Welcome to the second installment in PSU’s on-going Resident Evil 15th anniversary articles. Today we focus on the series’ highly lauded aural component, highlighting 10 fear-inducing ditties that are guaranteed to keep you sleeping with the light on for months on end.
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Resident Evil – "First Floor Mansion"
Iconic, stomach-knotting and just downright creepy, the infamous First Floor theme, in my opinion, remains one of the most effective cuts in the Resident Evil soundtrack to date. It’s synonymous with the game’s early stages, evoking memories of snooping around the sprawling Spencer Estate as you search for your MIA Bravo Team compatriots while capping off undead dudes and dogs. The track would later be remixed following your character’s return to the mansion after investigating the Guard House, but its original incarnation is easily the best of the bunch. A proper classic.
Resident Evil 2 – "The Front Hall (R.P.D.)"
Raccoon City’s doomed Police Department is to Resident Evil 2 what the Spencer Mansion is to the original. It’s a centre piece of the action, making up the bulk of the seminal sequel’s zombie-slaying antics. The main hall of the R.P.D. remains a frequent safe haven for Leon and Claire throughout their investigation, and subsequently, its ominous theme tune quickly becomes imprinted on your consciousness. Before you know it, you’ll be humming this delightful ditty over and over again without even realizing as much. In fact, I lapped it up so much that I’d find myself in a complete daze, just standing there soaking up the atmosphere like a sponge for minutes at a time.
Resident Evil 2 – “T”-B (Tyrant’s theme 2)
While it’s fairly easy to arbitrarily plonk any number of boss battle themes from RE2 on the table, the Tyrant’s epic-sounding battle cry is in my humble opinion unequivocally the game’s best. Specifically, the track accompanies the climatic scrap between Leon/Claire and the mutant formally known as Mr. X, who after taking a lava bath, sheds his trench coat and sprouts two massive claws on either arm. (See our boss battles feature for more on that.) A heart-thumping track that accentuates the severity of the current situation—namely, the fact you’ve got just a couple of minutes before you’re blown to bits—“T”-B is an adrenaline-fuelled aural onslaught that makes this one B.O.W. battle you won’t forget in a hurry. Brilliant stuff.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis – "Feel the Tense"
As far as I’m concerned, there’s never been a more appropriate title for a RE tune than RE3 Nemesis’ Feel the Tense. Sums it up perfectly. The track itself is directly linked to the game’s eponymous, leather-clad S.T.A.R.S stalker, and plays whenever Nemesis is lurking nearby, waiting to batter you with one meaty fist. Sure, it’s basically a continuous loop, but the sheer gut-wrenching uneasiness it instills upon the player is enough to make you reach for the underwear drawer. As such, don’t expect to experience a modicum of relief until the track subsides, either by Nemesis launching an attack or if you manage to escape the immediate area. Sadly for you, it’ll most likely be the former.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis – "The City of Ruin"
Frankly, RE3 has so many stonking tunes it’s tough to discern the most delectable of ditties, but City of Ruin remains one of the soundtrack’s finest cuts. Why? Because it effortlessly sums up despair and hopelessness of a once bustling metropolis now consumed by the living dead. Its ominous groans penetrate the pits of your stomach, and it’s almost as if you can hear the cries of the doomed city itself calling out for salvation as you wade through claret-drenched streets and myriad of burnt-out homes and automobiles. Any hopes of solitude ultimately evaporate as the track cements the terrifying truth of the matter: Raccoon is now a City of the Dead, and its rotting denizens and mutated monstrosities are your only source of company.
Resident Evil Code: Veronica – "Putrid Smell"
I can only imagine the potency of the stench that invaded Claire Redfield’s nostrils upon unearthing girly-voiced mad man Alfred Ashford’s underground lair in Code: Veronica, but the track Putrid Smell sums it up rather nicely, I imagine. Easily one of the most unnerving tunes in the entire game, the ditty accompanies the grim discovery of Ashford’s torture chamber in a secret room behind the medical shack. The place is chock full of walking corpses, with blood-stains decorating the walls, floor and elaborate torture devices strewn about the place. God only knows what’s behind the curtain at the back, but we’re spared any investigation. Indeed, this scene is stomach-churning enough as it is, but combined with a nail-biting number like Putrid Smell, you’re in pant-cacking territory all over again. The track’s not just bad, it bloody stinks. Mission accomplished, eh Capcom?
Resident Evil Zero – "The Leech"
Ugh. The very moment this frantic number assaults my ear drums, I’m instantly reminded of the hair-pulling frustration that accompanies any encounter with those bloody Leeches. Officially dubbed Mimicry Marcus, these slimy buggers easily rank among the most tenacious baddies in the series to date. Boy, did they put up a fight. The track’s an absolute corker, though, sending players into a sweaty-palmed panic as the humanoid Leech-man-thing attempts to clobber you with its elastic-like limbs, or tries smothering you in acid. In particular, The Leech evokes an almost alien-like quality about it, reminding you that you’re scrapping it out with an abomination of science that defies all sense of logic—and this is Resident Evil we’re talking about, where walking corpses and giant frog-men are common place. Zero’s one of the series’ most underrated efforts to date, but The Leech stands proudly among the cream of the crop as a genuinely fear-inducing ditty.
Resident Evil Outbreak – "Main Theme"
The companion track to Resident Evil Outbreak’s sumptuous CGI intro cut scene, the Main Theme is a forgotten gem among all but the most diehard of RE aficionados’. Erie, unsettling, yet also soothing, the track effortlessly encapsulates the accompanying on-screen madness depicting retribution of a mutated William Birkin, as he ruthlessly slaughters members of Umbrella’s Special Forces unit. There’s no bombastic drum beat or flashy guitar solo here—just a raw, stomach-knotting score that’s guaranteed to send a shiver down your spine.
Resident Evil 4 – "The Mercenaries (Wesker’s Theme)"
What do you get when you cross Resident Evil 4’s adrenaline-fuelled blaster The Mercenaries with one of the most notorious villains in videogame history? A kick-*** theme tune, that’s what. Indeed, Wesker’s appearance in the action-packed mini-game remains a series highlight, thanks largely to his ability to pummel unsuspecting Ganado into submission with his meaty power punch and bone-crunching foot stomp. And the best part is you get to do it all to this marvelous track, which wails furiously in your ears and captures the enigmatic villain’s shady (no pun intended) persona in one effortless, screaming score. Definitely RE4’s crowning musical achievement.
Resident Evil 5 – "Executioner"
While proving a far more action-orientated experience than past entries, Resi 5 excelled in chucking copious amounts of bad guys in your direction, a design direction very much reflected in its bombastic, frantic-paced soundtrack. Out of all the game’s aural offerings however, nothing encapsulates this more than the track Axe Man. The theme to the game’s eponymous, hulking hooded executioner, Axe Man is a heart-thumping number combined with nail-biting suspense and an adrenaline rush in one roaring, ear-assaulting offering.
Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Resident Evil 15th anniversary festivities here at PlayStation Universe.