Changes in the Resident Evil 2 Remake
Works: Better and More Fleshed Out Story
Capcom’s Resident Evil 2 remake isn’t a simple retelling of the Raccoon City tragedy; it’s more of a re-imagining. If you play the original PS1 release now, you’ll probably find it hard to stomach the cheesy voice acting and writing.
With the remake, however, Capcom had the opportunity to tell a more coherent story and make it palatable for a modern audience.
The remake features new cutscenes and dialogue that help to make the characters feel like actual human beings. Ada and Sherry, in particular, are more in-depth as characters, and their dynamic with Leon and Claire respectively are enjoyable to watch.
The extra scenes also help Leon and Claire feel stronger as protagonists, and while the plot has never exactly been Resident Evil’s strong suit, the RE2 remake actually manages to keep things interesting from start to finish.
Even as someone who already knows how the general plot plays out, it was still exciting to watch Leon and Claire deal with various obstacles over the course of their journey.
Resident Evil 2 always had the greatest potential in terms of storytelling out of the PS1 games, and Capcom utilized it fully.
Changes in the Resident Evil 2 Remake
Works: Over-the-Shoulder Looks Good
This might be a bit of a controversial one, but the over-the-shoulder third-person camera in Resident Evil 2 actually looks rather good. While the fixed camera angles of the early games were always an iconic part of the Resident Evil series, the third-person view helps to give a new perspective and look at the police station.
This new style of presentation just allows you to get closer to the action, further heightening that sense of claustrophobia as you’re exploring the cramped hallways of the RPD.
As a third-person shooter game, Resident Evil 2 is a blast to play as well. Despite the slower nature of the game, the gunplay still feels fun and responsive, and the sheer variety of weapons you get allows you to deal with sticky situations in different ways.
Changes in the Resident Evil 2 Remake
Works: New Enemy Types
Some fans might be upset at the absence of certain enemy types like the crows, spiders, and giant moth. That’s understandable, and it certainly sucks that these guys aren’t in the remake.
However, Capcom also took this opportunity to introduce a couple of new enemy types to surprise even longtime fans. The sewers feature a new blob-type monster that can be incredibly difficult to get past if you don’t have the right tools for it. And I won’t spoil too much here, but suffice to say that the lab area also introduces a new twist on the feeble plants we saw in the original game as well.
Not only that, the Resident Evil 2 remake also changes up some enemy placements, the most notable of which being the first Licker appearance. It doesn’t matter how familiar you think you are with Resident Evil 2; the remake has plenty of surprises in store for you.
Changes in the Resident Evil 2 Remake
Failed: Lack of Proper B Scenarios
In my review, I mentioned that the only things that could’ve made this game even better were if there was a Raid or Mercenaries mode, or if the B scenarios were done better. Well, Capcom’s already announced the Ghost Survivors mode, which sounds a lot like Raid, so that just leaves the B scenarios, which honestly aren’t very well-done.
In the original game, players could actually play through the same story twice, but from different perspectives. It was fun to see what both characters were up to during the set time frame, and see what kinds of dangers they had to deal with while they were separate.
In the remake, after you beat the game once, you unlock New Game 2nd Run for the other character. This sounds like a B scenario at first, but you’ll quickly realize that there are barely any story differences between a particular character’s first and second run, apart from the opening and ending.
You’ll still be fighting the same bosses in the same areas, though it’s worth noting that some puzzle solutions have changed, and item placements are shuffled. The gameplay changes are certainly appreciated, but they’re just not quite compelling enough to keep things from feeling repetitive, especially if you’d already played that characters A scenario before jumping into this one.
Overall, the Resident Evil 2 remake is a tremendous game. It’s a fantastic game that survival horror fans should definitely check out, in spite of its few shortcomings.
What are your thoughts on the changes implemented in the remake? Let us know in the comments down below.
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