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RESIDENT EVIL 2 (PC)
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Publisher: Virgin Interactive.
Developer: Capcom. Released: 1998. Genre: Survival Horror. Other versions: PS; N64. Posted 31st October 2013. By Alan Passingham © 2013 |
Muugh! Raaaauuuugh! Graagh! Bacon sandwich… are the normal zombie-like sounds that emanate from most bedrooms after a Friday night out with the beer monkeys. Along with the feeble, unbalanced shuffling to the kitchen for some munchies and attempts to out-stare the fridge into opening because you’ve forgotten what a handle is, you begin to recognise just how spot-on George A. Romero’s assessment of a crumbling society was within Dawn of the Dead. Without Romero’s effortless vision of humanities slavery to consumerism the whole zombie mythology might never have existed. And a universe with only pirates and ninjas, but no zombies, would be an ever so slightly duller place to live. More so because without ‘brahnnn’ eating hordes of undead, gamers would not only have been denied the survival horror genre, but also the quite magnificent Resident Evil series (well, apart from chapters five and six obviously). Thank the monkey Gods for Romero then, eh?
Well, not quite. It’s more like praise the monkey Gods for Leon Kennedy. Similar to the Star Trek rule of thumb about even numbered entries in the series being the better movies, a Resident Evil entry involving Leon in the lead is typically far superior to one that features charisma vacuum Chris Redfield. Resident Evil 2 pretty much picks up where the first game ended, albeit a few months later and with Leon joining the ranks of the Racoon City Police Department. But his first day is also likely to be his last thanks to some clown at Rihanna’s Umbrella Corporation allowing the fatal T-Virus to be released slap bang in the middle of town. After the ‘incident’ at the mansion, you would think Umbrella might get their shit together and start employing competent scientists. Sadly not. Cue zombies. Lots of them! With the walking dead attempting to munch on Leon’s tasty hams he luckily runs into Claire Redfield, who is in town trying to locate her dickhead brother. With two guns better than one they join forces and plan to reach the Racoon City police station, a safe place to barricade against the zombie hordes, wait for a rescue team, make a cheese and pickle sandwich and, most importantly, survive.
Played from the same third person perspective as the excellent original, Resident Evil 2 is a canny example of more of the same yet entirely different. The puzzle solving, item collection and exploration is as was and the basic gameplay mechanics are pretty much unchanged. Oh look, a typewriter ribbon. That will be useful for saving the game, once I’ve found a flipping typewriter! And this green plant here will be useful for a health boost, even though my stomach is unable to digest such nonsense. The main difference, however, is the environment and this is what gives Resident Evil 2 its lasting appeal. Borrowing scenarios from the aforementioned Dawn of the Dead, but replacing the shopping mall with a smart John Carpenter styled Assault on Precinct 13 thematic provides an expansive cinematic experience more durable than the originals isolated haunted house appeal. There’s always something much more terrifying about a vast empty city filled with zombies and those early sections are certainly some of the most iconic in the franchise if not gaming in general. Raccoon City on fire, a horde taking out a shop-keeper, dodging the undead on a basketball court, navigating round them via the aisle of a derelict bus; it’s a blistering start made all the more nerve-wrecking by the zombie frequency. More are encountered in this initial section than probably throughout the whole course of the original game.
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Of course, more zombies lead to additional challenges. There simply isn’t enough ammo to take them all down, so dodging through the blight often becomes a necessity, especially on the highest difficulty setting. It also leads to some interesting decision-making. Early doors and with the owner of a shotgun being gleefully munched upon by four zombies, do you waste all of them to pick up the vastly more powerful weapon (and the wonderful mess it makes when you go for a head-shot) or continue onwards saving your bullets for later, more difficult encounters? By the time you reach the Raccoon City police station and find that zombies are not the only menace to deal with you may rue that decision.
Central to the success of the thematic design is the games wonderful atmosphere. The graphics and sound provide a visceral edge that ensures the player is totally immersed in Leon and Claire’s desperate situation; there is always that feeling of impending doom round every corner that is so incredibly affecting and panic inducing. Be it the depiction of a city in the throes of devastation or incidental jingles as background noise to accompany the far off shuffling of a slow moving nemesis, it sends a shiver down the spine. And then, when least expected, a choreographed set-piece lends itself to the player cacking it. Witness unexpected zombie arms suddenly reaching for Leon/Claire through boarded up windows, a creature bursting through a mirror or dear lord what the fuck was that which just crawled across the window! Played in the dark and on your lonesome, the effect is even more unnerving.
