Some more details about RE2 Remake

Capcom has released an additional trailer and a press release that give a bit more information about the RE2 remake. In the video, you can see what looks very much like third-person gameplay a la Resident Evil 4 as Leon walks down some corridors in the darkened Raccoon Police Department and aims his gun at zombies.

This press release also has some important information such as:

• Coming to Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC on the same date, January 25th, 2019.
• Both Leon and Claire are playable and have their own campaigns, just as in the original.
• The new third-person gameplay appears to be just one option, as the release says it "offers players a trip down memory lane with the original gameplay modes from the 1998 release."

I was initially very upset that this remake seemed to be unfaithful to the original gameplay of Resident Evil 2, but the press release makes it sound like we might also get something akin to the updated remake version of Resident Evil (?). None of that appears in the footage they've shown so far though, so I guess we have to wait and see just what "original gameplay modes" means.

Looks really good to me.

ehh, I hope they focus on designing the game for one perspective. Trying to strike a middle ground will make no one happy.

The real question is does it retain the Zapping System?

I'm on the opposite end of it, I want them to shake things up, evoke the spirit of RE2 rather than recreate the clunkiness of the PS1 original but with a new coat of paint.

I get that I may be in the minority though. People seem to adore the REmake. (or the ReREmake if you're playing the non gamecube ones)

@boozak: I don't think you're in the minority necessarily. RE4 was big as anything in gaming so having the over-the-shoulder perspective set in the RE game that's most fondly remembered will surely get a ton of ppl to check this game out. It's just that there is a precedent with REmake so I think some ppl were at least hoping.

This is still very exciting regardless but REmake looks so goddamn good still, I did want to see how good they could make a game look with pre-rended backgrounds with today's consoles.

For my money, Resident Evil relied on its control scheme so heavily that dramatically changing other than the visuals would have been a very uninteresting decision. Even so many years later, it's a fairly uniquely designed game and I think if they had played too much with that it would have been weird.

RE2 has a stronger hold on my heart, but I also don't think an update to it needs to be so faithful. It was bigger, bolder, more expansive and more varied in locales, story and gameplay challenges. As long as they adhere to the level design and the narrative, I think it's totally cool if they replace enemies, redesign encounters and generally modernize the game. I also think it starring, mostly, Leon Kennedy gives them an in to doing so where the original game did not.

edit: that said, there is definitely something to be said for how stellar the Gamecube Resident Evil, and its HD revival, looks from a pure aesthetic standpoint. This certainly loses something by not shooting for a similar sort of timelessness.

I'm not that biggest Resident Evil fan, but 2 was the only one I owned and the only one I ever really cared about, so I'm in.

And I sure hope HUNK and Tofu are in this thing as well. I don't know much about the lore of Resident Evil, but I do know HUNK is the best.

Over the shoulder perspectives have a tendency to get too action heavy. So I hope it’s not? But it might be able to strike a balance. All I know is that I dig the trailer.

I never played RE2. If this was just a HD remaster I still would never play it. Now that it is being redone, I will play it. :)

coming to the PC too... huzzah!

I was looking forward to it and it appears to be amazing, but it looks too damn scary for me :/

I hate being scared. I don't watch horror movies and don't play most horror games. Part of the reason I loved RE2 so much as a kid was that it had the horror trappings but at its heart it was an action game. That's why I'm cautiously optimistic about the over-the-shoulder stuff as well. Some of the scares in the game were solely because of perspective and controls, and most of its legitimate scares were simple jump scares.

If Resident Evil was scary because you never knew what was around the corner and the house itself was weird and empty, RE2 was mostly scary just because you were struggling to overcome technical challenges or a zombie reached through a window you walked by. Otherwise, it was more adrenaline-fueled, and more of a thriller than a straight up horror game.

Hell, same reasons I avoided the original RE Remake. Those god damn Crimson Heads, who knows what they'll add here??

Finished the original last weekend and I'm kinda up for the remake. I'm more worried the remake will lose a lot of what made the original feel great, even in 2018. The Resident Evil remake worked because it wasn't that far removed from the source. It was longer but largely stuck to the format. This looks like a complete and utter shake-up.

The fixed camera angles, resource management, and claustrophobic environments are what makes those original games so scary and tense. I like RE4/RE5 but those games are decidedly less scary and are fun for different reasons.

I just find it odd to remake arguably the most beloved RE game only to completely change everything about it. It just seems like a recipe for the original fans to not like it.

Will this be a RE2 remake or a RE6 prequel? Only time will tell I suppose...

Hey, here's some footage of gameplay! The game doesn't look flawless, but it does look great nonetheless and I'm really excited. It's just unfortunate that my brother is a much bigger fan of original style RE games and wants to play through this remake before myself (even though the kind of game this remake is, is more my kind of thing), which means I have to wait until he finishes it. I really like this direction, not just gameplay, but Leon himself. It actually really surprises me at how young he seems here in comparison to his four to six appearances. I'm curious, does this game use RE Engine, the same as RE7? The game looks great, but I don't think it looks quite as good as RE7; that's not a big issue mind you. Also, if you'll notice, the action to open doors is the same or very similar to RE7. I wonder if this'll be more akin to RE7, just in the third person more than anything. Actually, as I watch, I'm getting a very RE7 vibe off of some of the visual aspects. Is anyone disappointed that the music from original RE isn't playing here? I think it'd probably ruin what they're going for, but still. I felt that the music in the game was iconic to a degree.

