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Because the lockdown still isn't over and I'm getting more bored every day I decided to play every numbered Resident Evil game in order. Nothing better than a game about a virus turning people into zombies when there is a global pandemic going on in the real world that never seems to stop. I thought it woud be interesting to see every game because of how different they all seem to be. The games I finished before are RE2 remake, RE4 and RE7 and they could have all been games different franchises and I wouldn't have noticed. It's also a series in which the difference in quality is huge, so I was also interested in it's low points.
I played the ps4 versions for all games, since those are easiest to get and from what i've read those are the best versions of the games. It took me 3 weeks to finish these games.
Resident Evil (HD Remastered)
I was afraid I wouldn't like this game before I started it. I once bought it on the ps store on sale and played it for half an hour, in which I thought the controls and camera angles were annoying and I got stuck because I had too many items before reaching the first storage box, so I couldn't pick up the keys to go on. After that I quit playing. So I was a bit biased before playing it, but it turns out my first opinions on the game where completely wrong. I absolutely loved this game. This is the only game in the series where it actually feels like the whole game is set in one place and you're always one shortcut away from getting to the main mansion. I found myself completely absorbed by the atmosphere of RE1. The layout of the mansion makes it so that there are always multiple ways to go to where you need to go and I found myself memorizing the location of every zombie to plan the most effectives routes trough the mansion and the mechanic of burning zombies to get rid of them played in to that really well. The best moments were when I had a false sense of security in a hallway and suddenly the game threw an enemy at me which caught me off guard or a new type of enemy came was introduced for which in needed to learn an effective way of taking it down.
While the atmosphere aged like a fine wine and the game feels pretty scary for a remaster of a 25 year old game, the controls didn't age quite as well. I played with the modern controls, because I can't stand tank controls, but it felt very weird whenever the camera angles changed, especially in tensed situations. There were moments where I was being chased by hunters and Chris suddenly decided to turn around when the camera angles switched, which lead to my dead. I also felt like half of the time I aimed I had no influence over wether or not the shot would actually hit the target.
Besides those flaws, I can recommend RE1 to everybody that hasn't played it yet and likes the atmosphere of the RE2 remake or RE7. I hope Capcom will do a remake in the RE2 style for RE1 one day.
Resident Evil 2 remake
I think the RE 2 remake is an amazing game that falls apart in the second half a bit. The part in the police station is one of the highest points in the RE series. Everything in the police station is just dripping with atmosphere. I found myself being sucked in to the game because of the constant tension and the interconnectivity of the police station. The game is also just so damn pretty, which also adds to the great atmosphere. Just like in RE1 I was planning my way through the police station and finding the safest routes between save room. The moment you don't feel afraid anymore, RE2 brings out Mister X. He follows you around the police station so you never feel safe anywhere, which is a great idea on paper, but I've got a bit of a love/hate relationship with Mister X. When it works, it works really well. Those moments when you're in a room and hear those loud footsteps and feel like you have to figure out where he's coming from are a great addition to the tense atmosphere of the game. But there are also a lot of moments when you need to go somewhere, but X is in your way, so you just have to run around a bit to get him away from the place you need to go. At these moments he's more annoying than scary.
And then there is the second half of the game, which I think is nowhere near as good as the first. The sewers are a pain to navigate, because everything looks the same and it is not laid out very intuitively. So even when looking at the map I didn't know where to go to reach the places I wanted to be. The last part in the lab is maybe a bit better than the sewers, but its main problem is that it's very linear and action focused, which isn't bad, but not as good as the scarier parts of the police station.
RE2's story is kinda like a bad movie and I like it, because it makes me laugh and the story doesn't interfere with gameplay too much. Something funny thing I started noticing in RE2 and that would go on for the rest of the series is how quickly the characters bond. Characters who have had small talk with each other in 1 or 2 scenes are suddenly willing to offer their life for each other. RE characters are like the types of people who say that they're in love within 5 minutes of their first date.
Overall I think the good parts of RE2 outweigh the parts that weren't as good. The whole game is enjoyable, but the first half is just a lot better than the second.
