Resident Evil 2

"Warning! Don’t play this game alone at night..."

The original Resident Evil was, without a doubt, not only a huge success, but also a somewhat groundbreaking game, offering players a kind of experience previously unavailable to them, which basically granted it an instant classic status. Even so, the game hadn’t developed its own innovations (mainly in mood, not gameplay itself) to the full, leaving a lot of ground to be covered by other games. At the same time, Capcom obviously knew that Resident Evil was begging for a sequel, with many unanswered questions and a plot that seemed liked it could linger on forever. So, the company lost no time in announcing and releasing the next installment in the series, considering how they could develop their own concept further.

Resident Evil 2 picks up from where the first ended, even if if no characters from that game reappears in this one. Similarly to its predecessor, two characters are available for controlling: Leon S. Kennedy, police officer in his first day of duty and Claire Redfield, sister of our old friend from the previous game, Chris Redfield. Both of them arrive in Racoon City at the same time of the night, only to find it crawling with zombies. They try to run away together, but, after an accident, the two are separated and must make their way to the police station and escape from the city together, while trying to figure out what has happened to the city and if there are any survivors.

While the game’s plot is basically an excuse to make a horror-themed experience, it follows nicely from the first one’s and, introducing some new characters and delving into the origins of the virus and Umbrella, the corporation behind it, becomes much more interesting than the first part of the Resident Evil saga. What’s interesting about the overall plot of the series is that the characters are facing something so much more powerful than them (the city full of zombies, Umbrella etc.) that the only thing they can do is run away. Also, in true Resident Evil fashion, many new questions are created by the game and left unanswered, which increases the mystery and heightens the expectations for the next game(s).

Also, much more interesting this time is the relation between the games of the two playable characters, Leon and Claire. While you choose one of them in the beginning of the game, after you beat it, you have the option to play it again with the other character (in a different ‘scenario’, which means you play the events simultaneous to the ones you have already played) to unveil the whole story of the game. The two characters go through some different situations and meet different characters through the game, so a lot of information will be missed while playing only one of the stories. Also, for each character there is a side character that you can play as, resulting in four different characters available for control in the game. Not counting the secret ones, of course.

Another great addition in Resident Evil 2 is the setting. This time, the game doesn’t take place all inside a mansion and even though most of the game is played in closed spaces, the game starts in the streets of Racoon City (a concept that would be further developed in Resident Evil 3). Apart from that, inner backgrounds are much more varied than the first one’s, even if they are basically analog to the first game’s setting (the police station is the mansion, the game ends in a lab etc.). Obviously, all of these places are very sinister looking, fear inspiring and pretty well designed, which improves a lot on the tension of the game.

In terms of gameplay, Resident Evil 2 practically doesn’t add a single thing in relation to the original game. Game mechanics and controls are exactly the same as in the original’s (and as in any other game in the series, by the way), so experienced players will have no trouble in getting used to it. Also, the goals and missions in this game are pretty much the same as in the first ones. The same ‘kill zombie’, ‘solve puzzle’, ‘find key’, ‘new area’ routine is repeated here and, while it is nothing new, the game somehow manages to remain interesting until the end. There are also minor few additions in relation to the previous game, like new monsters (including the licker, a great monster that didn’t appear in subsequent games), weapons and the like.

If indeed the game doesn’t offer innovations in the gameplay itself, it is really a much better game than the first Resident Evil. All of elements that made that game great and fresh are taken to new levels in this sequel. Not only you get to face new enemies, use new weapons, control more characters: more importantly, the atmosphere of this game is infinitely more adequate for a ‘survival horror’ game. More tense, more terrifying, scarier, deeper and more complex. There are many situations in this game when players are likely to jump from their seats and for the rest of the game they’ll be completely immersed in the game. No horror movie has ever made it better. The whole atmosphere of the game and the impeccable orchestration of all of its elements turn Resident Evil 2 into an utterly magnetic experience.

In terms of challenge, however, Resident Evil 2 is a minor let down. This happens mostly because of the possibility of setting the difficulty level, so that in the easier mode anyone can beat the game with no problem at all, without worrying about saving ammo, herbs and the like. Also, puzzles tend to be completely obvious throughout the game. Of course, anyone looking for a challenge can have a harder time by selecting the harder difficulty level. Apart from that, there are secret playing modes available after you beat the ‘normal’ game (presenting new characters for control) and these will also provide a little more hardship than the normal game. In all, if the lack of challenge doesn’t get in the way of having fun with the game at all, it detracts a little from the fun of beating the game, since it requires no skill at all.

In terms of graphics, Resident Evil 2 isn’t a radical departure from its predecessor, but the changes implemented here do make a profound difference in the general feel of the game. Characters and monsters are more detailed and realistic, enhancing the experience of impersonating the characters as well as making the monsters, specially the more ‘human’ zombies, much scarier. More important is the change in the background graphics, which now pay respect to the horror side of the game. The backgrounds are much more sinister, setting the mood for the game nicely. Right in the beginning of the game, the streets are much more fear-inspiring than anything in the first game. For a game like Resident Evil, the graphics are an essential part in creating the right atmosphere, something the developers fully realized in this game. Obviously, they would refine this quality in subsequent games (specially in the Gamecube releases) but Resident Evil 2 made a crucial leap in relation to the original, something that deserves recognition.

Another change that definitely came for the best was changing the cut-scenes, which in the first game was done in ‘live action’ filming, into computer animation, which, ironically, does feel much more ‘real’ than the bad acting we were given then. The computer-generated characters are much more convincing and, while the cut-scenes are not specially impressive in technical terms, even if for its time they are pretty good, they are pretty well done and well directed, adding a lot to the overall ‘horror movie’ feel of the game. Just watch Leon and Claire’s opening videos (a different one for each character) with their arrival at a deserted Raccoon City to see what I mean.

While the first Resident Evil suffered in terms of graphics, its sound was already of a great quality. So, in the second game, no big changes were made. The general concept was kept, balancing long periods of silence (that is, no music) with some sparse tunes for the more tense moments, specific locations (like the save rooms) and essential battles (bosses). All of the music is pretty much excellent in quality and reprises the quality of the original’s in setting the right mood for each location and moment. Given the long periods of silence which players will face, sound effects have their importance increased drastically and the same attention with which music was treated is used for these effects. Every little sound, from steps to sounds made by monsters are very well done and as striking as most of the tunes, also becoming an important part of the gameplay. In all, the sound in Resident Evil 2 is pretty much excellent.

This high quality is also due to a much improved voice acting. Anyone who has played the original Resident Evil knows how bad the voice acting was, one of the most pathetic I’ve seen in games. Capcom decided to invest in the acting this time and, while not yet coming with a professional level of acting, the overall result is light years ahead of its predecessor. This new acting adds a lot of character to the game, since now you can believe that the characters are human and have emotions, as opposed to the embarrassing offering of the first game. The dramatic impact of the game is drastically increased and it also contributes to the overall success of Resident Evil 2.

In the end, the game, while not at all a far cry from the original in terms of gameplay, had so many crucial improvements over the first one that it was the one that definitely stated that the Resident Evil series had arrived to last. Actually, the enhancements made in this game were so effective that Capcom would have trouble in repeating this level of improvement with subsequent games, perhaps reducing the relevance of the series somewhat. However, by releasing a killer game as Resident Evil 2 the developers had already won a legion of players over, thus guaranteeing the success of the Resident Evil series in the years to come.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/14/03