Luckily, the tension isn’t unbearable (unlike Amnesia – Christ, that game spooks the sh!t out of me). Those delightful moments when a zombie’s cranium explodes in a fistful of gore from a well-directed shotgun-blast is a timely reminder that zombies are, technically, a punching bag to lie into, and boy what fun that can be. Stamping on their gelatinous heads, shooting their kneecaps for chuckles; neither Leon nor Claire are rendered defenceless and with some handy weaponry available slow progress can be made through the game, whilst also making a right mess of the scenery. A zombie game without gore is like a squirrel without a massive pair of conkers. Resident Evil 2 doesn’t disappoint and delivers by the bucket load.
Central to the success of the thematic design is the games wonderful atmosphere. The graphics and sound provide a visceral edge that ensures the player is totally immersed in Leon and Claire’s desperate situation; there is always that feeling of impending doom round every corner that is so incredibly affecting and panic inducing. Be it the depiction of a city in the throes of devastation or incidental jingles as background noise to accompany the far off shuffling of a slow moving nemesis, it sends a shiver down the spine. And then, when least expected, a choreographed set-piece lends itself to the player cacking it. Witness unexpected zombie arms suddenly reaching for Leon/Claire through boarded up windows, a creature bursting through a mirror or dear lord what the fuck was that which just crawled across the window! Played in the dark and on your lonesome, the effect is even more unnerving.
Luckily, the tension isn’t unbearable (unlike Amnesia – Christ, that game spooks the sh!t out of me). Those delightful moments when a zombie’s cranium explodes in a fistful of gore from a well-directed shotgun-blast is a timely reminder that zombies are, technically, a punching bag to lie into, and boy what fun that can be. Stamping on their gelatinous heads, shooting their kneecaps for chuckles; neither Leon nor Claire are rendered defenceless and with some handy weaponry available slow progress can be made through the game, whilst also making a right mess of the scenery. A zombie game without gore is like a squirrel without a massive pair of conkers. Resident Evil 2 doesn’t disappoint and delivers by the bucket load.
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It does not disappoint in the challenge provided either. With old-school mechanics such as a location-based save system (rather than checkpoints), no tutorial (there is no hand-holding here) and some finely crafted encounters that feature a degree of difficulty, Resident Evil 2 is not a straightforward beast to beat. Ammo conservation, appropriate use of health items and some standard puzzle solving add to the games delicate balance whilst the two playable personas and their alternate plot-lines, survivor encounters and item location maximises longevity. The bonus comes when you do win through successfully. Complete the game as Claire and Leon's alternative scenario is unlocked (and vice-versa). These new scenarios portray "what really happened" once Leon and Claire were split up in the intro sequence. More importantly, they are even tougher chapters, open up whole new plot-lines only hinted at in the main game and feature a series of terrifying encounters with… well that would spoil things! Needless to say, the tension and panic is enhanced further with a relentless pursuit across Resident Evil 2’s beautiful crumbling sh!tscape.
Picky buggers, of course, will point out the games occasional flaws. The rather naff door opening sequence between loading screens (which was a rather inventive method for hiding the loading screens in the first place) for instance, but you get used to it. The difficult camera angles to play from; again, you get used to it, but more importantly these points of view were highly effective in inducing a more claustrophobic and terrifying setting, something recent Resident Evil titles have lost perspective on (geddit? Oh just f*ck off then). The poor inventory system. Okay the picky buggers can have that one. Even for an older game the inventory manipulation, especially in changing weapons quickly, has always been particularly wonky. However, the only truly disappointing aspect to Resident Evil 2 is the lack of Barry Burton. Wonderful Barry is nowhere to be seen.