Resident Evil 3 Remake
Remember in high school when you forgot you had to give a presentation, so you just start talking nonsense and stretch out every sentence, but you're still done in 5 minutes so in the end it's way too short and you didn't say anything relevant? That's the RE3 remake. Overall it is an enjoyable game, but it's feels like it was made to be a 3 hour DLC for the RE2 remake, but it's stretched out to 5 hours to be sold as a stand alone game. Nothing you do in the game feels like there is any relevance to it. as an example: after starting up the subway, you return to the station, but you're chased by Nemesis. So you go trough the sewers to get Nemesis away from the trains. This part takes about 45/60 minutes and ends with the first Nemesis boss fight, but once you finally get in the train after this, Nemesis comes to take down the train anyways. So a whole hour of a 5 hour game could have been taken out, and nothing would have changed. The game is full of these kind of things and now that I think about it, if Jill would have left Racoon City after the intro, nothing significant would have changed in the story.
Gameplay wise it's a more action focussed RE2. The action set pieces are enjoyable, but overall the game just falls in a grey area where it's too action focussed to have RE2's atmosphere, but the action set pieces are nowhere as fun as RE4's set pieces. I would recommend this game if you can get it for cheap and want to play a game you can finish in one or two evenings.
Resident evil 4
Holy shit, this game is good. Maybe one of my favorite games of all time. I played RE4 for the first time only 3 months ago and I was never bored when playing it again after such a short time. RE4 gets rid of the horror focus and replaced it with an all out action focus and a revolutionary over the shoulder camera, which would be used by every 3rd person shooter after that. The reason this action focus works so well is because of the great pacing and just how much fun all of the set pieces are. It seems to know exactly how to have over the top set piece after over the top set piece, drop the pace down for a second when necessary and then crank the pace back up to 100 within seconds. The game feels almost nintendo-like in that it feels like it tries to squeeze everything out of its mechanics, constantly surprises you and never seems to repeat itself. Despite the action focus, RE4 still manages to have a great atmosphere. It also manages to still be kinda scary at points when you see the hordes of villagers slowly creeping towards you and you don't know if you should shoot or run. I do feel like some of the bosses haven't aged as well, especially the ones with one-shot moves or moves that seem impossible to dodge, but most of these moments are instantly forgotten when the next insane set piece arrives.
And if your game is such an action focussed game with the pacing of a rollercoaster, why not have one of the main villains be midget Napoleon? that's the approach RE4 takes in its story and it results in the most enjoyable story in the Resident Evil series. I also love Leon in RE4. He's gone from the awkward cop to a supercop that's like James Bond, but with a much lower iq. the way he talks in cliché oneliners, flirts with every woman he sees and is to cool to climb of ladders, so only jumps of them instead makes him the best character in the RE series.
If you for some reason haven't played this one yet (like me a few months ago), go and play it right now.
Resident Evil 5
RE5 is what you get when you take RE4, but leave out the good pacing, atmosphere, charm and set pieces that are fun to play. What you get is a very mediocre game. It's RE4 being remade by people who didn't seem to know what made RE4 such a good game. That isn't even the biggest reason why I absolutely hated to play this game. The whole game is focussed around playing co-op. Unfortunately I couldn't convince any of my friends or family to play a 12 year old mediocre game with me, so I was stuck with playing this single player. Playing RE5 single player changes the game into Babysitting Simulator 5. The AI partner is so ridiculously stupid it makes the game unplayable. There were moments where I literally had 20 game-overs in a row, because the game forced me to split up with the AI partner and she kept walking into 1-shotting enemies (which RE5 loves to constantly spawn). Besides the awful AI, the game doesn't have a lot of redeemable factors. For some reason every non-standard enemy in the game is ridiculously tanky, so the most effective technique to deal with most areas is to just run past everything and then pray that your AI partner makes it trough without getting stuck behind a door. Remember when I said that one of RE4's strengths was that it never seems to repeat itself? Well, that's another thing RE5 has thrown out the window. RE5's thinks variety is just spawning more enemies in one room. It never seems to put an interesting twist on things that is actually fun. The games lowest point was when it started spawning zombies with guns an asked me to take cover. I didn't know wether to laugh or cry. The game just seems to want to be Gears of War.
I think I can write a 200 page book on everything I hate about this game if I wanted to. From the awful story (Why is Jill Valentine suddenly blonde?) to the ugly graphics (Why is everything in this game piss-yellow?), I think I hate everything about this game.
