Resident Evil 2 (2019 video game)

Resident Evil 2 is a 3D survival horror game that incorporates tactical elements and is viewed from the third-person perspective, which re-imagines the original 1998 release for modern audiences[1][2]. The game is set in Raccoon City, a fictional mountain city in the Midwest that is in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Due to the technical and graphical upgrades available using the RE Engine, the gameplay has been completely altered: characters, items, and the environment are now animated in full 3D with photorealistic rendering. The camera can be freely rotated around the player character, who is visible on-screen at all times, and the tank controls of the original have been replaced with the “Over-the-shoulder” view used in Resident Evil 4 through Resident Evil 6, using the latter game’s controls: the player can move in any direction without needing to face that way first, alternate between walking and jogging to cover more ground, and move while shooting (although staying still tightens the reticle and improves accuracy). The loading sequence between rooms has also been removed, making the experience more streamlined, and several rooms are dark and force the character to use a flashlight to see.

The player is free to explore the environment of the city while scavenging for items used to help them, such as weapons, healing items, and ammunition – Leon and Claire both start with handguns, but they each have their own exclusive weapons, such as the shotgun and chemical flamethrower for Leon, or the grenade launcher and Spark Shot for Claire. Limited ammunition adds a tactical element to the game, as they must carefully conserve it in order to fight stronger foes – however, the game adds the gunpowder mechanic from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, allowing the player to craft ammunition by combining various types of gunpowder. Inventory space is limited, requiring players to store spare items in item boxes around the environment to retrieve later, although hip pouches can be collected to raise inventory space. Wooden boards, which can board up open windows to prevent zombies breaking in, are added as well, and typewriters make their return and are used to save the player’s progress.

Gameplay of the remake. The player, as Claire Redfield, attacks a "Licker" zombie in the police department's underground kennel, using the grenade launcher.

Combat is based on Resident Evil 7, toning down the action elements of previous games. While attacking zombies can be killed or avoided, they can now get up multiple times, will react to damage in real time (gunshots can inflict visible damage or tear off limbs), and will chase the player across different rooms – if an enemy grabs them, they will inflict damage unless the player uses a sub-weapon, such as a knife or flash bang grenade, to push them off. Health is shown via a heart rate monitor in the inventory, and is reflected by posture – characters on medium health (labelled Caution) hold their stomach in pain, while on low health (labelled Danger) they will limp slowly. Items such as herbs and first aid spray can be used to heal. Items in the inventory can also be searched for hidden features, discarded if they are of no use, or combined to produce stronger items[3][4], e.g. herbal blends. For example, a sceptre contains a hidden switch that allow the player to remove a ruby from it, which is then inserted into a special box to reveal a police badge - the badge has a hidden switch that reveals a USB, and it can then access a weapons locker.

The remake also adds difficulty modes: Standard, the default, Assisted, and Hardcore. Assisted provides aim assist and limited health recovery, makes enemies weaker and less aggressive, and makes items more abundant – both Assisted and Standard also feature autosave. Hardcore (based on the original) disables autosave, makes enemies stronger and more aggressive, takes away certain item locations, and requires players to use ink ribbons to save at typewriters. Throughout the game, players also encounter the Tyrant, a biological weapon sent to eliminate survivors. Tyrant cannot be killed, although the player can stun him or slow him down with gunfire, and will search throughout the environment except for certain areas, such as safe rooms. The player can choose between two protagonists, just like in the original: Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie police officer on his first day, or Claire Redfield, a college student searching for her brother Chris. The protagonist chosen will affect the weapons, items, subplots, and areas made available, as well as the final boss. Both protagonists also have a supporting character who become playable briefly: Leon has the mysterious Ada Wong, who uses an EMF gun to hack machines, while Claire has Sherry Birkin, a young girl who focuses more on stealth.

Beating the game unlocks the “2^nd Run”, based on the “Scenario B” in the original, that lets the player play through the campaign again as the other protagonist – the new run features new content reflecting the progress made in the 1^st Run, such as unlocked doors, and beating it reveals the true ending to the campaign. Clearing the 2^nd Run unlocks “The 4^th Survivor”, a bonus mode that sees special forces agent HUNK attempt to travel from the sewers to outside the police department to be rescued, all the while avoiding large amounts of enemies. Beating this mode unlocks “The Tofu Survivor”, which replaces HUNK with a piece of tofu armed only with knives. The remake also adds the unlockable characters Konjac, Uirō-Mochi, Flan, and Annin Tofu, who all have a unique item loadout. Finally, completing specific achievements in-game will reward the player with 3D models of the characters and objects, concept art, and even special weapons with infinite ammo or durability that can be used across all save files.

