Resident Evil 2

We are certainly in the era of the remake. Breathing new life into an old property is just a thing that is seen often these days. Whether it is done well or not is very hit or miss. Capcom has done this once before yet does that mean it can be done well again. Let’s see by setting up the world of Resident Evil 2.

Two people wander into the outskirts of Raccoon City. Leon a rookie cop and Claire a sister that is worried about her brother. They know not of what horrors lie within its winding streets. Their destinies are intertwined yet they must face the zombie outbreak separately. Time will only tell if they will be able to escape the monster filled city alive.

I do think a solid remake needs to retain what made the original great. This game has that in spades. Literally in the form of a spade key and other baubles that need to be gathered to progress the story. With the addition of a map feature that tracks everything in the game you’ll never have to backtrack for no reason. Once a new item is found it is always fairly clear what must be done next to proceed. While the world and puzzles remain similar, combat is what has changed the most.

The hallways are just as small as before but the way you view them now is from a third person perspective. While my nostalgia for tank controls is quite strong changing to a more modern style is a point in its favor. The relatively claustrophobic nature of most of the environments still comes across from a different viewpoint. Additionally weapons are now a bit more inaccurate which feels more realistic. The fact it was never an issue when facing down the horrors that stalk the halls made it a fairly easy playthrough for me. I guess that might sound bad for a survival horror game yet this one still retains a very important feature. A second playthrough as the other character that changes up the narrative a little bit and locations you’ll end up seeing.

For the most part the second run is still mostly the same. Which was true for the original game too. Yet the strongest point in this game’s favor is that fact I actually wanted to see it after finishing the game for the first time. Going back into the halls once again is something I don’t do often in any game. It very much helps that you can finish this game around 6-8 hours. Plus the game expects you to have mastered the gameplay at this point so even the normal difficulty can be a little tricky the second time through. I really got close to using all my ammo a few times.

The weakest link in this game is some of the additional content they added in for free a bit later. They are just little challenges that focus on combat scenarios. Being able to gather up supplies and use them wisely is something I like about these games so such a limited mode is not that interesting at all to me. But it isn’t the real focus of the game so I don’t think it’s a huge issue at all.

Overall I believe this is one of the better remakes of a game ever made. Capcom managed to once again to keep the core of what the experience was about. Wandering around creepy environments while trying to puzzle together what must be done next. Different sorts of threats end up showing up as key points to keep the player on their toes. I haven’t mentioned it till now but the boss battles are also still quite epic to break up all the doom and gloom a bit. If you want to play a horror game this is one you should check out since it is worth playing.