Finished Resident Evil 4 Remake? Here are 6 Resident Evil Spin-offs you probably haven't played

What do you do when you’re finished with the Resident Evil 4 Remake? Play it again? Dive right into Resident Evil 5? The latter might seem like the logical option, even though it suffers from a lack of floppy-haired ex-cops. But there’s always the risk that, just as you’re about to murder Wesker for the crime of wearing sunglasses indoors, Capcom announces it's remaking that one too.

Instead, why not throw numerical order to the wind and explore some of the many side-entries that the Resident Evil series has spawned? We’re not talking about Resident Evil – Code: Veronica or Resident Evil Revelations either – there are more unnumbered Resident Evil games than you can shake a rocket launcher at.

So, we’ve rounded up some of the series’ spin-offs, ones that you maybe haven’t crossed paths with. Some are relatively easy to get hold of, while a few are wallet-offendingly expensive. But if you’re a Resident Evil enthusiast, each absolutely merits a play.

Resident Evil Survivor (PlayStation 1 - 2000)

Forget Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Resident Evil Survivor was offering first-person zombie-ventilating shenanigans as far back as the space year 2000. Part of the Gun Survivor series, it isn’t a rail shooter despite supporting Namco’s G-Con 45 light gun.

Instead, you roam around in first person then switch to targeting mode, taking out whatever abomination is shuffling or leaping towards you. Unfortunately, you can’t move and shoot at the same time, a “feature” that would later crop up in the original Resident Evil 4.

But Resident Evil: Survivor’s first person view does make combat more satisfying. It also means you can’t blame the wonky camera angles or tank controls when a zombie starts chewing on your spine.

Throw in an offshore Umbrella facility and an amnesiac protagonist (this was before every other horror game was doing it) and you’ve got a title that, despite its age, is still rather fun. It was followed by two more Resident Evil entries and Dino Stalker, a Dino Crisis game.

Resident Evil Gaiden (Gameboy Colour - 2001)

The ambitious Game Boy Colour version of Resident Evil may have been canned but Nintendo’s handheld still got its own BOW-bashing adventure, Resident Evil Gaiden. Its canonicity is highly questionable but it, not Resident Evil 4, marked Leon Kennedy’s return to the franchise. And it was doing zombies-on-an-ocean-liner well before Resident Evil: Revelations.

Even now, we still question the wisdom of its timing-based combat system. But we’re suckers for a good team-up, with both Leon and Resident Evil 1’s Barry Burton taking on a shape-shifting monster that can only be distinguished by its green blood.

Unfortunately, its cliffhanger ending was never resolved and it’s currently going for silly money on eBay. However there is a fan-remake, Project Starlight, currently underway.

Resident Evil Outbreak (PlayStation 2 - 2003)

Resident Evil Outbreak was, in its heyday, all about co-operating with your fellow players to escape the zombie-infested metropolis of Raccoon City. Its online functionality has long since been shut down but this third-person Resi game (which later received a semi-sequel) can still be played solo.

What makes it interesting, even without its multiplayer, is how unremarkable the game’s selection of protagonists is. The closest they’ve come to deal with brainless, shambling zombies is working on Black Friday.

Resident Evil 2 remake’s The Ghost Survivors DLC does touch on this concept, but in Outbreak, it adds an extra dose of unease. Yes, you’re technically the game’s protagonist (or protagonists) but there’s always the nagging feeling that you’re a side-character in someone else’s story.

Resident Evil: Dead Aim (PlayStation 2 - 2003)

Resident Evil: Revelations wasn’t even the second Resi game to take place on an ocean liner. Resident Evil: Dead Aim, released nearly ten years earlier, also has you all at sea, for the first half of the game at least.

It’s the fourth and final entry in the Gun Survivor series but, unlike the first, only switches to a first person view when you’re aiming. It also introduces two new characters, U.S. agent Bruce McGivern and Chinese operative Fong Ling.

Aboard the liner, these two are the sole representatives of their governments, each of which are being held to ransom by villain Morpheus D. Duvall. Despite some shaky voice-acting, they’re a likeable pair. Unfortunately, apart from a fleeting appearance in a couple of card battlers, they’ve been consigned to obscurity.

Resident Evil Confidential Report (mobile - 2006)

Back in the early to mid 2000s, before Android and iPhone mobiles came along, several big companies were putting out Java games. These weren’t knock-offs of the “Elsa from Frozen gets brain surgery” variety, either, these were proper, licensed games. However, their actual quality varied immensely.

We don’t recommend you dive down that rabbit hole, but Resident Evil Confidential Report, one of many (mostly retired) Resident Evil mobile games stands above Capcom’s other mobile offerings. It’s a little short on terror but it dares to do something different and is, to date, the only turn-based Resident Evil game.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Wii, PlayStation 3 – 2009)

Capcom may not have announced a modern Resident Evil: Code Veronica remake but they’ve recycled the game for both Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.

However, this follow-up to Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, doesn’t just reimagine Resident Evil: Code Veronica and Resident Evil 2 as rail shooters. It also explores some of the events that lead up to Resident Evil 4. Wondering why Krauser fell to the dark side? You’ll find out here.

Out of all these titles it’s also the easiest to get hold of. If you’re a PlayStation Plus Premium subscriber it’s part of the PlayStation Plus Classics Catalogue, bundled together with The Umbrella Chronicles. The latter, while delivering less in the way of new plot revelations, features an entertaining slice of Hot Wesker Action.

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There are other Resident Evil entries to explore but delve into those at your own risk. Yes, we’re talking about you, Umbrella Corps. You’re not Left 4 Dead, no matter how you slice it. Who knows, by the time you’re finished with these, Resident Evil 6 Remake may have rolled around.