This listing accommodates spoilers!
From the pixelated visuals of its debut recreation to the current-gen cell and VR installments, the Resident Evil franchise has constantly terrified players in numerous methods. Whereas virus-infected folks and creatures alone can frighten many gamers, this listing delves deeper to uncover a few of probably the most chilling moments within the franchise’s historical past—whether or not by means of encounters with monumental zombified monsters or phobia-inducing situations.
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Resident Evil has lengthy reigned supreme within the realm of survival horror and zombie motion.
Regardless of the a number of adjustments within the franchise’s path and gameplay type, there’s one thread that connects each Resident Evil recreation: Horror. Though the video games differ in how a lot they reach scaring gamers, each title has no less than one or two moments that may have most players reaching for his or her pillow.
Up to date on September twenty second, 2025, by Jack Pursey: This listing has been up to date to incorporate up to date and expanded details about every recreation.
16
Resident Evil 6
The Scariest Second: Ustanak Encounter
There are a number of encounters with Ustanak in RE6. Nevertheless, the preliminary encounter must be probably the most intense. Simply as Jake Muller realizes how large a risk this big beast is, he’s chased by it in a slender hall. Following the chilling chase, Jake should lastly confront Ustanak, which seems like combating each Nemesis and Mr. X on the identical time—Ustanak simply gained’t go down it doesn’t matter what.
In keeping with Resident Evil 6’s lore, Ustanak was the topic of experimental checks on the C Virus, which resulted in his transformation. What makes this monster scarier is his excessive intelligence. Not like most different gigantic Resident Evil creatures, Ustanak could make his personal weapons and make dreadful choices when dealing with his targets.
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To be truthful to different entries on the listing, Resident Evil 6 doesn’t create many scary moments. The enemy designs are fairly stereotypical, seemingly geared toward attracting extra FPS followers who might not have loved earlier video games. Nevertheless, the result fell in need of satisfying hardcore followers of the style and was not as financially profitable as anticipated.
15
Resident Evil 5
Scariest Second: Traversing Crocodile-Infested Water
Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 struggled to dwell as much as the extraordinarily excessive expectations that had been positioned on its shoulders lengthy earlier than the sport was even introduced. Resident Evil 5 is definitely not a nasty recreation, although, exemplified by its spectacular Metascore of 86 on PC.
When it comes to the sport’s concern issue, it isn’t a very scary recreation, although it does have its scary moments, such because the part in Chapter 3 – 1, the place gamers should traverse crocodile-infested water.
14
Resident Evil (1996)
Scariest Second: Black Tiger Boss Battle (Underground)
Think about it’s 1996, and a teenage gamer is about to fireplace up a recreation on their PS1 that everybody’s buzzing about: Resident Evil. The preliminary cinematics are spine-chilling sufficient to tempt them to eject the disc and retreat to Crash Bandicoot. Nonetheless, they muster the braveness to dive in. Following a number of hours of gripping gameplay that leaves their eyes widened and palms sweaty, they’re confronted with their final dread: Combating a colossal spider in a claustrophobic underground tunnel. That’s true concern.
The pixelated visuals of the primary RE recreation may not look scary now. However again when the survival horror style was in its child stage, these “funny-looking” zombies might simply give somebody a coronary heart assault—particularly if they’d no concept what a jumpscare is. The arachnophobia-inducing Black Tiger boss battle in Resident Evil 1996 is destined to face as an iconic “hair-raising” second in online game historical past. Its influence goes past the inherent creepiness of big spiders; it impressed quite a few horror video games to take advantage of players’ phobias in probably the most sadistic methods possible.
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Resident Evil: Revelations 2
Scariest Second: Revenant Jumpscare
One among the spin-off titles from Capcom’s flagship horror franchise was Revelations 2, a recreation that introduced again fan favorites similar to Claire and Barry and launched new characters like Moira and Natalia, which a second participant might management.
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Everybody’s out for themselves within the Resident Evil world, so characters are sure to make egocentric choices to the detriment of these round them.
