Resident Evil 2

aka: Biohazard 2, RE 2
Moby ID: 955
PlayStation Specs
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Description official descriptions

Even though Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine were able to destroy the Umbrella corporation's undead monsters in the original Resident Evil, Umbrella's experiments with the T-virus continued unhindered. Claire Redfield, the younger sister of Chris, and Leon Kennedy, a rookie cop on his first day of the job, arrive in the sleepy midwestern town of Raccoon City only to find the city in flaming ruins due to the inhabitants having been transformed into mindless flesh-eating freaks. Although Claire and Leon team up, they are soon separated and trapped inside the city by a car crash. Seeking refuge within the Raccoon City police station, each character must find a way to escape from the nightmare while solving the mystery of what happened to Raccoon City.

Besides the zombie population (which is much more diverse than the original, including teenage girl zombies, maniac cop zombies, and even melting naked zombies), Claire and Leon will also have to deal with a variety of freakish mutants including giant poisonous spiders, walking venus-fly-traps, and speedy wall-crawling Lickers. Each character will also be pursued by one seemingly unstoppable foe: a horrific and constantly evolving man-monster known as the "G-Type" (Leon's Scenario), or a taciturn but inhumanly powerful Umbrella agent who is nonetheless saddled with the rather quaint name of Mr. X (Claire's Scenario).

Like the previous game in the series, Resident Evil 2 is a 3D action-adventure using three-dimensional polygon characters over two-dimensional pre-rendered backgrounds, with the action viewed through a variety of cinematic fixed camera angles in each room. Just like the original Resident Evil, players can choose to play as one of two possible characters. Each character goes through the same initial scenario, but with differences in the type of weaponry they find and the people they meet along the way. Leon will team up with a mysterious woman calling herself Ada Wong, while Claire will find herself charged with protecting a little girl named Sherry Birkin.

Unlike the original Resident Evil, beating the game for the first time unlocks a second scenario to be played with the character you didn't choose, with new locations, maps, enemies, a longer and more climactic ending. Your actions in the first scenario can also affect the outcome of certain events in the second scenario. Additionally, ammo and healing items are more plentiful than in the original game, although you still aren't given enough bullets to kill every enemy you meet.

Spellings

  • バイオハザード 2 - Japanese spelling
  • 惡靈古堡2 - Chinese spelling (traditional)
  • 生化危机2 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

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Screenshots

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Credits (PlayStation version)

33 People (23 developers, 10 thanks) · View all

Planning
Scenario
Graphics
Motion Design
Software Engineer
Scenario Program
Enemy Program
Sound
Sound Design
CG Movie
Team Producer
Director
Manual
Translation
Creative Services
Marketing Manager
Manual Design
Packaging Design
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 93% (based on 31 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 136 ratings with 8 reviews)

The sequel that blew the original out of the water...

The Good
If there was one game I would herald as Capcom's ultimate success in the action/puzzle genre, Resident Evil 2 would rise clearly above all the rest. The game, by far the best in the series, creates an atmoshpere truly terrifying - possibly rivalled only by Konami's Silent Hill series. High points of the game include Crows breaking through glass windows without warning Zombies bursting through boarded up windows Lickers dropping from ceilings and leaping from seemingly nowhere And of course, our friend the Tyrant-103 - crashing through walls, hoisting himself up on to balconies, and smashing up cameras...all in the name of pulse-quickening good fun!

What appealed to me about RE2 was the fine line between Shoot-em-all and Puzzler. Different keys and combinations, block pushing - it is easy to see where the Dino Crisis puzzles were expanded from. However, torrents of zombies, mutated dogs and biological abominations keep the action fast-paced, maintaining the fine balance of brute force and wit required for complete fufilment.

RE2 boasts a diverse range of weaponry, including Shotguns, Grenade Launchers, Flamethrowers, and even a RocketLauncher! The available arsenal makes for controlled mayhem, without turning RE2 into a Shoot-em-up. Also clever was the way zombies rect to different weapons - the Magnum will burst heads right open, whilst a Grenade launcher will destroy the head and shoulders, and a well timed Shotgun blast can remove the torsos from a group of zombies - which will then begin to crawl along the floor to attack you!

Finally, the other fantastic selling point of Resi 2 is the storyline. Complete the game once as one character, and then play as the other - in a totally different game. The "2nd Scenario" involves your other character playing through the game again, but with several significant changes, including placement of key items, extra bosses and a different (REAL) ending.

