| Cover Art |
 |
| Credits |
Platform: Nintendo Gamecube
Also available on: PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast, PC CD-Rom and Nintendo 64
Developer: Capcom
Players: 1
Year: 1998
OFLC Rating: MA15+ |
The best part about video games is that the
sequels are usually better than the original.
Films tend to fall into traps of wowing people
the first time around and then the sequels are
more of less of the same thing (of course, there
are always exceptions). Video games however go
with the technology. Usually video game sequels
improve on the original in every way, keeping
what works and doing away with what didn't.
Sure, originals are originals, but remember how
awesome sequels like Super Mario Brothers
2, The Secret of Monkey Island
2 (hands down, my favourite game of all
time), Mortal Kombat 2, Super
Metroid and Castlevania 2 were when they came out? Resident Evil
2 joins these games in a classic case
of excellent original, incredible sequel.
A couple of weeks after the events of the original Resident Evil, Leon Kennedy,
a rookie police officer recently transferred to
Raccoon City Police Department, arrives for his
first day on the job to find Raccoon City decimated,
crawling with the living dead. Claire Redfield
has also arrived in town in search of her missing
brother, Chris (yes, that Chris). As the game
progresses, the two encounter a number of survivors
of the disaster, shadowy individuals and all manner
of grotesque monsters as they piece together what
happened to Raccoon City and ultimately try to
escape.
Resident Evil 2 is probably
the richest of the titles available in terms of
story. In this game, you are given the opportunity,
as you are in the original, to choose between
either of two protagonists, Leon or Claire. Depending
on who you choose, you will come across the other
character a number of times throughout the adventure.
The best part about this is that instead of having
only two slightly differing versions of the one
game to play depending on who you pick, you get
to go back and play as the other character as
soon as you finish the main game with your chosen.
For example, let's say you chose Leon to
play with first (which is recommended), once you
finish the game with him, you are shown a brief
cut scene and immediately taken right back to
the start to play as Claire, showing you everything
that went on with Claire while you were playing
through it before with Leon. The best part about
this is that this 'meanwhile' game
is longer than the game you start playing, and
also completely different to the one you play
if you choose them at the beginning. It really
does add a completely new dimension to the playability
of the game, and then you've got the Hunk
missions once you've beaten it!
You are also given some brilliant insights into
the nature of the mysterious Umbrella Corporation,
along with the origins of the T-Virus and it's
successor, the newer and deadlier G-Virus mutation
and the breakout that occurred in Raccoon City.
Conspiracies run rife and nobody is really who
they seem in this game which makes it all the
more fun (something the later title Code
Veronica failed abysmally to emulate).
While the first Resident Evil was
predominantly zombies in a house with a couple
of big monsters, Resident Evil 2 takes a number of different elements from first
and presents things a little differently. There's
a very definite Cronenbergian body horror thing
going on in this game. A large portion of the
monsters in this game are grotesque, fleshy mutations
made up of skin, eyes, teeth and veins, and all
of them rely on intrusive attacks on one's
body, those that don't tend to have a habit
of spitting. Parasites and infections are key
elements to Resident Evil 2's
storyline and once the action kicks into high
gear, there are some very nice homage's to the
Alien franchise (check the chestburster scenes!).
Resident Evil 2 definitely has
the best soundtrack out of the lot (sans 4), with
a perfectly suited score and sound effects for
each monster. Again the voice acting will lean
occasionally to the poorer side of things (the
police chief is hilarious), but it's a far
cry ahead of the rest. The full motion videos
will probably also come off a little primitive
to today's standards, but still, they heap
the poo onto the original's live action festivals
of cheese.
With Resident Evil 4, 0 and
the remake of the first now available, some people
may be put off by the graphics, and those who've
played both the remake and 0 will probably be
as let down as I was that it wasn't remade
as well. The best iteration I've played
of this game so far has been the Nintendo 64 version,
as it has added files to help link it up with
the other games, and better control mechanics,
but finding that particular version is like finding
a needle in a haystack. Every other version is
identical, the GameCube version has a higher graphic
resolution than the rest, but whatever you can
find to fit your budget is fine.
This game really is a true classic, sitting there
with Alone in the Dark and Silent
Hill 2, and any true fan of horror would
be a fool to miss out on playing this one. |
0 users have commented on this review so far.
