Updated October 21, 2026, by Mark Sammut: I updated this article with more information that covers each game’s main story, main story + side content, and completionist times.
Roughly 30 years after its debut, Capcom’s Resident Evil continues to go strong in more ways than one, as 2026 produced a great game in Requiem and even a pretty good movie! Although primarily known for its replayability rather than single runs, the length of a Resident Evil game varies wildly, with some requiring only an hour while others demanding more than 10. What’s the longest Resident Evil game? The shortest?
We still have to wait a few more months to get our hands on Resident Evil Veronica and the expansion to Requiem, but we have decades of games literally at our fingertips. Before starting one of the classics or spin-offs, you might wish to know exactly how long you will be stuck in the nightmare. This article answers that.
HowLongToBeat has been used as the source for nearly every game, with just one exception (Resident Evil Requiem).
Also, only console and PC games, no mobile Resident Evil games.
28
Resident Evil: Survivor 2 – Code Veronica Is, Well, A Light-gun Shooter
1 Hour (Roughly)
- Main Story: 45 Minutes
- Main Story + Sides: 1.5 Hours
- Completionist: 3 Hours
Following the events covered in Code Veronica, in which Claire Redfield explores Rockfort Island while searching for her older brother with the help of Steve Burnside, Survivor 2 is a light-gun shooter that was originally released for arcade machines in Japan before it was given a PS2 version.
As expected of an arcade game, Survivor 2 – Code Veronica is a very short experience, only meant to provide some fun shooter gameplay rather than enthrall players in an immersive horror story. This makes this game the shortest entry in the expansive library of Resident Evil games.
27
Resident Evil: Survivor Is Also A Light-Gun Game, But Longer
2 Hours
- Main Story: 2 Hours
- Main Story + Sides: 2.5 Hours
- Completionist: 5 Hours
Capcom isn’t always the mind behind its flagship zombie title, as sometimes they trust in other developers to create another great entry into a hallowed franchise. One such title is Resident Evil Survivor, a light-gun shooter for PC and PS1. The game follows an amnesiac helicopter pilot who must now face overwhelming odds to survive, and hopefully recover his memories.
It is a short experience that players can’t expect to spend much time in, taking only about 2 hours to complete on average. Not every game needs to be long, and Survivor doesn’t outstay its welcome.
26
Resident Evil: Dead Aim
2.5 Hours
- Main Story: 2.5 Hours
- Main Story + Sides: 3 Hours
- Completionist: 5 Hours
Dead Aim is, well, another light-gun game, which we sadly don’t really get anymore. It is probably the best of them, although I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to play it unless you are really into this subgenre. Set 4 years after Resident Evil 2, an ocean liner has become the latest breeding ground for the T-virus. A few unlucky people are sent to the ship to put a stop to the outbreak.
As a spin-off game and a light-shooter, Dead Aim was never going to be a long experience, clocking in with an average completion time of just three hours. However, those who want to achieve 100% completion will see their time increased by at least an additional hour and a half.
25
Resident Evil Gaiden Takes Place On A Boat
4.5 Hours
- Main Story: 4.5 Hours
- Main Story + Sides: 6 Hours
- Completionist: 7.5 Hours
This one particular RE game was released for the Game Boy Color back in the early 2000s, favoring a top-down perspective that switches to first-person for combat, making it unique from most of the other RE titles. The game is considered non-canon, depicting series protagonists Leon Kennedy and Barry Burton on board a passenger ship that is the site of a viral outbreak.
As a handheld game not considered part of the canon storyline, it is not as lengthy as the games, with an approximate 4-hour-long campaign. But every player’s mileage may vary, depending on how slowly they like to take their games and their levels of exploration.
24
Umbrella Corps Is Short And Still Too Long
4.5 Hours
- Main Story: 4.5 Hours
- Main Story + Sides: 8 Hours
- Completionist: 8.5 Hours
Capcom’s franchise has plenty of polarizing entries that divide fans down the middle. However, when it comes to the worst Resident Evil game, most people seem to agree that the honor goes to Umbrella Corps. Unlike some of the handheld or even mobile efforts, this 2016 release was presented as the next big RE experience, one that would finally provide a multiplayer spin-off that can keep players coming back indefinitely. Re:Verse and Resistance would also try to tap into this market, but Umbrella Corps did it first and did it worse.
