Now, in 2019, Capcom has given me a brand-new experience I’ll never forget: this entirely redesigned Resident Evil 2 is a highly enjoyable, extremely terrifying adventure thanks to its brand-new and cutting-edge graphics, controls, and some astute quality-of-life upgrades. Although the storylines of the two playable characters aren’t as dissimilar as I’d imagined, I still quite loved going back in time to revisit Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield. I hadn’t played the first Resident Evil 2 in 20 years and could only recall the broad strokes of what had happened: the Lickers were introduced, the enormous spiders in the sewers were terrifying, and much of the action took place in a police station. It might not be obvious how much better this remake is unless you compare it to the original if similar amounts of time have gone since you last played it or if you’ve never done so. That’s because Capcom started from fresh and completely recreated the game using the RE Engine, which is the same technology that ran Resident Evil 7. This differs from the typical remastering process where we see increased resolution and textures hung over an old game’s skeleton.
Resident Evil 2 review: About
As per Resident Evil tradition, your goal is to make it through the night while avoiding the terrifying monsters and tricky riddles that may be found in the city’s infested streets, the Police Station’s cramped, barely illuminated corridors, and the underground passages below. The survivalist mindset from the first games is combined beautifully with the haptic, reflex-focused gameplay from more recent titles in RE2. Escalation plays a big part in this game; as your resources run out and the monsters get scarier and more complex, the stakes are always rising as the plot develops, and each situation feels a little bit more hopeless than the last. In RE2, even the tiniest successes can feel like significant ones, and before you know it, you’ll be moving on to the next challenge. You can buy this game from its official website.
Resident Evil 2 review: System Requirements
Originally released in 1998 for the PlayStation 5, Resident Evil 2 is a survival horror video game also known as Biohazard 2 in Japan. The second Resident Evil game was created by Capcom, and it takes place two months after the events of the original Resident Evil game. It takes place in Raccoon City, a mountainous region in the Midwest of the United States, where the T-virus, a biological weapon created by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella, has turned the locals into zombies. The two main characters, Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, come across other survivors on their journey out of the city and come face to face with William Birkin, the mutated inventor of the much more potent G-virus.
Resident Evil 2 review: Gameplay
Importantly, managing supplies and ammo remains a crucial aspect of Resident Evil 2’s gameplay. This is true survival horror, where it always feels like you have just enough ammunition and first aid supplies to get by. What you should store against what you should carry is a constant conflict that takes place in your head because you can’t take everything you find with you. The quality-of-life enhancements I mentioned include the elimination of the dreaded onslaught of loading screens, frequent and limitless save points, and automatic map updates to notify you when a room has been cleaned of goods or if you missed something. Having all of those is quite helpful when exploring Raccoon City. The outstanding sound design has increased tension. Gameplay is accompanied by very little music, which provides plenty of room for sounds like creaking doors, thunder, rain, the cries of the undead in the distance, and heavy footsteps from someone ominous in the room across. In terms of atmosphere, Resident Evil 2 is unmatched.
Resident Evil 2 review: Verdict
All the best elements of the original Resident Evil 2 have been faithfully recreated by Capcom and have been updated to look, sound, and play like a 2019 title. This game is definitely a return to form if you thought the series had wandered off course for a time. The zombie battles are satisfying, and exploring Raccoon City’s decaying remains is exciting. Even after unlocking the 2nd Game mode, the two protagonists’ stories aren’t sufficiently dissimilar to make a second playthrough as rewarding as the first. But regardless of who you decide to play as, the first-person perspective of the new Resident Evil 2 sets a new bar for remakes of old games.
