Players explore the Spencer Mansion and surrounding facilities from fixed camera angles, searching rooms for keys, documents, weapons, ammunition, and healing items. Backtracking is essential because many doors, puzzles, and story events depend on items found elsewhere.

Choose Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield, each with different inventory capacity, starting equipment, and supporting events. The campaign alternates between combat, investigation, item management, and puzzle solving. Multiple endings depend on rescue events and choices made during the scenario.

Conserve ammunition by avoiding ordinary zombies when the route allows it, especially in narrow corridors that will be revisited.

Use the item box network to keep key items, healing supplies, and ammunition organized. Read documents carefully, map unexplored rooms, and prioritize unlocking shortcuts before committing to difficult areas.

Save ink ribbons for meaningful progress, and carry only the items needed for the current objective. Character-specific differences make Jill more forgiving for beginners, while Chris demands tighter inventory planning.