Five Resident Evil games worth playing, before the Resident Evil 2 Remake!

 Good news everyone! No, the Government Shutdown has not ended, (Thanks to the petulant Man child, Donald Trump and the stubborn Democrats!) at least for those that still have the luxury of plunking down a few shillings for videogames, Capcom's highly anticipated remake of the classic Resident Evil 2 game will arrive in stores and digi downloads today!

But for those that need that extra RE fix or have yet to buy the remake, here are a few recommended picks of Resident Evil games available for current gen consoles and PC of course. These games can be bought on the cheap whether brick and mortar or digital stores.

Let’s get to it!

5. Resident Evil 5

This is placed on the lower end for obvious reasons. Despite being a half-baked game with justified criticisms such as broken co-op, dumb a.i., questionable racist caricatures and of course, Chris punching a boulder, there is a bit of fun to be had with this successor to RE4 which both games place more emphasis on action than survival horror. 

The voice acting is stellar, (Gotta love Wesker's impersonation of the great David Bowie) killer soundtrack with an emotionally driven ending theme, a multiplayer mode called "Versus", the metaphorical plot that offers speculation of how pandemic diseases in Africa came to existence, cool boss fights and a bittersweet ending places RE5 ironically, in the number five spot!

4. Resident Evil Revelations

Originally developed for the Nintendo 3Ds, now ported to current gen consoles, Revelations is a return to form after the disastrous RE6. What is seen as a side story, is part mystery, part survival horror with plenty of action! Once again playing in third person perspective as with the previous titles before, you get to pit both Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine against a new bioterrorist threat!

A few new features have been added gameplay wise and the stages are various, from an abandoned city, snowy landscapes to a yacht full of BOW creatures! Aside from the weaksauce supporting characters and a mastermind villain that pales compared to Albert Wesker, Revelations is a good if not great addition to the franchise. 

3. Resident Evil 0

Wanna know how it all began? Well, look no further! Resident Evil 0 is the official prequel to the gamechanger (Pun intended) that is RE! Labeled"0" for obvious reasons, takes place prior to the events of the Raccoon City Mansion incident. This time you get to play as S.T.A.R.S.' Alpha Team member Rebecca Chambers, a supporting character from the very first game who is forced to work alongside an escaped prisoner, Billy Cohen in order to find her missing squadmates while fighting to stay alive again the undead minions of Dr. Marcus! 

RE 0 adds a modicum of strategic gameplay giving the player the option to switch from once character to the next, while in entirely separate stages and situations! There's enough puzzle solving to break up the tense frights and fights! Good voice acting with a satisfying finale that's certain to give you an idea of what to expect.

2. Resident Evil 4

Redesigned from the ground up, this sequel is arguably the best of the franchise thus far! Leon Kennedy is back and this time, he's up against a more serious foe than Dr. William Birkin, Lord Sandler and the infected populace within a Spanish village is the stuff nightmares are made of!

The first RE game to be played from a 3rd person perspective, has innovative play and instead of solving puzzles to find a shotgun,etc. there's that hooded shady arms dealer with the cockney accent who will give weapons for the right price. The more enemies you kill and collect fallen gems, the better your chances of beating this game. Graphics haven't aged that much and it’s still a blast to play especially during boss battles that introduced those Quick Time Events prompts. A fantastic game from start to finish and when you're done with the main campaign, there's two awesome games featuring RE's Femme fatale, Ada Wong! And that leads me to..

1. Resident Evil (Remake)

Y'know, I don't have patience for remakes, but when it comes to videogames, it's well received and case in point, the Resident Evil remake originally made for Nintendo's Gamecube then ported to both 6th and 7th gen consoles!

While there's still static backgrounds, the graphics and settings have been improved tenfold compared to the pixelated PSX version. The unintentionally comedic voice acting, and dialog has been replaced with better audio but the original haunting soundtrack has been retained as it should be. 

In which case, if it ain't broke, don't fuck with it!

Capcom managed to squeeze in a subplot involving the tragic Lisa Trevor, which either Chris or Jill will be faced against. If Lisa wasn't enough, there's a bloody surprise waiting, should you neglect to burn the zombified corpses! It's my number one pick, because not only is Resident Evil the game which defined the term, "Survival Horror", but still scares the shit outta me. And aren’t what Horror games are really all about?

Honorable Mentions:

Resident Evil 7

Resident Evil Revelations 2

Avoid like the T-Virus:

Umbrella Corps

Resident Evil 6