Ready to start the games after watching Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil movie? Here are the five best Resident Evil games to start with, depending on which part of the film resonated most.
Best Resident Evil Games for Newcomers
The Resident Evil series hardly needed an introduction, but Zach Cregger’s (Barbarian, Weapons) new RE movie has given one of gaming’s biggest horror franchises another surge of attention from new eyes, opening to a franchise-record $60 million in North America and $108.3 million worldwide.
If this movie was your first trip to Raccoon City and you’re curious about where to start in this series with a three-decade backlog filled with 13 mainline installments, spin-offs, remakes, live-action films, animated films, and convoluted zombie lore, there are actually several points of entry depending on the experience you want.
First-Time Player and Closest to the Movie - RE2 Remake
If Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil movie left you wanting more of Raccoon City, Resident Evil 2 Remake is the best entry point into the franchise and the most familiar to the movie. In an interview with PlayStation, director Zach Cregger said the "world of Resident Evil 2" serves as the film's foundation and setting, but "following a different person who’s on a mission in this horrible night when things are going wrong in Raccoon City." While not a direct adaptation of the second installment, the movie follows the spirit of the games and what he expects how someone would react if "they were thrust into the game themselves".
Resident Evil 2 Remake doesn’t require you to know what happened in the Arklay Mountains and the horrors of Spencer Mansion, as it follows rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy on his first day on the job and Claire Redfield searching for her brother Chris, one of the protagonists of the first game. Unfortunately, both characters arrive on the night of the T-virus outbreak and must find a way out of Raccoon City. People who just watched the movie will spot many references and callbacks to this title, like the sewers, elaborate puzzles, familiar monsters, and even a grotesque creature near the end of the film that you should absolutely not tell RE fans about.
The game is Resident Evil at its most iconic, modernizing a pioneer of the survival-horror genre with third-person, over-the-shoulder shooting. Across Leon and Claire’s parallel perspectives, you’ll explore interconnected locations, manage resources, search for oddly shaped keys and items, and regularly decide whether a zombie is worth fighting. This game lets newcomers experience a nightmare similar to what movie protagonist Bryan went through.
How Every Resident Evil Game Connects Back to Umbrella Corporation
Best for Action Fans - Resident Evil 4 Remake
Even if you’ve never played Resident Evil before, you’ve probably heard about the success of Resident Evil 4, as the 2005 original is widely regarded as one of the most influential games of all time. Its over-the-shoulder aiming and combat directly inspired games like Dead Space, Gears of War, and Uncharted, while setting the standard for so much more. In the same PlayStation interview, Cregger says, "Resident Evil 4 is probably the game I played the most" which helps explain why items and enemies like the mutant dog and the tentacle-parasite resembling Las Plagas were lifted directly from Leon’s adventure in Europe.
Set six years after the Raccoon City outbreak, RE4 brings Leon S. Kennedy back as a more experienced US government agent, sent on a solo mission in Europe to search for the president’s daughter, Ashley Graham. The rescue mission quickly becomes a gauntlet of hostile villagers, a cult built around a rediscovered parasite, and increasingly over-the-top action set pieces.
RE4 has its moments of horror, but it’s more concerned with having you parry attacks, kick heads off, and backflip over villagers in time to save Ashley. Resource management matters less, since enemies drop ammo, items, and currency to spend on upgrades and new guns at the mysterious merchant. Additionally, RE4 is one of the few Resident Evil games whose original title is worth playing, as it still holds up today and offers a different experience from the remake.
Resident Evil 4 Remake Review | A (Mostly) Faithful Return to Spain
Best for Pure Horror - Resident Evil 7
After the massive success of Resident Evil 4, Capcom would shift gears into action-heavy games with Resident Evil 5 and 6. Resident Evil 7 marked one of the biggest reinventions in the series, abandoning the established cast of characters and third-person perspective for a first-person horror game. Like the movie’s medical courier Bryan, the horror comes from playing an untrained ordinary civilian, Ethan Winters, trying to survive the worst events of his life.
