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Capcom is re-imagining the classic Resident
Evil 2 which was originally released for the
origial PlayStation back in 1988, into a
modern eye-pleasing experience. Looking back
at some history of the series and we discover
following the release of the 2002 remake of the
original game for Gamecube, Capcom
considered a similar remake of Resident Evil 2 at
the time, but series creator Shinji Mikami did not
want to divert development away from Resident
Evil 4, which in this critics opinion was an
intelligent move leading to arguably one of the
best games in the canon of Resident Evil.
Based on our brief play test with the
beautifully remastered Resident Evil 2, the game
impressively captures the true spirit of the
original game. Of course, this compelling
preview is taking great advantage of the RE
Engine, the same game engine which brought us
Resident Evil VII.
Our playtime saw players join college student
Claire Redfield as she searches for her missing
brother, Chris. As she arrives in Raccoon City,
she’s thrown into the middle of a zombie
outbreak taking over the city. Dodging dangers
left and right, Claire runs to safety in the
Raccoon City Police Station. As she tries to find a
way out of this nightmare, Claire finds Sherry
Birkin, a young girl abandoned in the
underground area beneath the police station
and together they face the iconic series boss and
mutating enemy ‘G’.
After the splendid Resident Evil VII affair which
was brilliantly adopted for VR, exclusively for
Sony's popular VR peripheral, I personally was
hoping that Capcom would take the equivalent
approach with this Resident Evil 2 remake. Yet, at
the moment this does not seem to be the case.
Striving to meet modern gameplay
expectations however, the team has attempted
to make the remake more realistic, for example,
Leon no longer wears the large shoulder pads
added to distinguish his model using low-
polygon graphics. Though they are striving to
make a modern and accessible experience with
Resident Evil 2, it is equally exciting to learn that
Capcom is sticking with focusing on a more
horror-driven affair over action, with hopes of
preserving a claustrophobic feel.
Producer Tsuyoshi Kanda acknowledged the
difficulty of once again making zombies scary, as
they had became ubiquitous in entertainment
media since the release of the original Resident
Evil in 1996. By removing the fixed camera
angles, the team had to use different ways to
conceal enemies, using elements such as room
layout, lighting, and smoke. The new camera
system also affected the sound design, as it no
longer made sense for sound to come from a
fixed source.
Playing the game briefly while discovering
the developers intentions and purpose truly
added an ambitous layer of understanding.
Everything already plays splendid, as it is quite
easy to overlook key nuances which make up all
the elements raising your senses meter though
the roof.
Resident Evil 2 is scheduled for worldwide
release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on
January 25, 2019. Impressively, Resident Evil 2
supports enhancements on the PS4 Pro and
Xbox One X, offering either 4K resolution and or
60 frames per second.
"Based on our brief play test with the beautifully
remastered Resident Evil 2, the game impressively
captures the true spirit of the original game."