Resident Evil Co-Op Games Tier List

The Resident Evil franchise is deep and complex, with a number of distinct entries both good and bad over the years. One of the most compelling elements of Resident Evil‘s decades-long run is how it has experimented with a variety of different design philosophies, whether it’s leading the charge with ahead-of-its-time features or being swept up in the trends of a given era.

One such feature that many Resident Evil fans wish was more prevalent is cooperative multiplayer. Capcom seemingly doubled-down on co-op during the 2000s and 2010s, but pivoted away from it in recent years. Nevertheless, there has been an outpouring of support for such mechanics from the Resident Evil fanbase, so it’s worth sifting through the series’ history in search of the very best Resident Evil co-op experiences available.

Resident Evil Setting Tier List

Resident Evil has taken characters to a variety of diverse settings over the years, but alas, they are not all created equal.

S-Tier: Resident Evil’s Finest Co-Op Adventures

Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 6

The best co-op Resident Evil games, interestingly enough, are rarely considered among the best Resident Evil games, full-stop. Resident Evil 5, which takes players to Africa in search of Jill Valentine, is a strong continuation of the gameplay skeleton of Resident Evil 4, but it had the impossible task of topping a game that was almost universally declared a masterpiece. Meanwhile, Resident Evil 6 was so poorly received that it prompted Capcom to give the franchise a soft reboot. And yet, these action-packed games, with just enough classic Resident Evil exploration and puzzle-solving, are the perfect fit for co-op multiplayer. In a sense, cooperative gameplay actually hides these games’ shortcomings, making them that much better.

A-Tier: Nearly-Perfect Resident Evil Cooperation

Resident Evil Revelations 2
Resident Evil Outbreak
Resident Evil Outbreak File #2

Resident Evil Revelations 2 follows its 2012 predecessor, but it’s far more than a simple carbon copy: it centers on Claire Redfield and Moira Burton as they make their way through a remote Baltic island, but the kicker is that Moira despises guns and refuses to use them. This leaves all the combat to Claire, while Moira mans the flashlight and helps with various puzzles. This makes Revelations 2 less of a crowd-pleaser than the co-op titles in the S-Tier, but arguably more interesting for its unique asymmetrical premise.

Similarly, the Resident Evil Outbreak games are incredibly unique and ahead of their time, offering four-person online multiplayer co-op. Outbreak has received extra attention recently due to its connection to Resident Evil Requiem, which will hopefully encourage players to check out the PS2 classic.

B-Tier: Solid Resident Evil Fun

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D

Here are some interesting, middle-of-the-road Resident Evil co-op experiences. Operation Raccoon City is striking because of how well it represents the third-person cover-shooters of its era, while The Mercenaries 3D‘s arcade-like gameplay and structure, coupled with the unique features of the Nintendo 3DS, offer a distillation of Resident Evil‘s core qualities. They both feature good co-op gameplay, but don’t exactly leverage the strengths of the Resident Evil formula as well as they could.

C-Tier: Mindless Resident Evil Action

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

Resident Evil‘s on-rails shooters, signified by the “Chronicles” moniker, can be decent fun, but they certainly aren’t very deep. Like the above games, the Chronicles duology doesn’t incorporate the best parts of Resident Evil as a series, focusing entirely on combat, which makes its cooperative elements less enjoyable than in other entries.

D-Tier: Resident Evil’s Co-Op Dark Age

Resident Evil Resistance
Umbrella Corps

Finally, there are two of the most hated Resident Evil games of the past several years. Resident Evil Resistance is generally considered to have some good ideas, but far too many issues in the way of their shine; the fact that support for the game ceased so soon after its launch doesn’t help matters either. Then there’s Umbrella Corps, a game that is borderline unplayable in addition to being uninspired and bereft of personality. It also has some of the worst reviews of any game in history.