Video game review: “Resident Evil 2” is an old classic that comes back to life

Zach Carioti
Tue, 19 Feb 2019 23:41:53 +0000
Arts & Life, News, Video Games, assisted mode, auto aim, cap com, classic, experience, horror, kill, life, likers, RE engine, remake, remaster, resident evil, resident evil 2, survival, video game, video game review, zombies

Resident Evil 2 is a survival horror game developed by Capcom. Credit: Courtesy of TNS

“Resident Evil 2” is a remake of the third-person, survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. For this release, Capcom decided to use its new RE Engine to remake and remaster the game from the ground up. The original “Resident Evil 2” was made back in 1998, and fans have been asking for a remake ever since they remade the first “Resident Evil” for the Nintendo GameCube in 2002.

Gameplay

When you start the game, you have three options for game play. The first option is the assisted mode, where you can fly through the game with ease with the addition of extra health, enemies that are easier to kill and an auto-aim option. Second is the standard mode, where you can experience the survival horror with more of a challenge. The last is the hardcore mode, if you want a traditional Resident Evil experience.

Once you have done that, you have the option to play as one of two characters: Claire Redfield, a college student looking for her cousin, or Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie police officer. Both of the characters have different stories and different weapons that you can find and utilize.

You start only with a pistol, but have access to more weapons as the game progresses. To protect yourself, be careful to conserve your ammo as much as possible.

The highlight for me, however, has to be the depiction of Raccoon City. The city is familiar to fans of the franchise as the setting for a few different Resident Evil games, and it has never looked as beautiful as it does in this remaster.

Enemies

This game isn’t just your regular run-and-gun game. Throughout the game you face many enemies who just won’t die.

The first enemies are zombies — it isn’t a Resident Evil game without them. The zombies in this game are hard to kill because your pistol is mostly ineffective against them. When you think they go down, they just get right back up.

Then there are lickers that track you by sound because they are blind. If you make any noise, they will tear you to shreds. My advice to is keep your gun aimed and walk right past them. However, it becomes a lot harder when there are multiple zombies in the same room as the lickers, so prepare to run.

And there’s the tyrant, known as Mr. X, and he’s one of the most terrifying enemies whom you will run into. Once he sees you he will follow you everywhere. You can shoot at him all you want but he will stop at nothing just to get to you. When you stay in a safe room you can hear his footsteps outside waiting for you, and he can also bust through walls. He’s literally unstoppable. And this is what makes the game twice as scary.

Story

I have never played the original “Resident Evil 2,” but what I know is that the remake’s story is completely different from the original. Of the two characters, Leon has the best storyline and Claire’s is just OK, but both campaigns are fun.

Once you finish one campaign you can finish the other on a second run, which gives you the true ending. However, it’s going to be twice as hard and you only have three lives.

If you beat those campaigns and you want more, don’t worry because Capcom released three ?free “what if” style stories on Thursday as downloadable content that I suggest you should play after you beat both campaigns.

Conclusion

“Resident Evil 2” is a fantastic start for Capcom this year, and I can’t wait for the future for the Resident Evil series. I’m assuming Capcom is going to make a “Resident Evil 3” remake based on the overwhelmingly positive reception of this game.

4.8/5