@ntm: They said during the demo that it's running in the same engine as RE7, which you can kinda tell by the UI elements and a bit of the movement. It'll be interesting to see how that translates with the style of enemies in RE 2 and the over-the-shoulder view.

It looks promising! I do have to say that seeing the rooms of the Raccoon Police Station dark as hell is messing with me already and I'm all for them entirely messing with my expectations. That said, also hoping they still keep the general structure intact, and that it's a lot of item gathering/exploration/puzzle solving. RE 7 felt like a step in the right direction, but a lot of its "puzzles" were a little brain-dead and its environments were small enough that you didn't really need to do all that much running around.

After watching that 15~ minute clip of the devs playing: I'm 100% down for this. I had major gripes after the reveal, but that gameplay is so scary and fun looking. Has actual survival horror feel to it.

Leon swears A LOT in this remake, it's kind of hilarious in hindsight that the first words we heard him say were "Jesus Christ" because so far it seems like 50% of his dialogue is exactly that. I foresee plenty of memes exploiting this in the near future.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS! I am a Resident Evil superfan, and this game (along with MediEvil) was my most anticipated reveal of E3. I am firmly in the camp of "let's shake things up" and make a game we have all played so much feel new again! I loved RE7 for the view change and am excited to experience one of my favorite games in a new perspective. Is it weird that I also love the RE7 UI that they've implemented here?

Keep this train rolling Capcom!

I really like how this seems to be turning out, but I'm a little worried that they've thrown out the original game's score in favor of kinda-generic horror game ambience. Then again, we've only really seen combat sequences and more scary moments for the trailers, so maybe it'll be there in the final game. The PS1 game's soundtrack (much like the other two PS1 RE titles) did a wonderful job setting an unsettling mood for the police station while not trying to be overtly "scary". At the very least though, I don't think they'd be dumb enough to throw out the save room theme. If they did, that'd be a tragedy.

@mgalchemist: If you buy the deluxe edition you can swap out the remakes new music with the original RE2 soundtrack

@mgalchemist: There's this one melody that plays throughout the game, when you're first on the streets of Racoon City, the main hall of the R.P.D., and the various encounters with Birkin. It took me a while to realize it was being repeated throughout the game, since while it was memorable, I didn't associate it with any one moment. It's kind of the unofficial theme of the game for me, I hope we get to hear it in the remake.

@snakeeater321: Oh wait seriously? I’d still like to see remixes of old tracks but that’s actually pretty cool.

2 days after my birthday. what a treat. none the less this game will be hard to disappoint with. Can't wait soon enough. Now we need a new Alien and a Deadspace or FEAR reboot.

You're in luck.

The only thing I find off-putting in this remake (so far) is Leon constantly shouting at shit. I've never liked that in horror games. I get that's more realistic, but it always comes off as dumb to me. The things I remember being the most chilling about these games is the music combined with the moaning of zombies from somewhere out of sight. I dont want Leon yelling "SHIT" every time a zombie is near him. I'm glad to hear that the OST can be swapped out with the original but I think it's kind of shitty that you have to pay extra for it.

Was MR. X wearing a hat? Did Mr. X always wear a hat?

Am I in the middle of fever dream? Why is water wet?

@mgalchemist: the remake of 1 kept scores from the original and of course updated them. Listen to the save music from REmake. It's absolutely beautiful.

@frostyryan: That's actually exactly why I'm bummed out about how the soundtrack for this remake seems so far; not only did they bring back obvious things like the save theme, but even other great tracks like that puzzle room theme and the theme for the shark tank got great remixes, alongside the newer stuff. REmake's soundtrack was fantastic!

@ntm: Totally agree on the music part. I'm really glad for the deluxe edition options. The RPD Main Hall theme is legendary and I use the save room music from 2 as a sleeping aid commonly.

Okay, I can throw out my intricate knowledge of the police station.

Have another video. Just pointing out some of the differences between the new and old. I am curious as to whether what was seen in the demo is final or if some of the things will still be changed around. I am also curious if Robert Kendo will still be in the game and how that part is presented considering you don't get the shotgun from him.

@snakeeater321: That's cool, but to be honest, with the new style it's going for, I am not sure how well that'll work. It seems like something that people will try out and then just realize it doesn't really work with what Capcom is trying to do. I could be wrong though. I do wonder however if it'll be the actual music from the original or the same soundtrack but remixed and updated. I am curious as to what the new soundtrack will be like though. RE7 didn't have much of a soundtrack throughout, but I remember liking what was there. As long as it's effective in making you feel the way it wants you to feel, then I'll be fine with it.

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Off-topic, but I wanted to say that when I reload my page on any forum, it somehow puts me on nine-year-old threads. It happened earlier today when I posted on a new thread, and it just happened when I reloaded this page.

@poobumbutt: Holy Crap! I used to use the safe room music to get to sleep all the time. That whole game would stress me out, but those rooms were such a huge relief that the calm carried over.

@danishingact: Hell yeah!

Oddly enough, I like it because it is a little unsettling. Not oppressive exactly, it's kind of foreboding; the music seems to say "you're safe right now... but once you leave..."

For whatever reason, that feeling always calms me down. Weird, huh?

The trailer is really interesting.