The Bad
There's probably something, but I can't think what.

The Bottom Line
One of the best games CapCom has ever produced - maybe even ever will. If you don't have it, get it.

PlayStation · by Gaz Whyte (5) · 2004

The Scariest game in existence...

The Good
The game is scary- one of my favourite things about it. Try playing this game late at night in total darkness. It'll have you jumping out of your socks! Surprises like zombies breaking through windows as you run past and giant mutated monsters pounding falling through the ceiling in front of you are indeed pulse pounding moments! The graphics are pretty nice, especially the pre-rendered backgrounds. The game is fun to play and there are two different scenarios- A and B. When you beat scenario A, you play Scenario B as the other character and things you did in Scenario A affect scenario B, which gives some replay value. The FMV's are also pretty cool.

The Bad
That annoying "Vvvvt! Vvvvt!" between speech in the scripted conversations as your PS reads the disc. But it's also kind of funny.

The Bottom Line
If you haven't played this game yet there must be something wrong with you. Go out and rent/buy it today- you won't be dissapointed. (If you are, though, it's not my fault! :) )

PlayStation · by Ben Fahy (92) · 2001

Bigger! Longer! Scarier! Uncut!

The Good
Resident Evil 2 (a.k.a. Biohazard for PAL gamers) is one of those rare times when the video game sequel is actually better then the original game.

Something stinks in Raccoon City, and I don't just mean the undead's reluctance to practice good personal hygiene.

The surviving members of the STARS team cannot convince anyone in Raccoon City that Umbrella Corporation was responsible for creating the flesh-eating, zombies and other malicious abominations as part of its unethical, if not illegal, biological weapons program.

Frustrated, the STARS team members decide to go their separate ways, hoping the evidence to bring down the Umbrella Corporation exists somewhere. Not too longer after their departure, the beautiful city becomes less “Leave It To Beaver” and more “Night Of The Living Dead” meets “Mad Max".

When Resident Evil 2 begins we meet two new heroes who have just arrived in the city; Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Leon is a rookie cop on his first day on the job, and Claire is searching for her brother (who is member of the STARS team).

Resident Evil 2 features much better graphics, music and sound effects then the first Resident Evil game. This is not sot suggest the first game was inferior.

The first Resident Evil game excelled in all of these areas as well, which makes it all the more amazing that the developers were able to make the sequel look and sound even that much better.

It is as if with each new Resident Evil video game the developers found new ways to push the Sony PlayStation 1 hardware capabilities to new heights.

Resident Evil 2 also features much better, more responsive controls, with cool new weapons and some new abilities – such as the ability to push a biting zombie away.

Again, Resident Evil 1 offered some great control, and it is simply amazing that the developers found ways to add to and improve upon the control mechanics when making Resident Evil 2.

One of the great features of this game is that to fully appreciate all that the game has to offer, you must first beat the game as one character and then beat the game as the other character.

Depending on how many times you beat the game (and how long it takes you to beat the game) additional secrets and weapons become available to you.

The game is on two discs, so if you beat the game with Leon, then you must beat the game as Claire or vice verse. This greatly adds to the replay value of the game, because who you beat the game with the first or second time and other little details will impact the story and how many deep, dark secrets you be able to uncover. And there are plenty of those to uncover.

Leon meets up with a "femme fatale" wandering the police station. Claire meets up with a lost, little girl. Both characters will interact with a cynical reporter, a corrupt police chief and, a few other human and not-so-human characters, which make the zombies flesh-eating habits seem tame in comparison.

Heck, the developers even found new and creative ways to make Resident Evil 2 even scarier then the first game. The more you learn about the police chief, Umbrella corporation and just how the virus spread throughout the entire city, the more you will want to play your video games with the lights on.

The Bad
Resident Evil 2 is uncut. Where as bits and pieces of the first game were censored, everything in this survival horror game is seen (or implied) for all to see.

This is not a video game designed for young children or easily scared adults. Survival horror is not a video game genre for everyone and it is worth noting some of the "mature" content in this video game.

Resident Evil 2 features a high level of graphic violence, blood and gore. If you blush at R-rated horror films, or are too young to watch them, then you might not want to be exposed to some of the content in this video game.

