In the world of Resident Evil, outbreaks and bioterror attacks and outbreaks are a regular occurrence. Most of the time, these will be contained within a single city, but there have been a few occasions where the stakes ended up getting worryingly high, with the fate of an entire nation, or even the whole world, resting on the heroes’ shoulders. As the Resident Evil series has gone on, the villains’ ambitions have only gotten more and more outlandish, with many of them being more than happy to plunge the world into chaos if it puts them one step closer to fulfilling their ultimate plan.

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Thankfully, Resident Evil has plenty of brave and heroic characters who are always willing to put their lives on the line to protect the world from terror, though on a few occasions, they were almost too late. These are the Resident Evil games with the highest stakes that could have ended in disaster had the villain not been stopped in time.

8

Resident Evil 0

The Queen Leech Threatened The Existence Of Umbrella’s Organization

Released

November 12, 2002

Resident Evil 0’s story is often considered to be one of the weirdest and outlandish in the series, and this certainly also applies to the villain. After the death of James Marcus at the hands of his fellow Umbrella agents, one of his test leeches decides to enter his body and absorb his DNA, with the end goal of enacting revenge on the organization.

Since Resident Evil 0 is a prequel to the first game, the destruction of Umbrella could have, ironically, prevented the majority of the series’ worst outbreaks and events from even occurring. At the same time, killing them after the Spencer Manson incident would have prevented the company from ever being exposed to the world. Simply put, the future of the series would have been drastically different if Rebecca and Billy hadn’t decided to begrudgingly team up when they did.

7

Resident Evil

Chris, Jill, And The Rest Of The STARS Crew Had Their Lives On The Line For The Entirety Of The First Game

Released

January 20, 2015

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

It’s not long into the first Resident Evil game that Jill, Chris, and Barry realize that they have been trapped inside a building packed full of dangerous mutants, monsters, and zombies. As a result, each member tries desperately to remain alive, despite the BOWs only getting more dangerous and bloodthirsty as the game goes along.

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The stakes are thrown into high gear near the end once Wesker reveals his role as a secret Umbrella agent. With the mansion set to self-destruct, the player must use every last bullet they still have stashed away to take down a Tyrant and escape, which makes for an incredibly intense adventure overall where everyone’s life is on the line from beginning to end.

6

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Umbrella’s End)

Chris And Jill Were Able To Take Down Umbrella Once And For All

Systems

Released

November 13, 2007

This is specifically referring to the final unlockable scenario in the Umbrella Chronicles game, which follows Chris and Jill infiltrating an Umbrella base in the hopes of exposing the organization’s sick deeds to the world. Despite being just one of the many missions these two have embarked on together, it was one of the most important of their careers, since if the plan had gone wrong, Umbrella would never have paid for their crimes, and the Talos project would have spread chaos across the globe.

Though Wesker did eventually swoop in afterward to steal Umbrella’s data, the exposure of the company had a drastic impact on the world of Resident Evil, so needless to say, there was a lot riding on this mission. Despite the pressure, Chris and Jill managed to succeed and enact justice, though it was far from a walk in the park.

5

Resident Evil: Code Veronica

The World Almost Became A Giant ‘Ant’ Colony With A Horrible Queen At The Helm

Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X

Alexia actually doesn’t make her appearance until near the very end of Code Veronica, but if players pick up documents and files across their playthrough, they’ll acquire a pretty good idea of her true intentions. Alexia’s obsession with ants, and fascination with the T-Virus, gave her the idea of turning the entire world into an ant colony with her being the queen. It might sound like a whacky idea, but Alexia actually came worryingly close to becoming the ruler she had always dreamed of.

If it wasn’t for Chris, Claire, and a little help from Wesker, Alexia would have gone on to become a truly dangerous leader who would have ushered the world into an age of darkness and suffering. Little did Claire know she’d be helping to save the world when she first set off to find her missing brother.

4

Resident Evil 6

Carla Was Plotting A Global Takeover Behind The Scenes

Though Simmons technically plays the role of the main villain in Resident Evil 6, it’s actually Carla who comes the closest to destroying the world. Carla is the leader of a malicious group called Neo-Umbrella, who, in the game, are the ones who spread the C-Virus without warning among numerous different cities in both America and China.

While Leon and Helena helped to take Simmons out of the picture, it would actually be Ada who stomped out Carla after she tried to execute her grand plan. Chris and Piers would also prevent a possible catastrophe by eliminating the giant BOW known as HAOS, which was the one designed to infect the world with Carla’s precious virus.

3

Resident Evil 2 & 3

Every Survivor Of Raccoon City Tried Their Best To Escape The Oncoming Obliteration

Released

January 25, 2019

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

From the moment Leon, Claire, and Jill realize that the entirety of Raccoon City has become infested by zombies, they understand just how high the stakes are, not just for them, but for every resident of the city. Despite each of these characters doing all they can to help any survivors escape, ultimately, many people would lose their lives, and once the nuclear bombs are ordered, it becomes a desperate escape attempt for everyone who is somehow still breathing.

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Considering the sheer number of mutants and Tyrants that were thrown into Raccoon City, the regular human would have to possess a ton of luck and at least some combat abilities to survive the hellish ordeal. As a result, the stakes were high for everyone involved, though despite the survivors’ attempts, the city did eventually turn into smithereens after it became too saturated with zombies.

2

Resident Evil 4

Leon Was The Only One Standing In The Way Of Saddler’s Dangerous Plan

Released

March 24, 2023

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Resident Evil 4 already starts off with pretty high stakes, but this only amplifies once Leon begins to unravel Saddler’s true plan. After rescuing Ashley, it becomes clear that the president’s daughter has been infected with the Las Plagas. Saddler admits that he intends to send her back to America, where she will then go on to infect all the governments higher-up, plunging the country, and world, into chaos.

As the plaga grows and evolves, it allows Saddler to gain control over Ashley, which he uses to re-capture her multiple times, with Leon being forced to take down swarms of monsters to reach her, all while being infected himself. If Leon had succumbed to Saddler’s possession or given up on his mission, one can only imagine how disastrous things could have gotten.

1

Resident Evil 5

Wesker Was Moments Away From Infecting The Entire World With Uroboros

Released

March 5, 2009

OpenCritic Rating

Fair

It’s not until the mid-point of Resident Evil 5’s story that Chris and Sheva are able to uncover what exactly Tricell, and more specifically, Albert Wesker, is planning to achieve. Wesker, believing that the world has grown weak and feeble, stocks up a jet carrier full of Uroboros and comes very close to dropping the deadly parasite across the globe — that is, if Chris and Sheva hadn’t been there to stop him.

With his jet in the air and the Uroboros good to go, Wesker was literally moments away from pulling off his maniacal plan, which would have led to the majority of the global population being wiped out. It’s a good thing Chris and Sheva were there to catch a ride on Wesker’s jet; it’s scary to think what the world would have looked like if they weren’t there to prevent Wesker in his attempt to become an omnipotent god.

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