Resident Evil 2 Remake is a science fiction survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. A remake of the 1998 game of the same name, it was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on January 25, 2019. Players control rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy and college student Claire Redfield as they attempt to escape Raccoon City during a zombie outbreak. Capcom first considered remaking Resident Evil 2 following the release of the remake of the first Resident Evil in 2002, but was delayed as series creator Shinji Mikami did not want to divert development from the then-upcoming Resident Evil 4 (2005). Capcom announced the Resident Evil 2 remake in August 2015 and released the first trailer and gameplay footage at E3 2018.
Resident Evil 2 received critical acclaim with praise for its presentation, gameplay, and faithfulness to the original and was nominated for several awards, including for game of the year. By September 2020, the game had sold over 7.5 million copies, outselling the original.
Gameplay
Resident Evil 2 is a remake of the 1998 game of the same name. Unlike the original, which uses tank controls and fixed camera angles, the remake features “over-the-shoulder” third-person shooter gameplay similar to Resident Evil 4 and more recent games in the series that allows players the option to move while using their weapons similar to Resident Evil 6.[1]
The assisted and standard difficulties mode deviates from the original by featuring autosaves and allowing players to save as often as they would like inside safe rooms. If the player chooses to play on “Hardcore” difficulty, players will be required to collect and use a finite number of ink ribbons to save the game’s progress, much like in the original game.
While exploring the police station, players can find and pick up items that can help them survive and escape. Certain items such as herbs and gun powder can be combined together to make healing items and ammunition respectively. Items can also be inspected for clues gaining access to certain areas or items hidden throughout the game and can be discarded after use.
Overall combat varies depending on difficultly. Assisted difficulty allows aim assist and health recovery along with weaker enemies while hardcore difficulty has stronger enemies and has scarce ammo for players to find. Combat will also vary depending on who players are fighting. Enemies will generally come after players after they are spotted and can be killed or crippled to slow the down. Zombies will attempt to break into the station through windows but can be stopped if the windows are boarded up beforehand. Certain enemies must be fought in order to progress through the game and cannot be avoided.
Although Leon and Claire will both start out with handguns at the beginning of their scenarios, each has different weapons that can be obtained throughout the game. Weapons can also be customized by finding and equipping gun parts that will improve their performance. Sub weapons like knives and grenades can also be found and equipped and used to fend off enemies that grab onto you.
At certain points in each scenario, players will encounter the Tyrant, a B.O.W sent by Umbrella to eliminate all survivors in the police station and will attempt to kill the player when encountered. The Tyrant cannot be killed, although weapons can stun or slow him down. While players can evade the Tyrant, he will constantly search throughout the station except for safe rooms and certain areas of the police station.
As with the 1998 game, the remake of Resident Evil 2 offers the option to play through the main campaign as either Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie police officer on his first day, or Claire Redfield, a college student and sister of original protagonist Chris. Depending on the player’s choice, the main story will be experienced with variations in subplots, accessible areas, obtainable items, weapons, and final boss battle. Also like the original, both campaigns feature a supporting character who becomes playable for one section of the game. Players control the mysterious Ada Wong in Leon’s story, whose segment involves hacking electronic devices, and young girl Sherry Birkin in Claire’s story, whose segment centers around stealth.
Similar to the “Scenario B” feature of the original game, beating the main campaign for the first time unlocks the option to play through a “2nd Run” as the other protagonist. 2nd Run is a variation of the main campaign that adds additional content to frame the second playthrough as occurring concurrently with the first playthrough. For example, the protagonist in 2nd Run will enter the police station from a different entrance and find several doors already unlocked by the protagonist from the first playthrough. Completing 2nd Run is also required to experience the true ending of the main campaign. Selecting “New Game” scenario for the selected character allows players to start with the default item loadout with items they had playing the game for the first time.
The remake brings back “The 4th Survivor” and “The Tofu Survivor” minigames present in the 1998 original, which are unlocked after completing the 2nd Run mode. “The 4th Survivor” follows Umbrella Corporation operative Hunk and requires players to travel from the sewers to the outside of the police department while facing a large number of enemies. “The Tofu Survivor” features the same scenario, but replaces Hunk with an anthropomorphic tofu armed only with knives. The remake’s version of “The Tofu Survivor” also adds the unlockable characters Konjac, Uirō-Mochi, Flan, and Annin Tofu, who all have a unique item loadout.
Plot
Setting
The game is set in Raccoon City in September 1998, two months after the events of Resident Evil. Most of the citizens have been turned into mindless zombies, due to an outbreak of a viral bioweapon known as the T-Virus, manufactured by Umbrella Corporation.[2][3] The game begins at a gas station outside of the city, where rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy (Nick Apostolides) meets college student Claire Redfield (Stephanie Panisello), who is looking for her brother Chris.
