The highest-grossing horror franchise by Capcom created by Shinji Mikami and Tokuro Fujiwara is all set with a new addition to the franchise by March this year. With over 10 core gameplay and 60 total Resident Evil games including spinoffs, remakes, and mobile and pachinko games, Capcom has gained insane popularity converting the first debut in 1996 to a successful multimedia franchise. As of now, Resident evil owns many mobile and console games, movies, series, novels, comics, and stage plays.
After all these years of success with Resident Evil games, it can be said with no doubt that they are the best survival horror-based games and no one till today has managed to beat them. The popularized franchise has bought you so many games for you to play but have you ever wondered how to play these games in order? After all, this is a story-based game, and one must understand the story plot or have knowledge about it to make certain right choices and take out the most of it.
The main story of Resident Evil games is about an international pharmaceutical company named Umbrella Corporation which developed deadly viruses for their bio-organic weapons which turn normal human beings into terrific zombies and other living creatures into horrific monstrosities to control Raccoon City. The special tactics, elite police task force, and Rescue service are into finding the truth behind this apocalypse by solving mysteries, puzzles, and fighting with deadly zombies throughout the series.
The characters include Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Albert Wesker, Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Ada Wong, and Ethan Winters. During the investigation, many get trapped in the infected mansion and many face several adversaries. A separate viral outbreak also takes place in the Umbrella Research facility putting all their lives in danger.
Resident Evil games can be played in two different approaches which are mainly followed by most players. You can either play it in chronological order or according to their release dates. Playing in chronological order will help you to understand the story of the Resident Evil games as the events are linked with other games whereas playing according to the release date will get you to experience the change in graphics and gameplay over the years.
For your better understanding and preference, we have pinned down both ways of playing Resident Evil games.
List of Resident Evil games
In the release date order
Below is the list of Resident Evil games in their release date order. All the Resident Evil games are included in this list.
- Resident Evil (1996)
- Resident Evil 2 (1998)
- Resident Evil 3 Nemesis (1999)
- Resident Evil Survivor (2000)
- Resident Evil: Code Veronica (2000)
- Resident Evil Survivor 2 (2001)
- Resident Evil Gaiden (2001)
- Resident Evil Remake (2002)
- Resident Evil 0 (2002)
- Resident Evil: Dead Aim (2003)
- Resident Evil outbreak (2003)
- Resident Evil 4 (2005)
- Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007)
- Resident Evil 5 (2009)
- Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (2009)
- Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (2011)
- Resident Evil: Revelations (2012)
- Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City (2012)
- Resident Evil 6 (2012)
- Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (2015)
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017)
- Resident Evil 2 remake (2019)
- Resident Evil 3 Remake (2020)
- Resident Evil Resistance (2020)
- Resident Evil Village (2021)
- Resident Evil Re: Verse (2022)
- Shadow of Rose DLC (2022)
- Resident Evil 4 Remake (2023)
In chronological order
While playing a story-based game it is important to understand the story. Playing a story-based game without understanding the story plot just makes no sense. Here is the list of Resident Evil games in chronological order.
- Resident Evil 0
- Resident Evil
- Resident Evil 2
- Resident Evil 3
- Resident Evil Survivor (for PS2 & PC only)
- Resident Evil: Code Veronica
- Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Wii & PS3 only)
- Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Wii & PS3 only)
- Resident Evil 4
- Resident Evil Revelations
- Resident Evil 5
- Resident Evil Revelations 2
- Resident Evil 6
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- Resident Evil Village
The Resident Evil games in the lists are described below. A brief description of their storyline along with the gameplay type of the games is given below. If you are new to the Resident Evil franchise, you may get some spoilers. Be careful.
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Resident Evil 0
Resident Evil 0 was released in 2002 after several other games but when talking about the Resident Evil games storyline, the initial events take place in Resident Evil 0. It is the prequel to the 1996 game covering the ordeals experienced by the special police unit, the S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team in the Arklay Mountains. The story follows officer Rebecca Chambers and convict Billy Coen while they explore the abandoned training facility for the employees of the Umbrella, a pharmaceutical company, and uncover valuable information about the villains Albert Wesker and William Birkin.
You can switch characters in this single-player game to use unique abilities and solve puzzles. This game supports platforms like GameCube, Wii, Microsoft Windows, PlayStaion3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Resident Evil
It is the first game in the Resident Evil game series. The story revolves around Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, the members of the police special unit, who try to escape a zombie-infected mansion. Players can play as these characters to unfold the mystery of the outbreak by collecting various documents and solving mysterious puzzles in the mansion. Its sequel, Resident Evil 2 was released in 1998. This game is available on PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Sega Saturn, and Nintendo DS.
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2 is a sequel to Resident Evil (1996). This survival-based horror game was released in 1998. The storyline continues with this sequel. The gameplay of this game mainly focuses on exploring the mansion and uncovering the mysteries while combating. The main difference is that the players have their unique storylines and special abilities.
This game is the best-selling Resident Evil game for a single platform, selling more than 6 million copies worldwide. The game is available on PlayStation, Windows, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, GameCube, and Game.com. A remake of this game was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows in 2019.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
The third game in the Resident Evil series and a prequel to its remake version (2020) is a spin-off featuring a different protagonist. Players control the former elite agent Jill Valentine as she escapes from a virus-infected city. The choices made in this game decide the type of ending. It features a creature named Nemesis, the villain, which pursues the character throughout the game.
The game is available on PlayStation, Windows, Dreamcast, and GameCube.
Resident Evil Survivor (for PS2 & PC only)
Unlike other Resident Evil games in this franchise, this is a first-person light gun shooter game. It is a spin-off of the game series. The player takes control of the protagonist struggling against the odds and fighting the enemies to stay alive. The game borrows its enemies from Resident Evil 2, featuring zombies.
