Resident Evil 2

"Best game in the Series"

Resident Evil 2
After the T-Virus outbreak at the Mansion, Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy search what used to be Raccoon City for survivors and try to escape the city. This game was a huge improvement over the original Resident Evil. This is my 3rd favorite game of all-time.

Graphics- 9/10
For it's time, these graphics are extremely crisp. All characters look really good on the N64. The only problem with the graphics is the cut-scenes are grainy due to being compressed so much to fit on the N64. They put a lot of work into making sure the rest of the game looked good though and it does.

Story- 10/10
Claire Redfield is looking for her brother Chris Redfield. Chris led the S.T.A.R.S. team into the Mansion on the original game. Claire finds herself trapped in Raccoon City with tons of zombies and other strange creatures. Leon Kennedy, a brand new S.T.A.R.S. member, also finds himself deep in the city on his first day on the job. They meet up and go to the Raccoon City Police Department to escape the zombies. Little do they know, the zombies are there as well. They split up and look for survivors and then try to escape the city together. Each character meets interesting people on their way to escaping the city and on the way learns about what happened to the city.

Sound- 7/10
It can't be perfect; it's an N64 game. Despite the sound of guns and walking being off, everything else works well. The music is creepy and fits the game good. The zombies and other T-Virus infected creatures sound very disturbing, in a good way.

Gameplay- 10/10
You play as either Leon or Claire. Both of them have interesting stories and different gameplay elements. As Leon you will use Magnums, Shotguns, and Flamethrowers as your character-only weapons. As Claire you will get Bow Guns, a Grenade Launcher, and a Shock Gun. This means you will have to survive using different weapons. If you beat the game as one character, you will earn a B-Scenario that allows you to play the game from the other characters point of view. This creates a total of 4 games all in one. Not to mention the 2 secret scenarios you can earn. This game makes you tense and freak out at moments. The N64 version allows you to change the blood color and change the violence level in the game. There is also a Randomizer mode that changes around all the items in the game to make it that much more difficult.

Difficulty- 7/10
This game can be really hard in some spots, but generally you are facing mindless zombies. The bosses in the game can be a really intricate challenge if you're not smart about ammo. That's another thing, keeping up with ammo on the harder modes becomes a huge challenge. You want to save ammo for a really hard enemy, but there are tons of zombies.

Overall- 10/10
This game is extremely fun and tells a great story. You can play through 6 times without it ever being the same game. Also, if you put Randomizer on, you can play through again and again just to challenge yourself. Earning the 2 secret scenarios will keep you busy enough as it is. This game gets a 10!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/08

Game Release: Resident Evil 2 (US, 10/31/99)