On the night of September 28, 1998[5] two months after the events of Resident Evil, rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy makes his way toward Raccoon City to start his first shift at the police department. At a gas station on the city outskirts, he meets Claire Redfield who is looking for her missing brother. The gas station is overrun by zombies, as well as the rest of Raccoon City after a strain of the T-virus was carried into the city water supply.[6] The two reach the Raccoon City Police Department but are separated when a truck driver crashes his vehicle. The pair discover the station is overrun by zombies, and Leon encounters a bitten Lieutenant Marvin Branagh[lower-alpha 2], who holds information about a secret passage out of the station. Branagh later succumbs to his bite and turns. The player character[lower-alpha 3] eventually finds the underground passage but is attacked by mutated Umbrella Corporation leading scientist William Birkin and wards him off.

Inside the parking garage, Leon is attacked by zombie dogs but is saved by Ada Wong. Ada claims to be an FBI agent sent to retrieve the "G-virus", the virus responsible for mutating Birkin which he developed with his wife and coworker Annette. She hopes to retrieve a sample of the G-virus to incriminate Umbrella.[7] Claire finds paperwork confirming her brother had left Raccoon City weeks prior to investigate Umbrella elsewhere, and eventually she runs into Sherry— a young girl and the daughter of William.[8]

Leon discovers reporter Ben Bertolucci in the holding cells, imprisoned by corrupt Police Chief and serial killer Brian Irons for investigating Umbrella. As Ben tries to convince Leon to release him, he is killed by the Tyrant— a monster created by the T-virus. Leon attempts to leave the station, but is attacked by the Tyrant and saved again by Ada. They discover gun salesman Robert Kendo and his infected daughter Emma inside his gun shop. Leon pledges to help Ada retrieve the G-virus sample to prove Umbrella's corruption after Robert is forced to kill his daughter before committing suicide. Leon and Ada meet Annette in the sewers before she forces them to pursue her to the underground Umbrella lab NEST, unwilling to give up the G-virus sample.[9] The two kiss as they descend to NEST.

Sherry is kidnapped by Chief Irons, who has been covering up Umbrella's activities,[10] but William arrives and injects Irons with a "G-embryo". Claire reaches the orphanage where Irons is keeping Sherry, but the embryo births from Irons's stomach and kills him. Claire is knocked unconscious by William as they flee into the sewers and she is separated from Sherry. William infects Sherry— certain her body will not reject the G-virus and will allow it to replicate.[11]

Finding Sherry and descending further underground into NEST, Claire finds the G-virus vaccine and Annette administers it to her daughter. Leon finds the G-virus sample but runs into Annette again. Annette outs Ada as a mercenary selling the sample to the highest bidder before she is mortally wounded by William. Ada demands the sample from Leon at gunpoint, but is knocked off into the abyss below the facility along with the sample and Leon is unable to save her.[12] Annette dies and as the NEST facility is set to self-destruct, Leon is attacked by the Tyrant, now a mutated and deadlier "Super Tyrant". Ada, seemingly surviving her fall, tosses Leon an RPG which he uses to finally kill the Tyrant. Claire staves off a further mutated William before the trio reunites on a train out of the facility. William attacks the train once more in a final mutated form, but the train is decoupled and William is destroyed in the lab's destruction. The next morning Leon, Claire, and Sherry emerge far outside the confines of Raccoon City and into safety. Leon and Claire vow to continue their fight against the Umbrella Corporation.[13]

Promotional booth at E3 2018

The original Resident Evil 2 was released for the PlayStation in 1998. Following the release of the 2002 remake of the first Resident Evil for the GameCube,[14][15][16] Capcom considered a similar remake of Resident Evil 2, but series creator Shinji Mikami did not want to divert development away from Resident Evil 4.[17] In August 2015, producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi announced in a video that the remake had been approved and was in active development, ending the video with the phrase "We Do It".[18] No further details were released until Sony's E3 2018 press conference, when Capcom released the debut trailer and gameplay footage and removed "Remake" from the title.[19][20] Hideki Kamiya, director of the original Resident Evil 2, said that he had pushed Capcom to create a remake for years.[21] Hirabayashi said the team was striving to capture the spirit of the original game, and that the team incorporated feedback received about Resident Evil 6, a game he also produced.[22]