The player views the environment from the first perspective and controls the player using a controller. At the time of the attack, the player must press a button to control the crosshair on the screen. The crosshair can be moved to any location within the main character’s line of sight.
Resident Evil: Code Veronica
This game is the fourth main version in the Resident Evil games series. The story of this game takes place three months after the Resident Evil 2 events and the destruction of Racoon City in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. The story is about the characters, Claire Redfield and her brother, Chris Redfield who try to survive a virus outbreak on a remote prison island.
This game made its first debut on a separate platform from PlayStation. Real-time 3D environments and dynamic camera movement were the talks of the game.
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Wii & PS3 only)
This 2009 game is a prequel to Resident Evil 4 and the events in this are set 2 years before the prequel. The story follows the stories of two characters, Leon S. Kennedy, and Jack Krauser. They try to unveil the secrets of the Umbrella corporation as they are behind the T-Virus outbreak.
The gameplay is all about shooting and fighting with enemies and solving puzzles to uncover the mysteries of the corporation. This has a co-op mode in which two players can play together.
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Wii & PS3 only)
This game was released in 2007 and was followed by the Darkside Chronicles. The main character, Albert Wesker exposes the Umbrella Corporation and their dark secrets. Albert Wesker was a former scientist of this corporation who had hidden their secret documents to expose their dirty work.
This game is an on-rail shooter game that supports both single and multiplayer and is available on Wii (the initial release platform) and PlayStation.
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4 is a third-person shooter video game that was released on GameCube in 2005. Players control Leon S. Kennedy, a U.S. government special agent who is on a mission to rescue Ashley Graham, the daughter of the U.S. president as she was kidnapped by a cult. She also reunites with the former spy, Ada Wong while fighting virus-infected enemies.
This game gained immense popularity and is often named as one of the best video games ever made. It has also won several Game of the Year awards for its story, gameplay, characters, graphics, and voice acting.
A remake for this version is all set to release in 2023 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox series X/S, and Windows.
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Resident Evil Revelations
Resident Evil Revelation features Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield the counter-terrorism agents who try to uncover the truth about a bioterrorist organization as they plan to infect the Earth’s oceans with a virus. The single-player mode of the game involves solving puzzles and mysteries and defeating enemies. The multiplayer mode involves fighting with enemies with the single-player scenarios that the players have created. This 2012 game is a sequel to its second part (2015). It has been nominated for many awards for its positive critic reviews.
Resident Evil 5
This game is one of the major installments of all Resident Evil games. The story involves an investigation of a terrorist threat by Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar who are the agents of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance. This game has cooperative gameplay which is different from other Resident Evil games. It was released in 2009 for PlayStation 3, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows. Later it was released for other platforms as well. Its sequel, Resident Evil 6 was released in 2012.
Resident Evil Revelations 2
This game is a follow-up to Resident Evil: Revelations and Resident Evil 5. This game has a new playable character, Barry Burton, and the former protagonist Claire Redfield as they face an attack from unknown assassins and are taken away to a deserted island in the Baltic Sea. It features a raid mode and over 200 missions and 15 characters. It was released for Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PlayStation Vita in 2015. It was also released for Nintendo Switch in 2017.
Resident Evil 6
The Resident Evil 6 is a major installment in the franchise. Players control multiple characters, Leon S. Kennedy, Chris Redfield, Jake Muller, and Ada Wong. These characters confront the force behind the worldwide bio-terrorist attack. The story plot is about their interwoven campaigns which have their unique style. It is a third-person shooter game that features both single and multiplayer modes. It was initially released in 2012 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is also available on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
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Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Resident Evil7: Biohazard is a 2012 survival horror game. The main protagonist of the story is Ethan Winters, whom the players can control, who is in search of his missing wife in the infected area by solving puzzles and fighting enemies. The gameplay focuses on exploration and horror rather than action. This game uses a first-person view. It is available on many platforms including PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Stadia, and Xbox Series X/S. A sequel of this game, Resident Evil Village was released in 2021.
Resident Evil Village
This game is a sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017). The story of Ethan Winters continues in this sequel as he searches for his missing daughter who was kidnapped in a snowy Eastern European village filled with mutants. This 2021 survival horror game has more combat gameplay with zombies filled around every corner. Resident Evil Village was among the famous Resident Evil games, with over 7.4 million copies sold. This game has also won the Game of the Year award at the Golden Joystick Awards. The game is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStaion5, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, MacOS, and Nintendo Switch.
The are some of the Resident Evil games having a brief description. Other Resident Evil games not included in the list are mostly the remake ones or with the same story.
Other recent games are Resident Evil Re: Verse (2022) and Shadow of Rose DLC (2022), which have more fun multiplayer gameplay with iconic characters of the Resident Evil games franchise. The Resident Evil 4 Remake (2023) is set for release on March 24 for various platforms, including PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.
Resident Evil is credited for defining the survival horror genre and returning zombies to popular culture. It has many genres of games starting from survival horror to shooter games. The Resident Evil video games have never failed to impress us. Its amazing story plot, impressive graphics, and iconic characters are the reasons for its popularity and success.
FAQs
What’s the order of Resident Evil games?
Resident Evil games can be played in two different approaches which are mainly followed by most players. You can either play it in chronological order or according to their release dates. For your better understanding and preference, we have pinned down both ways of playing Resident Evil games.
Which Resident Evil game to start with?
Resident Evil 0 was released in 2002 after several other games but when talking about the storyline, the initial events take place in Resident Evil 0.
How many Resident Evil games are there in total?
With over 10 core gameplay and 60 total Resident Evil games including spinoffs, remakes, and mobile and pachinko games, Capcom has gained insane popularity converting the first debut in 1996 to a successful multimedia franchise.