Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 2 is gorgeous, and the new RE Engine definitely helps to bring Raccoon City to life. With that in mind, let’s talk about some of the tinier, minor details in the game that you might’ve missed while playing through it for the first time.
Incredible, Tiny Details in the Resident Evil 2 Remake
Reload Animations
The insanely detailed reload animations have been a key part of the Resident Evil series ever since RE4, when people started noticing the way Leon would manually push in an ammo clip for the Red9 pistol and snap it off once it was reloaded.
Reload animations have looked freaking cool in the series since then, and they’ve continued to look cool in the Resident Evil 2 remake.
For starters, the animations are different for each and every gun in the game. Leon’s reload animation for the Matilda is pretty basic, where he’d just drop the clip and push in a new one.
But for Claire’s SLS 60 revolver, she manually drops the empty rounds on the ground, then pushes in each bullet one by one. The same goes for her Quickdraw Army, which has a much slower reload rate than the SLS 60.
Special shout out to whoever handled the reloading for the grenade launcher as well, as that weapon has easily the most satisfying reload animation in the game.
Whenever you fire a round, you can literally hear that hollow plop sound of the round dropping, then watch as Claire quickly empties the chamber and pops another flame or acid round in before closing the chamber and readying the weapon again.
Not only that, whenever you enter a dark area, Leon or Claire will automatically take out their flashlight, and this slightly changes the reload animation as well. When reloading while holding the flashlight, your character will first tuck the flashlight in the crook of their neck before proceeding to reload the weapon.
It’s extremely minor, but those reload animations in Resident Evil 2 are sick.
Incredible, Tiny Details in the Resident Evil 2 Remake
Characters React to Rain
Another minor character detail you might’ve missed in Resident Evil 2 is the way Leon and Claire will react to the weather in Raccoon City.
During certain parts of the game, it might start to rain, or they might get drenched in water for several reasons. When this happens, your character will shudder slightly, giving off an audible gasp before recovering quickly.
Similarly, when you get out of a wet area, they’ll quickly brush themselves off, wiping away the water droplets on their arms and sleeves. Of course, the shimmering water will be visible on the character models as well, and you can literally see them glistening under the moonlight when you catch them at the right angle.
The Resident Evil 2 remake is definitely a beautiful game to look at, and this is just one of the few ways Capcom has managed to show off the prowess of its new RE Engine.
Incredible, Tiny Details in the Resident Evil 2 Remake
Gory Zombies
Another way Capcom is showing off its RE Engine is by demonstrating just how disgusting and gory this game can get. Sure, the character models for Leon and Claire look nice and all, but don’t forget the enemies too.
Let’s start with the regular zombies. These guys are tough, and you’ll usually require four or five headshots to actually kill them. But each time you fire a bullet into their shambling bodies, the damage is instantly noticeable.
Fire a round into their head, for instance, and you’ll see them recoil from the shock, with skin tearing off their faces where you hit them.
You can fire off their limbs as well, by shooting their legs and arms. And if you choose to knife them to death, you’ll see the knife slashes on their clothes.
The Lickers look kind of beautiful in a morbid way, too, as the remake allows you to study every gory detail of their anatomy. Their forked tongues are vicious, and their sinewy silhouettes are just a sight to behold. Not that I think they’re attractive or anything… That’d be silly.
Incredible, Tiny Details in the Resident Evil 2 Remake
The Alternative Costumes Actually Make a Difference
Finally, when you’ve beaten the game once, you’ll unlock alternative costumes for Leon, Claire, Ada, and Sherry. Not to be confused with the 98 Classic costumes that just got announced this week, the alternative outfits are HD reworks of the classic clothes these characters wore in the original game.
The coolest thing about these outfits in the Resident Evil 2 remake is that when you equip them, they actually have some effect on story cutscenes. For instance, when Leon gets injured about halfway through his campaign, his torso gets bandaged up if you have the alternate costume equipped, just like in the original game.
As for Claire, when she eventually gives her iconic red jacket to Sherry, we actually get to see Sherry’s character model wearing that same sleeveless vest with the alternative costume equipped.
Nothing against the new reworked outfits for the remake of course, but it’s just awesome to see those classic looks redone in a beautiful way that serves as a nice nod to the longtime fans.
Incredible, Tiny Details in the Resident Evil 2 Remake
Tiny Details and Imperfections
Most modern games these days have incredible details on the character models. It isn’t just their clothes or outfits, but their facial features as well.
In the opening cutscene itself, you can see little moles and bumps on Leon’s neck, which you otherwise wouldn’t notice at all while playing the game. Leon’s character model already looks nice and rather lifelike in the Resident Evil 2 remake, but this extra layer of detail is a nice touch that lends the game a heightened sense of realism.
Claire, on the other hand, seems to have model-like smooth skin at first glance. But if you take a closer look, you can almost catch a glimpse of her freckles and tiny pores as well. Not Ada, though. She’s actually literally a supermodel with no flaws whatsoever. Perfection.
Similarly, the game features other nice facial details like faded tears on Sherry’s face during certain cutscenes, and old scars from past incidents.
Incredible, Tiny Details in the Resident Evil 2 Remake
Look Closely at Documents and Objects
The opening cutscene itself for Leon also features another nice detail that you wouldn’t normally expect from developers. When Leon is refilling the gas in his jeep, we get a quick shot of the petrol pump with a warning on it.
You can’t really make out the exact words, but it’s just a regular ol’ warning letting you know that, well, fuel is hazardous and flammable, and you should probably be careful when handling it.
Throughout Resident Evil 2, you’ll also pick up several documents and other key items that have similar intricate details like this one. Sherry’s locket is a good example, as it’s full of delicate markings on it, courtesy of the custom work her mom had paid for when preparing the locket for Sherry’s birthday.
Documents in the game can also feature handwritten markings that will give you clues to certain puzzle solutions or other combination locks in the game. We won’t spoil it, but there’s one document in particular that features a lock combination that you wouldn’t otherwise get if you weren’t looking out for the in-game handwriting.
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