#1. HEISENBERG’S FACTORY
Heisenberg’s Factory is, by its very nature, divisive- some Resident Evil fans probably despise it. Others have mixed feeling. Others still absolutely love it. We fall in that last camp. With its conveyor belts, assembly lines, steampunk machines, and mechanically mutated enemies, it’s entirely different from anything Resident Evil has ever done before. But it works so well. The enemy design is excellent, leading to some of the most thrilling, challenging, and heart-pounding encounters in the entire game. The design of the location is spectacular- labyrinthine, maze-like, winding and looping on itself, and densely packed. Navigating its rooms and corridors across its many floors, slowly unlocking doors and pathways to create shortcuts or gain access to locked areas, and even finding hidden treasures and exploring locked optional rooms is ab absolute joy. Meanwhile, the boss fight against that monstrous thing with a giant propeller for a head is also excellent designed, and is probably one of the best boss encounters in the entire game. Sure, the boss fight against Heisenberg is not the best- but that hardly sours the experience. Heisenberg’s Factory is a success on every front- design, combat encounters, enemies, exploration, you name it. It’s probably one of the best areas in any Resident Evil game ever.
