Resident Evil 2 Review

OK, its time for a new post on here and with NEW content and it will be on the recently released remake of the classic survival horror action video game, Resident Evil 2.

So, how does the remake stand up against the original classic from over 20 years ago??? Well, let's take a look!

Oh and I will mention a little about the plot so the usual warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS MAY BE AHEAD (BUT HARDLY ANY REALLY!).

STORY

So, the story is set in 1998 in Racoon city where most of the population has been turned into zombies by the T-Virus (developed by the Umbrella corporation). And the two main protagonists of the game are Leon Kennedy, a rookie cop who is starting a new job there and Claire Redfield, a college student who is looking for her brother, Chris. When the two of them encounter a horde of zombies on the city streets they make for the police station where there are even more zombies and other monsters awaiting them. Depending on who you play of course, Leon and Claire will have different scenarios to play out but ultimately they will both try and unravel who is behind the virus outbreak aswell as try and fight off the pesky and unstoppable Mr X, a new Tyrant, who has been sent in by the Umbrella corporation to kill any survivors.

And its from here that Leon and Claire will have to fight real hard for their own survival...

THOUGHTS

As a remake, Resident Evil 2 does an excellent job and it perfectly recreates the same sense of dread and tension from the original with updated graphics, movement and combat, its a reimaging of a classic game done very well. The game also has its fair share of thrills, danger and fun and it never actually takes itself too seriously either as the characters in the game are mostly quite engaging and you can find yourself rooting for them easily (well the good ones that is!). The game also makes great use of darkened corridors and low-light rooms to create a real sense of unease in the player as a zombie or other monster could be just lurking round the corner. It also succeeds in recreating the characters and producing an involving story with well acted cutscenes that keep the viewer interested. So, as a remake my first thoughts are its very impressive.

GAMEPLAY

As for the gameplay, its not entirely disimilar to the original game only of course the movement is far more fluid as you are playing in a more 3D immersive world than the 2D original. The player will use the same third person perspective in the original games but with an over the shoulder look just like in Resident Evil 4. The game's difficulty is also noteworthy in that you will have three modes to choose from assisted (easy), standard and hardcore with the last mode replacing the unlimited save system by collecting a certain number of ink ribbons to save your progress.

As for the combat, weapons will vary depending on who you play as with Leon using a handgun, shotgun, magnum and a flamethrower as his primary weapons. However Claire will have access to handguns, grenade launchers, sub machine guns and an electric shock gun that fires out high voltage charges. Both characters will have the same secondary melee weapons such as explosive/flash grandes and combat knives that they can use when they are grabbed by enemies.

In the game, your characters will also have access to healing items such as first aid sprays as well as coloured herbs that have different effects, such as green ones that restore your health and blue ones that will cure poison and the red ones when combined with green will restore your health entirely and these herbs can all be combined in different ways.

The game has various different puzzles throughout also (just like the rest of the Rezzie series!) for the player to work out, which ultimately will lead to unlocking doors and gaining new items. Some of the puzzles can take a bit of working out and be a bit challenging but for the most part they are fairly manageable in the game.

And lastly there are of course the enemies in the game that feature your standard zombies who based on the difficulty level you are playing, can be quite tough to kill off even if you play in standard mode you will take about 10 bullets to finally finish one off! And this of course applies to the other enemies in the game aswell such as infected dogs, lickers (lizard like creatures with lacerating tongues that climb the walls!) and of course Mr X, the huge and intimidating Tyrant that stalks the police station searching for you like some sort of Terminator!  There also a few boss fights in the game, which can prove to be very challenging depending on the difficulty level you play at but you can of course lower the difficulty level if you are struggling.

There are also in addition to the game's standard two scenarios involving Leon and Claire (Scenario A and B, as they both have two different playthroughs) there are also optional extras and mini-games and missions for players to have a go at aswell and additional DLC content. 

GRAPHICS

As for the graphics they are excellent and the original classic here get's a great visual overhaul as we now get detailed environments that look great and the whole game's visuals ooze with a dark and dank atmosphere that really is quite creepy. As for the character models they are also excellent with the two lead characters of Leon and Claire both nicely brough up to date (especially Claire! ;-) and the same goes for the supporting characters in the game such as Ada Wong and the Birkins (William, Anette and Sherry). So overall, the graphics are a great upgrade here in the remake and certainly play their part in the game's uneasy atmosphere.

MUSIC 

As for the music there is a fine score by Shusaku Uchiyama and Zhenlan Kang which is pretty dark and atmospheric and is also quite subtle and subdued for the most part as it hangs back in the dark itself and suddenly leaps out in the jump scare moments. The music score from the original game can also be accessed from the menu, which in itself is a great one to listen to and if you are familiar with the game it will certainly get you feeling all nostalgic for the PS1 RE2.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may refer to one or two spoilers!)

As for the flaws... yes Resident Evil 2 remake has some worth pointing out.

For starters it has to be said there are some issues with the movement in the game in particular the running as your character is restricted to just a liberal jog rather than a full-on sprint option when you are trying to outrun your enemies, which can be frustrating. Another issue further to this is that there is no option to dodge or roll away from enemies either instead you just have to outrun them or use your melee weapons if they get too close, which isn't always effective either.

Another issue is to do with the lack of healing herbs in the game (well on higher difficulty levels anyway) as you go on they are few and far between but earlier on you have a reasonable supply of them but not towards the end! And I have to say in my first playthrough as Leon, I found myself really struggling towards the end as I kept getting anything BUT a green herb for my health! In fact if I was lucky I went into the final boss with just one first aid spray and that was it, so suffice to say I was compelled to start the game all over again!

This brings me onto a further issue with the game in the section where you play as Ada and use an electromagnetic device to manipulate the electrical current of certain devices in the area, so she can make her way through it. Now this in itself is kind of OK even though the whole EMF thing did get a bit annoying after a while as you have to keep tracking with it to find the power supply to certain devices while fending off zombies at the same time!

However my main problem with this section is to do with that fact that Ada starts it off with NO healing items and NO secondary weapon either and just NINE bullets! So, if you are playing this one on standard or hardcore modes then you are again pretty much fecked if you mess up no thanks to the game makers and their daft decisions to leave you without health or back-up weapons! I do of course appreciate the game is supposed to be challenging but I still think they were taking the mick when they did this.

Then there are of course some issues to do with the timelines of Leon and Claire's scenarios as there are definitely incidents where one may have completed a task already before you have got to it but in the other scenario it kind of reverses itself. Its kind of hard to explain this one without getting back into the game again as I've not played it for a week or so but I think it is safe to say that the scenario timelines so overlap and no in an effective way.

And last of all is an issue to do with the darkness of the graphics as there are some areas where the graphics are just a bit TOO dark as you wander around darkened areas carrying just a flashlight, which isn't anywhere near enough to sufficiently light your surroundings to properly see where you are going. So, it is pretty easy to wander through certain areas of this game and get lost easily although to be fair you get access to maps which will help you out if you do get lost but I would still have to say that they could have done a better job with the lighting for darker areas.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Resident Evil 2 remake is an excellent update of one of the great classic PS1 games and it perfectly captures the creepy, intense atmosphere of the original and with the updated graphics the game now looks great and adds on plenty more gruesome detail. The game also features some fine voice acting from its cast and a good story that is quite involving and I found I enjoyed Claire's campaign even more than Leon's thanks to her intriguing storyline with Sherry (Annette and William Birkin's daughter).

And yeah there are some minor issues with the game here and there but overall this is a really solid remake and one that has really impressed me and if you are a fan of the series, you will definitely want to check this one out.

Right, so that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post of sorts.

Till then its bye for now!