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Looking Back At 25 Years Of Resident Evil

by Blake Hester on May 11, 2021 at 05:11 PM

This is a big year for Resident Evil. Not only did Resident Evil Village just come out – which is great, by the way, and you should definitely play it – but the series just passed its 25th anniversary. Two-and-a-half decades of zombies, questionable characters, and midnight scares. This calls for a celebration. Or a video essay, at the very least. 

We decided to take a look back at the entire Resident Evil series, highlighting which games have meant the most to the overall franchise and the game industry at large. From the original Resident Evil popularizing survival horror as a genre and inspiring countless imitators, spin-offs, and homages, to Resident Evil 4 revolutionizing the third-person shooter and nearly tanking the entire series, to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard taking the series in an entirely new direction, and more, watch above to learn about the developments, circumstances, and impacts of some of your favorite Resident Evil games. 

And before you fill the comments with all of the Resident Evil games that didn't make the list, there are a ton of games in this series. To make this project manageable, we decided to only highlight the biggest games in the overall series that have had the largest impact on the franchise and game industry. Code Veronica is great, sure, but compared to Resident Evil 4, it just doesn't make the cut.   

While we're here celebrating Resident Evil, why don't you check out our Resident Evil Village spoilercast? We also have some tips, tricks, and guides, if you need a little help along your way. If you're still not sold on Village, you can also watch us play the first two hours of the game, get a behind-the-scenes look at its fearsome Lycans, or check out the titular village itself. 

Happy birthday, Resident Evil!

Products In This Article

Resident Evil Villagecover

Resident Evil Village

Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation VR2, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Mac, iOS
Release Date:
May 7, 2021 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC), 
October 28, 2022 (Switch, Mac), 
February 22, 2023 (PlayStation VR2), 
October 30, 2023 (iOS)
Resident Evil 4cover

Resident Evil 4

Platform:
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, GameCube, PC, iOS, Android
Release Date:
January 11, 2005 (GameCube), 
October 25, 2005 (PlayStation 2), 
May 15, 2007 (PC), 
June 19, 2007 (Wii), 
July 27, 2009 (iOS), 
September 20, 2011 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360), 
April 23, 2013 (Android), 
August 30, 2016 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One), 
May 21, 2019 (Switch)
Resident Evilcover

Resident Evil

Platform:
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release Date:
2015
Resident Evil 7: Biohazardcover

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, Stadia, PC
Release Date:
January 24, 2017 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC), 
April 21, 2021 (Stadia), 
June 13, 2022 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S), 
December 16, 2022 (Switch)
Resident Evil 2cover

Resident Evil 2

Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Release Date:
January 25, 2019 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC), 
June 13, 2022 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S), 
November 11, 2022 (Switch)

Alex Stadnik & Alex Van Aken contributed to this article.