In fact, the Resident Evil 2 remake has been in the works for some time. Since 2015, to be exact, the year the project was announced, which subsequently caused Capcom to be almost completely silent for three years. We had to wait for E3 2018 for a first trailer in good and due form, initiating many chills from a solid and entirely devoted community. Battery hair two decades after the release of the original game, the famous redesign seemed, finally, on track to break everything in the industry. You can say what you want about Capcom's commercial policy, often at the heart of debate and controversy, but its development brains are definitely impressive when it comes to designing and thinking about a video game. This passionate redesign is a good example of this since it has the audacity to bring together two fronts, that of the old-school by meticulously respecting its architecture, and that of the new-school, by drawing on technology and gameplay. refined. A brilliant combo for a nervous adventure reserved for the strongest.
YOU WHO ENTER HERE, ABANDON ALL HOPE
Very attentive to the many characteristics that established the charm of the original episode, Capcom did not go to any lengths and, here, mobilized a team of more than eight hundred developers. An impressive staff that shows the company's determination to create an adventure that lives up to it. Like the 1998 game, Resident Evil 2 offers two campaigns: that of Leon S. Kennedy, a cop on his first day of service in the Raccoon City police force, and Claire Redfield, in search of his brother Chris. , mysteriously disappeared. In each of them, the playable characters differ, just like their scenario and their speakers. Two completely different adventures on a single disc, that's what Capcom promises, even if it is clear that the two journeys are resolutely similar. Probably even a little too much. We will come back to this later: for the moment, it is important to dwell on what makes their greatest strength and, certainly, also one of the most beautiful arguments of the whole game: a wonderfully well managed rhythm for a trip nightmarish as too often missing.
IT'S OF ALL BEAUTY
Quite honestly, we were still a little dubious about the idea of putting the zombie back in the spotlight. Overexploited element of the cultural world, it has lost its luster, worse, it has been tiring more and more people for a few years now. It's no secret that the Japanese are particularly good when it comes to working in horror and Resident Evil 2 is no exception to the rule: yes, the undead are always terribly creepy and, yes , this remake is not for the weak. To achieve this result, Capcom first opted for an impressive optimization of its engine, the RE Engine, initiated with Resident Evil 7 and allowing almost photo-realistic renderings. The whole game is frankly sublime, whether in the 3D models, the facial animations or the amazing light effects: as a result, it is necessarily more effective to transcribe the feeling of dread when you find yourself face to face to larger-than-life zombies. The viscera are commonplace, the hemoglobin gleams on the walls and the play of shadows wonderfully intensify an intelligently thought-out staging. Almost constantly plunged into complete darkness, the player must advance through winding corridors where danger lurks around every corner. The universe is not only aggressive, it is oppressive and the view behind the shoulder – traditional since Resident Evil 4 – supports it really well. From an atmospheric point of view, the app is a flashy success that owes a lot to its infallible technical achievement. Its sound work is not to be outdone: it is certainly one of the most effective of this generation and playing with surround equipment is a very, very great satisfaction.
WE ARE NOT ALONE
But, above all, Capcom has managed to play with the codes of modern horror while respecting those of the 90s. The police station, the sewers and their various cult scenes are all back and are finely reworked. If the environments are recognizable and certainly play on the nostalgic fiber – it's a real pleasure, between us – the makeover is such that it has also asked to review certain whole sections. It was almost inevitable and we therefore end up with the deletion of several rooms/scenes/puzzles in favor of all new ones, grafted together in a very homogeneous and relevant way. The bestiary also turns out to be particularly faithful and, hell, the lickers have never been so terrifying. Without spoiling the other surprises for you, the legendary Tyrant who was already one of the most hated antagonists in video games at the time (and that's a good point) is making a thunderous return. An ultra-stressful nemesis for a good part of the adventure, sincerely well managed and which spice up an already high pace. In Resident Evil 2, it is not only a question of consecutive jump-scares and coarse cogs: it is an anguish which also materializes over time and which stretches tirelessly.
But, above all, Capcom has managed to play with the codes of modern horror while respecting those of the 90s.
As the term "survival-horror" very clearly indicates, it is above all, literally, to be in trouble as often as possible. To sweat, to rack your brains, to work hard to achieve your goal. Dropped into labyrinthine environments, we must move forward, open sealed doors and extricate ourselves from this giant nightmare whose claws have already closed on us for a long time. The famous mechanics typical of Resident Evil then resurface: you have to solve convoluted puzzles by recovering countless objects (the famous colored keys are back) in the smallest square meters of the multiple zones, without really knowing what is used for what , and, above all, where they are. Then follows a terrible giant puzzle, a meticulous investigation where the manual analysis of objects is essential and where the examination of the various written notes requires the detection of possible hidden meanings. Concretely, we then find ourselves, first of all, taming the level design so as not to get lost geographically by looking at the map every thirty seconds, then thinking rationally about the most viable way of solving such a problem. Tricks well known by Capcom, requiring countless round trips and which still hit the mark, even twenty years later. Resident Evil 2 is far, so far from being a simple accessible action game!
