Summary
- Code: Veronica features diverse enemies like Bandersnatches, poison moths, and Tyrants, promoting unpredictability.
- Umbrella Corps offers repetitive gameplay but compensates with various enemy types from previous games.
- Resident Evil 6 delivers unique enemies across different campaigns for distinct gameplay experiences.
Alongside having an immersive atmosphere and a compelling story, a survival horror game also needs a good amount of enemy variety to keep players engaged from the beginning to the end of the nightmarish adventure. In the case of Resident Evil games, enemy variety hasn’t always been a top priority for Capcom, with some entries in this legendary series instead being more focused on the narrative and characters. However, other times, it’s been clear that they’ve tried to pack in as many unique and interesting enemy types for players to take on as possible, making for a fun and unpredictable journey.
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More enemy types usually results in the gameplay itself being a lot more strategic, as players must learn the best ways to deal with each type of foe, whether it be through using mind games to trick the enemy, exploiting their weaknesses, or simply just finishing them off with a bullet to the brain. Here are the very best games Resident Evil has to offer when focusing solely on enemy diversity and unpredictability.
8
Umbrella Corps
Umbrella Corps’ Repetitive Gameplay Is At Least Complimented By A Good Variety Of Enemies
Though Umbrella Corps isn’t exactly looked back on fondly by many fans due to its heavy-action focus, one area where it does do a good job is the enemy variety. Throughout the campaign of Umbrella Corps, players will explore environments from the series’ history, such as the village from Resident Evil 4, or the Public Assembly from the fifth game.
Each stage will replicate the enemies from those games, while also throwing in a few new ones for good measure. So, for example, while the village still features hordes of bloodthirsty Ganado who are kitted out with pitchforks and machetes, there are also crows that can swoop down to attack the player, alongside dogs. Each of the stages includes a few special enemies like these that help to make up for the repetitiveness of the missions.
7
Resident Evil – Code: Veronica
Claire Encounters All Kinds Of Weird And Bizarre Monsters During Her Mission To Save Chris
- Released
-
February 29, 2000
It turns out that Raccoon City wasn’t the only place infested with zombies and freakish mutants; something Claire quickly finds out after leaving her prison cell in Code: Veronica and finding herself stranded on Rockfort Island. While players are left to gun down zombies and dogs at the beginning of Code: Veronica, the enemies gradually become more unique and diverse as the game continues. The introduction of the Bandersnatches, for example, helps to add much more intensity to the core gameplay once players start feeling a little more relaxed around the zombies.
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By the time Claire reaches Antarctica, she’s tasked with taking down all sorts of weird monsters, including poison moths, electrified albinoids, and even a Tyrant or two. The healthy number of enemy types helps to alleviate Code: Veronica’s constant backtracking, meaning players never have any idea what they’ll be running into, even when returning to parts of the map they have already visited.
6
Resident Evil 5
The Enemies In RE5 Adapt And Evolve To Keep Up With The Player
- Released
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March 5, 2009
- OpenCritic Rating
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Fair
While Chris and Sheva start off Resident Evil 5 with nothing more than a measly handgun, players will be able to slowly upgrade their weapons and acquire new ones as the game continues. So that things don’t become too easy, though, the enemies will also adapt and evolve with each level. Basic Majini enemies, for example, will begin using crossbows to snipe players from range, before eventually switching to full-on firearms, which can deal a ton of damage.
Sub-bosses, like the Chansaw Majini, also keep the gameplay fresh by showing up randomly throughout Chris and Sheva’s adventure into the depths of Kijuju. By the end of the game, even the most standard enemies will be entirely different to those players were facing at the beginning, creating a nice sense of progression through the variety.
5
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
A Mix-Match Of Classic Enemies Alongside A Few Brand New Ones
- Released
-
November 17, 2009
Because The Darkside Chronicles covers the stories of Resident Evil 2, Code: Veronica, and a brand-new story with Operation Javier, it allows players to meet a wild assortment of monsters up close and personal thanks to the FPS camera angle. While that means there are plenty of classic creatures to encounter, including Lickers and Bandersnatches, Operation Javier also throws in a few brand-new enemies too.
In an on-rails game like this that prioritizes immersion, it definitely helps to have a large variety of enemies to prevent players from ever feeling bored or uninterested with the experience. In that regard, The Darkside Chronicles does an excellent job at keeping the enemies unpredictable and satisfying to fight.
4
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
Mercenaries 3D Merges The Enemy Rosters Of Multiple Games Into One
- Released
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June 28, 2011
- Developer(s)
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Tose
After realizing how immensely popular the Mercenaries mode for Resident Evil 5 would become, Capcom pulled the trigger on a standalone spin-off game that allowed players to enjoy the bonus mode with new characters and stages. The game also just feels like a celebration of Resident Evil 4 and RE5, featuring enemies from both of those games to create a stacked lineup of terrifying monsters to take down before the clock runs out.
One moment, there will be a blind Garrador swinging around his blades while cultists run alongside him, and the next, players will be standing off against a grossly mutated bat with a chainsaw Majini not far behind. Adding such a staggering number of enemies adds to the game’s replay value, making it an absolute joy to jump into, especially for shorter sessions.
3
Resident Evil 0
Resident Evil 0’s Animalistic Enemy Roster Throws A Plethora Of Weird And Unique Mutants At Players
- Released
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November 12, 2002
With many of the enemy types in the first three Resident Evil games being mutated and zombified humans, Capcom decided to direct their focus more toward animals for Resident Evil 0. It’s fair to say the developers got extremely creative with the kinds of terrifying creatures they were able to conjure up for this game, from giant spiders and bats to killer monkeys and baseball-sized leeches.
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It’s horrifying to see some of these regular animals blown up to extreme proportions, forcing players to wonder what new monstrosity waits for them around the next dark corner of the train or training facility. Resident Evil 0’s bosses are also very diverse and all present their own unique challenges for players to overcome, even if some of them may be a little more annoying than they have any right to be.
2
Resident Evil 4
Saddler Throws Every Last One Of His Loyal Followers At Leon During His Mission To Save Ashley
While Resident Evil 4 and its remake receive a lot of credit for their level variety, one aspect that often goes underappreciated is the unique enemy types that appear throughout the game. Just as players feel as though they’re getting a little tired of popping off Ganado heads, the game then throws in a brand new enemy type to shake things up, whether it be invisible bugs, corrupted knights, giant trolls, or even old friends from the past.
Even the regular Ganado will slightly change with each location, such as how the castle’s cultists will walk slower when approaching Leon and are also capable of equipping different weapons from the villagers. Resident Evil 4 is jam packed with memorable enemies who all bring something different to the table, keeping players on their toes for the entire adventure.
1
Resident Evil 6
Each Campaign In Resident Evil 6 Features Unique Enemies To Discover
With Resident Evil 6, Capcom attempted (to varying degrees of success) to create multiple campaigns that all leaned into their own genre. As a result, all feel drastically different in tone and quite distinct in gameplay, but this also allowed the developers to insert many unique enemy types too. In Leon’s campaign, players must blast their way through hordes of regular slow-walking zombies and a few special infected creatures too, like the Shrieker.
On the other hand, the basic enemies in Chris’ story are more comparable to the Ganado and Majini seen in 4 or 5. They’re much faster and will force players to duck into cover and pick their shots wisely in firefights to make it out in one piece. Simply put, Capcom went all-in with the monsters for this game in order to feed into the intended gameplay style of each campaign, resulting in a wonderful variety of dangerous and distinctive enemy types.
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