PS1 REVIEWS: Resident Evil 2

Playing the original Resident Evil 2 after playing its 2019 remake is a weird experience. Initially, I felt the similarity between the two so strongly that I began to doubt my decision to play and review the game, since I wouldn't want to play the original of something surpassed and replaced by its remake. However, it soon became apparent that despite hitting the same beats, the two games have completely different rhythms.

While the remake is an expertly crafted Action Survival-Horror game, the original follows the old-school Survival-Horror genre, which, despite being classified as "Action" in the past, I actively refuse to acknowledge it as such. I have made this point in the past, in my review of games like Alone in the Dark and Galerian, that classic Survival Horror games are closer to point-and-click Adventure games than frantic shooters, and that's true with Resident Evil 2, which may be the best of its genre.

#12: Resident Evil 2:-

Year: 1998.
Genre: Survival-Horror.
Publisher: Capcom.
Developer: Capcom.

 

"We can't stay out here. Head to the police station, it's going to be a lot safer"


Leon Kennedy couldn't have had a worse first day at the job. Newly employed to the police force of Racoon City, he arrives right as the city goes into full zombie outbreak mode. Since misery loves company, he finds the equally unlucky Claire Redfield choosing the wrongest day to search for her brother. The duo will separate, but will also help each other escape this nightmare.

As either Leon or Claire, you will search around the zombie-infested, but weirdly baroque, police station, for a way out of the city. Yet, this won't be a Resident Evil game if you are not also uncovering the unhinged corporate greed that unleashed this nightmare, with the story of the Birkin family and inter-corporate struggle within the evil Umbrella corporation providing another layer to the story beyond survival.

You would think Chris Redfield would have left better clues behind

The dual-protagonist system allowed Capcom to experiment with something they called the "Zapping System", where each character finds different puzzles and encounters in nearly identical locations, while also providing some choices that could impact the second playthrough with the other character. For example, items you leave in the first playthrough become available in the second, while hazards you didn't deal with may become more dangerous the second time around.

Regardless of which character you use first, you are bound to appreciate the claustrophobic and horror-infused atmosphere of the game. From the quiet moments in the saving room to the constant tension of not having enough ammo, or the fear of going back through that dark hallway, the game's greatest asset is not what you can see, but what it makes you imagine.


"Hold your fire, I'm human"


The PS1 Resident Evil games may be described as "action" games, but I think that's a misnomer. The "action" descriptor suggests speed and reaction time to be prerequisites for mastery, which is rarely the case in this game. Since the majority of enemies shamble slowly towards you, and aiming is almost entirely automated, there is no great gameplay skill required to finish the game.

Instead, careful management of resources and knowing when to engage and when to run are more important prerequisites for success. Indeed, mastery of the game has more to do with memorizing where key resources are and running through the game with the full knowledge of what you need to use.

The opening is probably the most action-packed part of the game

Otherwise, the great tension is in the scarcity of resources, and the fear that you use too many bullets on unimportant monsters and lock yourself out of progress. In my opinion, this scarcity is mostly an illusion, but one that works at the moment to create the necessary tension.

Other than the rather basic combat, the series is known for its elaborate puzzles, which require you to jumble through key items to unlock paths through the mansion, or in this case, the police station. As I said in the introduction, this part of the game feels more like a point-and-click adventure than an action game, and that's exactly the genre I would most closely associate the series with at its beginning.


"They risked their lives to reveal the truth, but no one believed them"


Replayability is a key component of the franchise from the start, since it invites you to memorize the hellish locations and go through them with the highest possible efficiency to unlock new costumes and get better ratings. In this game, even if you are interested in replaying it for the scores, it will still invite you to play it again for the story.

Or to reveal the secrets behind the G-Virus

In theory, there are four different playthroughs to see everything the game has to offer. Playing the game first as Leon, and second as Claire, then playing the game first as Claire, and second as Leon. This way, you experience every permutation of the "zapping system".

Unfortunately, I don't think the differences justify all of these playthroughs. While I did do all of these playthroughs when I played the Resident Evil 2 Remake, the action gameplay of that game was more fun to re-experience than the tank controls of the original.


"I will not allow anyone to steal my work... Not even Umbrella"


I am sure that the technical limitations of the PS1 steered the direction of gameplay for Resident Evil 2, but that doesn't mean that Capcom didn't manage to get the best out of that console. Indeed, a lot of the tension is created by the fixed-camera angles used in the game. These angles allowed the directors to create cinematic-locations that suggest the horror you are about to face more than show it.

But the things it shows are still horrifying

The power of suggestion is where a lot of the horror comes from, with your imagination doing a lot of the heavy lifting. In that regard, it's not about what the game shows you, but about what it doesn't. This extends ot the sound design, in which you hear zombies creeping by before seeing them.

Indeed, you need to pay attention to sounds to know how many enemies are in a room, since the camera angle may not help you at that moment. Like its gameplay philosophy, it's the scarcity of information that is truly scary in the game, because your mind will conjure up more frightening situations than the game actually has.


In Conclusion:


With a brilliant atmosphere, constant tension, and ingeniously connected labyrinthine locations, Resident Evil 2 on the PS1 is the pinnacle of its genre. Yet, the game remains a product of its time. With its fixed camera angle, painted hallways, and slowly shuffling zombies, it is not difficult to imagine the Remake as being the true implementation of the designer's vision.

Yet, regardless of its technical limitations, this action-focused adventure game is still fun to play. It's even worth playing if you enjoyed the Remake, especially to get the uncanny feeling of having been there before. But I won't suggest the multiple playthroughs Capcom had in mind for the game. 

Final: 8/10 (Recommended)

Surely Leon won't have such an unlucky day in the future

Pros:

• Having two characters to choose from
  
• Brilliant horror atmosphere
  
• Best application of the survival-horror "adventure" genre
  
• The painted hallways provide a brilliant atmosphere
  
• The save room music

Cons:

• Reuses the same locations for both playthroughs
  
• The multiple playthroughs are not different enough
  
• Boring locations other than the police station

Tips:

1. Pay attention to the sound to know if there are enemies in the room.
2. You don't need to kill all enemies; you can simply run past them if the path is clear.
3. Managing your inventory is key to not going back to the safe box a lot.
4. There is enough resources to finish the game, so don't panic about not having enough healing herbs or ink ribbons.
5. You can sneak beyond lickers, who are blind.
6. You can attack enemies off-screen, so always listen to what is around the corner.

That's a suspiciously decorated police station

Series:

For those reading one of my PS1 review blogs for the first time, here is the basic concept:

I already reviewed both major Generation 4 consoles and am now reviewing Generation 5 consoles. I already finished reviewing the Sega Saturn, so I am now reviewing the PS1. In these reviews, I take a top 100 games list and review the games that interest me in that list. This time, my review series is based on this list from Retro Sanctuary and other sources, since the PS1 can handle a list bigger than a top 100. 

You would think cops would understand the command to freeze

Next Game:

Even though the Remake is in my opinion the true representation of Resident Evil 2, the original is not bad and I quite had fun with it.

The next game on the list, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, is considered a big shake-up to the franchise. I didn't like its remake as much as I did the second game, but the remake wasn't considered particularly faithful either.

Stay tuned to find out.

 

For Previous PS1 Game Reviews:

The List