In addition, the survivalist character is greatly reinforced by the vulnerability of our character. Whether Claire or Leon, the protagonist is never more than a human dropped in the middle of the underworld of Umbrella and whose resources are almost constantly running out. The size of the inventory, at first very limited, tends to grow with the acquisition of new bags to store more objects in: only, everything depends on your flair and not only can you miss out on upgrades, but these will sometimes require reflection to recover them. In Raccoon City, everything is earned. It is the same for the weapons, quite limited, some of which are difficult to access: the ammunition is also very precious and their management must be done with real parsimony, craft in support. The famous herbs, which serve to restore our health or eliminate toxins, are also quickly missing and follow the same path. Better still, even the knives, which now allow you to get out of a situation in-extremis (it is possible, with flash or fragmentation grenades, to get out of an enemy mug or risk getting hurt) are items that deteriorate with use. Resident Evil 2 is therefore a particularly demanding title, and it is this same requirement that makes it one of its most powerful qualities. All our senses are on alert and, as long as you increase the difficulty (in Hardcore mode, backups are limited, for example), the feeling of inferiority is only more than obvious. The coolest thing about all of this is that Capcom has managed to carefully measure these lack of resources so that we are always in a weak position… but never blocked. We always find, at one time or another, a way to progress timidly in the story: by unearthing a powder in a drawer that we will transform into buckshot, by recovering a first-aid spray in a chest- fort whose combination will have been subtly found on a photo, or by going to search this corpse that we dared not approach for fear that it was not so dead… We feel that the developers have thought of everything and exploited every millimeter, every room and every cabinet in obvious good sense.
IT'S OBVIOUS
One of the biggest challenges surely resided in the retranscription of an action-oriented gameplay – the famous TPS side introduced with the excellent fourth chapter – within a horrifying atmosphere. At this level, Capcom is doing particularly well since despite the aiming on the shoulder, the clashes require a particular coolness. First, the aiming reticle takes a while to retract and expands with each bullet fired. A very simple mechanism but which prevents the player from aligning the headshots, especially since the recoil of the weapon is also to be taken into account. And if it is possible to aim while moving, we can only move slowly. Léon, just like Claire, doesn't sprint like a boss and doesn't roll until his spine is shattered. The gameplay prefers to bet on realism and fluidity, also thanks to detailed animations, and thus reinforces the credibility of the character in his environment. Certainly, the gameplay is mastered from start to finish and even allows some changes thanks to the upgrade of certain weapons, thus allowing better stability or precision. Let us be clear, however: the first run of Resident Evil 2 is clearly the most sensational, the most intense and the most striking. A diabolical and delicious course of about ten hours from which we come out a bit washed out, but in which we will nevertheless dive back with curiosity in order to discover the many remaining secrets. An unhealthy pleasure? We are almost there.
Certainly, the gameplay is mastered from start to finish and even allows some changes thanks to the upgrade of certain weapons, thus allowing better stability or precision.
However, all is not rosy in this impressive remake. First of all, its relatively fragile scenario benefits from a simple writing and, obviously, already seen and reviewed for all these years. If we appreciate the rather sober dialogues which are not in the Japanese one-upmanship that we might have feared, the very end of the game seems extremely rushed, strangely accentuating the relationships of the characters for an unjustified rose-water epilogue . We must admit that the end credits arrive surprisingly and that it lacks, all the same, this little thing to satiate us definitively. Fortunately, a secret ending is to be unlocked for the curious. As for the two campaigns, you shouldn't expect two really distinct stories and that's probably where the problem lies: while, in the scenario, Leon and Claire are supposed to evolve in parallel in the same environment with each of the events of their own and intersecting, here, they both find themselves traveling through the same places, doing the same puzzles and facing the same bosses... Which, suddenly, no longer has meaningless and which is almost equivalent to two completely opposite timelines. Inevitably, this causes a certain weariness when the game is immediately redone with another character.
So, well, let's not be bad language either: there are a few notorious differences, starting with a decidedly different arsenal (Léon will have a shotgun or a flamethrower while Claire will be able to recover a grenade or electric rifle) and exclusive footage. Moreover, the latter are really well thought out and allow a substantial breath of fresh air, which reinforces our idea that two really different campaigns would have been simply brilliant and relevant (although we understand the difficulty, both technical and financial, to carry out such a project). Thus, count about ten hours for your first campaign then between three and four hours less for your second, the different mechanisms of the adventure having been logically assimilated. Capcom has however thought about replayability: The 4th Survivor mode, including Hank and Tofu (already available in the original version) is unlockable and will extend the lifespan a little. Above all that, a ton of challenges are available, which will give rise to several bonuses such as unlimited ammo, 3D models in the museum, outfits and other juicy bonuses. Clearly, Resident Evil 2 is a game that can be learned by heart with a real scoring dimension, each end of the game resulting in a score depending on your time and your number of saves. There are even challenges asking you to complete the game in less than four hours, or by taking less than 14 steps! A title with appreciable replay value, therefore, at least if you feel strong enough to embrace its gloomy atmosphere again and challenge your nerves for the umpteenth time. Honestly, we warmly recommend it to you: the year 000 is starting far too well not to take advantage of it.
