Resident Evil 2: 7 Ups & 3 Downs
The Resident Evil series is BACK.
Whenever a classic title from several console generations ago gets remade, it's easy to get skeptical. In an attempt to modernize it, will the game lose what made it special originally? Has the game aged as well as fans would like?
Thankfully, the early instalments of Resident Evil have a solid core, and Capcom made sure it remained intact. This allowed developers to fine tune, beautify, and intensify the classic '98 title, resulting in an excellent combination of old and new. All things considered, this may just be the best RE game yet.
Both of the game's campaigns are a blast to play, offering potentially 8-10 hours each of frights, jumps, and pure entertainment. Gunplay is excellent. Smooth animations, motion, and aiming give you the best chance to keep your head above water during tense encounters. The graphics, visual aesthetic, and engrossing atmosphere throw you right into this world, giving the whole experience a rich sense of authenticity.
Claire and Leon have their own personalities, feeling genuine thanks to the great work done by the game's vocal talent. Even the straightforward, simple story avoids over-fluffing the campaign with unnecessary elements, and keeps things moving at a brisk pace. Outside of certain gameplay elements and a somewhat lacking amount of variance between campaigns, RE2 is a thoroughly enjoyable, thrilling experience.
10. Down: Campaigns Aren't As Varied As You'd Like
Resident Evil's 2 central selling point is that it has two campaigns players get to experience. You can play as Leon, a rookie cop fighting to find a cure during his first day on the on the job, or Claire, a young college student trying to find her brother while staving off the undead.
Shifts in storyline structure and certain characters exclusive to the particular protagonist's story motivate you to play both campaigns, ensuring you don't miss a thing.
Yet, once you've played through the rock-solid campaign that first time, doing a second run as the other main character leads to an all-too-frequent feeling of over-familiarity. There are clear divides and components exclusive to Leon and Claire, but there aren't quite enough of them. The main story mostly plays out the same way; you're required to take on the same tasks and solve the same puzzles, with only certain side missions and cutscenes offering anything fresh.
The changes in weapon loadouts between protagonists are appreciated, but the lacking variety in the story and moment-to-moment tasks leads to some disappointing repetition.