Resident Evil – The Top VIII Moments

Still celebrating the release of Resident Evil Village, the VGamingNews team continue our look back at past entries in the series and discuss what makes the series so successful. Below are our rankings of the Top VIII Moments in the Resident Evil franchise; whether memorable for breaking tradition or simply being incredibly fun to play through, these stood out to us as the coolest moments in the series. Spanning 15 years, there’s countless incredible moments across the series – make sure to let us know what your favourites were!

VIII. Jeep Pursuit (Resident Evil 5 – 2009)

We open up our list with one of the cooler action sequences from the series, the fantastic jeep chase in Resident Evil 5. After battling a flappy nightmare in the mining area, Dave Johnson rolls up in a jeep to carry you to Kijuju when you’re ambushed by a huge number of majini on motorbikes and flatbed trucks. Hurtling across the African plains and spewing bullets from a heavy machine gun at a horde of bloodthirsty bikers is incredibly cool and injects a real sense of urgency to the story. Culminating in a battle with a towering Ndesu, the jeep scenes break up the general gameplay in a really memorable way.

VII. Crimson Heads Chase (Resident Evil – 2002)

In our last piece, we brought up the subject of Crimson Heads. After further discussion with the rest of the VGN team, it seems that Joe wasn’t alone in being utterly terrified of them. When you’re walking the halls of the Spencer Mansion in the first Resident Evil, you quickly realise that heading into another room means that creatures aren’t able to follow you, allowing some breathing room. Giving zombies the ability to not only sprint but to open doors, takes away that safety net and adds another layer of fear to an already tense situation. The first time this happens is different for every player, as it depends on exactly where you backtrack to first, but one thing we know for sure is that every player certainly remembers the experience!

VI. Knife fight with Krauser (Resident Evil 4 – 2009)

Perhaps an unexpected entry on the list, the knife fight between Leon and Krauser left a real impression on the VGN team. Ambushing Leon in the power plant, the player is treated to a stand off between the two men where action and story come in equal measure. We vividly remember being on the very edge of our seats as the slash-off between two twitchy ex-Special Ops members played out, trying to concentrate on the visuals and the story unfolding whilst waiting for Krauser to strike. Perhaps maligned for the use of Quicktime events, it’s impossible to understate how effective they were at building tension in what would otherwise have been a pretty standard cutscene.. 

V. Discovering Barry’s Secret (Resident Evil – 1996)

Playing through Resident Evil as Jill Valentine, Barry Burton becomes your safety blanket – arriving just when you need him to save your skin or give you some useful item or another. So it came as a shock when you found out he’d been working with Wesker the whole time, manipulating you in the hopes of getting you out of the way. As adults who understand plotlines a lot more clearly, we realise this isn’t half as surprising as on the first playthrough, but Barry pointing his magnum at you felt like the ultimate betrayal as younger gamers. The saving grace was learning that Barry had to do it all against his will to save his family, and seeing him knock Wesker out with his gun certainly didn’t hurt either.

IV. Arriving at the Derelict House (Resident Evil VII: Biohazard – 2017)

After years of focusing on heavy action and predictable jump scares, for Resident Evil VII: Biohazard, Capcom decided to not only throw the formula out of the window, but blow it to bits while it was still in the air. Everything was changed. There is only one character to control, it was set in a first person view – hell, even Roman numerals were adopted. For us, the most iconic moment is the introductory section itself. The opening cinematic sets up the story; Ethan’s wife Mia has gone missing, he’s received footage and sets off to find her. A driving sequence that pays a nice homage to The Shining is played out and you arrive at an abandoned house where players are given free reign to explore and get used to the new first-person view. Being a Resident Evil game, you’re constantly on your guard for a number of unholy beasties to rip your face off, especially as corridors are dimly lit and there is some questionable meat in the kitchen. As you explore, Capcom teases the big scare, your flashlight starts to flicker, or you fall off a ladder, but ultimately the fear is in your own head. Resident Evil VII is a masterclass of keeping you on edge. While the action eventually ramps up, the claustrophobic introduction really stands out as one of the best in the series. 