The narrative ditches the high-stakes global tale of espionage and hunting down Umbrella. Instead, it zooms in on Ethan Winters, who follows a trail to his missing wife, Mia, in rural Louisiana. After tracking her to the Baker family home, Ethan has to navigate the disturbed family, traverse their complex property, and fight mutated creatures to learn what happened to his wife.
Resident Evil 7 is deliberately slower-paced, bringing it back to the series fundamentals, such as locked puzzle rooms and scarce ammunition. Inspired by this game, the movie even adopts some visual language when it jumps into first-person perspective. If those scares worked for you, then RE7’s focus on horror has plenty of surprises throughout its campaign.
For The Full Modern RE Experience - Resident Evil Requiem
Despite being the latest mainline game in the series, director Koshi Nakanishi told PlayStation in a 2026 interview that he designed the game to welcome "complete newcomers who don’t know anything about the Raccoon City Incident or haven’t played any Resident Evil titles before." At this point in the series timeline, the seasoned veteran characters have been through so much that they’re fearless and regularly pull off almost superhero feats against biohazards. Hence, the game introduces FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, daughter of playable character Alyssa Ashcroft from RE Outbreak, to star alongside Leon for another return to Raccoon City.
The dual protagonist setup lets Requiem cleanly split the difference between the series’ horror and action eras. Grace is inexperienced, easily frightened, and frequently short on ammunition, having to escape the claustrophobic care center, as compared to Leon, now pushing 50 years old but somehow hotter, who makes light work of the enemies with better guns, melee attacks, and the returning parry system. This time, the game lets you freely switch between first and third-person perspectives.
It’s both a victory lap of the series' greatest hits and a celebration of the franchise’s two distinctive eras, embracing both instead of choosing one. For newcomers, some lore bits and references might fly by unnoticed, but sampling Resident Evil’s signature action-horror and survival-horror will give you the best reference for what game you want to go back to next.
Resident Evil Requiem (RE9) Review | Masterclass in Survival Horror
Least Scary, Best With A Friend - Resident Evil 5
I’m not going to pretend Resident Evil always takes its narrative too seriously. Campy dialogue, ridiculous villains' monologues, and increasingly absurd set pieces have been part of its identity for decades, and Resident Evil 5 embraces that side of the franchise by leaning into full-on arcade action. So, if you’re going to go through the source of the franchise’s many popular memes, why not bring a friend along to make things even funnier?
Resident Evil 5 is the first mainline RE game built around campaign co-op, pairing longtime series hero Chris Redfield with BSAA agent Sheva Alomar. You can play online, split-screen (depending on the version), or endure solo with an AI-controlled partner that has no sense of self-preservation. The action-heavy campaign is designed for two players, so you’ll need to share resources and solve puzzles together, or desperately go for a risky revive, since the game requires both of you to stay alive to progress.
While it has horror elements and tense moments, this is the least scary Resident Evil game on this list and arguably the most fun to play on a fresh playthrough. The Resident Evil movie’s comedic moments didn’t come from nowhere; this game is, whether intentional or not, one of the most ridiculous experiences in the franchise and one that I’ve successfully used to introduce interested newcomers to the franchise.
Resident Evil Veronica Is Something To Look Forward To in 2027
For fans and newcomers alike, Capcom is set to remake Resident Evil: Veronica in 2027. Revealed during Summer Game Fest on June 5, 2026, the remake will modernize Claire Redfield’s search for her brother, Chris, on Rockfort Island, set a few months after the events in Resident Evil 2. For newcomers starting with the RE2 remake, this should be the perfect follow-up.
Resident Evil: Veronica Release Date and Time
Sources:
US Box Office: ‘Resident Evil’ Breaks Franchise Records With $60 Million Opening Weekend
Resident Evil Q&A: Director Zach Cregger shares inspirations and a new film teaser
Resident Evil Requiem interview: Chainsaws, reinvented zombies, fear balancing, and more