Resident Evil 6
Is RE6 an actually good game? No, it's not. Is RE6 fun to play? yes, it kinda is. Maybe it's because I had such a bad time with RE5, but i found myself enjoying the over the top action of RE6. This game is like watching a bad action movie. My favorite thing is the new melee system. Giving zombies roundhouse kicks in their face just looks very funny. The main problem with RE6 is that it's just too long. If this was an 8 hour over the top action game, it might be pretty good, but it's all stretched out to 4 campaigns that are 6 hours each. I managed to finish the Leon campaign and played a small part of Chris's campaign, but just got too bored with the game to continue play it.
Something I can't figure out is if RE6 takes itself seriously or not. It almost seems like the perfect parody on action games of the ps3 era. Every explosion is like an atomic bomb is going off, everything anybody says is a cliché and the ways you go from location to location seems a bit too ridiculous (of course that plane you're to China with is going to crash). But somehow the game seems to be serious with most of it. It feels like half of Capcom is in on the joke and the other half isn't.
I can recommend RE6 if you can get it for very cheap and if you want to see a perfect parody of ps3 era action games (wether they intended it as a parody or not).
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
This is how you do a comeback! When making RE7 they looked at what made the first RE games good and what makes modern horror games like PT and Outlast good and combine that into a great modern horror Resident Evil. Definitely in the first few hours it's the perfect linear horror game. I played the game the first time when it came out in 2017. I still remembered every single thing that happened in the intro and the main house. In the past 4 years I've played a lot of games. Most of them I forget after a few weeks, so the fact that I remembered every single thing shows how memorable these first few hours are. The game manages to be terrifying with its great atmosphere. In both the visual and the sound department the game does an amazing job of making these old houses feel truly scary. It's also the first of the 'serious' RE stories I felt engaged in and the dialogue with the Baker family is very well written.
The game does have a few flaws though. The second half of the game has more of an action focus, which doesn't fit the game as well. Mostly because the game has only 1 type of enemy and a smaller version of that enemy. When you feel the game is building up to something scary and it turns out to be one of these guy my reaction is "thank god, it's just one of those", which is not a very good sign. The enemies are also a bit too tanky, so running past them feels more effective than fighting them. Also, the later areas in the ship and the caves just aren't as interesting as the house area.
These flaws are never too big of an issue and I think RE7 is one of the best horror games of this generation, so I can definitely recommend it.
Conclusion
Playing every game in a series was really fun. It's interesting to see how much these games varied in both quality and style of game. I would rank the games in the Resident Evil games in the following order from worst to best.
Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 6
Resident Evil 3 Remake
Resident evil 2 Remake
Resident evil 1
Resident evil 7
Resident evil 4
I'm probably gonna do a full series playthrough more often, since it was pretty fun to see the evolution of a series. I'm thinking about doing Metal Gear Solid next. If people liked reading this, maybe I'll write about that too.
Edit: A lot of people are saying I should have played the original RE2 and 3, code veronica and zero. The reason I didn't do those is because of both time and money. RE2 and 3 on ps1 aren't as easy to get as the remakes, which I could borrow from friends. Also, I wanted to keep the amount of games manageable, so if I was going to add more games to the list, I was afraid I wouldn't be to finish the series. I might play these games another time though, because people seem to be pretty positive about them.
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where is code veronica bro?
ID: gq608juID: gq5dqtgI was thinking about playing it, but 7 games is already a lot, so I was afraid that if i would put more games on the list it would be a bit to much. Might play it later though
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RE6 is such a blast to play. There's zero sense of pacing and it's crammed full of half baked ideas that are barely implemented. There's a Dark Souls style invasion system, but you go into someone else's game as a regular trash enemy and the controls are abysmal. Every character has a unique weapon but Jake has a stupidly God Hand style melee+dodging system, which is cool but none of the enemies and levels are designed for it.
Best coop game, even over RE5
ID: gq5nqt5I played RE6 in a co-op setup too. I probably would have thought it was shit as a single player. it really is a mess of a game but recall enjoying it a lot which is why i find it odd that so many people hated the shit out of it.. but I can see why, it wasnt really GOOD, but it was fun.