III. Zombie Attack on the Loading Screen (Resident Evil 2 – 1998)

 

Everybody knew that when things got hairy in Resident Evil you could go through a door to the safety of the room beyond, with enemies unable to follow you. So imagine our surprise when zombies lurch through the door of a loading screen in Resident Evil 2 – in a Save Room, no less! Hot on the heels of crows bursting through the windows of the station, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Capcom might give you a few minutes before trying anything too outrageous, but you’d have been dead wrong. No one could foresee the introduction of a scare in the most unexpected place, and you’re then kept on edge as every other door swings open in case they pull the same trick again, adding to the tension of an already fantastic game.

II. Mr X Through the Wall (Resident Evil 2 – 1998, 2019)

Out of all of the pursuits we’ve suffered over the years, from Nemesis and his gatling gun, Crimson Heads bursting through doors and even the loading-screen-zombie, Mr X has had the most impact on the team. Dropped into RCPD by Umbrella, he is stalking the corridors, not far behind you. You can knock him down by ploughing a number of bullets into him, but he soon rises again after you’ve made your getaway. Our most memorable moment with the trenchcoat wearing tyrant comes just after completing a puzzle; as the final torch is lit, Mr X bursts through a wall completely unexpectedly and lunges for you. After taking him out, scooping up the item you were after and breathing a sigh of relief, Capcom pulls out another jump scare as he batters through another wall in quick succession. When we played this on the original PlayStation, it stuck with us. When we played the remake… Well, let’s just say even though we knew it was coming, we’re glad we wore our brown pants that day.

I. Dog Through The Window (Resident Evil – 1996, 2002)

For the second week in a row we have a unanimous decision at the top of the list, with the dog leaping through the window in the original Resident Evil voted by far the greatest moment in franchise history. Having loaded up the game and watched the hammy opening FMV, you’re asked to explore the Spencer Mansion for the very first time. Whilst the first couple of zombies are a little unsettling, they don’t do anything to frighten the player – that first legitimate scare is reserved for a few rooms later. Drew remembers literally dropping the controller with surprise when the dog burst through the glass! And running away only compounds the problem too, with another one jumping out in front of you, leaving you at the mercy of your mastery of tank controls not half an hour into the game. It was physically impossible to talk with another gamer about Resident Evil without them saying “that bit where the dog jumped through the window scared the crap out of me!”, making it the only choice to take the ‘Best Moment’ crown.

Honourable Mentions

• The streets of Raccoon City (Resident Evil 2 – 1998)

Where you spent the first Resident Evil exploring confined spaces, desperately trying to return to the outside world, Resident Evil 2 starts in a very different manner. You’re able to see first-hand the carnage that Umbrella Inc. has wrought upon Raccoon City, as you weave between burning cars, smouldering debris, and dodge burning zombies on your way to the R.P.D. Station. It’s a shocking scene that gives the impression of an entire city infested with zombies, giving the game a sense of scale that the original can’t compete with.

• Tyrant Battle on the Helipad (Resident Evil – 1996)

We touched on this in our last feature, where Tyrant also made it onto the Honourable Mentions section. Running around the helipad and being completely unable to harm Tyrant is incredibly tense on your first playthrough, and it’s a very cool moment when Brad finally drops you the rocket launcher so that you can blow him away and finish the game. If it wasn’t for some impassioned arguments for some of the other moments in the series, this would have definitely made the main list.

• Itchy… Tasty (Resident Evil – 1996)

If you say the phrase “Itchy….Tasty” to anyone who knows about Resident Evil, they will know exactly what you’re referring to. It’s a phrase used in the diary of a scientist working in the Spencer Mansion who has been infected by the T-Virus; he remains pretty coherent until he finally succumbs to Umbrella’s greatest creation. Throughout the journey into zombification, he chronicles the changes to his body before finally eating one of his co-workers. It’s a brutal and incredibly memorable read that makes the player think about the backstory as much as the gameplay.