The Resident Evil games have long been defined by their gunplay, item management, and careful resource balancing. However, one tool that has remained stubbornly underdeveloped across most entries is melee weapons. The knife, for instance, typically exists as a defensive option, and a desperate swipe for a player to free themselves from danger before returning to firearms. Even games like Resident Evil 4 Remake, which added durability and parrying mechanics, still treat melee as secondary.
In Resident Evil 9, Capcom has an opportunity to change that dynamic completely, not by replacing guns, but by making melee an equally considered and versatile component of the survival toolkit. Therefore, building a more dynamic melee system could add depth to exploration, strategy, and combat flow. For starters, even something as little as scavenging for different melee weapons like machetes and pipes, each with distinct animations, situational uses, and damage profiles, could add so much texture to the game.
Predicting a Resident Evil 9 Reveal Window
Resident Evil 9 still remains elusive, but by looking at Capcom's past patterns, it may be possible to narrow down a reveal window.
Melee Weapons Need to Have a Purpose in Resident Evil
Right now, knives in Resident Evil exist mainly to delay an inevitable reload, and there’s no clear purpose for them. They're just panic buttons, but Resident Evil 9 could revolutionize this by introducing a stamina or momentum system tied to melee usage. Perhaps something where striking an enemy with a well-timed heavy swing could stagger them, and open up tactical advantages without burning through precious ammo. Similarly, light, rapid strikes could perhaps be useful against swarms of smaller enemies.
A Meaningful Risk-Reward Balance is Necessary in Resident Evil
The idea is to have melee weapons degrade realistically when used to stagger enemies, and certainly not snap instantly like the RE4R knife — the weapons should instead gradually lose effectiveness unless maintained or replaced. This way, players would have to weigh the benefit of saving ammo versus the cost of wearing down a critical tool. Similarly, heavy weapons could be slower and leave players exposed, and lightweight tools should ideally be made to have reach or power limitations. No single melee weapon should be a catch-all answer, and there should ideally be trade-offs to maintain balance with each.
Resident Evil's enemy design would also need to evolve alongside this system. Some enemies could react aggressively to melee, forcing players to mix tactics. Others could be vulnerable only to specific melee conditions; for instance, armored foes could require blunt force before gunfire becomes effective. Making the enemies respect melee combat the way they react to gunfire would complete the mechanical loop and elevate melee from an emergency-only afterthought to a deliberate, skillful option for players.
Lessons Resident Evil 9 Should Take from Other Horror Games
Games like The Last of Us have proven that melee can complement survival horror without undermining it, and the industry has seen firsthand that well-designed melee is not about overpowering the player but rather giving them more options to survive creatively. In TLOU, for example, resourceful use of melee weapons (considering durability, animation speed, and whether it's a bladed or blunt weapon) completely changes the pace of a fight without reducing tension. Moreover, another underutilized avenue Resident Evil 9 could pursue is integrating smart melee use into environmental exploration more often.
The franchise has occasionally flirted with environmental melee tools before. For instance, Moira in Revelations 2 uses a crowbar for both combat and unlocking certain doors, and Ethan’s stake weapon in Resident Evil Village provides a melee fallback with real weight. RE9 could take this further while utilizing underused melee weapons like fire axes or machetes to pry doors, open block paths, and solve environmental puzzles while going the extra mile. This would tie Resident Evil melee weapons into the DNA of progression, item and path discovery, and even puzzle-solving. Not only would it evolve the gameplay like the Katana in Revelations 2 or Joe's gauntlets in RE7's End of Zoe DLC did, but it would also strengthen the themes of desperation, improvisation, and survival, the very elements that define the best entries in the series.
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Publisher(s)
- Capcom
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
Resident Evil 9 is a rumoured upcoming entry in the long-running series from Capcom. Reports suggest it could be a reinvention of the series.
