I had been on the fence about purchasing the recently released remaster of Resident Evil Zero, as I was in the mood for some classic RE but was hesitant to pay full price for what most consider to be a weaker entry in the series. I ultimately ended up deciding to wait for a sale on RE0, and I've instead started a new game of RE2 to scratch that itch. Since it has been over a decade since I last played RE2 and the remake is in development, I thought this was as good a time as any to refresh my memory of the game.
And man, this game still holds up very well. It's fantastic.
I'm playing on my Vita with headphones, and RE2 is reminding me all over again why I love Classic RE. Just as the HD re-release of REmaster did when I played through it on PS4, RE2's balanced mixture of tension, exploration, puzzle-solving, and item management is making it clearer than ever to me what has been lost in every entry since RE4. While all manner of zombies and other infected archetypes have inundated popular culture and entertainment in recent years, RE2 features the good ol' fashioned Romero brand of zombies. And I love that.
I'm not mowing down hordes of screeching, sprinting freaks like we do in so many modern zombie games. Instead, I'm having to make tough decisions as to whether or not I should use precious bullets to clear a path through 3-4 shambling, groaning, brain-eating abominations in order to access the room(s) that lie beyond them. The fear comes from trying to snake your way around small groups of slow-moving zombies in tight corridors, only this time around the zombies are more numerous than they were in RE1/REmake.
It's funny because RE2 is looked back on as a more action-packed sequel to RE1, and that's accurate. You are definitely doing more shooting and dealing with larger groups of enemies in RE2 than you did in the original. But it feels odd to think of this as "action-packed" when compared to what the series has become. Compared to RE4-6, this is practically an adventure game with horror elements. Mikami described the old brand of RE as "beautiful horror" when explaining his move towards the more popular gruesome bent of modern horror in the development of The Evil Within, and I think that descriptor is perfectly apt.
Classic RE games drop the player in locales that are beautiful and mysterious, thanks in large part to the decision to use pre-rendered backdrops and fixed, cinematic camera angles. And one of the core strengths of both RE1 and RE2 IMO is how they both task the player with navigating large, memorable locations in the form of Spencer Mansion and the Raccoon City Police Department. By the end of both games, you know the layout of their respective settings like the back of your hand. While backtracking is frowned upon in modern game design, I think both of these game make a case for how it can be done to great effect. The environment becomes a puzzle and a character within itself.
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As for my playthrough, I'm currently at the puzzle early in the police station where you slide the statues into place to get the second ruby. It has been so long since I played this game that much of it seems new to me again. For one thing, I was taken off guard by how difficult the game can be. I found myself out of save ribbons in critical condition early on in the police station, and it took me numerous tries of exploring in different directions and avoiding zombie-packed rooms to get the supplies I needed to press on. Making small inventory-management decisions meaningful is one of the most subtle but important accomplishments of the early RE games, and I'm glad to be reminded of how well RE2 preserves this aspect despite being more action-heavy than its predecessor.
I'll keep everyone who's interested updated on my playthrough in this thread, and if anybody else is going to revisit RE2 feel free to share your progress here as well.