Technically, you can complete the missions in around 4 hours, but those are essentially just tutorials that are connected with traces of a story. There is absolutely no reason to play this game, even though it can be played solo if somebody really wants to.
23
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
5 Hours
- Main Story: 5 Hours
- Main Story + Sides: 23 Hours
- Completionist: 106 Hours
One of the most forgotten Resident Evil games, The Mercenaries 3D is a 3DS exclusive that expands the beloved “Mercenaries” mode into a full title. Trapped on a handheld console that isn’t that well-designed for faster-paced third-person action, this spin-off arguably perfected “Mercenaries,” or at least did enough to justify translating the mode into a standalone game. While there is no story, The Mercenaries 3D has missions that players can complete, and it would take roughly 5 hours to play through those once.
Honestly, “5 hours” doesn’t really do The Mercenaries 3D justice, as that just involves finishing the final mission. In truth, this is an arcade shooter designed to be played repeatedly by unlocking all the playable characters, earning high ranks in the maps, and leveling up perks.
22
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Lasts About As Long As It Should
6 Hours
- Main Story: 6 Hours
- Main Story + Sides: 8 Hours
- Completionist: 16.5 Hours
This squad-based shooter game takes place during the Raccoon City outbreak, featuring a total of twelve playable characters split into two separate sides: the Umbrella Security Team and the United States Special Ops team, with various changes to the campaign depending on whom the player chooses to play. There is even a multiplayer element, allowing four players to play through a cooperative mod against the Special Ops or Security Team.
As Operation Raccoon City is mostly a fun gun game without a strict story like the other RE games, it has a relatively shorter completion time of approximately 6 hours, which feels like the perfect length for this kind of game.
21
Resident Evil 3 (2020) Is Nowhere Near Long Enough
6 Hours
- Main Story: 6 Hours
- Main Story + Sides: 7.5 Hours
- Completionist: 20 Hours
The Resident Evil 3 remake is one of the shortest games in the Resident Evil series and has proved to be quite disappointing among fans. Quite a bit of content from the original game was cut, which resulted in the campaign having a rather underwhelming runtime.
The game’s story only takes 6 hours to complete, which caused Resident Evil 3 to almost feel like an expansion of the previous year’s Resident Evil 2 remake. Various locations and boss fights were cut from the original game, making the remake’s story incredibly concise. That said, RE3 is fun while it lasts.
20
Resident Evil 2 (1998) Is Shorter Than You Remember
6 Hours
- Main Story: 6 Hours
- Main Story + Sides: 9.5 Hours
- Completionist: 16 Hours
One of the shorter games in the Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil 2, is set two months after the original game and follows Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield as they fight their way out of the Raccoon City outbreak. Both characters have their own storyline where they explore the abandoned streets of Raccoon City and the mysterious corridors of the Raccoon City Police Department.
Generally regarded as one of the best entries of the classic era, RE2 isn’t all that long when we see the data, but it should be noted that a completely blind playthrough will likely take most people longer than 6 hours for a single-character playthrough. HLTB’s times for classic games tend to be influenced by most users already knowing the basics.
19
Resident Evil (1996) Is A Tight Haunted House Masterpiece
6.5 hours
- Main Story: 6.5 Hours
- Main Story + Sides: 8.5 Hours
- Completionist: 16 Hours
The original Resident Evil might be dated nowadays, but it is arguably the most important horror game of all time. It clocks in at a pretty reasonable runtime of 7 hours, which wasn’t that short by ’90s standards. For modern gamers, the campaign may seem a little underwhelming, but at the time of release, the game was considered to be packed with content.
This is the game that allowed the Resident Evil franchise to establish itself as an iconic face in the survival horror world and introduced gamers to some of the most important characters in the series, such as Albert Wesker, Jill Valentine, and Chris Redfield.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
