Resident Evil 2

"It's Resident Evil 2, a simple port from PC to Dreamcast with all the blood and gore that you want."

I admitted that I haven’t played Resident Evil series before so Resident Evil 2 is a completely new game to me. Looking back at the reviews that stated it to be a nice game, I decided to give it a try. The game turned out to be very tricky at first, in controls terms as well as the agony of trying to keep your character moving at the right point. For beginners and non-Resident Evil players, you’ll sure have problems trying to scrape through a pile of moving zombies as well as hounds that will try and get you.

Graphics – 8
The graphics aren’t really that great; it’s just a simple conversion from the PC to the Dreamcast with the graphics not even enhanced a little bit (maybe there is, but I did not notice it). The FMV sequence are really jaw-dropping with the characters walking about and sudden zombies appearing could really frighten you out of your skin. It’s nice to see how Capcom can create such realistic-looking characters (Leon looks the worse) and eerie, flesh-eating zombies that can kill anyone with heart attack.

The characters modeling and in 3D as you will find most Dreamcast games would be. The colours are suited nicely towards every single thing in the game, except for the sky and most of the places which are mysteriously dark for the whole day. The background itself and everything that are placed in the game are obviously cool and of course, putting dead humans here and there on the ground are simply terrifying.

Music – 9
Combining the two important aspects, the graphics and the music, Resident Evil 2 will be one of those scariest game ever. The horrendous sounds of zombies walking by and quickly beating background music will let you shudder if you play alone (that’s why I always play when more than one people is around with me). Sound effects are created perfectly and all are on the right time, from the drop of water falling down to shots of handgun bullets repeatedly.

Background music will be eerie, as you will aspect from this kind of game. Turn off the volume if you’re scared, and you’ll feel better in a not-so-scary atmosphere. When zombies come in crowd to attack you, the music will appear very fast to make you sweat and after all of that is over, normal music could be heard or none at all, except for all of those tiny bit of sound effects like blood dripping down and such.

Gameplay – 9
You can control as two people, either Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie police officer who is on his first day job or Claire Redfield, the S.T.A.R.S (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) member who is in search of her missing brother, Chris Redfield. This two characters have a different storyline and if you plug in the first disc, you’ll find yourself playing as Leon and put in the second disc and you can play as Claire. Choose carefully which you want to play first and go for it.

This game is pretty straightforward, just kill those creepy creatures that come towards you, like zombies, hounds, crows and other bosses that run to your direction. There are some tricky puzzles that will make you think for days and you can explore simply everywhere in the whole of Raccoon City. Some are simply while some are easy but you’ll need your quick thinking (or a walkthrough) to save the day. Clues will be somewhere near but you’ll either need to figure out what the sentence means, look for odd things and other items that will make you proceed further.

Cut-scenes will appear out of nowhere than you expected it to be, mostly people get killed and new zombie-type monsters appearing. Bosses are mainly hard and you’ll need your powerful weapons to kill it, and make sure you have enough ammo. More than often, you’ll either find yourself almost running out of health with your character posing in an annoying ‘get hurt’ way like putting his hand on his shoulder so you’ll really need to get recovery items like Herbs and First Aid.

Ammo and bullets can be found almost everywhere but it’s quite hard to find it. More powerful weapons are quite hard to find in terms of ammo. You’ll see that why this game is classified as ‘Survival Horror’, as you’ll need good planning and strategy to save yourself from the letters ‘You Died’ in front of you. You can even use a Combat Knife if you want but it’s really too hard to use it as zombies will come forward and gnaw you on the next when you least expect it.

Controls – 6
Oh poor. Poor, poor, poor. Beginners will throw the controller and the question that will hang on everyone’s mind is: Why can’t Capcom make simpler controls like when you want to go left, just press the left button and when you want to go front, just press the Up button. This simple type of controls have been used for generations (if computer games ever existed previously before). I can’t describe the controls exactly but if you press left or right, your character will only turn round and round where he or she stands. To move, you’ll have to press the up button and to walk backwards from whatever direction, you’ll need the down button.

To go to the menu, press the B button, attack or examine by pressing the X button, A button to run, Y button for map, L and R button for targeting. If seeing this makes you dizzy, playing it seems worse. But well, if you can get the hang of it for this game, there should not be any problem for you to win this. The Dino Crisis series as well as Resident Evil series have been using this awkward controls and to be honest, I wish that Capcom could change it or let us alter the directional buttons.

Story – 9
Umbrella has did it again. The company has created a virus that made the whole city infested with zombies and even the police force can’t stop them (then why Leon and Claire can take care all of them single-handedly?). Leon “Scott” Kennedy is a rookie police officer of Raccoon Police Department and is on his first day job (on a first day job killing zombies? Wow…) while Claire Redfield, one of the STARS members is searching for his missing brother, Chris Redfield.

Replay Value – 7
There is a special bonus if you complete the game, which will unlock a mode (I can’t reveal it as a spoiler). You will also gain special weapons based on how well you played the game, how many items have you collected and used and all those secret stuffs that have been planted by Capcom in all of Resident Evil series. I don’t think you would want to play the game all over again if you had completed it but maybe once in a while, you’ll look back and play this game again.

Overall – 8
This game is nice for those who fall deeply in love with the Resident Evil series and even for beginners, Resident Evil 2 is a good try. This game is strictly not for kids of young age (well, what the rating wants to say) as it contains the so-called ‘explicit violence and gore’. Imagine zombies with head chopped off, humans flesh pouring out and see whether you like it or not. It’s your choice so don’t regret it later.

President
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+ Nice storyline!
+ Two characters means two times the gameplay!
+ It’s Resident Evil… where blood and gore are waiting for you…

Resident
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- Not for the young and old. One might cry and one might die.
- Hard puzzles occasionally and real mean bosses.
- Controls are the worse of all…

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/14/00, Updated 12/14/00