Everything We Know About The New Resident Evil 2


Resident Evil 2 is coming back once again!

Capcom’s remake of the classic Resident Evil 2 is just a few weeks away from release, and as a huge Resident Evil fan, I honestly couldn’t be any more excited.

Credit: Capcom

The Resident Evil series is arguably defined by its earlier games (though 7 is recognised for being a return to the series’ survival horror roots), and 2 is one of the best.

Set right in the heart of Raccoon City, franchise favourites Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield witness the after-effects of the T-Virus outbreak, and attempt to put a stop to the secret G-Virus.

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Praised for its complexity, puzzles and – of course – its claustrophobic horror elements, the 1998 PlayStation classic remains one of the most beloved titles of the console. But how will it fare on current-gen consoles?

From what we’ve been shown so far, Capcom has put its heart and soul into the remake, taking the best combat elements and style of Resident Evil 7, and showcasing it in the all-too familiar world of Resi 2.

Credit: Capcom

Style

The game’s producer, Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, blessed fans with a presentation at San Diego Comic Con earlier this year, and he discussed the direction the team have headed in.

Hirabayashi and his panel confirmed that the characters of Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield have been tweaked, with Leon’s “youthfulness” emphasised to make sure he “fits the new world.”

Claire seems to have undergone a physical transformation too, as she’s “ditch[ed] the hot pants” in favour of a “biker/ninja” aesthetic.

Zombies in Resident Evil 2 have also had a revamp, and apparently some have been modelled on members of the development team! Customisation options have also been improved, with five additional costumes available for those who pick up either the Deluxe or Collector’s Editions of the game.

There’s also been some discussion about camera angles in the game, with Hirabayashi saying: “Looking at the series history so far as a sort of options on the table for what we could’ve done for a new game: we have the classic fixed camera, a third person camera, and even a first person camera with Resident Evil 7.

“So all of those are the sort of things we could’ve considered and they all have their pros and cons, none is a sort of clear winner for any particular game. But our concept was these up close and personal claustrophobic encounters with more terrifying than ever zombies, and I wanted to see the ‘biter’ and the ‘bitee’ on screen at the same time

“With a first person camera, you see the zombie but not yourself; and with a fixed camera you see both but it’s more zoomed out and not as intense. For me the over the shoulder camera gives you that intense struggle between both the character and the enemy.”

There’s also going to be at least one brand-new area, known as “the Orphanage.”

Credit: Capcom

Gameplay

Gameplay has also seen a huge shift from what we’ve been shown of the new game. It looks like we’ll be able to board up windows with wooden boards that you can find scattered around the place. They’re limited in quantity so you need to be tactical with their use. Barricading is obviously something we’ve seen a bit in the series before, but it sounds like in 2 there’ll be much more to barricading, and it can affect how populated routes are by zombies.

Leon and Claire will still have separate campaigns although there won’t be an A and B campaign as we saw in the original PlayStation version. Obviously this will disappoint long-time series fans but at least the arguments about what is canon should become much simpler. From the complete demo playthrough that we’ve seen, it seems there will still be crossover moments too, which should be fun.

We also know, from the announcement press release, that “gameplay modes from the original game” will make an appearance. In an interview with Trusted Reviews, Resident Evil 2’s producer confirmed, via a translator, that the Fourth Survivor and Tofu modes will be in the game. Whether we’ll also see a return of Extreme Battle Mode and other modes from the various versions of the original game, we’ll have to wait and see.

The game is changing the location of enemies and items and mixing up the layout too. In fact from shots we’ve seen of the exterior of the RPD it seems that there may even be extra floors to explore. The developers did confirm that new areas will be in the game and we did see that in the gameplay shown so it will be exciting to see what else is new.

Credit: Capcom

Graphics

In terms of the graphics engine ,we know it’s running on the RE Engine and you can expect the gore to look as unsettling as it did in Resident Evil 7, with an intense realism to everything. Some snippets of gameplay have also shown limb destruction similar to what we saw from the Molded in Resident Evil 7, but it looks even more gruesome on a human-like zombie.

One thing we know for certain is new is that the Licker won’t appear in the same place as it made its iconic debut back in 1998. When it does appear though it will definitely still fill you with the same terror it did all those years ago. Some new items will also make an appearance, like the previously mentioned wooden boards and the knife is more useful than it has ever been. It can be used to push zombies away from you and, once you do that, you’ll have to kill the zombie to get the knife back.

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Despite getting the amped-up 2019 treatment, the game will take up a mere 21GB of storage (at least on Xbox One), which is pretty tame considering some of the releases we’ve seen recently.

Credit: Capcom

Are you excited for Resident Evil 2?

The new Resident Evil 2 will be released on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on January 25th, 2019.

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