral outbreak. Lucky Leon Kennedy and Burly Barry Burton are on the case, ready to foil another potential bioweapon beast along the way.
Combat went first-person, with players having to hit a reticle on a sliding bar to register a hit. It was one of many misfires. The save system (carried over from mainline Resident Evil) was ill-suited to gaming-on-the-go and the cerebral puzzles were swapped out for dreary fetch quests for keys.
It did have an entertaining story to tell at least. Stocked up with the signature melodrama and conspiracy that made the franchise so beloved. Sadly it wasn’t enough to make the rest tolerable.
22. Resident Evil Survivor 2 Code: Veronica (2001) Arcade/PS2
The second attempt at a Resident Evil light gun game did thankfully improve upon the misshapen horror that came before it. Here we had an actual arcade shooter based on Code: Veronica and the natural visual bump was the first noticeable upgrade from the previous year’s dingy effort.
Survivor 2 is a ‘reimagining of the events of Code: Veronica via the dreams of Claire Redfield. As a result, enemies from Resident Evil 3 Nemesis made their way into the game, including the Nemesis itself (if a timer runs out the monster stalks you)
On console (PlayStation 2), light gun support was present, and the overall controls were tweaked on the Dual-Shock to not be such a laborious exercise this time.
Survivor 2 still felt too slow-paced for a light gun shooter, however, and thus it proved to be another middling effort.
21. Resident Evil: Dead Aim (2003) PS2
By the time 2003 rolled around, Resident Evil as a franchise was starting to wane, not yet revitalized by the sharp turn of Resident Evil 4.
The light gun Survivor series still had room to improve though and Dead Aim on PlayStation 2 provided a unique blend of third and first-person action that saw the best entry in this spin-off series.
It sees the return to sea as you encounter yet another outbreak, this time aboard an Umbrella Ocean Liner named the Spencer Rain.
What’s remarkable about Dead Aim is it was a rare early Resi that allowed players to aim and move at the same time, a good compromise that proved to be the closest mix of Resident Evil and Arcade gun game yet.
Again though, this wasn’t exactly a great light gun game, rather a strange, but an ambitious hybrid that at least made a good fist of what it wanted to be.
20. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (2011) 3DS
Mercenaries mode is one of the greatest video game extras of all time, spanning multiple Resident Evil titles and providing plenty of longevity beyond the core game. It was surely a matter of time before a standalone spinoff happened and surprisingly it came on the Nintendo 3DS.
In The Mercenaries 3D, you took a character around Resi-themed stages, racking up points and a high-score as you look to unlock new outfits, weapons, and characters along the way.
The Mercenaries 3D made the most of the 3DS’ tech, handing off the inventory management to the handheld’s second screen. It also saw the return of movement and aiming together (it’s still odd to think of that as a rarity).
Still, it isn’t quite as good as the majority of Mercenaries modes elsewhere in the series, as the 3DS struggles to fully replicate the best of the mode.
19. Resident Evil 6 (2012) Multi-Format
Resident Evil 6 is a commercial high point of the entire series, and it is also the biggest mess of the mainline series. Largely due to the irregular pacing and an abundance of QTE moments.
It does have its merits as a game. Leon’s campaign captures some of its predecessor’s zombie-ridden claustrophobia for example, and the combat was generally the same as Resident Evil 5. Easily the highlight of this game is this marriage of 90’s Resi atmosphere and Resident Evil 4’s mechanics.
Yet the shift into a more action-orientated game that happened to feature monsters, that started with Resident Evil 4, became obnoxious at this point and Resident Evil 6 ended up a lopsided, bloated shadow of what the series once was.
18. Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004) PS2
While Resident Evil did go through a stage of playing ‘Me Too’ to popular gaming trends in the later years, there was a time when the series would delve into fresh ideas.
The online-based Outbreak games were fine examples of this. Coming at a time when internet gaming, especially on a console, was a thing of luxury.
Even when Outbreak File #2 came along, the world at large just wasn’t ready for this online co-operative survival horror, and both it and its predecessor are not remembered in quite the way they should be.
Anyway, more on that later. Outbreak File #2 is slightly weaker than the original game, but it does have zombified zoo animals.
17. Resident Evil Outbreak (2003) PS2
Resident Evil Outbreak was miles ahead of its time. It created the delectable balance of trust and paranoia that you’ll find housed in many examples zombie-themed media.
You and a group of other sods lucky enough to have internet doodads for the PS2 and live in the correct country were caught in Raccoon City’s viral outbreak and need to work together to escape certain death by a rather large bomb.
