Resident Evil 2

"The best game in the Resident Evil series gets it's best treatment on the Dreamcast!"

It had to happen eventually...it now has. Resident Evil 2 has been ported to yet another system. Is this the best version? Yes, at least for now... Anyway, let's get to the review, shall we?

Storyline:

You take the roles of either Claire Redfield or Leon S. Kennedy. (Depending on which disc you pop in first) Each playable character has their own purpose for being in Raccoon City, (Where the game takes place) Leon is just starting his new job as one of Raccoon's finest, and Claire is simply searching for her brother Chris. (S.T.A.R. of the first game. =) Little time goes by before Claire and Leon realize that this entire city has been overtaken by flesh eating zombies! (Oh no!;) Enter: RESIDENT EVIL 2. I'm not going to dive deep into the storyline of RE2 in this review, as this is a much better story to experience first hand. I'll leave it up to you to figure out why these creatures are walking (or crawling..) about.

Gameplay:

Gameplay is pretty much straight forward RE. (Resident Evil) You walk around until you find enough clues (And keys =) so that you can enter a previously unaccessible area. It's RE's nature. You're probably used to it. Everything about the gameplay is pretty easy to get used to, the controls can be a little awkward if you're a newbie to the RE series, but after a short time, you'll be controlling Leon or Claire perfectly. The best part about the gameplay here is the fact that you have 2 characters to play as, and each character has 2 different scenarios. You started the game out as Leon, eh? Now beat it with Claire to see the real ending! Now beat it first as Claire, then take on Leon's second scenario. That's 4 different games right there. Let's not forget the other missions, there's an Extreme Battle Mode minigame which let's you play as the game's stars. (and one other...S.T.A.R. =) There's also a mode called The 4th Survivor which let's you play a short, difficult mission as Hunk or Tofu. As you can see, this game is loaded with game modes and missions. You've got 4 different Leon or Claire missions, 2 4th Survivor missions, and an entire Extreme Battle Mode to beat with 4 different characters. Needless to say, this game will definitely keep you busy for a while.

Graphics:

There's really not much to say about the graphics here. It's a straight port from the PSX, with the added higher resolution. It's pretty much identical to the N64's rev. Good stuff, but it doesn't use the DC's power at all.

Music and Sound Effects:

The music in this game is barely noticeable save a few locations. It does serve it's purpose of getting you tense and sometimes scared. The most noticeable song in the soundtrack is when you walk into a ''Save Room'', like every other RE, this is where the game plays the most beautiful music. The sound effects are crisp and clean. You can really feel the ''pop..pop..pop..'' of your Browning HP or HK VP-70 and you can also feel the ''BANG!!!!'' of the Custom Shotgun. (Pardon my personal sound effects =) The zombies groans and shuffles are also very well done, though they do get a little too repetitive after a while. All in all, the sound of this game is great, the music, the sound effects, it all comes together nicely.

Extras for the DC version:

Since this is the latest version of RE2 you'd expect Capcom to add some extras to make this the most complete RE2 to date. Did they do it? ...Sort of. The game's extras are basically just a movie viewer, new difficulties, a 3D model gallery, and an art gallery. The problem here is that the art gallery really didn't show me anything that I'd hadn't already seen. The concept art was sparse, and the ones that they did throw in were pretty boring. There are reasons to get this game if you already have the PSX version, though. For one, the graphics are really sharpened for this one. The prerendered backgrounds are much cleaner and the resolution seems to be much higher. The polygon counts of the characters and monsters all remain the same, sadly, but this is a port, not a remake. All in all, this game is worth picking up even if you already have the PSX version(s), just don't expect a brand new game. Hey, the $20.00 price tag doesn't hurt either.

Overall:

This is the best version of RE2 so far, the graphics, sound, and everything else are done in a clean, crisp way. If you've never had the chance to play RE2, then by all means, start with this one! This showcases RE2 in a way that the PSX versions couldn't. If you're an RE veteran like me, though, you may only want this game for collecting purposes. The best game in the Resident Evil series gets it's best treatment on the Dreamcast!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/25/01, Updated 03/24/03