After being separated following a car accident, Leon and Claire agree to meet up at the city’s police department. The building is infested by zombies, and other monsters, including the “Tyrant“,[b] who is dispatched to hunt down and kill any survivors. The creatures and various obstacles prevent Leon and Claire from actually reuniting as they are forced to find a way to escape the city. Leon and Claire will arrive at the station at different times depending on the scenario.
Claire scenario
In the Machinery, Claire encounters Sherry Birkin (Eliza Pryor), a young girl being pursued by a monstrous creature. In the police station parking garage, corrupt Police Chief Brian Irons (Sid Carton) abducts Sherry, and locks her in an abandoned orphanage. Claire soon receives a call from Irons to trade Sherry for a pendant she had dropped during the abduction, threatening to kill the little girl if Claire does not comply. Reluctantly, Claire agrees to do so.
Sherry tries to escape on her own, but is soon cornered by Irons. Before Irons can harm her, the creature that had been chasing Sherry returns and implants Irons with a G-Larva. Claire arrives to save Sherry, and the larva bursts out of Irons’ chest, killing him. As Claire and Sherry attempt to leave, the Tyrant arrives and chases the pair into an elevator, but is killed by the creature stalking Sherry. The creature then tries to attack Claire and Sherry as it mutates, but accidentally causes the elevator to fall into the sewers. Claire is knocked unconscious, and Sherry is forced to abandon her to escape.
Claire is found by Annette (Karen Strassman), Sherry’s mother, who reveals that the creature after Sherry is William (Terence J. Rotolo), her husband and Sherry’s father. The Birkins developed the G-Virus for Umbrella; however, William planned to sell it to the U.S. military. Umbrella sent its paramilitary force to confiscate his work, leading to William being fatally shot. To avoid death, William had injected himself with the G-Virus. As William takes his revenge on the Umbrella soldiers, sewer rats infected by shattered vials of the T-virus carry their infection to Raccoon City. Now a mindless mutating beast, the G-Virus drives William to infect Sherry, as she is the closest genetic match to William and thus the most suitable host to spread the infection.
Claire finds Sherry trapped in a trash compactor by Annette. Upon reaching her, however, Sherry falls ill. Annette realizes William has already infected Sherry and has Claire bring her to an Umbrella lab called NEST, where a vaccine is stored. Once there, Claire uses Sherry’s pendant to unlock the vaccine, but William attacks after mutating again. Claire sends Annette to administer the vaccine while she fights William. After seemingly killing him, Claire reunites with Annette, who has managed to cure Sherry before dying from internal injuries. Sherry tearfully bids her mother goodbye. As the facility enacts a self-destruct protocol, Claire and Sherry make their way to an evacuation train. William returns yet again, now mutated into a much larger monster, and Claire defeats him just as the train prepares to leave. Upon boarding, Claire discovers Leon there as well.
Leon scenario
Leon saved from an infected dog by FBI agent, Ada Wong (Jolene Andersen) in the Parking Garage. They find reporter Ben Bertolucci in the holding cells; imprisoned by Irons for investigating Umbrella. As Ben tries to convince Leon to release him, the Tyrant kills Ben. While attempting to escape the police station, Leon is intercepted by the Tyrant but is again saved by Ada. Leon pledges to help Ada retrieve a G-Virus sample to prove Umbrella’s corruption.
In the sewers, Annette Birkin ambushes the pair and shoots at Ada; Leon takes the bullet and passes out. Ada pursues Annette but is knocked into a trash compactor. Leon rescues her, and they descend to NEST via cable car, where Ada kisses Leon.
Ada, injured, requests that Leon obtain the G sample. In Birkin’s lab, Leon obtains a sample but is attacked by a now much more deadly William. Annette tries to kill him, but is mortally wounded. Leon defeats William and tends to Annette, who claims that Ada is a mercenary and will sell the virus to the highest bidder.
Leon confronts Ada as the lab’s self-destruct protocol begins, where she admits to being a mercenary. Ada demands the G-Virus sample from Leon at gunpoint, but Annette shoots Ada before succumbing to her injuries. As Ada falls off the bridge; Leon catches her, letting the virus sample fall into the abyss. Leon loses his grip and Ada falls.
As Leon attempts to escape the lab, he is ambushed by the Tyrant, now transformed into the larger and more powerful Super Tyrant and engages it in a final battle. Ada, having survived the fall, tosses a rocket launcher to him, which Leon uses to finally destroy the Super Tyrant. Leon boards the evacuation train, discovering Claire and Sherry already aboard.
Ending
After Leon, Claire, and Sherry reunite, William attacks the train, having mutated into a gigantic horrifying mass of fangs and flesh. Claire and Leon are almost killed in the fight, but manage to uncouple the carriage occupied by William. The carriage falls behind and is consumed by the exploding lab, destroying William once and for all. As the three survivors finally escape Raccoon City, they vow to continue the fight against Umbrella. Meanwhile, USS operator Hunk (Keith Silverstein), completes his G-Virus retrieval mission.