Thanks to a truly chilling vibe and the aesthetics of a particularly fine horror-movie, Resident Evil 7 has been acclaimed as a return to form for the franchise which defined the survival-horror genre.
But where, exactly, does it sit in the pantheon of Resident Evil games? After all, Resident Evil is one of the world’s favourite games franchises, with a mutant-ridden lore (yes, we know they are supposed to be called Bio Organic Weapons or B. O. Ws ) that has accumulated since 1996, and which spawned six feature films.
So which are the best Resident Evil games, and which ones should you avoid like the, er, plague? And how can you play them nowadays?
Asserting that Resident Evil 4 is the best game of the series may be a tad controversial as far as hardcore fans are concerned, since many blame it for triggering the franchise’s slide into a more action-oriented cul-de-sac. However, it’s a magnificent effort which is routinely cited as one of the best games ever.
The last Resident Evil game directed by series creator Shinji Mikami, it pioneered the “over-the-shoulder” third-person viewpoint, and bombarded players with loads more mutants than previous games, shaking up the survival-horror genre with an extra dash of third-person shooting.
Protagonist Leon Kennedy also acquired a very useful kick for when mutants got too close.
A stone-cold classic, it was subsequently ported to the PS3, Xbox 360 the Wii and, most recently, the Xbox One and PS4. Play the current gen version if you want the best graphics, but the Wii version has arguably the best controls.
Yes, it’s that good. You could almost call it a “preboot”, since it takes the franchise back to the horror-centric gameplay pioneered by the original Resident Evil, albeit with a new first-person viewpoint (a requirement for it to work on the PlayStation VR ).
Resident Evil 7 makes maximum use of the power of modern consoles to crank up the horror-quotient to near-unbearable levels – and the shocks, twists and deliciously fetid atmosphere are intensified further in VR.
Yes, it’s shorter than we would have liked. But it also just might be the most satisfyingly horrific survival-horror game ever.
The original Resident Evil established survival-horror as a stalwart of modern gaming – and director Shinji Mikami as one of the stars of the industry.