Should you fall by fair means or foul, you could come back as a member of team undead, and getting delicious revenge on a lousy former teammate is on the menu.
Outbreak is one of those last few Resident Evil games that really should get a remake or remaster. Unfortunately, the closest we get to multiplayer Resi now is Umbrella Corps.
16. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (2009) Wii, PS3
The Darkside Chronicles continues the on-rails shooter series with a mix of retellings of old stories and some interesting expansions of them.
It’s a largely Leon-focused game, with a sort of prequel to Resident Evil 4’s story concerning the partnership of Jack Krauser and Leon, and in between, there are abridged on-rails versions of Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica.
It’s an okay light gun-style game that is worth a look thanks to its mix of nostalgia and lore-building.
17. Resident Evil 3 Remake (2020) Multi
The low ranking for Resident Evil 3 Remake doesn’t dismiss what it does well. It has moments of intensity that are a match for the original, and it’s a punchy action romp. It doesn’t do much justice to its source, however.
Nemesis is relegated to a set-piece machine after a short while, key sections and enemy types are missing, and even by Resident Evil standards, it’s a very short game.
Worth a blast for a badass reimagining of series stalwart Jill Valentine, but not the most nourishing big-budget Resi.
14. Resident Evil 5 (2009) Multi-Format
Resident Evil 5 can be viewed as a perfectly acceptable action game with some impressive co-op action. As a Resident Evil game though? It takes a few too many of the wrong lessons from Resident Evil 4’s success.
It also somehow takes the nonsense factor up a notch. The final battle between Chris Redfield and long-time nemesis Albert Wesker is equal parts amazing and absurd as the pair fight on a volcano, and Chris famously punches a boulder (that’s Chris, the human man, not Wesker, the guy with superhuman strength, punching a boulder).
Resident Evil 5 is an action game first and a horror game second. This led many to be disappointed by the switch in priorities, but it’s fair to say it does a does occasionally tickle the belly of horror in a satisfying manner. A big plus to the return of the Lickers. Made all the more terrifying with a fresh coat of graphical paint.
13. Resident Evil Revelations 2 (2015) Multi-Format
Resident Evil goes episodic! Revelations 2 gave us the gift of a playable Barry Burton and the debut of his potty-mouthed daughter Moira in a five-part story that also sees the long-awaited return of Claire Redfield.
It’s a bit rough around the edges compared to other modern third-person Resi’s, but it is closer to the spirit of Resident Evil than most of those. Also, Mercenaries Mode returns and is still a good time!
12. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007) Wii, PS3
And lo, there was actually a pretty good light gun shooter in the Resident Evil series, and its name was The Umbrella Chronicles.
This time we had none other than the deliciously evil Albert Wesker narrate the hand Umbrella had in the events of several core Resi games (Zero, Remake, and Nemesis among them) as you got to play as nine characters from them in another on-rails effort.
While there is also an original scenario to cap this anthology off, the fascinating stuff is in the revisits to old haunts as you gain a new perspective on familiar stories.
It was very much at its best on the Nintendo Wii, but it did make its way to PS3 packaged with Darkside Chronicles.
11. Resident Evil Zero (2002) Multi
Or ‘Resident Evil: What’s Rebecca Chambers up to?’ Before the series shifted to Resident Evil 4’s style, we got a second slice of the Resident Evil Remake engine with this novel, if frustrating, prequel to Remake.
In Resident Evil Zero, Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen investigate an abandoned Umbrella training facility and to nobody’s surprise, it’s just crawling with nightmares.
The novel hook for Zero is that you could switch between its two protagonists at any point and inventory items could be dropped on the floor to be switched between the two or to come back to later.
This proved to be a bone of contention for many fans, with the difficulty ramped up by some needless backtracking (which is saying something for a series rife with backtracking). Despite that, a wholly original Resident Evil in that Remake engine? Getting a glimpse at events before the series began? Unlocking an Albert Wesker campaign after completion? That makes Resident Evil Zero worth investigating.
The Top 10 Resident Evil Games can be found here.
Due to a complex series of anthropological mishaps, the Wayans Brothers are a huge deal in Brazil. Around these parts, White Chicks is considered a national treasure by a lot of people, so it stands to reason that Brazilian audiences would continue to accompany the Wayans’ comedic output long after North America had stopped taking them seriously as comedic titans.
