Resident Evil 2 Review

Resident Evil 2
Developer: Capcom R&D Division 1
Publisher: Capcom
Reviewed On: PS4
Available On: PS4, Xbox One, PC

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It only took me a few minutes of playing Resident Evil 2 to realise that bringing things back to life can be an extremely risky business. As Leon Kennedy, Raccoon City’s newest cop, searches through an ominous looking gas station I decided that there needs to be a point where we let what came before rest in peace. The zombies that greet you in that gas station may technically be viral-mutated humans and not actual reanimated corpses but they had me on the phone to my local graveyard security guard in a flash, nonetheless. Thankfully, I never made a follow-up call to Capcom asking why they decided to resurrect their 1998 survival horror classic, as this 2019 remake poetically delivers a tense, addicting and memorable second shot at life.

Resident Evil 2 is a video game remake in the most direct sense. It has been over two decades and five more mainline Resident Evil games (plus a million spin-offs) since the original Resident Evil 2 kept PlayStation gamers awake all night. Therefore, Capcom has smartly chosen to cherry-pick ideas and mechanics from the entirety of the franchise’s history to update the long-anticipated sequel, whilst also showing wisdom in some of the changes to leave out. The core story, structure and spirit of Resident Evil 2 has remained intact and this all results in a remake that feels modern yet remains faithful to the game’s legacy.

An essential feature from the original game that sees a triumphant return in the remake is Resident Evil 2’s dual campaigns. Alongside Leon Kennedy’s story is Claire Redfield, a college student who comes to Raccoon City in search of her brother. You can choose to play as either protagonist from the moment you start up the game with each character having deviating weapons, encounters and boss fights. The main path of the game is largely the same however, so for my first playthrough I went with the ever-stoic Leon.

The most drastic change to Resident Evil 2’s remake is how you go about playing it. Gone are the static screens and tank controls that enveloped the original in traditional Resident Evil design, with the remake favouring the over-the-shoulder third-person approach of the series’ fourth entry. This shifts the immersion from the perspective of an observer to a more intimate relationship with the character you are controlling. It also gives you more freedom of vision as you are no longer locked to a fixed camera perspective, although Capcom doesn’t make things too easy for you with a lighting engine that is impressively oppressive.

The Raccoon City Police Department serves as the setting for roughly the first half of the game and it doesn’t take long before you discover this former art museum is hardly immune to the catastrophe overtaking the entire city. A throwback in many ways to the iconic mansion from the first Resident Evil, the police department features the strongest level design and atmosphere of the whole game. The interconnected rooms are all bursting with Gothic charm and slowly uncovering the destitute building is both spine-tingling and rewarding. It feels like what would happen if Tim Burton designed a Zelda dungeon and then turned all the lights out.

Fortunately, Resident Evil 2 is cunning in how it keeps you hooked despite all the horrors it throws at you. I was overloaded with valuable ammo and health items after the first hour of play and irresponsibly went on a zombie-killing power fantasy with my false sense of security. My lack of conservatism was punished not so long afterwards as I desperately hung on to any scraps of materials I could find as the enemies just kept on haunting. You almost need to have a degree in economics to conquer the item management in Resident Evil 2¸ however the dearth of supplies and freedom to experiment with them created this addictive loop trying to obtain all the locked away goodies as I progressed through the game. My own memory and a very helpful in-game map helped fuel my exploration as I unlocked secrets and slowly made Leon more capable to bring the fear factor of the game down just a little bit.

That capability I felt crumbled under scrutiny anytime Capcom smartly paced out the introduction of terrifying new monsters. Just as I was starting to feel a sense of superiority over the slow-moving zombies, I would suddenly encounter a Licker whose grotesque design and super-fast wallcrawling ability had me turned off eating ice cream for the rest of the year. And don’t even get me started on Mr. X, who is more of a force of nature than enemy in the way he relentlessly stalks you and eliminates any chance for down time as the sound of his booming footsteps grow louder and louder.

When you’re not desperately trying to land a headshot on an approaching zombie, chances are you will be engaged with one of the game’s many puzzles. The solution to most of these conundrums boils down to finding the correct item or clue hidden around the level. With this said, they are implemented organically enough into the world to never feel forced and even manage to bring an ‘adventure game’ vibe to the experience. Most of the time, the puzzles act as a nice tension relief and bring some variety into Resident Evil 2’s 8-10-hour campaign, even if it doesn’t take an Umbrella Corp scientist to figure them out.

The story eventually took me to the sewers and an underground lab where all the trouble began. I didn’t find these locations to be as strong as the police department as I never felt the same satisfaction of their levels wrapping around on themselves and they lacked the subtle, brooding atmosphere of the R.P.D headquarters. Still, the scares stayed at a fever pitch level and the difficulty curve appropriately steepened as I came across some truly horrific monsters down in these depths.

Speaking of the story, Resident Evil 2 fails to escape the B-movie-style narrative that has plagued most of the series. In this city of horrors, there was an evil organisation trying to make bio-weapons for the military which, of course, went horribly wrong. And only the brave rookie police officer and the determined college student have the heart and courage to set things right. Leon’s voice acting in particular fails to represent any urgency that you’d think would be always present in such a life and death situation. He causally, almost lazily, makes half-hearted remarks about the disaster that has consumed this city, although Claire’s performance tries a bit harder. Some find this kind of storytelling and characterisation charming, but when every other aspect of the game is done so artfully it highlights the juvenile writing and performances that do way more to slow down your heart rate than any tight escape you manage to pull off.

Thankfully, I was never too distracted by the silly story as my senses were consumed with how expressive Resident Evil 2 looks and sounds. I have already commented on the inventive monster designs but the locations they inhabit are oozing with just as much visceral beauty. The sound design complements these intense environments as distant groans can suddenly crescendo into violent screams, usually by me on the other side of the television.

After defeating the somewhat underwhelming final boss, I was pleased to realise that my time with Resident Evil 2 was hardly over. I could jump into a second playthrough as Claire and work away to unlock the game’s many secret endings. In fact, you may have to relive the terrors a few times before you’ve discovered everything that the game has to offer, but the campaign is at a comfortable length to accommodate repeating it over and over again.

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Final Thoughts:

It takes something special to shift the recognition of an iconic game in an iconic series within the public’s consciousness. While it is still too soon to see if 2019’s Resident Evil 2 will become the first thing people think of when they hear RE2, it’s almost irrelevant, as this remake has achieved such a high level of survival horror bliss on its own merit. Capcom has delivered yet another January gem (RE7, Monster Hunter World) and Resident Evil 2 can now live on and cause a new generation of gamers to keep the lights on at night.