Together with new characters, there are a bunch of recent enemies, together with the terrifying revenants and grotesque monstrosities of sewn-together physique components which might be contaminated with the Uroboros virus. Through the exploration of the mansion, one sneaky revenant falls down from the ceiling proper on the participant’s toes, leading to a cheap but effective jumpscare.
12
Resident Evil 3 Remake
Scariest Second: Encountering Drain Deimos
The remake of Capcom’s basic RE3 noticed gamers returning to the virus-ravaged streets of Raccoon Metropolis because the unstoppable Nemesis tenaciously hunts down Jill Valentine, one of many few survivors of the Spencer Mansion incident.
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By means of her explorations of the town, Jill experiences many terrifying occasions, similar to working away from Nemesis, mutated canines, or the dreaded drain deimos. Mentioned to be contaminated with fleas, these bugs, sadly, are usually not flea-sized and are giant sufficient to current a risk. Essentially the most horrifying factor about these creatures is that they’ll grapple Jill and infect her with parasites which might be a loss of life sentence until she will be able to cleanse herself of them.
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Resident Evil – Code: Veronica
Scariest Second: Rockfort’s Torture Chamber
Resident Evil: Code Veronica was the primary essential sequence of Resident Evil video games to be launched after the unique trilogy. The sport was notable for its visuals, which had been a big enchancment over the sport’s predecessors.
The visuals had been thought of to be movie-like on the time of the sport’s launch. This made the sport all of the extra scary, as audiences hadn’t seen such sensible horror visuals in a online game earlier than.
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Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
Scariest Second: Yawn Boss Battle
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles was the primary recreation within the franchise to be launched after the enduring Resident Evil 4. This put a ton of strain on the on-rails shooter, and sadly, it didn’t dwell as much as the hype, scoring a lackluster 75 on Metacritic.
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Very like Resident Evil 5, the quantity of hype round Umbrella Chronicles was extra of a curse than a present. The preliminary disappointment clouded what was a strong on-rails shooter that made glorious use of the Nintendo Wii’s motion controls. The on-rail mechanic is what grants Umbrella Chronicles a spot on this listing, as gamers haven’t any alternative however to observe their characters who’re continuously heading straight into hazard.
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Resident Evil 0
Scariest Second: Queen Leech Boss Battle
The Resident Evil sequence’ fifth essential installment was launched in 2002. The sport did not carry out badly with critics, although it was seen as a drop in kind from the unbelievable run of video games that Capcom was on main as much as its launch. Criticisms had been predominantly directed on the recreation’s lack of innovation, notably by way of its mounted digicam, which appeared outdated on the time.
Resident Evil 0 earns a spot on this listing for its ambiance. The improved {hardware} of the GameCube allowed Capcom’s builders to create extra meticulously detailed environments than ever earlier than, which significantly helped the sport’s unsettling parts pop.
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Resident Evil: Revelations
Scariest Second: Scagdead Boss Battle
The Nintendo 3DS does not seem to be probably the most pure place for an action-horror title, however Capcom was capable of make it work with Resident Evil: Revelations. The sport carried out notably effectively with critics, exemplified by its impressive 82 Metascore.
Resident Evil: Revelations gives a singular horror expertise because of the Nintendo 3DS’ capabilities. The 3D performance made the sport’s scariest moments far tenser and made the horror really feel nearer than ever.
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Resident Evil 4
Scariest Second: First Regenerator Encounter
As talked about beforehand, Capcom made the daring determination of reinventing its iconic Resident Evil franchise with the sixth essential sequence iteration. The chance definitely paid off, as Resident Evil 4 breathed new life into the sequence, and it shortly grew to become acknowledged as top-of-the-line video games of all time.
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The sport sacrificed among the sequence’ iconic horror in favor of extra action-packed gameplay, although there are nonetheless a number of scary moments. Such moments embrace the battle in opposition to Del Lago, the primary encounter with a Regenerador, and the battle in opposition to Verdugo.
