The best Resident Evil games and movies to enjoy at home

The Resident Evil TV sequence, the newest live-action iteration within the long-running survival-horror franchise, premieres July 14 on Netflix. Set alternatively in 2022 and 2036, the sequence follows Jade (Ella Balinska/Tamara Smart) and Billie Wesker (Siena Agudong) as they try to survive a nascent zombie infestation in New Raccoon City alongside their father, recurring sequence antagonist Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick).

To somebody new to the franchise, Resident Evil can really feel as amorphous and imposing as any of the mutated T-Virus monstrosities that populate its many installments. And with Netflix’s new sequence boldly trying to acknowledge and exist explicitly throughout the multifaceted and typically retconned canon of the games, the franchise can really feel much more impenetrable.

“What are the Resident Evil games and movies I should care about?” you’re in all probability asking aloud. We’ve pooled collectively Polygon’s collective Resident Evil mind belief to offer you a breakdown of our high suggestions to play and watch after ending the Netflix sequence. Here are the best Resident Evil games and movies to enjoy at home.

The games

Resident Evil (1996)

Where to play: The HD remaster is out there on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch

When pondering of my favourite Resident Evil sport, nostalgia needs me to say Resident Evil (1996), as a result of it — together with Metal Gear Solid — simply completely modified the best way I noticed video games. Going again and enjoying it, it clearly has lots of tough edges (lol the polygons) that even the 2002 remake doesn’t actually repair. —Chris Grant

From our assessment of the 2015 HD remaster:

The authentic management scheme nonetheless exists within the 2015 HD re-release, however there’s additionally a barely modernized substitute accessible. In this up to date choice, motion is extra on par with different third-person motion games — i.e., urgent left or proper on the management stick makes your character kind of immediately flip and transfer in that path. It’s a pleasant change, and for many who are involved, it positively doesn’t make the sport too straightforward.

The 2015 model of Resident Evil additionally encompasses a modest visible improve. The attractive background artwork from the GameDice model has been modified right into a high-definition decision. As with the controls, the sport permits you to swap again and forth between the old-school 4:3 and the fashionable 16:9 seems to be. Character fashions have additionally been beefed up to being on par with Resident Evil 6’s graphics. Those newer-gen fashions often felt unusual in opposition to the much less detailed backdrops, however basically the upgrades work effective.

Resident Evil 7

Where to play: Available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch

My coronary heart needs me to pull for this one, as a result of it was the sport I didn’t have lots of hope for, nevertheless it managed to exceed all expectations and then some. —CG

As Ryan Gilliam wrote in Polygon’s Game of the Year record:

Village might’ve performed it secure. We might’ve seen Ethan proceed his journey via America, into secret laboratories and via one other household contaminated by the mildew. And with the Resident Evil crew’s adept ability, that sport nonetheless in all probability would’ve cracked our high 50 record. But Village will get bizarre as a substitute, and whisks gamers away from the sequence’ regular world of zombies and secret labs into one with large vampire ladies, werewolves, killer dolls, and ritual sacrifice.

Resident Evil Village is sort of a carnival of various horror experiences. Each path you head in leads to a corridor of mirrors or a Ferris wheel-like grand spectacle, in that particular means a carnival could make a single subject really feel like a number of worlds. I’ve performed scarier games than Resident Evil Village, however I’ve by no means performed one with such assorted dungeons. Village’s success isn’t in how scary it may be, however in the entire other ways it tries to scare you.

Resident Evil – Code: Veronica

Where to play: The HD remaster, Code: Veronica X, is out there on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X

Worth celebrating for altering the method for RE games to a extra real-time, 3D world and motion focus, 5 years earlier than RE4 got here out. —CG

The movies

Resident Evil (2002 film)

Where to watch: Available to watch on Hulu or without cost with adverts on Tubi

The first of Paul W.S. Anderson’s six-movie franchise starring his spouse and collaborator Milla Jovovich, that is essentially the most “straight horror” of the bunch. Introducing us to Jovovich’s amnesiac motion hero Alice, she and Michelle Rodriguez (amongst others) attempt to survive a zombie outbreak within the facility they’re in (in addition to comprise it from spreading into the world). With unforgettable imagery and sequences (the laser grid lure!!!), it’s a blast. —PV

Resident Evil: Extinction

Where to watch: Available to watch on Hulu or without cost with adverts on Tubi

Zombie Western! Zombie! Western! —PV

The return of P.W.S.: (Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Retribution, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter)

Where to watch: Available to watch on Hulu or without cost with adverts on Tubi (Final Chapter is just accessible on Tubi)

Multiple Millas Jovovich in Resident Evil: Afterlife.

The earlier two movies from this sequence talked about listed here are nice enjoyable, nevertheless it’s within the ultimate trilogy that Anderson, Jovovich, and firm pull all of it collectively, perfecting the frenetic type that make these movies work, harnessing pure chaos right into a rip-roaring good time of motion horror. —PV