When it comes to games that offer a solid single-player and co-op experience, you can’t go wrong with Resident Evil 5. This classic zombie survival series from Capcom has had a lot of different iterations over the years and one of the most fondly remembered is RE5.
With an absolutely ridiculous plot, over-the-top boss fights, and some memorable boulder punching scenes, despite its controversies, Resident Evil 5 is a classic action horror game with a lot of replayability. One of the best features of RE5 is that it also offers unlockable features that change up gameplay and keep things fresh. There’s a lot of unique things to get your hands on, from new outfits and weapons to characters and game modes, there’s a wealth of zombie stomping content to get your hands on. Here are some of the best unlocks you can try out.
Updated June 25th, 2022, By Matthew Mckeown: A cult classic in a beloved series, Resident Evil 5 may not be as over the top as its sequel, but it dips well enough into the weirder side of the series to make it entertaining. Despite its questionable design choices, there are a lot of memorable moments and some unique items to unlock for getting through the story.
There are a bunch of them to get your hands on, some of them are better than others and they’re relatively easy to get your hands on, albeit with a few repeat playthroughs to get them all. But here’s more of the best Resident Evil 5 unlockables worth trying out.
15 The M93R
Available after fully upgrading the M92F HG and paying 30,000 credits in the store. The M93R is this game's version of the Resident Evil 4 Matilda, and it fires in a solid three-round burst that chunks damage onto targets and chews threw ammunition like nobody's business. Although you can fire in semi-auto mode if you want to conserve your ammo.
Powered up this little peashooter packs one heck of a punch, making some of the more horde-heavy sections of the game feel like an absolute breeze. It’s also really good at stun locking certain targets for a follow-up QTE attack or chunking through boss health bars in a matter of seconds.
14 Safari Chris
The outfits in Resident Evil 5 have always been a bit weird, so step into the limelight this flashy and trashy number worn by Chris. A daring little zebra print set that keeps you warm on those cold nights and is quite the head-turner.
If you wish to be seen outside in this, all you need to do is finish the game. After that this striped safari outfit can be picked up from the bonus shop and worn in your next run through the game's campaign.
13 Warrior Chris
Another rather risque outfit for the resident meat slab Chris Redfield, this Mad Max ensemble leaves very little to the imagination. If tight leather pants and no protection from sunburn is your jam, then this outfit might be for you.
Although, worth knowing is this little fashionable ensemble one does come with a slight caveat. It's different from the other clothes for Chris because it's DLC you'll need to buy. It's also available right out of the box if you happen to own the Gold Edition of Resident Evil 5 as well.
12 Business Sheva
Sheva’s outfits in the base game are not the best. Which makes it a shame that her only relatively normal cosmetic option aside from her standard B.S.A.A gear is gained by breaking out a debit card.
The only outfit for Sheva that isn’t excessively skimpy is another DLC outfit. This stylish power suit is a slick piece of office attire that lets those around Sheva know she's not to be messed with. Similar to Chris's Warrior outfit, it's also immediately available for those that own the Gold Edition of Resident Evil 5.
11 Mercenaries Mode
Introduced in Resident Evil 4 but arguably made popular with its inclusion in RE5, Mercenaries Mode is now a staple of the franchise because of how popular it has become. For those that are not familiar, it’s essentially a score attack mode where you have to gun down various BoWs that increase in strength against a short time limit.
The Mercenaries Mode in Resident Evil 5 has a lot of unique locations and genuinely tough encounters that can challenge even the most skilled of players. To try it out you need to beat the game on any difficulty, that’s it. It’s an easily accessible piece of content that adds more depth and zombie-killing catharsis to the game.
10 Gatling Gun
Wielded by late-game enemies in the military base section of the game, the Gatling Gun is a bullet spewing nightmare that stun locks and shreds through your basic zombies and turns the toughest of BoWs into mincemeat in seconds. It’s got a large ammunition capacity and it’s whipped out by Chris in an animation that makes it seem like it weighs an absolute tonne.
To get your hands on this powerhouse of a firearm then you need to fully upgrade the V261 machine gun. For those unsure, it’s the one that looks like the Škorpian machine pistol, and to fully max out its stat it’s going to cost you quite a bit of cash. But it’s worth it for the ability to bring along a weapon that can solve 100 problems in a second.
9 Hydra Triple Barrel Shotgun
The Hydra is one of those guns that the designers of thought, “but what if we add more barrels”. A sturdy piece of kit that clears out hordes of zombies with ease, the Hydra once again shows up in RE5 and it’s just as powerful.
This triple-barreled shotgun puts out a ridiculous amount of pellets in one massive blast that shreds armor and sends anything on its receiving end soaring through the air like ragdolls. To get your hands on this heavy-duty blaster, then you need to fully upgrade the Ithaca M37 shotgun, a task you can manage fairly early on as the shotgun itself appears in the Village section.
