Resident Evil 2 (PSX) - Video Game Review
As mentioned in my Silent Hill review, I'm a huge fan of the Resident Evil franchise. With that being said, I'm going to keep my biases to a minimum (as always) as I review what is frequently considered one of the greatest survival-horror games of all time. My history with the Resident Evil series goes back to the original game as this was another game that I watched my older brother play before trying my own hand at it. Being under the age of ten, I had no idea what I was doing and quickly got disheartened at the sight of repeatedly seeing the protagonist get mauled by zombies/giant snakes/dogs and didn't touch the Resident Evil franchise again until the legendary fourth installment (maybe I'll review that one at some point).
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Resident Evil 2 was initially released in January 1998 on the PlayStation, but was also quickly ported to the N64 and later to the PC, Sega Dreamcast, and Nintendo GameCube. Since then, it has been frequently ported to numerous newer consoles via digital stores like the PlayStation Store. It is the sequel to the original Resident Evil and was directed by Hideki Kamiya (with the famous Shinji Mikami producing). It was developed and published by Capcom. In 2019, the game was remade in the critically acclaimed Resident Evil 2 REmake, which is also available on multiple digital outlets and consoles.
2Much more than a fresh coat of zombified paint
Like the original game, Resident Evil 2 is split into two parallel stories that follow different protagonists. Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield have both picked the worst of times to visit Raccoon City as the city is engulfed by zombies and other less-than-savory creatures. Both protagonists will have navigate the dangerous streets of the city (albeit briefly) before unlocking the secrets behind the Racoon City Police Department's ties to the shadowy Umbrella Corporation.
The original PlayStation version had two separate discs for this game in which Disc 1 let you play through Leon's story and Disc 2 let you play through Claire's story. Although both characters make their way through mainly the same areas, there are some pretty interesting variations. Furthermore, the game actually requires you to beat both stories in succession if you want to see how the game ends.
From a story and horror perspective, this game retains some creepy moments, however it retains a cheesy veneer that kind of holds it up at times. If I were to liken this game to cinema, I would say that it is roughly along the lines of George A. Romero's Day of the Dead (complete with a creepy scientist). Although Leon is my favorite character in the Resident Evil franchise, his story is pretty lacking when compared to Claire's. There's a romance sub-plot in Leon's story that is frankly absurd, which left me wondering why Leon didn't bug out of Racoon City as soon as he found the corpse lying in the middle of the street during the opening sequence.
Claire's story makes up for Leon's as she is on a quest to find her brother, Chris Redfield (one of the protagonists from the original Resident Evil). Her character interactions with some of the NPC's makes more sense and adds to the overall creep-factor as one of them is particularly nasty. If I were to play only one of the scenarios, I would probably choose Claire's over Leon's due to this.
Resident Evil 2 retains the clunky tank controls of the original, but it feels more polished for sure. Like other survival-horror games, this one stresses preserving ammunition and avoiding conflict whenever possible. This can be difficult at times as Resident Evil 2 also keeps the original's fixed camera angles which adds to the tension, but also makes some combat encounters rather annoying as you find yourself shooting off-screen hoping to hit something.
For the most part, the tank controls and fixed-camera angles aren't too bothersome, but it hits somewhat aggravating levels when it comes to the game's boss fights. Easily, my greatest complaint of the game is its boss fights. There are more than a few boss fights in both storylines that just don't seem to mesh with how the player must control their character. One particular boss fight happens on a narrow catwalk where it is incredibly easy for the player to get beaten into a bloody pulp while they try to run around the boss. It is the final boss fights that are the most aggravating though as the boss enemies are far more agile than the protagonists. I'm thankful that Capcom attempted to remedy this in future installments by adding elements like the quick-turn and auto-aim.
One thing that I will always love about the original Resident Evil games is the item management though. Unlike Silent Hill, Leon and Claire can only carry so much which puts players in a position where they need to seriously consider what to carry and what to store in an item box.