ID: gq6it4rI managed to play RE5 and RE6 with the same friend. Once you suspend your disbelief, just take them at face value, they're both a lot of fun. They are B-movies distilled into game form.
We played 6 on the second highest difficulty, and still had plenty of deaths to deal with. But on Normal, I would agree that Jake's melee is preposterous. It's the equivalent of a B-movie that lacked a special effects budget, and so the fight scenes are over in one punch.
Another highlight was the quickshot mechanic. Helena's ballet shotgun and Piers' sniper rifle created quite a few hilarious visuals.
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Great reviews, well done for seeing it through! Please do Metal Gear as well.
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I played through the og resident evil on my non-hacked ps classic a few months ago. Still as fun as it always was. I think it really holds up, but I’m sure that younger folk who aren’t used to the graphics/controls may think differently
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Unfortunately I couldn't convince any of my friends or family to play a 12 year old mediocre game with me
This made me laugh out loud.
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Re1 remake, Code Veronica and 4 are my favs. I do understand the tank control criticism, but I feel that this setup added a lot of tension to old school re. Re1 was one of the reasons I bought a GameCube back in the day. It did everything I wanted from an re1 remake, hands down one of the most atmospheric of the lot, and arguably the most iconic place (the mansion) alongside 2 and 3s police station.
I was really impressed with 2 remake, but really disappointed with the 3 one (only remake in the series I find worse than the og).
Code Veronica is just great, a shame you skipped it, and part of me would have liked to see more in that style. That said, re4 really knocked it out of the park. That game man... It's just all around fantastic.
I totally agree with you for 5 and 6, they were big disappointments to me. Capcom really misunderstood what made 4 so great with those, and it lost me as a fan there. I really need to play 7 now, been hanging in my backlog for ages.
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I enjoyed reading this and would really like to read something similar on MGS. Of those, which have you finished and which have you not finished?
ID: gq6vvfsThe only one I finished is MGS 2. I do own all of them, but never really got around to playing them. I did play 5 a lot, but didn’t finish it
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Although you made a fine effort, there is:
No Zero or Code: Veronica X.
Didn't play 5 in co-op aka the way it was meant to be played. Probably didn't play 6 in co-op.
Didn't play the original RE2 or RE3.
Each RE game in the survival horror genre is a classic. 4, 5, & 6 are equally as awesome, for different reasons. Every third person shooter since 4 has basically copied it, 5 & 6 are probably the best co-op games ever made. 6 is completely rediculous - and that's why it is so good. This series has managed to stay fresh because it always makes changes to the formula, resulting in an original experience each time.
I normally wouldn't give a crap but this is like the only series I care about.
ID: gq6uuymI agree with the 5/6 being designed for co-op games. Man did I love mercenaries mode in re5. So many hours playing that online and getting S ranked on all difficulties.
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Great reviews, though you’re missing out by not playing Resident Evil Revelations. It’s a pretty cool game, definitely better than 5 and 6.
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Thanks for your long writeup. RE1 and RE2 are a couple of my defining gaming experiences on the PS1. At that point survival horror was at its beginning and those games terrified me, even as a 22 year old adult. I played some of RE3 as well but I sold my PS1 to switch over to PC and didn't play any others till RE7, which I LOVED. And the highest compliment I can give to the RE2 remake is that it gave me the same feeling that RE2 did back then. Really kinda hyped for RE8!
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I just finished my playthrough as well and i would agree with most of what you said.
I gave up on RE5 after a few hours because of the AI partner that would just spend all my ammo and after i tried RE6 and finished leon campaign and 2 chapters from chris and ada after i gave up on the game as well..
For me the top5 games in the series are
Resident evil 7 Resident evil 2 remake Resident evil 3 remake Resident evil revelations Resident evil revelations 2I would recommend you to try out revelations games, i liked them a lot more than 5&6. RE4 would be nr.6
ID: gq6q5xcFinally someone who mentions revelations! I played the first revelations and quite liked it even on 3ds lol
ID: gq766hqDon’t give Sheva your ammo that you intend to use
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I recommend playing the ORIGINAL RE1 on PlayStation emulation on a computer. (My 2009 computer runs it perfectly.)
