Resident Evil paved the way for the now beloved genre Survival Horror. The gameplay was tense, atmospheric and simply thrilling to play. While Capcom somehow steered off in the wrong direction with Resident Evil 5 and 6, the last chapter brought the series back to its original terrifying roots, but in first person perspective. This Resident Evil 2 remake however brings back the classic third person perspective and all the terror this franchise is famous for.
 

Prepare yourself

 

 
A few things can be guaranteed in regards to playing Resident Evil 2. You’ll be ever so cautious and fearful of what exactly lurks in each new room and area. With each play session, it’s practically a given some screaming, questionable language or at least a jump or two will take place. You’ll find the adventure frightening, yet hard to put down. That’s all thanks to the new horrifyingly detailed zombies that are in great numbers pursuing your flesh and the Lickers that wait patiently on the ceiling to slash you apart; and of course the constant ominous threat that is Tyrant. Raccoon City has never been more hellish. There is something to be said about an evil force that stalks you and you are completely powerless to defeat it. Claire and Leon’s campaigns are brilliantly presented here and brought up to current gen standards using the impressive RE Engine. It’s one of the finest looking games this generation in fact.
 

Party like it’s 1998

 

 
For gamers who played this originally back in 1998 when it first released on the Sony PlayStation, you’ll be especially pleased with the fan service from Capcom. The faithful healing herbs, game saving typewriters, scarce ammo supply and cramped inventory system is all in place. The entire game as a whole is here, but with serious graphical tweaks, audio enhancements, control improvements and current gen effects. It’s just incredible what the devs have done here and it will no doubt go down as one of the finest remakes in history.
 

You can run but you can’t hide

 

 
I absolutely love the feeling of desperation that is back with the lower ammo count, slower character movement and higher abundance of zombies and enemies. It creates the feeling that you have to be ready to run at any moment, as you simply cannot blast your way out of trouble. When you do get caught (and trust me you will), players can luckily rely on using their blade or even a grenade to still make it out alive. I absolutely loved shoving the grenade into a zombies chomping mouth and then shooting it to blow the vile creature to kingdom come. One of the more satisfying methods to take out the undead. Even when solving the many puzzles found in RE2, you have to be aware of your surrounding and what might be hunting you. You are rarely in a place of complete safety.

There is some excellent replay value in place for this release as well. You’ll get a 2nd play-through option opened up once you beat it with each character. That gives gamers 4 runs if you want to see all the cut scenes and experience absolutely everything from both Leon and Claire’s perspective.
 

Conclusion

 

 
The Resident Evil 2 Remake is survival horror brilliance. It is everything fans of the franchise could possibly hope for and demonstrates how this series became the legend it is today. It’s absolutely terrifying in every measure and provides one of the most frightening game campaigns of this generation.

Review Copy provided by Capcom