The visuals of the game are vastly improved over the original, with far sharper looking zombies, as well as NPC/PC models looking way better. Although I hated fighting to the bosses, their character models were outstanding and really helped make them appear as intimidating as I would imagine they'd be in real-life.
The two major visual stand-outs of the game though would be the wonderfully designed pre-rendered backgrounds, as well as the character menu display. The backgrounds mesh damn-near perfectly with the character models, although I'd say that items lying around certain areas really contrast from the beautiful backgrounds. There's something very comforting about the character menu displays though, which is where you sort held items; check your map; and monitor your health. It just all looks really neat and polished.
3The character menu display
From an audio perspective, the game's background music is truly superb with the save room's theme being one of the best sample tracks I've ever heard in a video game. The music can go from perfectly calming to bone-chillingly tense within a matter of seconds, and it meshes pretty well with the shuffle of zombies or the heavy breathing of a certain skinless creepy-crawly.
Fortunately/Unfortunately (depending on your preference), the game retains its awful voice acting with some truly hilarious lines. Marvin's infamous "Sorry, but it looks like your party has been cancelled" makes me laugh every time I hear it. It's certainly not as bad as the original Resident Evil's, but it's not far off.
I've personally played this game at least ten times as there is a ton of replayability. First and foremost, the game has different endings depending on the sequence of how you play it. So if you play Leon's story and then Claire's, I recommend going back and trying Claire's first and then Leon's. There are some differences to see that I think are worth checking out. Beyond that, beating the game with a higher grade unlocks things like superweapons like the infinite machine gun. I personally suck at getting high grades in these games, so these take some practice.
Beyond that, you can unlock alternate costumes for both characters, as well as time trail modes where you can play as the Umbrella operative, Hunk. If you beat Hunk's level, you unlock the even harder Tofu Mode where you play as a giant sentient block of tofu! I suck at timed trials, but this stuff is here if you got the chops to pull off some quick runs.
4Tofu will shank a ho
The Best of the Best: Blasting a zombie in half with Leon's fully upgraded shotgun.
The Worst of the Worst: The boss fights. By the time I run around a boss, slowly turn to face him, and ready my weapon, I'm pimp-slapped to oblivion.
Calhooey Score: 9/10 - Fantastic
Would I Recommend?
This recommendation is pretty tough as the Resident Evil 2 REmake is also incredibly good. I'd say that both games differ enough to warrant giving this one a try though (especially as it's still highly available on most systems). If the poor graphics and dialogue aren't your thang, I recommend skipping and trying the remake though as that game is impressive on both levels. If you still own a PlayStation Vita, this game is perfect for that system.
-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------
- Leon's relationship with Ada is frankly absurd. I get that Leon is supposed to be a goody-goody type, but the idea that him and Ada would develop feelings for one-another over the span of what is arguably less than five hours kind of hurts Leon's story and character. I could see Ada not being honest with Leon and simply manipulating the guy, but that would put Leon on a level of stupidity that just blows my mind.
- In regards to my argument on the boss fights, I'm sure that will be slightly controversial. There are people out there that can beat this game while taking no damage, and even others that can beat it with only the knife! I am not one of those people and am but a mere mortal. The final Tyrant boss fight is really where my gripe stands the most as it seems as though it was made explicitly to exploit the fact that the player is saddled with tank controls.
----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------
(2) Thielenhaus, K. (2019, January 24). Resident Evil 2 Remake cover art image. Retrieved from: https://gameranx.com/features/id/168291/article/resident-evil-2-remake-10-things-you-need-to-know/.
(3) @c_pruett. (2015). Resident Evil 2 character menu display image. Retrieved from: http://horror.dreamdawn.com/?p=14800056.
(4) Character spotlight - Tofu. (2018, June 11). Tofu mode gif. Retrieved from: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6821541913776018296/6836957093403232123.
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