Resident Evil 2
Release Date - January 21, 1998 (US)
Developer - Capcom
Publisher - Capcom
Platform - PlayStation
Welcome back to the world of survival horror…
Following a successful game is always a daunting task, let alone following up a phenomena like 1996’s Resident Evil, a game that was universally praised and sold an incredible four million units on the PlayStation alone. The director of the original game, Shinji Mikami took on the role of producer and directorial duties were handed to Hideki Kamiya. The team were determined to make a game to match the lofty standards of the original, and delayed the game from its planned original 1997 release date, despite the game being mostly complete. A huge rework was undertaken before releasing what would become one of the most beloved sequels in gaming history.
Resident Evil 2 would see Leon and Claire battling through Raccoon City, expanding the game world from the relatively small mansion of 1996’s Resident Evil.
(Images taken from https://www.youtube.com/@worldoflongplays)
In terms of gameplay, Resident Evil 2 took what made the first game so beloved and iconic without trying to reinvent the wheel, while refining some aspects. The fixed camera angles and ‘tank controls’ returned, as did the detailed pre-rendered backgrounds. The mechanics of the game were similar with the same challenge of managing your resources as inventory spaces were limited, and required you to weigh up which items were most important at any given time. Beyond your usual health items, ammunition and weapons, you also needed to assign space for keys and various other items to get around some light puzzle solving. The game was notably a little more action packed than the first game, with the combat and puzzle formula weighing a little more in favour of combat, with more weapons and ammunition to be found. Thankfully the weapons are all very satisfying to use, and ammo is still scarce enough that you’ll be sweating over using that grenade launcher to put down an enemy, or risk using the pistol and taking some damage to save those grenades for later. Combat was made a little less stressful with the characters now ‘snap’ aiming to the nearest threat when drawing a weapon. This is a god-send for some of the tougher monsters you’ll encounter, and players of the original Resident Evil will have some not-so-fond memories of trying to manually track fast moving threats.
With this improved firepower, comes a healthy range of new foes to survive. Zombies make a welcome return, along with the ‘Cerberus’ zombified dogs. It’s worth noting that Resident Evil 2 has a far greater variety of enemies than the first game with civilians in various clothing, police officers and more. Compare this to the first game which had very few different models for the zombies. Joining these iconic baddies are the infamous ‘Lickers’, gruesome creatures that can crawl along walls and ceilings and attack with huge claws and (very) long tongues. The game also includes two recurring, major villains that will make a few appearances through the game (Don’t worry, in case you haven’t played it yet, we won’t reveal who or what these are!).
Zombies returned as the primary threat of the game, along with some other not-so-welcome returning enemies.
Visuals are mostly similar to the first Resident Evil with some nice incremental improvements that service the gameplay and immersion. Leon and Claire have more animations than Chris and Jill, as they will visibly limp and clutch at wounds when on low health; a small visual difference that provides the player with important information about their character’s status. They will also move slightly slower when injured, so there is now even more incentive to avoid damage. Heads will now also move independently, as Leon and Claire will turn their heads to focus on the nearest enemy. This comes particularly in handy when you’ve knocked a group of zombies down and the head movement will identify if any of the sneaky flesh-eaters are still alive! On the topic of zombies, they’ve also received some cool updates; zombies now have even more ‘damage’ states with losing limbs and even getting cut in half by particularly powerful weapons. In an especially memorable moment, a zombie that latched onto the player can be shaken off, sometimes so violently that their arm will be torn from their body!
In true sequel fashion, Resident Evil 2 raised the stakes from the first game to a new height. Whereas Resident Evil was confined to a large mansion (and the secret lab underneath it), Resident Evil 2 sees the entirety of Raccoon City having been overrun by zombies.
Much like the original, managing your inventory and conserving your ammunition is as much a challenge as fighting off the undead.
A new cast of characters is introduced for this new nightmare of survival horror, most notably the two new playable characters; Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield. With Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine (the protagonists of the first game) now mysteriously absent after the so-called ‘Mansion Incident’, Resident Evil 2 would focus on new locations and characters. Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield both arrive in Raccoon City to find it already a hellish wasteland. Leon is a rookie cop starting his first day at the Raccoon City Police Department and Claire is in the middle of a search for her missing brother Chris. Unlike Resident Evil, both characters have the same physical traits (in the original game, Chris had higher health than Jill, whereas Jill could carry more items, amongst other differences) but instead there is a greater difference in the weapons, items and characters encountered by each character to differentiate the two.
