Retro Review #2 - Resident Evil: 2 - PS1

Good Day to the Twitch TV Society - Welcome to the second installment of my review series.

On the prior blog, I gave my thoughts and reflections on Resident Evil for the PlayStation. In short, I enjoyed playing the game so much so; I picked up Resident Evil 2. There was a lot of positive feedback regarding RE2 from my stream chat – Multiple claims were made about this game besting the first in PS1 series. Needless to say, I was anticipating a memorable game. What I found – Shit you thought I was going to tell you upfront?

Like in the original RE, Resident Evil 2 gives you the choice of two playable characters: Leon or Claire. Again, I picked the easiest option: Leon. The game takes place two months after the incident at the Umbrella Mansion. The infection has spread from the mansion and is now plaguing the citizens of Racoon City.

Through a nice CGI cut scene, we're introduced to Leon, a new RCPD member who comes across a lifeless child in the street. While examining the child's corpse, those familiar hungry moans are heard as zombies begin drawing close to Leon. With little choice, a dumbfounded Leon heads into an IHOP seeking shelter from the horrors outside. He meets up with jailbait Claire Redfield in the restaurant. They hatch a plan to commandeer a cop car and head for the police station. On the ride there, we learn Claire is in search of her brother, Chris. Unable to find boulders in the area, she turns her sights onto Racoon City, hoping to run into him. As they continue down the road, an infected truck driver rams into the cop car - derailing them short of their destination. They decide to split up and find their own ways to the police station.

Our adventure starts off in the mean streets of Racoon City. Holy fuck, as a rookie on the RCPD, Leon’s got a lot of shit to deal with on his first day on the job. The city undead citizens are hungry for a Leon sandwich. Playing through the mean streets of Racoon City reminded me of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. Let’s be fair, I’ve got guns, walking targets, and time on my hands – you know my main intention is to fuck up all these zombies. The game deprives me of my dreams as I was given a limited amount of ammo to start off with, so there was no early game zombie eradication to be had. Fuck you Capcom!

After navigating the mean streets of Racoon City, you arrive at the police station. You first encounter the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I shit you not; Will Smith is shown in the back of room, clutching his wounds in pain. He provides you with information on what's going on, and then tells you to leave the room. After you leave the room, the asshole locks the door so you can’t get back in. All that’s left to do is explore the desolated police station. As you navigate through the station, you encounter hoards of the undead. Aside from the massive hoard of zombies; crows, cerebus, and spiders return from the original RE in a clichéd afterthought. We’re introduced to a new enemy that replaces the Hunters. If you saw me play the original, you know I can’t stand these God damn dildo cock fucking sons of bitches. Meet the replacement: “Lickers” are a giant vagina faced creature with a massive tongue. Due to a genetically fucked up blue waffle face, they’re blind and rely on hearing. While Lickers are a toned down version of Hunters, they can still fuck you up to kingdom come if you aren't careful. You'll encounter one early on the game – I advise you find the shotgun to blow that fuckers brains out.

As you make your way through the station, you learn about the happenings of the evil Umbrella Corporation and their involvement with Racoon City’s. As for the written story, there is a lack of humor; however, the depth of the story more than compensates with a very elaborate and detailed accounting as to what's really going on. Comparing the games, I found that there was more of a cohesive story in Resident Evil 2; however, I preferred the “Oh SHIT” factor caused from the open story in the original and how it came together at the end.  While not as good as good as the original, the story is still rich in flavor and gives a big black FUCK YOU to Leon which I found amusing.

You eventually run into the best character name ever - Ada Wong. She is looking for her client...er boyfriend John in order to presumably suck his johnny off. You progress through this part of the game with Mia Rose looking for a route to escape the horrors of the city. This is where I felt the second half of the game begins. Without giving to much more away story wise, you do find out more information on what’s really going on; find research on a new virus type; have an amazing fight with Godzilla; encounter a pair of new characters; and play through what I felt is the best area in the series.

The detailed visuals in the second game are aesthetically pleasing, given what the PS could do up to that point. The only gripe I had visually was bullshit camera angles at times. There are major issues when enemies off screen could attack you without you having the opportunity to spot them first. I wish there were more than three different zombie models. Maybe Racoon City is the Burt Reynold’s doppelganger capital of the world? I know that’s a small complaint, though I really wish there was Paula Deen and Justin Beiber zombie DLC available.

The only noticeable change with guns was a customization of the pistol and the shotgun. There was a metric shit ton of ammo in the game, making for zombie extermination to be a pleasant experience as I never feared I would run out of bullets. Having an abundance of ammo in combination with the ability to increase the slot limit for items scaled down the annoyance of resource management. This was much needed and cut the back tracking in half. Puzzle solving is not as prominent as in the original; however, there is an amazing fight with Godzilla in the sewers that requires a bit of observation and puzzle solving in order to kill that big green bastard. Aside from the aforementioned fight, “Boss Fights” in general felt replicated and repackaged from the original. I really expected more creative uses out of the majority of these bosses.

Resident Evil 2 still provided a rich and theatrical atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic plague while providing the satisfaction of survival horror game. While I cannot say I enjoyed the game as much as the original, I would still enjoy streaming this game in the future – Perhaps in October for a horror themed month? I hope everyone enjoyed my take on Resident Evil: 2. I look forward to reading some comments on the game. After reviewing the first two, I think you all know what’s coming up.