You are minding your own business on your drive into the city when all of a sudden, wham! You hit something and you aren’t sure what it was. You slam on the brakes and screech to a halt. Slowly you open your door to see what it was that you had hit. In the dark, you can make out a figure getting up off the ground, and making its way slowly to you. The shape is that of a human, but it isn’t walking like a normal human. You start to see that its face has been almost completely stripped from the bones. Quickly you hop in your vehicle and try to dry away as you see a horde of these walking corpses. This is our review for Resident Evil 2 Remake.
From Developer and Publisher Capcom comes a game that we all wanted, Resident Evil 2 Remake. If you are a true Resident Evil fan then you remember the original game in all of its glory, and moments of absolute fright. Take that and multiply it by a lot and you have Resident Evil 2 now. Twenty years of technological improvements have made this one of the more compelling remake games to have come out recently. We will delve a little deeper down the rabbit hole.
We turn back time twenty years and we see a brand new zombie game in a newer series called Resident Evil 2. It utilized fixed cameras, pre-baked environments, and cut scene transitions when doing something as simple as going from one room to another. These are some of the ways they planned the game out to frighten people back when it launched in 1998. Doing the same thing in this game could have been done, however, the designers went with the model they used for Resident Evil 4 through 6, and that was a smart idea in this writer’s mind. Obviously, after twenty years we can get rid of pre-baked environments and use some actual 3D modeling of the buildings and surrounding areas of the police station. Raccoon City is now more beautiful and terrifying all at once. The lighting effects are made possible due to the lack of pre-baked elements as well. Things are darker where they need to be, and spotlights in the hallways throw shadows to give the biggest sense of foreboding environment as possible.
Removing the fixed cameras and adding the behind the back 3rd person camera was the best idea in this game. It gives you more of a sense of being in the game. When the zombies come up out of nowhere now you will feel more of a sense of fear. Be careful as you walk past those windows, you might just meet up with one of the walking dead. Old enemies spring up in the game and you will remember why they gave you nightmares as a kid. The zombie dogs, the lickers, the scientist with the giant eye on his shoulder, and the most devastating thing about this game, the Tyrant. All of these things will mercilessly pursue you if you aren’t able to take them out quickly, all except for the Tyrant who will chase you forever. These enemies and more as you progress through the game will bring you, even more, fear and nightmares now. Also be careful where you tread, now that door cut scene animations are gone the zombies will pile onto the doors and force them open causing more of a headache for you.
The weapons in Resident Evil 2 Remake are as you remember them, but updated to look like a real-world equivalent of a firearm. You start with Leon’s basic pistol or Claire with her handgun (if you chose Claire’s path first). Either way, you go will offer you different weapons for each person. Shotguns, magnums, grenade launchers, and they can all be yours if you find them. They are even more devastating with the updated graphics implemented in-game. Watch as you slam a grenade into the mouth of your enemy and then either watch it explode or shoot it for that much more of an explosion. You will see even more gruesome zombie deaths as you blow off their limbs or their heads to slow them down or kill them.
The puzzles you encounter will still cause you some grief if you aren’t ready for them, but to be honest with you I figured some of them out without some of the hints that are given in-game. I solved the Lion Statue puzzle before I went to find someone who had the details of each of them. I don’t want to give too much away as far as the puzzles are concerned so just be on the lookout for things as you run around the map. Even though you may run through every part of the map beware of respawning zombies and lickers around every corner. After a certain point in the game make sure you have done everything that you need to do otherwise run from the Tyrant and other creepy crawlies.
If you are expecting this game to be a letdown in any way, let me stop you right here and tell you to check yourself at the door. If you want to experience true fear then make sure your brightness in-game is turned down, and make sure to play in a dark or dimly lit room. The jump scares will get you even more than they used to. This is the perfect game to play if you are streaming horror games and like to be frightened on screen. There are two stories and opportunities for multiple adventures into this game including hardcore mode. You have the ability now to earn achievements and unlock character models as well. There are certain things you can do online through RE Net as well but I will let you discover those things for yourself. Get ready for one heck of a time in Raccoon City.
Here is a little taste of the game with the first 15 minutes of gameplay that I recorded as well.
Note: Our copy was reviewed on Steam with a code provided by PR.
