How to Pass the Time While Waiting for Resident Evil 9

The release of the next Resident Evil isn’t happening anytime soon. When it comes to Capcom projects, the company’s games typically launch about a year after their first trailer drops. But in the case of Resident Evil 9, we don’t even have a trailer yet, only official confirmation that the game is in development. That’s it. So, to help make the wait a little more bearable, we’ve put together a list of games that capture the Resident Evil spirit, along with movies and TV shows that share its eerie atmosphere.

If you’re eagerly anticipating Resident Evil 9, chances are you’ve already played the previous entries in the series, so we won’t be covering those here. Instead, we’ve compiled a list of games from other franchises that any Resident Evil fan should check out.

Silent Hill 2

Let’s start with a recent release. The Silent Hill 2 remake was heavily inspired by the Resident Evil 2 remake, something Bloober Team developers openly acknowledged. In truth, Resident Evil's influence on Silent Hill has been apparent since the '90s, but the new remake makes it more obvious than ever. From the get-go, the controls, minimalist UI, and over-the-shoulder camera will feel instantly familiar to fans of modern Resident Evil games.

If you love Resident Evil for its intricate level design, engaging puzzles, tense combat against tough enemies, and constant suspense due to limited resources, Silent Hill 2 delivers all of that in spades. The remake even offers a more unsettling atmosphere and a deeper narrative than your typical Resident Evil experience.

Dead Space

Speaking of remakes, we can’t ignore Resident Evil in space. The new Dead Space is one of the scariest horror-action games in recent years, delivering a suffocating sense of isolation, breathtaking lighting effects, stellar sound design, and a unique combat system where you must strategically dismember enemies to take them down.

The original Dead Space was fairly linear, but the remake improves on this by introducing more complex level design and reasons to revisit older areas to uncover secrets and complete side quests. The developers also added an AI-driven director that dynamically spawns enemies and surprises players during exploration.

Alone in the Dark

The return of this classic received mixed reactions — its unpolished combat system and technical issues turned some players away. However, fans of Resident Evil, particularly those who loved the Resident Evil 2 remake, will find plenty to appreciate in Alone in the Dark: its over-the-shoulder perspective, game structure, level design, resource management, and puzzle-solving all feel familiar.

The Evil Within 2

The original The Evil Within was directed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. While the first game borrowed heavily from Resident Evil 4, its sequel refined the formula and was received much more positively. The Evil Within 2 experiments with survival horror by introducing open-ended areas filled with optional content. If you’ve ever wondered whether Resident Evil's gameplay could work in an open-world setting, TEW2 provides an answer.

Alan Wake 2

Like many games on this list, Alan Wake 2 was heavily influenced by the Resident Evil 2 remake — something Remedy openly confirmed. While its gameplay shares similarities with Resident Evil, its storytelling and tone are completely different. This makes Alan Wake 2 the perfect game for Resident Evil fans: familiar yet fresh, thanks to its surreal narrative.

SIGNALIS

In addition to AAA projects, there are plenty of excellent indie games with Resident Evil DNA. One such title is SIGNALIS — a highly successful attempt to merge RE with Silent Hill. In this melancholic game about androids, you'll need to count every bullet, solve challenging puzzles, plan your routes through intricate labyrinths, and carefully decide which enemies to eliminate first (as there won’t be enough ammo to kill them all). Moreover, SIGNALIS is a game you'll want to play multiple times — to discover all secrets, unlock every ending, and untangle its complex narrative.

Tormented Souls

Today, games with the classic fixed camera style of old-school Resident Evil are a rarity. Perhaps the best among them is Tormented Souls. This is a well-crafted survival horror game that seeks to recreate the magic of the earliest RE titles while staying true to the core principles — exceptionally dangerous common enemies, limited ammunition, as well as puzzles and intricate level design.

Amnesia: The Bunker

Objectively, the latest Amnesia doesn’t resemble Resident Evil that much. Yes, the player must search for resources and keys to locked doors, but at the same time, The Bunker focuses on hiding from a single intelligent enemy for most of the game rather than clearing rooms full of zombies. Nevertheless, RE fans — and horror enthusiasts in general — should still give this project a shot, as it attempts to push the genre forward.

Amnesia: The Bunker smartly incorporates immersive sim elements into its gameplay, offering an unusual level of freedom for a horror game: almost every problem can be solved in multiple ways, as long as the player is creative enough.

It’s no secret that official Resident Evil adaptations have little in common with the games and often leave much to be desired in terms of quality. So, we’ll skip those and instead highlight other movies and series that evoke the essence of Capcom’s masterpieces.

REC

The Spanish horror film REC (not to be confused with its less successful American remake) is practically a Resident Evil movie in disguise. It follows an unlucky group of people trapped in an apartment building in the heart of Barcelona. With zombies lurking within, they must find a way to escape while staying alive.

Evil Dead Rise

The Evil Dead franchise has heavily influenced Resident Evil, particularly Resident Evil 7. However, the latest film, Evil Dead Rise, deserves special mention. While it may not be the best in the series, its claustrophobic apartment setting makes it one of the closest in tone to Resident Evil’s corridor-based horror.

Dawn of the Dead

A diverse group of survivors fights to stay alive in a shopping mall during a zombie apocalypse. This is one of Zack Snyder’s best films, striking a perfect balance between horror and action — just like Resident Evil.

Overlord

Secret labs, horrific experiments, and mutants created through questionable scientific research — Overlord could easily be mistaken for an unofficial Resident Evil film set during World War II. Instead of Umbrella scientists, we have Nazi researchers, and instead of S.T.A.R.S. operatives, American paratroopers.

All of Us Are Dead

A tense Korean series about a zombie outbreak in a high school. Most students have turned into ravenous monsters, but a few survivors struggle to find a way out.

***

Of course, we haven’t covered every game or film reminiscent of Resident Evil, but this list should keep you entertained for a while. Let us know in the comments what other titles you think are must-sees for RE fans.