For quite a while, Resident Evil was a story about Umbrella, Raccoon City, and the outbreaks in between. Amidst the first three games was a subplot involving Chris Redfield’s disappearance following the end of the first game. This led directly into Code Veronica, the first game to take the series away from the now-destroyed Raccoon City.
From there, each subsequent entry would be set somewhere new, with only a few overlaps here and there. That said, the series sometimes makes a bad habit of overindulging with different settings. It makes sense for level variety, but sometimes players just want to get to know one really well-designed area.
Here we take a look at the main settings from the numbered games and rank them.
8 Resident Evil 6: All Over
With four campaigns and a plot that’s all over the place, Resident Evil 6 is a hard game to keep track of as far as the story goes. The lack of consistent focus also means that players likely won’t be forming any attachment to Resident Evil 6’s many settings, unlike earlier entries in the series. While RE6 is derided for much, this is probably its worst flaw.
Resident Evil always did its settings well and the jump in quality between this entry & the next is rather large. Resident Evil 6 refuses to commit to a singular idea, a singular story, and a singular setting. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that this utterly cripples the final game.
7 Resident Evil 0: Arklay Mountains
Resident Evil 0 is not a bad game, but boy is it a frustrating one. The setting is technically the Arklay Mountains, but Rebecca & Billy spend most of the game indoors, going from the train to the facility and so forth. The game actually pays homage to the first two games’ level design (even including an area from the latter,) tying the world of Resident Evil together.
But what makes this is a rough setting is just how harsh the game is as a whole. With no item boxes, partner zapping, and aggressive enemies, Rebecca and Billy have a long journey ahead of them. Worse yet, Rebecca’s “escape” of the Arklay Mountains only brings her to the Spencer Estate.
6 Resident Evil 4: Spain
Good old rural Spain. Where the villagers get together for bingo night and the cultists try to ritual sacrifice the President of the United States’ daughter inside of a literal castle. Kind of goes without saying, but this is one of the cooler settings in the series, even if it is a bit on the outlandish side.
Following Code Veronica’s example and taking the main plot away from the United States, Spain is a breath of fresh air and an opportunity to step away from Raccoon City, Umbrella, and the Redfields. Between the Village, Castle, and Lab, Resident Evil 4 just has plenty of great level design to go around.
5 Resident Evil 5: Africa
Spain is better than Africa as far as level design goes, that much is a fact, but Resident Evil 5 captures a tone and atmosphere that the series hadn’t before. Africa is brighter and more alive, but that in itself only lends to the horror. It’s the most unique environment players travel to in the series and Capcom really captures the devastation Umbrella (& capitalism in general) has done to Africa.
There’s a heavy emphasis on caves, however, and the last act features one of the least inspired lab settings in the entire series. Thankfully, it’s saved by Chris and Sheva fighting Wesker inside of a volcano. It’s so ridiculous it genuinely becomes cool again.
4 Resident Evil 2: The R.P.D.
Although the very nature of the R.P.D. is silly, even with the remaking trying to recontextualize its insane amount of puzzles, the Raccoon City Police Department remains one of the most iconic settings in the series. It does lose some of its luster once Leon and Claire head into the Sewers, but NEST and the Parking Garage more than make up for that.
With Mr. X roaming around, the R.P.D. manages to carry some nice tension. He might seem overwhelming at first, but his presence can lead to players exploring the R.P.D. in new & unique ways every time they play the game (until they figure out how to bait him where they need him to be.)
3 Resident Evil 3: Raccoon City
Resident Evil 3 manages to feature more linear level design when compared to its two predecessors, but it makes up for it with non-linearity in regards to approaching progression and the intense horror of watching a city fall to pieces. This isn’t the Spencer Mansion or the R.P.D. where players were at least inside. Jill spends most of RE3 on the streets just trying to survive.
Worse yet, Jill often runs into survivors on the streets mere moments before they’re consumed by the undead. With Nemesis roaming around as well, Jill is more exposed to the elements than any other protagonist. She even gets infected inside of the Raccoon City Clock Tower, forcing Carlos to plunder the hospital.
2 Resident Evil 7: Baker House
Resident Evil 7 may shift the series into first-person, but it’s the closest the franchise has come to emulating the style and tone of the first game since the remake. The Baker House is essentially a smaller, more claustrophobic version of the Spencer Mansion. Where the mansion’s halls warped into new terrors, multitudes of rooms kept Jill & Chris safe.
Ethan doesn’t have that same luxury, and he has to actively hide within this constricted home multiple times over the course of the game. It's dark, poorly lit, and scary in a very grounded way. With PS VR, the Baker House becomes one of the most overwhelmingly horrifying settings in the medium. It beats out the original’s mansion easily.
1 Resident Evil 1: Spencer Mansion
The Baker House may beat out the original Resident Evil as far as settings go, but nothing can compare to the remake’s reinterpretation of the Spencer Mansion. Far more labyrinthine than it once was, the Spencer Mansion is a twisted home lost to time, where every corner is seemingly designed to punish all those who roam the halls.
Outside the mansion lay a home deep in the woods and the forgotten residence of one Lisa Trevor. Starting the tradition, a lab slumbers underneath the Spencer Estate, silently waiting for Chris and Jill to make their way down, unaware of what further horrors lie below.