This is the only reason why I originally watched Michael Tiddes and Marlon Wayans’ 2013 horror spoof A Haunted House – appropriately known as “Paranormal Inactivity” in South America – despite having abandoned this kind of movie shortly after the excellent Scary Movie 3. However, to my complete and utter amazement, I found myself mostly enjoying this unhinged parody of Found Footage films almost as much as the iconic spoofs that spear-headed the genre during the 2000s. And with Paramount having recently announced a reboot of the Scary Movie franchise, I think this is the perfect time to revisit the divisive humor of A Haunted House and maybe figure out why this kind of film hasn’t been popular in a long time.
Before we had memes and internet personalities to make fun of movie tropes for free on the internet, parody movies had been entertaining audiences with meta-humor since the very dawn of cinema. And since the genre attracted large audiences without the need for a serious budget, it made sense for studios to encourage parodies of their own productions – which is precisely what happened with Miramax when they commissioned a parody of the Scream franchise, the original Scary Movie.
The unprecedented success of the spoof (especially overseas) led to a series of sequels, spin-offs and rip-offs that came along throughout the 2000s. While some of these were still quite funny (I have a soft spot for 2008’s Superhero Movie), they ended up flooding the market much like the Guitar Hero games that plagued video game stores during that same timeframe.
You could really confuse someone by editing this scene into Paranormal Activity.
Of course, that didn’t stop Tiddes and Marlon Wayans from wanting to make another spoof meant to lampoon a sub-genre that had been mostly overlooked by the Scary Movie series – namely the second wave of Found Footage films inspired by Paranormal Activity. Wayans actually had an easier time than usual funding the picture due to the project’s Found Footage presentation, with the format allowing for a lower budget without compromising box office appeal.
In the finished film, we’re presented with supposedly real footage recovered from the home of Malcom Johnson (Wayans). The recordings themselves depict a series of unexplainable events that begin to plague his home when Kisha Davis (Essence Atkins) decides to move in, with the couple slowly realizing that the difficulties of a shared life are no match for demonic shenanigans.
In practice, this means that viewers are subjected to a series of familiar scares subverted by wacky hijinks, with the flick featuring everything from a humorous recreation of the iconic fan-camera from Paranormal Activity 3 to bizarre dance numbers replacing Katy’s late-night trances from Oren Peli’s original movie.
Your enjoyment of these antics will obviously depend on how accepting you are of Wayans’ patented brand of crass comedy. From advanced potty humor to some exaggerated racial commentary – including a clever moment where Malcom actually attempts to move out of the titular haunted house because he’s not white enough to deal with the haunting – it’s not all that surprising that the flick wound up with a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes despite making a killing at the box office.
However, while this isn’t my preferred kind of humor, I think the inherent limitations of Found Footage ended up curtailing the usual excesses present in this kind of parody, with the filmmakers being forced to focus on character-based comedy and a smaller scale story. This is why I mostly appreciate the love-hate rapport between Kisha and Malcom even if it wouldn’t translate to a healthy relationship in real life.
Of course, the jokes themselves can also be pretty entertaining on their own, with cartoony gags like the ghost getting high with the protagonists (complete with smoke-filled invisible lungs) and a series of silly The Exorcist homages towards the end of the movie. The major issue here is that these legitimately funny and genre-specific jokes are often accompanied by repetitive attempts at low-brow humor that you could find in any other cheap comedy.
Not a good idea.
Not only are some of these painfully drawn out “jokes” incredibly unfunny, but they can also be remarkably offensive in some cases. There are some pretty insensitive allusions to sexual assault here, as well as a collection of secondary characters defined by negative racial stereotypes (even though I chuckled heartily when the Latina maid was revealed to have been faking her poor English the entire time).
Cinephiles often claim that increasingly sloppy writing led to audiences giving up on spoof movies, but the fact is that many of the more beloved examples of the genre contain some of the same issues as later films like A Haunted House – it’s just that we as an audience have (mostly) grown up and are now demanding more from our comedy. However, this isn’t the case everywhere, as – much like the Elves from Lord of the Rings – spoof movies never really died, they simply diminished.
A Haunted House made so much money that they immediately started working on a second one that released the following year (to even worse reviews), and the same team would later collaborate once again on yet another spoof, 50 Shades of Black. This kind of film clearly still exists and still makes a lot of money (especially here in Brazil), they just don’t have the same cultural impact that they used to in a pre-social-media-humor world.
At the end of the day, A Haunted House is no comedic masterpiece, failing to live up to the laugh-out-loud thrills of films like Scary Movie 3, but it’s also not the trainwreck that most critics made it out to be back in 2013. Comedy is extremely subjective, and while the raunchy humor behind this flick definitely isn’t for everyone, I still think that this satirical romp is mostly harmless fun that might entertain Found Footage fans that don’t take themselves too seriously.
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