To meet modern expectations, the team altered some character designs to better match the more photorealistic setting; for example, Leon no longer wears large shoulder pads, which were added to distinguish his original, low-polygon model. Ada's red dress was dropped in favor of a trench coat with sunglasses for similar reasons. Though they strove to make a "modern, accessible" game, they focused on horror over action, hoping to preserve a claustrophobic feel.[23] The game uses the RE Engine, the same game engine used for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), which allowed Capcom to modernize the gameplay.[24] Producer Tsuyoshi Kanda acknowledged the difficulty of making zombies seem scary and threatening, as they had become ubiquitous in entertainment media since the release of the original Resident Evil in 1996.[23] By removing the fixed camera angles, the team had to use different ways to conceal enemies, using elements such as room layout, lighting, and smoke.[23] The new camera system also affected the sound design, as it no longer made sense for sound to come from a fixed source.[23] The faces of several character models are based on scans of real people. Leon S. Kennedy is based on the model Eduard Badaluta, Claire Redfield is based on the model Jordan McEwen, and Marvin Branagh is based on the music producer Patrick Levar.[25]

The game features a Dolby Atmos soundtrack.[26] Due to Capcom's decision to use non-union voice actors, the original game's actors did not reprise their roles.[27]

Resident Evil 2 was released on PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One worldwide on January 25, 2019.[24] The game supports enhancements on the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X, offering either 4K resolution or 60 frames per second.[28] A demo known as the 1-Shot Demo was released on January 11, 2019. It ends after 30 minutes and does not allow repeat playthroughs, however the same demo was later rereleased as the "R.P.D. Demo" and does allow repeat playthroughs.[29][30] A collector's edition was made available for the console versions, featuring extras such as a Leon S. Kennedy figurine, a hardcover art book, a R.P.D. renovation poster, and a digital soundtrack.[31]

On December 12, 2019, a final update was introduced to the Resident Evil 2 remake where the protagonist of Resident Evil 3, Jill Valentine, has written a letter to Kendo. This letter can be found at Kendo's gun shop right after Leon and Ada escape from the police station. Reading this letter also unlocks an achievement called "Chasing Jill".[32]

Versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were announced on March 2, 2022, and released on June 13, 2022 alongside upgrades for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017) and Resident Evil 3 (2020).[33] These versions include visual enhancements including ray-tracing and high-framerate modes, and the PlayStation 5 version supports haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Owners of the game on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are able to upgrade for free, and a free upgrade patch for the Windows version was also released simultaneously.[34] A version for Amazon Luna was announced on May 26, 2022, and was subsequently released on June 9, 2022.[35][36] A Nintendo Switch cloud version was released on November 11, 2022.[37][38]

Following its E3 2018 showing, Resident Evil 2 won the "Best of Show" award at the 2018 Game Critics Awards.[52] The 1-Shot Demo received over 4.7 million downloads worldwide.[53]

Resident Evil 2 received "universal acclaim" for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, and "generally favorable reviews" for the Windows version from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[41][42][43]

Ben Reeves of Game Informer wrote that "Resident Evil 2 not only looks great, it plays well, and it forces you into a series of dark encounters that are a total rush."[47] Keith Stuart of The Guardian wrote that it was "a reminder of how beautifully crafted survival horror games were in their heyday."[54] The Daily Telegraph's Tom Hoggins described the game as a "thrilling return to the legacy of the 1998 original".[55]

IGN's Daemon Hatfield originally gave the game an 8.8 in their review, only to increase it to a 9.0 after being made aware of the unlockable second playthrough that presents the story from another point of view. They stated in their review that "Capcom did a fantastic job of resurrecting all the best parts of the classic Resident Evil 2 and making it look, sound, and play like a 2019 game."[56]

Chris Carter of Destructoid called the game "A hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage."[44] Aoife Wilson of Eurogamer described it as "a masterly reimagining of a modern classic".[57] Polygon's Michael McWhertor wrote that Resident Evil 2 showcases "the very best of survival horror";[58] similar praise was expressed by Heather Alexandra of Kotaku, who wrote that the game "provides some of the best moments in the franchise".[59] Alessandro Fillari of GameSpot said that with Resident Evil 2 "the classic survival horror franchise embraces its past in a new, exciting way".[49]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Resident Evil 2 (2019).

• Official website
• Resident Evil 2 at IMDb