With video games I usually stick to certain series. Zelda and Halo remain the absolute favorites but a few others always require attention. Resident Evil is one example.
Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3 ('96-'99) all debuted on the first Playstation, a console I've never owned so I couldn't play them. My first taste occurred when a Resident Evil (1) remake appeared on the Gamecube in 2002. I purchased and beat it a few times. This remake cleaned up the graphics and added a few small things, otherwise leaving the game as originally designed.
We're talking about survival horror. There are other examples of this out there, like Silent Hill, but Resident Evil brought this style of game into popularity and lead the charge on the recent rise of zombies in popular culture. In these early games you're trapped in a maze-like location and need to solve a number of puzzles to escape. Something has gone very wrong, as you repeatedly run into zombies and increasingly strong monsters. You might clear out areas early in the game and take it for granted, then be completely unprepared when new enemies appear. Item scarcity, notably ammunition, is a hallmark and you can never kill everything you see. Often you have to run around creatures to survive, all while trying to grab crucial items on the way. All this happens with set cameras in each room or area that never entirely shows you everything you're encountering, adding to the uneasy nature of it all. Eventually you learn what's going on and hopefully get out alive.
These games are meant to be replayed. You choose between two playable characters. Each solves the puzzles in their own way and gets different cutscenes. The genius is that you don't need to explore every nook and cranny since every item isn't needed to win. A lot can be skipped if you know the correct order of the puzzles (and perhaps retain some knowledge from a previous play-through). It's all timed as well, so if you finish under a certain limit it unlocks new modes, weapons and outfits.
In high school I played and enjoyed Resident Evil (1) and Zero, a prequel. In 2005 they took off in a brand new direction with Resident Evil 4 (a game that deserves its own post), keeping a number of recurring elements but with much more action. I didn't care for RE5 and never even played RE6 after hearing bad things. Last year I beat RE7 which returned to the series' roots in a sort of reboot. I still had never played 2 or 3. Needless to say I was pretty excited to hear they were both getting remade, available on Xbox. I waited to buy RE2 (2019) until just before RE3 (2020) came out last month, getting a nice sale price.
Resident Evil 2 takes place immediately following the events of the first game. The virus has broken out in nearby Raccoon City, now overrun with zombies. Your character choices are Leon Kennedy, a cop on his first day, or Claire Redfield, a college student looking for her brother (playable in the first game). You run into the other character a few times, but you're almost entirely on your own. The main area is the city's large central police station, with lots of area to cover above and below ground. As a remake, this version retains the puzzles and the overall story but entirely revamps the gameplay. Instead of running around on still cameras, you look just over your characters shoulder. It's almost, though not quite, first person. Now the terror is seeing what your character sees as you search dark and often monster infested rooms with a flashlight. Plus you need to do the aiming yourself (there was auto-aim in the old games) at enemies of varying speed and movement styles. Still, it's rarely too difficult when there's only one monster around. It's when there are multiple, on several sides, that the action gets tough. Those are the exhilarating moments that make the game.
In classic sequel fashion, almost everything about this game steps up from the original (here I'm talking RE1->RE2). A mansion becomes a city, and the creatures get bigger, more gross and terrifying. That's all to be expected. What I didn't expect was an entirely new element. You reach a stage of the game where you're close to leaving the police station, and this absolutely enormous metal man begins stalking you. You can blow a bunch of ammo and temporarily knock him down, but he can't be killed and never stops. He'll find you in nearly any room in the station, his loud footsteps haunting you the entire time. There are only a few rooms he can't enter and even then he'll find you again soon after you leave. I had heard of 'Mr. X' when this came out last year and yet I was in no way ready. He killed me a couple times and I raced like crazy, often running in circles to avoid him, to get everything I needed to finally reach the next stage. I thought I was finally done with him.
The game doesn't end after leaving the station, in fact there's quite a bit left. You need to journey through the sewers on the way to an underground lab. As you can imagine, the sewers have some horrible surprises. I really liked the chess pieces puzzle to get through there. There are three boss battles from here on out, each challenging and thrilling in their own way. I really appreciated how the game accelerates in intensity through the end.
Just a couple other random things. My first play-through was with Leon and it's almost jarring how innocent and gullible he is here compared to the brash and wise-cracking guy in RE4. I also found it funny that you kill the final boss in the exact same way as in RE1. My biggest takeaway is this: it's Mr. X that takes this game to the next level. It is genuinely terrifying trying to stay alive when he finds you and the music that plays makes your hair stand on end. I loved it.
Next up is playing as Claire and trying to get my time down. I got a 'C' rating the first time with Leon at around 8 hours 30 minutes. Targets are 8 and 5 hours and I can do better. Now that I think about it, Claire has a kid with her at the end. Am I really supposed to do all that while escorting and protecting someone? Sweet Christmas.
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