Reimagined from the ground up, is this remake worthy of the name it bears?
The original 1996 Resident Evil on PlayStation was a landmark video game. Although it didn’t introduce the world to survival horror, the genre became synonymous with the series from that point forward. A mix of live action video footage with cheesy acting and polygonal heart-pounding, terror-infused action inside a secluded mansion made Resident Evil one of the greatest games ever made. Then, in 1998, the world met its successor, Resident Evil 2, and things changed again.
RE2 took everything in the original game and bumped it up to eleven. There’s greater enemy variety, including the introduction of the dreaded Lickers and the towering villain Mr. X; the graphics feature more richly detailed pre-rendered backdrops and realistic lighting effects; a bigger arsenal and a greater focus on action; and a larger setting that includes Raccoon City and its iconic police station. RE2 showed how Capcom could take the basic formula established in RE1 and transform it into a true blockbuster experience. Like with the remake of Resident Evil 4, however, there was trepidation when Capcom announced it would be remaking RE2; after all, when a game is that great, that influential, to change anything requires not just confidence, but proper follow through to make it work.
For the remake, RE2 is stripped down to the studs. With RE4, Capcom was able to riff on the original for its reimagining, in particular its control scheme, to a greater extent than it could with RE2. Built for the original PlayStation, RE2’s pre-rendered backdrops were one of the first things to go. The remake boasts fully rendered 3D environments and a larger game world to explore. Also jettisoned was RE2’s tank controls. Replaced with a third-person setup similar to the one in RE4, the new controls allow for greater freedom of movement, deeper exploration, and more elaborate shooting mechanics. These were the two most front-facing aspects of the original that needed modernizing for the remake, and on both counts Capcom did an astounding job.
Like Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, the devs at Capcom were able to take the environments in RE2 and extrapolate the flat pre-rendered backdrops into fully realized 3D spaces. To so accurately recreate the look and feel in the third dimension was an amazing feat, and one that pays off in dividends. Roaming the world of RE2 feels downright deadly thanks to the attention to detail. The shadowed environments are lovingly packed with scattered debris and streaks and splatters of blood on countless surfaces; your eyes will never run short of things to gawk at. Many of the original backdrops have been lovingly translated into 3D, so longtime players can have fun seeing old favorites in a new light. It’s a testament to how excellent the art direction was in the first RE2 that so much of it could be recycled for the remake.
The same care was paid to the shooting and movement mechanics in this remake. Fluid, free-flowing 360 degree movement has replaced the less intuitive tank controls of yesteryear. Leon and Claire can creep and sprint with ease, and more, they can walk and shoot at the same time. Now, the third-person shooting might be a point of contention for some fans, as there could be the conception that this makes the game easier than the original. This is simply not so. First of all, while players can move and shoot, movement speed is greatly reduced and accuracy is lowered, making it much easier to miss a shot. This in turn opens the player up to enemy attacks, so while it might be tempting to run around like an action hero, the game doesn’t reward this type of play.
Shooting is very satisfying in RE2 despite this limitation. With the player’s feet firmly planted, the use of handguns, rifles, and shotguns all offer excellent feedback when fired. Each weapon type, as one might expect, offers different advantages and disadvantages to consider. As is customary, shotguns thin crowds, machine guns allow for concentrated, rapid fire, and handguns enable more refined gunplay. In this remake, the zombies’ limbs can be targeted along with their heads. If one of the undead is shambling too close, fire at its leg and watch the creature be sent flying to the ground. Unlike RE4, there’s no melee to speak of, but the knife can be used to attack as well as defend in a pinch.
The setup for the story is largely the same as it ever was: Leon S. Kennedy is on his way to his first day as an officer for the Raccoon Police Department, while Claire Redfield is trying to find her brother Chris (also of RPD). For the remake, Capcom starts players off at a remote gas station outside of town which functions as a training ground for the basics of the game. Players learn how to shoot, reload, and, of equal importance, manage their inventory. It’s a small and brief section, but it speaks volumes about the sheer horror Capcom can produce even in such an innocuous location as a gas station. It’s the perfect primer for what’s to come.
Initially a point of concern for diehard RE4 fans was word that a new actor would be taking on the role of Leon. Nick Apostolides plays the character for the first time in the RE2 remake, and he comes out of the gates swinging. His Leon is notably younger and greener than the Leon of RE4, and the actor does a delightful job of showing a more vulnerable version of the character who isn’t as weathered by the trials to come. The Raccoon City Incident is Leon’s crucible, and Apostolides perfectly conveys that with his performance. Stephanie Panisello as Claire Redfield is another win, as the actress brings a youthful exuberance to the performance. Claire can hold her own, but is also an approachable, likable female lead, something that modern Western game studios have trouble creating. You root for Claire just as much as Leon, and with both these actors providing knockout depictions of each, it makes the game that much more immersive.
