No, you haven’t picked up a copy of bazaar from the year 1998 (that would have been cool, though). Capcom have made and released a remake of everybody’s favorite horror sequel from everybody’s favorite horror franchise.
Not much needs to be said about the Resident Evil series. Even if you aren’t much of a gamer, the name should be familiar to you. The series has been around since the first game launched way back in 1996 and paved the way for (even coining the genre) survival horror games. Titles like Silent Hill and Dino Crisis soon followed, imitating everything that Resident Evil created but never bettering it. Fixed camera angles, a creepy abandoned mansion setting, tank controls, limited inventory system, a spine-chilling soundtrack, sound effects and confined spaces all combined to make it the scariest game of all time, at that point. Many would argue (myself included) that 23 years later, it’s still the scariest game of all time.
Two years later came Resident Evil 2 and it blew everybody away, building on that first excellent game and doing the impossible by bettering it in every way imaginable.
Fast forward to 2019, and over 20 other titles in the series, as well as successful movies, and developer Capcom have followed the trend in ‘remakes and remasters’ and given us RE2 again. But this isn’t just the same game with slightly better graphics-they have remade it from the ground up for the current generation of consoles and gamers.
The story remains the same: you arrive in Racoon City as either Leon (a rookie police officer) or Claire (looking for her brother) and discover a zombie outbreak. You choose to play as either character and when you finish the game, can replay as the other. The environment and story stays the same each time but you follow different paths so replay-ablity is high. You also get a rank based on how well you played so you’ll always want to have another try, to see if you can finish faster or more efficiently, to get the best rank and earn some nice bonuses and unlocks.
One of the key gameplay elements in Resident Evil 2 that has carried over to the remake is inventory management. You only have a limited number of slots to store items, so you’ll soon fill up your allotted space. You’ll very often have tough choices to make as to what you should leave and what you should keep; do you want to keep that valuable health restoration, or should you ditch it in favor of an extra box of ammunition?
Speaking of ammunition, it’s extremely scarce and hard to come by, which presents another dilemma in that you must decide how you’ll deal with the many zombies that you come across. You can choose to just avoid and run around them a lot of times (which means you risk taking damage and having to deal with them later in the game) or you can unload on them, but leaving you with less ammo for the later, harder enemies. While this can be off- putting for some, it’s another design choice in the game that adds to the tense and scary atmosphere. Personally, I would prefer that this wasn’t in the game, but I understand why it is, and think it’s for the best.
Visually, the game looks amazing, especially running in 4K. The level of detail in the police station (where you start) and other environments will make you stop and look at everything around you, when you’ve dealt with the undead, that is. Most of the station is in darkness, so you rely on your flashlight a lot and the way the beam moves with you as you look around the room is graphically brilliant, many times the game looks like you’re watching a movie, which is a far cry from the blocky look of the original Playstation version! The zombies themselves are gruesome and terrifying and you’ll dread each and every encounter with them. The soundtrack does a perfect job of setting the tone, and the sound effects of the zombies and other monsters will put legitimate fear into you.
All in all, Resident Evil 2 is one of the best horror games out there for this generation, and if you like your games with scares you can’t go wrong with this title. While the inventory system is a little off putting for some, I’d recommend to try and see past it-once you’re involved in the story, puzzle solving and zombie extermination, it won’t really matter anyway. Especially once you find the terrifying Mr X…or when he finds you, more accurately.
Don’t have nightmares!
