Summary
The 2018 edition of the E3 Expo brought the reveal of something that longtime fans of theResident Evilseries had been waiting for with bated breath for nearly two decades. 17 years after the release of the remake of the original game in the franchise for GameCube, fans were finally going to get the long-awaitedResident Evil 2remake that had routinely circled the rumor mill off and on for years.Resident Evil 2’s release a year later in 2019 kicked off a chain reaction within theResident Evilfranchise itself, establishing the format for a series of successful remakes that recently culminated in 2023’s Game of the Year contenderResident Evil 4.
Even in a post-Resident Evil 3andResident Evil 4remake world,Resident Evil 2still stands as the gold standard upon which Capcom’s winning strategy for the franchise is built. What makesResident Evil 2’s remake so special is the way that it faithfully pays homage to the 1998 original while also surprising and terrifying fans who rely too heavily on their nostalgia. Beyond that, it also firmly entrenches theremakes of theResident Evilgamesin their survival horror roots, avoiding tonal and atmospheric inconsistencies between the source material and the reimagining.
Resident Evil 2’s Balance Has Influenced a Generation of Game Remakes
Theremake of the firstResident Evil’s arrival in 2002 was somewhat surprising given that the PlayStation original wasn’t even 10 years old yet. Still, the visual upgrade and additional content that Capcom put into its reimagining of the survival horror classic helped to elevate it beyond its source material, with some parts still retaining a striking familiarity while others breathed new life into the game and helped definitively separate it from the original.Resident Evil 2is no different, carefully striking a balance between paying homage to the game it’s based off of while also providing plenty of incentive for even the most experienced players to dive back in.
As a result of the care Capcom put into both retaining and updating the core of what makesthe originalResident Evil 2a classic, its remake set the standard not just for its own series and the subsequent remakes of other sequels, but for the industry as a whole. SinceResident Evil 2’s release, each year is seemingly jam-packed with remakes and remasters of classic games across the release calendar. While it used to be somewhat industry-standard to have a remake of a classic game be a traditional 1:1 recreation of a fan-favorite with a visual facelift, both the originalResident Evilremake on GameCube and (to a greater extent)Resident Evil 2raise the bar for remakes to straddle the line between nostalgia and innovation.
And, thanks to the game’s apparent leaning on player nostalgia in its earlier moments, the mid-game reveal of Mr. X (originally a character exclusive to a second playthrough in the PlayStation version) is as shocking as one might expect.Mr. X’s presence in theResident Evil 2remakeis both unexpected and transformative, requiring the player to shift tactics in hopes of staying ever-vigilant and aware of their surroundings. Few things are as dread-inducing as hearing Mr. X’s telltale thudding footsteps while navigating through the corridors of the Raccoon City Police Station.
Remakes of classic games have been popular since the 16-bit era, with many NES and Master System classics receiving upgraded editions on the SNES and Sega Genesis, respectively. However, sinceResident Evil 2’s release, the art of the “video game remake” has arguably been elevated, as evidenced through incredible titles likeBluepoint Games’Demon’s Soulsremakeor last year’s incredibleDead Spaceremake. 5 years out since its release in 2019,Resident Evil 2is that rarest of video game remakes that surpasses the original to become one of the best games in the series.
Resident Evil 2
WHERE TO PLAY
The genre-defining masterpiece Resident Evil 2 returns, completely rebuilt from the ground up for a deeper narrative experience. Using Capcom’s proprietary RE Engine, Resident Evil 2 offers a fresh take on the classic survival horror saga with breathtakingly realistic visuals, heart-pounding immersive audio, a new over-the-shoulder camera, and modernized controls on top of gameplay modes from the original game.In Resident Evil 2, the classic action, tense exploration, and puzzle solving gameplay that defined the Resident Evil series returns. Players join rookie police officer Leon Kennedy and college student Claire Redfield, who are thrust together by a disastrous outbreak in Raccoon City that transformed its population into deadly zombies. Both Leon and Claire have their own separate playable campaigns, allowing players to see the story from both characters’ perspectives. The fate of these two fan favorite characters is in players hands as they work together to survive and get to the bottom of what is behind the terrifying attack on the city. Will they make it out alive?