The HD remake looks too gothic and “dark”. The original was actually brightly lit and had more of a charming B-movie quality. It’s brilliant.
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Great analysis, I think the thing with RE1 and the controls is it was created for tank controls. It’s my favourite RE so I’m biased and being used to a type of control isn’t an excuse to say they aren’t outdated but if you play the whole game with them they become really intuitive IMO.
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Your threat is making me consider start playing entire series and not just games I'm feeling forced to play cause they are objectively good. Thanks for your review
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Anyone looking to play or replay RE4 on PC I highly recommend the RE4 HD Project to upgrade the textures. The current version available (from 2018) doesn't have everything done, but it has enough to give the game a much needed face-lift. They're getting close to releasing the final version if you can wait, but if not I played the 2018 version a few years ago and it was great.
I guess I should give RE6 another try. I gave up really early (I was getting frustrated just walking around the tables at the start of the game, maybe I was just having a bad day).
I loved RE7 and I wish they'd bring VR mode to the PC, I'd replay it in a heartbeat.
I played through the RE2 remake last year and had a blast. I was saddened to hear what everyone was saying about the RE3 remake and haven't gotten it yet.
I haven't played the RE1 remaster since the GameCube days but I remember enjoying it.
Anyone looking to scratch that RE itch (sort of) look up the RE maps for Left 4 Dead 2. They are well done (mostly, some bugs here and there) and fun if you can find a good team.
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Who plays RE5 without another person?
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You definitely need to visit the original RE3 and RE3. I get you dont like the tank controls, but they layouts and pieces are very different to the remakes. I’m glad we have another RE fan 🙂
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I would put zero ahead of 5 & 6. It's been a while but I liked the old school feel to zero. 5 was ok, I hated 6. Single or Co-op I couldn't stand it.
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I have such a dramatically different view of this series than others I think.
Resident Evil 6
Resident Evil 0 (good enough game, just not my favorite).
Resident Evil 5 (I actually really like this game)
Resident Evil 4 (I actually don’t really like this game)
Resident Evil Code Veronica (this game is great, never felt bored, and I usually felt challenged)
Resident Evil 3 remake (OG was way better, still really like it)
Resident Evil 7 (First house is amazing, old house is great, after Marguerite it starts to slip more than other games IMO)
Resident evil 2 remake
Resident evil remake is genuinely the greatest in my eyes, to me it is what resident evil games are.
If I factor in the originals, shift everything below 7 down 3 spaces, top 5 becomes RE1, RE2R, RE2, RE3, RE1R
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You mileage has obviously varied, but RE5 and RE6 are a blast with a couch co-op friend.
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I feel like you gotta play OG RE2 and 3 if you're going to claim to have played all the mainline titles. I mean the RE1 HD remaster is really close to the original but 2 and 3 are substantially different. I'm confident that you would get used to the tank controls after a short while. Then you don't have the issue of the camera switching and messing up your direction.
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I’m not sure why but after playing RE remake first which became one of my fav games ever.. I didnt enjoy the remake of 1 at all. Maybe I should give it another try sometimes but I didnt like it at all for some reason. Loved 4 as well, but I can’t really remmeber 7 as much..
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Good review! I was thinking of playing through RE series myself. I think I will do just that as soon as I get my hands on PS4 again.
You will surely have fun with Metal Gear Solid series, I know I have. I played through the first Metal Gear Solid about 3 times and it is one of my favorite games.
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I love Resident Evil 5 and have got the platinum on ps3 and ps4. Daylight horror vibes are unsettling and the locales are so different from the rest of the series. Chris’ character arc was cool and I love Wesker in this one as he’s so quotable. I’ve played the fuck out of that game. Maybe a lot of the horror has been overpowered by action and set pieces but it’s a fun solid AAA game. I still think it’s perfectly fine to play single (Sheva can get killed easily on Veteran mode but by then I have infinite ammo for the rocket launcher/ Wesker magnum etc and I’m unstoppable... apart from El Gigante).
For 6 my friend and I are going through Chris’ campaign and there is fun to be had but solo Leon and Jake sucked ass for me personally.
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Cool write up, but if you didn’t play the originals you can’t say you played all the mainline games.
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where is code veronica bro?
And where is zero