Like the classic RE2, the remake features limited storage slots for each character. Part of the challenge of the game is knowing which items to put away in the large storage bins located at most save stations (the iconic typewriters) versus holding onto while roaming around. There are moments where inventory spaces can be so clogged that important decisions have to be made about what to leave behind, especially if the item is located in a hotbed of zombie activity. The survival part of RE2 wasn’t lost in this remake, and on higher difficulties it can be very taxing trying to maintain enough ammo and health resources. Taxing, maybe even a little stressful, but also quite rewarding. RE2 was never all about its shooting, and neither is the remake.
As before, there are a bunch of puzzles to solve, some more clever than others, but all enjoyable. Locks with secret combinations are scattered around and contain excellent bonuses for those willing to navigate around the undead to find the clues for all of the combos. Numerous special keys must be obtained to open matching doors, but as the doors unlock, exploration becomes that much easier. It’s not a massively cerebral experience, but RE2, between its puzzles, inventory management, and even enemy encounters, makes players think.
There are no longer A/B scenarios and the famous “zapping” system in this iteration of RE2; they’ve been replaced with dedicated campaigns for both Claire and Leon. Both characters share common story elements, such as exploring the police station and descending into the sewers and, finally, the hellish NEST facility. However, Leon and Claire each have distinct partner characters and side scenarios that give them their own unique storylines. Although Leon’s narrative is considered to be canon between the duo, the two stories are worth experiencing. Leon’s interactions with the slippery Ada Wong are rife with intrigue and sexual tension, while Claire’s plight to rescue the young Sherry Birkin is tense and powerful. To only experience one campaign would be a mistake, especially as the game rewards players in different ways for getting through everything, including character-specific special weapons.
The story does play out differently this time around, notably with Mr. X, who is a true stalker in this version of the game. Once he makes his first appearance, Mr. X is actively patrolling the police station at all times. He doesn’t instantly pop up where the player is, but is instead constantly listening for things like gunshots to zero in on wherever Leon or Claire is inside the building. The randomness of Mr. X appearing adds insane levels of anxiety to the game, as there’s no real way of knowing how close he might be at any given moment. Thus, weighing the use of ammo to shoot zombies is now compounded with the fear of alerting Mr. X. I absolutely hate the sensation of being chased, so these segments of gameplay were a nightmare, but in a good way. Again, Capcom’s ability to elicit fear is on another level, and a key aspect of what makes RE2 such a great game.
Note that while the campaigns don’t interact in the way that they did before, each character does have a 1st Run (Campaign A) and a 2nd Run (Campaign B) to complete. If you want to get the true ending of the game, you need to play consecutively through the A and B campaigns for each character. Campaign B features differences like skipping the gas station intro altogether, reworked enemy and item placements, and the true, final boss encounter at the end of the story. Your weapons and inventory don’t carry over like they do in a traditional new game+, but any unlocked weapons or DLC weapons will be available. It’s a great excuse to dip back into the campaigns for Leon and Claire, but for those wanting to get the full story of RE2, it might be a little frustrating knowing it needs to be played twice.
Some small gripes I have with the game deserve a mention but by no means ruin the experience. Zombies are bullet sponges, taking way too many shots to stagger or kill. It also gets a little redundant killing the same zombies over and over. Leave an area and return, and a zombie you spent multiple shots putting down the first time is now right back in your face. Perhaps finding a more creative way to restock the zombie supply after the player has cleared an area would have helped, or maybe including cut enemies from the original RE2 like spiders and moths might have provided some opponents that could be easily sprinkled in to keep the danger level up without needing to revive the same zombies over and over.
Another grievance comes from the aforementioned Mr. X. Yes, I love the level of fear that he imbues into every sequence he’s in, but the problem is just how often he pops up. Mr. X is truly relentless, to the point that sometimes when trying to explore the police station, he can break up the flow of exploration. Solving puzzles and so on shouldn’t be interrupted quite as regularly as it is by Leon and Claire’s fanatical stalker. Finally, while the bosses are visually arresting, these enemies, like the zombies, can sometimes feel too demanding of ammunition to be defeated. Yes, boss fights are where the player should be going all-out with their munitions, but I occasionally found myself wondering when a fight would finally end. Lastly, I did find the lack of music disappointing. It’s mostly quiet and eerie throughout the adventures, which helps heighten the dread, but also makes it feel like the game is missing something.
As I said before, though, none of these complaints are so big a deal that it ruined my fun. And Resident Evil 2 is a lot of fun. It takes all of the things that made the original so memorable and adds a modern veneer. The visuals are some of the best on Switch 2, with solid performance throughout and nary a stutter in sight. The shooting and movement systems have all been modernized without sacrificing the survival aspect of the original RE2. Enemies are tough to kill, it’s crucial to conserve resources, and never did it feel like the game veered too far into action. This is a genuinely scary, gripping experience that, while it shares some DNA with the RE4 remake, is distinctly from the same mold as the first RE2. It’s another must-own for Switch 2 owners.
Nintendojo was provided a copy of this game for review by a third party, though that does not affect our recommendation. For every review, Nintendojo uses a standard criteria.