With the recent news of Resident Evil 7’s upcoming release, I have decided to take a look back to the year of 1998 and write this Flashback review about the classic that is Resident Evil 2. Why the second and not the first installment of the RE game series? Well, I had planned on that, but because of the news of a RE2 remake coming out soon, I thought a review of that might be more appropriate!
Okay, so Resident Evil 2 is one of the first games I ever played, and has to be one of the most famous survival horror games to date. I remember my dad getting a PlayStation console around 1999, and buying a load of games, including Resident Evil 2, since all his work colleagues were raving about the first one. After seeing a glimpse of my dad shooting zombies and shouting at the TV, I couldn’t wait to give it a try myself. I never realised that you could be a horror fan at the age of around four, but I was, and I never looked back. I think this game was such a classic that many people are familiar with it, although they haven’t actually played it, so here’s hoping that this review will encourage some people to finally give it a go, and others to play it all over again.
As a direct sequel to the first game, RE2 is based in Racoon City, a city that’s been destroyed by an outbreak of the T-Virus. The virus was created by the Umbrella Corporation as a biological weapon, but has had disastrous effects on the city, causing the citizens to mutate and become zombies. The two playable characters are Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield. They must try to find any remaining survivors, whilst keeping themselves alive until they find a way out.
Gameplay (It’s like the characters are drunk)
Lets begin with the controls. It’s easier to drive a tank than it is to guide you’re character. They are pretty damn awful and clunky. Whenever you try to move one way, the character darts somewhere else and when this is paired with the strange fixed camera angles, makes for a right nightmare. Having said that, I really hope they don’t change any of it for the remake! After all, the bad controls and camera angles are what form half of the terror. That’s what horror games lack nowadays; sometimes they’re just too easy. When you have a zombie, or five, walking towards you in a narrow area and you can’t control your character properly in order to run away, it is truly frightening. It’s especially nerve-wracking when you’re trying your best not to run into anything, but manage to get stuck on the silliest of obstacles and become zombie fodder. Then again, if you could control your character with ease, it would’ve lost that sense of danger (so please keep the remake somewhat faithful, Capcom).
As mentioned, the camera angles are nothing short of painful, but they’re still an essential component of the game. With camera angles being fixed at the far end of a corridor, causing disorientation and confusion, that alone puts you in an alert state. Not to mention, through a lot of the game you can’t see what you’re running into because of these fixed angles! I was always excited to put RE2 on, but then terrified of progressing around the next corner! It was an awesome feeling of terror though, plus the angles gave you a good view of Leon’s very 90’s hairstyle.
There are a few puzzles to solve, which some have loved and some have criticised. The puzzles aren’t too difficult, so won’t hold you up for a frustrating amount of time. For me they worked as they are generally simpler than in the first RE. This isn’t meant to be an adventure game. Therefore I think the puzzles are fine, because they add another element to the game without causing a negative effect on the actual gameplay.
Atmosphere (You will jump out of your skin)
Resident Evil 2 had a great feel to it. This is largely due to the afore-mentioned controls and camera systems that add a ton of tension to the game. As well as that, the sound is used very effectively. Even when you can’t see what’s going on or what’s in front of you, you’ll be able to hear a groan or a shuffling if there’s danger ahead (by the way, there is always danger ahead). The sound effects contribute to the game just as much as the visuals, and the ominous soundtrack really helps to put you on edge. I have to say; even now I get scared of playing Resident Evil 2, so I have no idea how I managed to play this when I was so young! The iconic sound of zombies dragging their feet along the floor can still cause nightmares.
So Capcom didn’t think that all of this was enough to create a scary game, and decided to make everything more claustrophobic and terrifying through limiting available resources. Thought it was scary having to fight against the undead? Well it’s a lot worse when you have barely any ammo – six zombies and two bullets is not a good combination. Plus, there isn’t an excessive amount of health and you have to reach a save point before you feel any kind of safety at all.
Overall
Resident Evil 2 is a classic for a reason. With the first Resident Evil changing gaming and making survival horror into a recognised genre, RE2 took that and somehow made it even better. It is a game where you will die a fair few times, mostly due to the controls walking you into a zombie instead of around it, but it is a game that will scare you in all the right ways. I have to say that for me, the series went downhill from here on, but the recent trailer for Resident Evil 7 looks to change that and that makes me very excited – it looks like they’re taking a new direction but this time it’s the right one! As for the Resident Evil 2 remake, it’s a strange decision to remake it and not just remaster it, but lets hope they know what they’re doing. Until then, make sure to play through the original RE2, a game that deserves to be called a classic.
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