Resident Evil Requiem is now the highest-rated user score ever on Metacritic
Three days is all it took
Resident Evil Requiem, which landed on the 27th of February, is currently sitting on the highest user score in the history of Metacritic. Not the highest for a horror game. Not the highest this year. Highest full stop.
The ninth mainline Resident Evil has racked up a 9.5 user score from more than 2,000 player ratings. Only Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 matches that number, but Metacritic’s own calculations put Capcom’s undead opera ever so slightly ahead overall. The French RPG briefly reclaimed the top spot, but the fact that Requiem even got there this quickly tells you plenty.
Critics are also firmly on side. Requiem’s Metascore currently ranges from 88 to 92, depending on platform, with an overall average of 88. That won’t crack Metacritic’s all-time top 250 (you need a 90+ to get through that door), but it does make it the best-reviewed game of 2026 so far.
The professionals think it’s excellent. Players seem to think it’s something else entirely.
It’s worth saying that Metacritic’s user charts are rarely a pure measure of quality. Scores tend to skew towards 10s and 0s, depending on whether the internet has decided to celebrate or torch something that week. Requiem itself has picked up a scattering of zero scores. It will no doubt change over the coming weeks, but for now it's an impressive start for the iconic horror franchise.
For further proof that the leaderboard can be chaotic, Cory in the House, a Nintendo DS tie-in that’s long been a meme, currently sits third in the all-time user rankings. It’s funny, but it also shows how popularity, irony and organised enthusiasm can all blur into the same number.
Yet, dismissing Requiem’s run as hype would be missing the point. This is a series high in more ways than one. The game debuted with the highest Steam player numbers in the franchise's history.
Capcom has spent years fine-tuning this formula, from the first-person dread of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard to the gothic bombast of Resident Evil Village. As well as perfecting the art of the remake, reinvigorating the franchise for new audiences in the process. Requiem feels like the moment all of that iteration clicks into place.
Is it the greatest game ever made? Probably not, but is it one of the clearest signs in years that Resident Evil 9 isn’t just coasting on nostalgia? Absolutely. If you're looking for a game right now, chances are it might be this.
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