By: John Doe
"HEY! Who made this big mess? Zombies? Well, then it’s only fair, we should blow them away! Let’s get ready for the 3 hour massacre!"
For those of you in the know, Alyson Court who plays Loonette the Clown of the Big Comfy Couch lent her voice to Claire Redfield in this downright terrifying and amazing sequel. Fans waited along time for this game and were not disappointed.
The original Resident Evil known for it’s famous gameplay and infamous voice-overs was released in February of 1996. Capcom borrowed an idea from the earlier "Alone in the Dark" series and served it up for the more adult PlayStation audience. Resident Evil 1 introduced us to the world of survival horror. Where death was only a doorknob or hallway away. Zombies, dogs, spiders, mutated frog monsters had taken up residence in an old mansion on the outskirts of Raccoon City. It was up to you as either Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield from the S.T.A.R.S. team to try and survive the house of horrors and get to the bottom of the mysterious killings.
Flash forward a few months later (in game time) and now Raccoon City is again under siege. As either Leon Kennedy (a newly landed recruit to the Raccoon City Police Department) or Claire Redfield (sister of Chris who is searching for her missing sibling) it is up to you to unravel the latest mystery that could destroy not only Raccoon City but the world! For a more detailed look at the game play, please refer to the Resident Evil 2 game description found on this website.
RE2 is split up into two different scenarios: Leon’s or Claires. They each have their own disk. Make sure you do not bypass either characters CG intro’s. They are amazing. And they both tell the story leading up to their chance meeting in Raccoon City. You begin the game on the streets of Raccoon City where you must make your way through hordes of the undead to the Raccoon City Police Department. That’s no easy task, because these zombies are tough. Some take 5 or more bullets to be put down, and even then you’d better watch for a pool of blood forming around their corpse before you venture around them. These aren’t your run of the mill RE1 zombies; these guys and gals attack in packs, and are quite good at surrounding you. If one gets close enough to attack, you can use the situation to your advantage and shove him back into his pals, knocking them all over so you can make good on your escape. That’s a handy move that wasn’t available in the first game. If you aren’t careful enough and are attacked several times, you’ll find your character limping and moving VERY slowly this time around. A nice graphic and gameplay touch that makes the game all that more tense at times.
Your adventure just isn’t all zombie and monster mashing, you’ve gotta solve puzzles, just like the first RE. These puzzles are not mensa tests by any means and I doubt many people will get stuck for very long. Put simply, things are spelled out for you in RE2. Whether that was a conscious effort on Capcom’s part who knows, but I know some people around here weren’t happy with the easy difficulty level of the puzzles. I personally welcomed them over some of the tedious brain-teasers of the first game. This game is more action oriented and I think RE2 flows at a much faster pace. Of course, the always maddening ink ribbon/type writer/save feature is still intact, but this time there are tons of these things around. You won’t have to be very thrifty with them.
Graphically this game is as beautiful as FFVII.. It blends polygon characters on 2D backgrounds (like FFVII) and they are dark, gritty and gorgeous. The camera is non movable because you aren’t playing in a true 3D environment like Tomb Raider (it would be a very different game then, you could just easily avoid zombies at your leisure) but the camera angles re-create those classic horror movie moments in the comfort of your living room.
This game will scare you, if you play it the only way possible; in the dark and late at night, with headphones on. If you are playing this game on a bright sunny Sunday afternoon, then go back to church because you are wasting a perfect pants-crapping opportunity. I won’t spoil the frights, but I will say there are numerous.
Capcom has added another great bonus that affects replayability. Each character has 2 scenarios. Simply finish Scenario A for Leon and Claire and then Scenario B will be available. There is a little more to it then that, but this is a review not an instruction manual. You’ll also be able to meet other characters throughout the game and control them as well. There are also hidden characters and costume changes. See the Codes section for more info.
I am one of the many whom loved this game. I felt that it was better than it’s predecessor without breaking a sweat. Once you get used to the control and gameplay this game isn’t too difficult, especially when you’ve got some kick-ass firepower. I highly recommend this title, for those who are in their teens. Younger kids may have nightmares. As for the violence issue, yes this game is violent, but is it worse than Goldeneye? Now, run to the store and buy this nugget of PlayStation and video gaming history. Will you love it? Of corpse!
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Final Analysis: