3. Resident Evil 2 (PS4)
I'm really happy I replayed the original Resident Evil 2 last year since it really refreshed my memory on a lot of the story and events that took place; prior to beating it last year I hadn't played it since the mid-2000s so I was a bit rusty on the details. Some of the value in replaying the original RE2 was also to give me a frame of reference for the remake which also came out last year. I really wanted to get RE2 Remake when it launched since Resident Evil has been consistently one of my favorite video game franchises for a long time, but I held off for the reason mentioned above and also because I had a lot of other things I was playing around then. But I finally got around to buying the remake during Black Friday and I just finished up both the A and B Scenarios (Leon A, Claire B for the record) and am ready to do a review on it.
Resident Evil 2 remake is one of the best remakes I've ever played, albeit not necessarily one of the best video games I've ever played. It truly takes all those memorable moments, settings, enemies, bosses, and even modes and updates them enough to where they feel fresh and new while also making them very recognizable and memorable in the remake. While the overall story is the same between the original and remake, things do not transpire and take place the same way they did in the original. However, all the most memorable parts of the original do eventually show up in the remake in a different way that is still very recognizable and memorable when you reach these points.I guess in other words things are both very nostalgic and novel at the same time which is something I've never seen a remake do so well.
The gameplay of Resident Evil 2 remake is greatly updated, however not necessarily better. Anyone who played the original RE2 remembers he tank controls for better or worse, which are completely gone in this version. Instead you have a third person view that allows you to manually aim if you shoot in order to shoot specific parts of enemies. Also gone is the fixed camera from the original and instead the camera and environments are all dynamic. While this all might sound like a vast improvement, there are various issues that hamper it. While the freedom to aim is a huge advantage, it almost doesn't matter since virtually all the enemies in the game are freakin bullet sponges. I played the game on Standard Difficulty and even then some zombies literally took a dozen shots in the head to take down. Occassionally you'll get lucky and be able to take a zombie down with a couple of bullets to the head, especially if one blows their head off, but this did not happen nearly enough even with upgraded weapons. Then there are other enemies like the Lickers and these new sewer monsters that took a crap ton of bullets as well. There are certain weapons that give you an advantage over certain enemy types, but overall I found this to be incredibly frustrating and tedious most of the time. The movement controls also leave a lot to be desired. You are given a lot of freedom to move around, however your character still feels slow and bulky. This made navigating through the game at times, especially when running from Mr. X all the more frustrating. This brings me to my biggest issue with RE2 remake, Mr. X.
Like Nemesis in RE3, Mr. X is probably one of the most memorable parts of RE2 and it would not have been the same game without him. However, he is in this game way more than he was in the original. This wouldn't necessarily be an issue if you weren't literally running into him constantly. There are various safe rooms throughout the Police Station where he won't pursue you, however this almost doesn't matter since there were many times where he would just walk around in the hallways right outside the door and I had to wait upwards towards 5-minutes a handful of times for him to go away. But, like clockwork, he's be on my ass again within a minute or two after leaving the safe room, interrupting whatever it was I was about to do so I could seek refuge in another safe room. This really chopped up the pacing for me during the sections Mr. X was present, and especially during scenario B with Claire, his presence was profoundly annoying. Luckily he is only in about 1/4 of the game, but that was enough to really put a damper on his inclusion in the remake.
I'm not trying to sound ultra negative about the gameplay, in fact most of it works well enough and despite these flaws it's still a very enjoyable game, but they are issues I had with it and ones I wish would have been rectified. But despite all these problems, the amount of tension and unease through the game was excellent; this game truly maintained its status as survival horror as I just barely had enough ammo and health at any given time to make it through the game. However, I never found myself in an absolute dire situation, although I very well could have if I didn't know you had to play these games very conservatively. And while I knocked on the clunky movement controls, in a way it was nice not having Leon and Claire move like gymnasts or Olympic runners either since they certainly didn't move like this in the original. It made the game feel more authentic and was certainly part of why this was such an excellent remake.
Graphically the game looked pretty awesome. I found the faces of the characters, particularly Claire and Sherry to look kind of goofy sometimes, but overall the character models and animations looked great. One minor gripe I had about how some of the characters looked, particularly Claire and Annette Birkin was how out of place they looked from a fashion standpoint; both looked like women dressed in 2019, not 1998 when this game takes place. While this is a fairly minor gripe, it still is something that broke my immersion slightly while playing. The enemy and zombie models were excellent and very well done! Unlike the original version, each zombie looked different from the others and one inclusion that I thought was awesome was how the corpses of all the enemies, zombie or otherwise never disappeared after killing it. On top of that all missing body parts from the games great dismemberment system remained consistent as well.
The updated areas were probably the biggest standout of all though. I loved how the Police Station looked like it has been through absolute hell during the outbreak, as did it in the original, but the huge leaps in graphics really lended itself to this aesthetic. I also loved how there was no power throughout most of the station, which made it more realistic and how there were signs everywhere that the survivors before you really tried to fortify the police station before meeting their ends. The other main setting like the sewers and also the Umbrella labs received probably the biggest facelift, not just in terms of layout, but visually as well. Despite being very different from how these settings were in the original, they still managed to have all those familiar touches that I mentioned before which made them feel grounded in the RE2 universe.
Sound was pretty awesome in this game. While there weren't any real standout tracks through the game, the soundtrack was instrumental is ramping up the games horror theme. There were times when the music would start playing which really made the tension go through the roof. This was especially true during the parts where you were on the run from Mr. X, despite how otherwise annoying that was. Sound effects were great as well, which also included the monster noises; it was always eery walking into a room and hearing a faint moan that you were unsure if it was in the same room or the room right next to you; the end effect was it really kept you on your toes throughout the game. Voice acting was pretty good as well. There were a few cheesy lines that were delivered as well as they could be, but overall all the voice actors did a great job in their respective roles.
Then of of course there is this games massive amount of unlockable content, just like the original RE2. There are various unlockable modes, costumes, weapons, concept art, characters models, and more that you can unlock by replaying the game repeatedly and meeting certain requirements. Perhaps the best piece of extra content is the ability to experience the game depending on who you play as and whether you choose Leon or Claire first. Claire's A scenario plays out fairly different than her B scenario, same with Leon's. All of this really adds to this games replayability, and it was enough for me to beat the game again in the scenario B just so i could see the good ending and also see at least what Claire's B scenario was like.
Resident Evil 2 remake is definitely an awesome game, albeit one with its imperfections and flaws. However, you really have to hand it to Capcom for taking the time and effort into making this game feel different and fresh while staying true to the original. The end result of all this is a game that diehard RE2 fans will love and that many younger games who were either too young to play the original RE2, or weren't even born yet can enjoy due to its modern presentation and changes.
Presentation: 9/10
Sound: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Fun: 15/20
Overall: 40/50