This all leads into perhaps the biggest change introduced in Resident Evil 2, the ‘Zapping System’; unlike the first game where you played each character in an independent playthrough, with little or no interaction between the two playable characters, in Resident Evil 2 Leon and Claire will cross paths multiple times in their fight for survival. The ‘Zapping System’ comes into play when you complete one character’s story and discover that to get the true ending, you must complete a second, contemporaneous ‘scenario’ with the other character. Actions you take in ‘Scenario A’ will affect things in ‘Scenario B’; from taking items or leaving them for the other character, blockading certain areas or disposing of or avoiding certain enemies will have an effect on your ‘Scenario B’ playthrough. All up there are four possible combinations of scenario (Leon A, Leon B, Claire A and Claire B), and all are unique, although sometimes only with minor changes. It’s an excellent feature that provides some instant incentive for replaying the game, and different strategies for optimising your run through the total game.
Live action cut-scenes have been replaced with some really slick CGI! Major story beats are displayed with these cool interludes.
Resident Evil 2 mostly takes place inside the Raccoon City Police Station, which much to the dismay of Leon and Claire (and as would be expected by players) has already been overrun by zombies. The police station has become an iconic location within the Resident Evil franchise, and it’s easy to see why. While the station is distinctly new and different, it does harken back to the mansion of the first game, with some decadent and confusing architecture and an imposing aura. It’s a nice mix of introducing some more ‘real world’ elements to the game, while retaining some of the eccentricities and bizarreness of the isolated location of Resident Evil. The building isn’t like any police station you’d likely find in the real-world, and this is explained in-game when the player finds out that the station is actually a repurposed art-museum. Throw in the chief’s love of fine arts and his private collection, and you have the recipe for another strange location to explore. The police station isn’t the only place you’ll visit, and overall the game has more a sense of destruction preventing your progress rather than devious design. As you explore the station and surrounding areas you’ll find many sites of desperate attempts to hold out, and ill-fated last stands against the hordes of zombies. This dovetails with the gameplay as you must put out fires, clear wreckage and otherwise navigate and scavenge what you can from the destroyed environment to escape to safety. Capcom couldn’t entirely move away from the hallmarks of the original title, and so there are still plenty of stranger obstacles that require gemstones, medallions and statues to get through. Overall, Resident Evil 2 definitely feel a lot more expansive and varied with regards to the environments you’ll be able to explore.
With Resident Evil 2 taking place in much more public locales, one of the notable changes introduced is the ability to interact with a wider cast of survivors, and a more colourful cast than the handful of special forces officers in the Resident Evil. Both Leon and Claire also have a primary ‘companion’ character. While this was also seen in the previous game, these companions play a bigger role and can even be briefly controlled by the player.
Unlike the original, both playable characters will now be part of the same play-through!
Resident Evil 2 continued the series tradition of excellent soundtracks and sound design. The background music will never be overbearing, but rather will set the atmosphere and give a sense of immersion. From the stinging sharp scores when there is danger about, to the relaxing ‘save room’ themes, the music complements the gameplay and story perfectly. Beyond just the music, the sound effects are fantastic, with zombies and other enemies providing some chilling moans and footsteps as they move about. Beyond just adding to the fear factor, these sounds serve a great gameplay purpose; enemies have distinct noises they make which allows the player to identify the threat even if they aren’t yet visible. Some enemies will also make a specific noise when they attack, and likewise have specific noises when they are killed, letting players know when to be on their guard and when the enemy has been put down for good. The guns all sound great with distinct noises for the various weapons, and a special note must be made of the footsteps; moving around the game world will provide different sound effects for different surfaces from floorboards to broken glass to steel catwalks. Nothing gets your hair standing on end more than that eerie echo created when walking over a cold steel floor of an unexplored corridor.
Even when the game is done and dusted, there are some truly excellent secrets that can be unlocked by finishing the game a certain amount of times, or by completing the game with a high rank. New weapons and costumes can be unlocked, along with a some new gameplay modes that make up perhaps the most beloved unlockable secret in the Resident Evil series! Don’t worry, we won’t spoil what it is, but rest assured it’s worth going through the game again to get that high rank and unlock the secrets!
Other survivors play a much larger role in Resident Evil 2.
Resident Evil 2 was met with widespread acclaim, despite having a very difficult act to follow and suffering in development hell for some time. Accompanied by a big marketing push, excitement levels for Resident Evil 2 were palpable, with everyone excited to see what the sequel would offer. It did not disappoint. The game received rave reviews on release and even became the fastest selling video game in North America. Within one and a half months of release, the game has exceeded 3 million sales, an incredible figure for 1998, and destroying previously set sales records for video games. Resident Evil 2 earned a special place in the annals of Capcom, (with a full remake being released in 2019 offering a unique companion piece to the original), and in the hearts of gamers everywhere.
Resident Evil 2 builds on the first game with more environments, more weapons and more post-game unlockable content!