Resident Evil: Requiem is on the cusp of release and it’s getting some very strong reviews. This comes as a welcome relief with how the franchise has had some tremendous ups and downs. It seems like there’s a pattern where we’ll get a few great games in a row, and then something happens that tanks the quality. Poorly received spin-offs haven’t helped either. That’s why we want to take a look at the five worst titles the series has produced, with a couple of caveats.
First, before we hit the list, you’ll be happy to know that this isn’t a case of just regurgitating what other lists have put out there. I have played these games and have either beaten them or played enough to realize life is too short for this crap. But I also want to put these titles in the light of appropriate expectations. For example, “Resident Evil Gaiden” for the Game Boy Color is very much a case of being good for what it is, and it’s not really fair to say it’s the worst of the worst. The developers made some interesting design decisions to make the game work as a Game Boy Color title even if it’s still limited in scope and design aspects. Limited does not mean bad though. I’m also not counting mobile, pachinko, prototypes, or other things that aren’t fully fleshed out, at home experiences.
All those things considered, let’s dive in.
5. Resident Evil 3 (Remake)
This one kind of hurts to include because it’s not a bad game, it’s just a bad remake of the original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. 2020’s version of the game looks fantastic, plays great, and is a fun, action packed romp. It’s also short, even by Resident Evil standards, lacks replay value, cuts content from the original, and lacks the kind of threat and intensity of the first go-around. What makes this so disappointing is how the previous remakes were absolutely amazing. Resident Evil 2’s remake had some mild issues with how the Leon and Claire scenarios didn’t overlap like they did in the original.
Even with that, RE2’s remake was still beloved because of how true it was to its progenitor. RE3 Remake cuts out locations, path decisions, and even the post game Mercenary mode. As mentioned before, it’s even extremely short for an RE title. This is a series to where if you know what you’re doing, you can knock them out pretty fast. And for me, a cautious scaredy-cat that is terrified of death, even I got through this with a speed I didn’t know I was capable of. And, AND, it was a full priced, $60.00 title. So yeah, not a bad game in general, but as a remake in the Resident Evil franchise, it’s a slap in the face to fans.
4. Resident Evil 6
This is another example of where it would be a fun game in another context. Resident Evil 6 took the action of RE 4 to an over the top extreme that sullied the series to a point of near ruination. A lot of reinvention was needed to course correct after this disaster of a title… that’s still a pretty intensely gorgeous and thoroughly packed action game. The four scenarios you play through are almost too much content but there’s still a lot of fun to be had playing through solo or with a friend. The gunplay gives you freedom to dive and drop to the ground, skid across the ground while shooting, and use melee attacks based on a stamina meter as opposed to contextual moments.
It’s also rampant with completely unnecessary quick time events, isn’t scary in the least, and makes an already fairly absurd narrative into an extreme farce. The best thing that can be said about it as a Resident Evil game is that it helped lead to the creation of one of the best titles in the franchise, “Resident Evil VII: Biohazard.” If you look at it as just an action game though, it has some really awesome moments to it.
3. Resident Evil: Resistance
Remember when I said that the remake of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis didn’t even have the mercenary mode of the original? Well, this is kind of what they did instead. People who purchased the RE 3 remake were given access codes to an asymmetric multi-player game called Resident Evil: Resistance. In theory, it should be fun. One person plays as an operator of a closed gauntlet of rooms who can deploy zombies and monsters to kill the other players who act as survivors.
It would just be nice if it were actually well-balanced, had decent character choices, didn’t rely so much on grinding out levels for good rewards, and was fun to play. It’s a mess; a poorly conceived and even more poorly executed mess. It’s the result of what happens when developers try to follow trends and cram them into a property that was never suited for that trend.
2. Umbrella Corps
WHAT DID I JUST SAY ABOUT CRAMMING TRENDS INTO A PROPERTY NOT SUITED FOR THEM?! Considering this game pre-dated Resistance, the yelling should have been reserved for that game, but this one is worse. Resistance could potentially be fun for short spurts with the right group of people. It had some elements that could’ve worked if they were better implemented, they just weren’t.
Umbrella Corps tried doing squad based, competitive multiplayer shooting in 2016 and did a miserable job of it. The maps are awful, the shooting mechanics feel off, and there’s no sense of reward or pay-off for completing missions. What’s the point? Why are we playing as random Umbrella agents in a tactical shooter? Capcom was reportedly trying to get into the market of the burgeoning shooter scene.
Doing that with a well-known IP seems like a way of just, again, shoehorning things together to capitalize on a trend. As I was playing it, I quickly realized that there’s nothing this game can present me, or anyone for that matter, that is worth their time. Why play a dull shooter that controls poorly and has no interesting maps or enemies? You don’t. End of story.
1. Resident Evil: RE:Verse
This is one of the worst games I have ever played, period. Capcom branded it as a celebration of Resident Evil history, in the form of a PvP multiplayer, third person shooter. Like Resistance, it was released as a free download for people who purchased Resident Evil: Village. What we got was an infuriating mess of an unbalanced multiplayer shooter. It quickly becomes apparent that it’s not a celebration of Resident Evil history; it’s just a reuse of assets from games that were made in the RE Engine. So if the character didn’t appear in RE 7, 8, RE 2 remake or RE 3 remake, they were’t going to be in this title.
That’s why Albert Wesker, Rebecca Chambers, or Barry Burton aren’t available to play as, but Canine, Lobo, and Tundra are! What?! You don’t remember them?! That’s because they’re Chris’s faceless squadmates from the end segment of Village! Don’t you want to celebrate 25 years of Resident Evil with them?! If the action was fun or worthwhile, that would mitigate some of the damage, but it’s not.
The game features a transformation mechanic that allows you to assume the form of some BOW’s and other characters like Nemesis or Jack Baker. Or everyone’s favorite, one of the Fat Molded from VII. This was a disgrace of a celebration and a waste of time. At least it was free with the purchase of Village, so it wasn’t a waste of money. Unless you spent money on the microtransactions and ridiculous battle pass that was in it! The game was shut down in June of 2025, making it one of the most gratifying deaths in the franchise.