8 Smith And Wesson M500 Magnum
Considered to be the strongest handgun in the entire game, the Smith And Wesson M500 Magnum is a beast of a hand cannon that kicks so hard it could snap your arm straight off.
It can one-shot most elite enemies in the game and chunk boss health bars in just a few hits turning some really challenging encounters into complete push-overs. If you want to play around with this handheld artillery then you need to fully upgrade the Smith And Wesson M29 Magnum, which you should be doing anyway as you progress through the story as it’s a ridiculously strong gun in its own right.
7 Chris's S.T.A.R.S Uniform
Chris has a lot of fun outfits to unlock in Resident Evil 5, and one that’s an iconic classic is his original S.T.A.R.S uniform from RE1. This slick costume lets you bask in some Capcom nostalgia as you take down zombies and BoWs in Mercenaries Mode.
It’s surprisingly easy to get your hands on this slick set of threads, all you need to do is earn an A rank or higher in the Experimental Facility mission of Mercenaries Mode. The level itself is a pretty tough fight, but with enough practice, it shouldn’t take long to hit those high-rank rewards.
6 Jill's Battle Suit
Spoilers for Resident Evil 5, Jill Valentine shows up and when she does she’s wearing a tactical battle suit that, whilst a little over the top, looks cool and even makes an appearance in the Resident Evil movies.
It’s an outfit available to wear for her in Mercenaries Mode and it’s a nice way to change up her model to keep replays of the score attack mode feel fresh. It costs a hefty 7,000 Exchange Points, which are the currency earned for completing the campaign and clearing missions in the bonus mode.
5 Sheva's Longbow
Sheva gets quite the short stick in terms of unlocks with her outfits being incredibly pretty tasteless, she does get a good weapon to unlock at least. Although that doesn’t make things better, her Longbow still is a nice unlockable and it’s an incredibly strong weapon to boot.
Firing one arrow at a time at a moderate speed, these spiky projectiles soar through the air in a slow arc and do a decent amount of damage whenever they hit their mark. To try out this piece of gear you will have to fully upgrade the S74 sniper rifle, which is quite the substantial upgrade for what’s already a fairly sturdy sniper rifle.
4 Infinite Ammo
Ammunition is never really in too short of a supply in Resident Evil 5 if you’re smart about it. But still, there are times, especially on the harder difficulties, when you’re going to find yourself a little short. Having infinite ammo though solves this problem and best of all it’s pretty easy to unlock.
This ability can be applied to any weapon and to do so is a little complicated but depending on how many points you have you should be able to unlock it after clearing the story once. After beating the game you will need to have fully upgraded a weapon and also have purchased the infinite ammo addon for that particular gun. It can be a little pricey to get it, so save up those points.
3 Infinite Rocket Launcher
The rocket launcher is perhaps the iconic weapon when you think of Resident Evil as almost every single boss in the series, and villains in the animated movies have died to one. It has appeared in many different forms in each game with it dealing different amounts of damage depending on the game.
In Resident Evil 5 for example, it’s a real problem solver as it can one or two-shot most if not all enemies. It’s available in the game as a standard weapon, which is always hoarded for boss fights, but there’s also an infinite ammo variant you can easily get your hands on. To get your hands on perhaps one of the best Resident Evil 5 unlockables requires not too much of a challenge. All you need to do is complete the game on any difficulty in under five hours, it's that simple.
2 Original Resident Evil Camera And Controls
Although its camera style has changed a lot over the years before landing on the now-familiar third and first-person mix, the RE series had a fixed camera and tank controls that were often infuriating but are still also remembered fondly by many. It made the series stand out from other games of that era. Its limited viewpoint meant the horror was kept nice and close with unintentional jumpscares happening often, so it’s a nice nostalgia trip finding this hidden unlockable easter egg in Resident Evil 5.
To activate the classic camera and control scheme you will need the Lost In Nightmares DLC. Once you start off in the first mansion area, immediately turn around and investigate the entrance door three times. Doing this will activate the old camera and control setup for the rest of the level. Although it’s worth knowing that if you die at any point during the DLC then everything will reset to normal and you’ll have to trigger it again.
1 This Wesker Figurine
Outside of infinite ammo, over-the-top weapons, and bizarre outfits, the only real re5 unlockables you have left are the figurines. Though they're basically a fancy Model Viewer with extra steps, the best of these action figures that you can unlock is the Rare Wesker one. Just look at it.
This nightmare creature is also more than just an over-detailed and gooey monster model as the act of unlocking it is worth the bragging rights alone for how tough it is to get. This model can be yours for getting an S rank in every single chapter of the game, plus 500 points spent in the shop, but you’ll be drowning in them if you finish the game with such a high rating. It's a pretty nice reward for beating the game with a high rating.