Resident Evil 2 Remake succeeds at bringing the zombie shooter into the 21st century, but it falls into some of the same traps as Resident Evil 7.
There is no doubt that Resident Evil 2 Remake is far superior to the original version of the title that hit in 1998. You’ll always find that fun nostalgia feeling when playing the original, but Resident Evil 2 Remake transforms the clunky third-person shooter into a moving zombie drama.
Playing through Resident Evil 2 Remake as Claire seems to be the more interesting choice, as she is a character with more drive and interactions than Leon. I chose her for my first playthrough, which reflects my interpretation of the story. Think about this game as a choose-your-own-adventure, but with one big choice at the start of the game as opposed to many. And don’t worry; for those of you who have never played it, this Resident Evil 2 Remake review will be spoiler-free.
‘Resident Evil 2 Remake’ review
Running around the Racoon City Police Department has never been so much fun. There are zombie hordes sprinkled in at just the right amount, and every kill feels like it matters. There’s a drive that the player experiences that’s far beyond that protagonist’s ambitions and goals. Every bite to the neck really hurts, because if you’re playing on a normal or harder difficulty, you won’t regenerate health, and your healing items are fairly limited.
In playing other zombie titles like The Last of Us or even Resident Evil 7, I came to expect story heals as things like character switches and time lapses happened. Resident Evil 2 Remake does not afford the player that sort of luxury, and simply offers this piece of advice for woebegone players: save early and often.
Even if you’re playing on Assisted mode, Resident Evil 2 Remake is pretty brutal. I hoarded as many healing items, weapons and ammo as I functionally could, and still found myself scrambling to get through the game’s three sprawling dungeons in one piece. Enemies often trap you in animations where you can stuff a grenade down their throats or shiv them with a combat knife. However, if you’re out of those secondary weapons, you’ll suffer the consequences of a vicious tearing of the flesh, inhalation of toxins, or even a 1-hit K.O.
Resident Evil 2 Remake is a game that benefits group play. It’s an exhausting venture that revels in distracting you with far away goodies and looming unkillable bosses. You’re a trooper if you are able to withstand staying on the normal difficulty, as even the game will suggest that you make the Assisted mode switch after you inevitably die in the same scenario five times over.
There is so much that moves and flows with Resident Evil 2 Remake. At that, it’s a shame when game progress often comes screeching to a halt due to an issue that plagues the series as a whole: limited inventory space. Sure, some might say that this is a staple by now, because it makes your adventure all the more stressful. To that, I respond simply with this: if you’re remaking a video game from the late 90s, consider what might not translate well to modern-day gamers.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the modern gamer is spoiled with things like unlimited inventory space and autoheals. However, the charm present in the 1998 original was that it loaded rooms slowly, block by block. It felt somehow organic for there to be limited space in Leon or Claire’s pockets, because the whole game was chunky like that. In a title that runs and looks as smooth as Resident Evil 2 Remake does, it is inexcusable to have such a wonderful action-packed adventure game slowed down by needing to backtrack an entire dungeon to make sure that you have enough room for simple key items.
Come for the zombie shooting, stay for the interesting protagonists, and you may find that you’re able to suffer through the archaic inventory system to enjoy a wild ride through Racoon City. If you’re into terrifying games with jumpscares and limited ammo, Resident Evil 2 Remake has the stuff you’re looking for. Just… go in knowing that you’re going to get very frustrated with your inventory, and even more so than you did in Resident Evil 7.
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