But these are minor quibbles that fail to get in the way of Resident Evil 2’s majestic splendor. That mantra - more of the same, yet different - sings through every graphical pore and every sound effect. Merging cinematic quality into an interactive player-focused gaming experience ensured that Resident Evil 2 surpassed its predecessor in every conceivable way. The fitting atmosphere, the sense of claustrophobia, the horror film quality (well apart from the voice-acting, eek!), the challenge, and every single zombie encounter; more than just a game, Resident Evil 2 raised the bar by which all future survival-horrors were judged. Perhaps it has now only just been eclipsed by Left 4 Dead 2. And that is a towering legacy in zombie mythos that holds its own proudly alongside Romero’s trilogy and Max Brooks’ World War Z. You will never forget that first tingling sensation when you see the inside of the Raccoon City police station and everyone should be eternally grateful that Chris Redfield decided to do one. If you have not played Resident Evil 2 yet, what in the blue hell are you waiting for?
Picky buggers, of course, will point out the games occasional flaws. The rather naff door opening sequence between loading screens (which was a rather inventive method for hiding the loading screens in the first place) for instance, but you get used to it. The difficult camera angles to play from; again, you get used to it, but more importantly these points of view were highly effective in inducing a more claustrophobic and terrifying setting, something recent Resident Evil titles have lost perspective on (geddit? Oh just f*ck off then). The poor inventory system. Okay the picky buggers can have that one. Even for an older game the inventory manipulation, especially in changing weapons quickly, has always been particularly wonky. However, the only truly disappointing aspect to Resident Evil 2 is the lack of Barry Burton. Wonderful Barry is nowhere to be seen.
But these are minor quibbles that fail to get in the way of Resident Evil 2’s majestic splendor. That mantra - more of the same, yet different - sings through every graphical pore and every sound effect. Merging cinematic quality into an interactive player-focused gaming experience ensured that Resident Evil 2 surpassed its predecessor in every conceivable way. The fitting atmosphere, the sense of claustrophobia, the horror film quality (well apart from the voice-acting, eek!), the challenge, and every single zombie encounter; more than just a game, Resident Evil 2 raised the bar by which all future survival-horrors were judged. Perhaps it has now only just been eclipsed by Left 4 Dead 2. And that is a towering legacy in zombie mythos that holds its own proudly alongside Romero’s trilogy and Max Brooks’ World War Z. You will never forget that first tingling sensation when you see the inside of the Raccoon City police station and everyone should be eternally grateful that Chris Redfield decided to do one. If you have not played Resident Evil 2 yet, what in the blue hell are you waiting for?
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VERDICT
Visual: 8/10
Audio: 9/10 Gameplay: 10/10 Longevity: 10/10 OVERALL: 10/10 |
PIXEL SECONDS: RESIDENT EVIL 2 (DC)
Continuing Resident Evil was a no-brainer for Capcom, and despite a rough development cycle that included canning an almost-completed version, RE2 would release to acclaim. Its Dreamcast port would follow in 2000, and it’s a content-rich version. All the additions from the DualShock release are intact, as well as the full-screen FMVs from the PC version. That being said, you could tell it was starting to show it’s age, with plenty of low-res moments. But at the end of the day, this is still the same excellent game from other platforms. It’s a horror masterpiece, with survival gameplay refined to its purest form. It’s got plenty of thrilling and scary moments, a ton of replay value for multiple plays and it expands on the superb original in many great ways. While perhaps not enticing for those who played this game to death on previous platforms, both Dreamcast owners and horror fans somehow uninitiated with this masterclass in survival horror should definitely seek this out. It remains true to the original, and improves it in all the best ways. [9] - Shane Battams © 2018
Continuing Resident Evil was a no-brainer for Capcom, and despite a rough development cycle that included canning an almost-completed version, RE2 would release to acclaim. Its Dreamcast port would follow in 2000, and it’s a content-rich version. All the additions from the DualShock release are intact, as well as the full-screen FMVs from the PC version. That being said, you could tell it was starting to show it’s age, with plenty of low-res moments. But at the end of the day, this is still the same excellent game from other platforms. It’s a horror masterpiece, with survival gameplay refined to its purest form. It’s got plenty of thrilling and scary moments, a ton of replay value for multiple plays and it expands on the superb original in many great ways. While perhaps not enticing for those who played this game to death on previous platforms, both Dreamcast owners and horror fans somehow uninitiated with this masterclass in survival horror should definitely seek this out. It remains true to the original, and improves it in all the best ways. [9] - Shane Battams © 2018