"No, I'm a human!" (Resident Evil 2)

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	Resident Evil 2
Date:	23/06/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stunning action, great plot, superb characters...

Disadvantages: None.

The first Resident Evil is long-held to have influenced the Horror game genre since its inception in 1996, breeding the new Survival Horror sub-genre. Whilst it may the most influential and important of the series, it is its high-octane sequel, Resident Evil 2, that, in my opinion, is the best of the bunch. Combining the requisite scares with more action than you can shake a stick at, Resident Evil 2 may very well be the "Terminator 2" of video game sequels.

Most glaring about RE2 is the fact that not only are you able to play as two characters - Claire Redfield, brother of Chris, and Leon Kennedy, a wet-around-the-ears rookie cop - but the two scenarios actually intersect, and each character also has a "B" scenario, showing just how meticulous Capcom's insistence on a coherent, rich story is.

The second game opens as the T-virus from the first game continues to spread through Raccoon City - in a stunning opening FMV, Leon and Claire meet through some tough circumstances and attempt to flee the city. However, they are separated by a gas explosion and decide to meet at the Raccoon City Police Department.

RE2 wastes no time in hurling enemies at you - quite literally from the first second you can control a character, the zombies are lunging towards you. Burned buildings blaze all around you, and so the best course of action is simply to run and dodge until you can make it to the tenuous safety of the RCPD lobby. In a few words: the intensity has been ratcheted up. Ten fold. If the first game is suspenseful horror, this is more pulse-racing action.

What's more, RE2 boasts a ton of new enemies, namely the Licker, who pounces on you first when you reach the RCPD, and pops up again every so often when you least expect it. RE2 also features crows, and a mysterious, seemingly indestructible Terminator-like brute nicknamed Mr. X, who stalks you throughout the game. Furthermore, the T-Virus has been engineered into the G-Virus, resulting in far more macabre, grotesque mutations, such as William Birkin's G-Type, whereby he turns into a Tyrant lookalike with a giant eyeball bulging out of his shoulder!

Although action-packed, RE2 also presents enough puzzle elements to sate hardcore fans of the first game's formula; there are enough rooks, chess pieces and keys for you to traipse after, and a healthy number of puzzles that are usually more taxing than what the first game presented.

RE2's variation also extends to small sections whereby you control other characters - namely Leon's uneasy sidekick Ada Wong, a mysterious woman that appears as fleetingly as the Licker, and also William Birkin's poor daughter Sherry, who is alone and caught in the middle of the whole mess. These sections are rarely important or utterly involving, but they are brief departures that show Capcom are constantly looking towards innovation. Also, completion of the game unlocks the "Fourth Survivor" scenario, whereby you are able to play as a Mercenary named Hunk, who is tasked with collecting a sample of the virus and, of course, escaping with his life. Completing further challenges also unlocks Tofu, a strange creature that resembles a snack block.

Resident Evil 2 remains a towering achievement for the PlayStation, both technically, with its awe-inspiring locales and grotesque inventiveness, but also as an evolution of the parameters set by the first game. Nobody, I think, will complain that it is lacking in the action department, and for puzzle nuts, there's also plenty of thinking to do when the gun-slinging ramps down. Simply magnificent.

Summary: One of the greatest games of all time