The zombies and other mutated monsters you must kill in the Resident Evil 2 are creepy and grotesque abominations who have a deep-seated lust for the sweet taste of human flesh.

You must put aside your feelings of sympathy -- as these zombies and monsters used to be human beings -- in order to not just survive but help other people survive as well.

The only "treatment" for these creatures is death and death by an assortment of cool, hi-powered weapons that bring a whole, new meaning to the phrase, "the right of the people to keep and bare arms shall not be infringed."

This is also a video game with some rather mature -- even downright perverted -- ideas about sexuality. The Chief Of Police in Resident Evil 2 is not only corrupt, but sexual sadist of the misogynistic sort.

This sordid little secret is gleamed by reading some diary entries, looking at the Chief's artwork he has setup around the police station and, yes, the tools located in his secret workshop.

Again, it is not as sexually explicit as say, the infamous "Hot Coffee Mood" mini game in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and the game itself is not endorsing misogyny. However, the content in Resident Evil 2 -- even the subject -- is not something suitable for all ages or interests.

The Bottom Line
Resident Evil 2 greatly improves upon all that was great, scary and downright "Night Of The Living Dead"-esque in the first Resident Evil game. Everything about Resident Evil 2 demonstrates not just the creativity of the developers, but also the amazing hardware capability of the Sony Playstation 1. If you enjoy survival horror, then you must play this game.

PlayStation · by ETJB (428) · 2014

[ View all 8 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
are the controls as bad as people are saying game lover Dec 30, 2008

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Resident Evil 2 appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Book

A book adaptation of this game was published in 1999, the third in Pocket Books' Resident Evil series, written by S.D. Perry and entitled City of the Dead.

Contest

The PlayStation release of this orginally advertised "Win a role in the movie!". That was in 1998, the movie was released in 2002 after a complete re-write. It is unknown if the winner of the contest could or did claim the price.

Development

Resident Evil 2 was almost a very different game. The original version of the game had a similar premise but almost the entire game looked totally different. The police station was very modern looking, other weapons were included and Claire was absent from the game, instead there was a motorcycle riding girl named Elza. This early version, which has become known as Resident Evil 1.5, was apparently about 70% complete but was completely scrapped because it was apparently too similar to the original and wasn't a significant enhancement over it.

Game Boy Advance version

A port of Resident Evil 2 for the Game Boy Advance was in development by Raylight Studios, but never got past the tech demo stage. See the related links section for a link to footage of this demo.

German index

On April 30, 1998, Resident Evil 2 was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. For more information about what this means and to see a list of games sharing the same fate, take a look here: BPjS/BPjM indexed games.

German version

In the German version, the blood was coloured grey or green. The death sequence was removed.

Nemesis

References * 'Redrum' is painted on a wall in blood in the police station. * As Claire Redfield drives the motorcycle on the highway, the sign saying "Welcome to Raccoon City" has the words "Raccoon City" typed in a Gamefan font, the title font used by the cancelled magazine company Gamefan. * Leon crashes the police car next to the Arukas Tailor. "Arukas" spelled backwards is "Sakura", a character in another Capcom game, Street Fighter Alpha 2.

Resident Evil 0

In a B game, a report can be found in Rebecca's desk that details the events of Resident Evil Zero (2002).

Sales

The US release of Resident Evil 2 in 1998 broke industry records by selling more than 380,000 units in its debut weekend and grossing more than $19 million dollars. According to publisher Capcom, Resident Evil 2 has sold 4.96 million copies worldwide since its initial release (as of June 30, 2016).

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • March 1997 (Issue 92) - PlayStation Game of the Year runner-up* Game Informer
    • August 2001 (Issue #100) - #34 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll
  • Retro Gamer
    • September 2004 (Issue #8) – #97 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by AxelStone, MegaMegaMan, PCGamer78, [Pseudo_Intellectual](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,49363/), [Sycada](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,7060/), [woods01](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,5217/) and [Xoleras](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,42761/)

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Derrick 'Knight' Steele.

PlayStation 3, PSP, PS Vita added by Charly2.0. PlayStation added by Matthew Bailey.

Additional contributors: Alan Chan, Matthew Bailey, Kartanym, Unicorn Lynx, Felix, tarmo888, Foxhack, Alaka, DreinIX, —-, Paulus18950, Cantillon, CalaisianMindthief, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.

Game added March 4, 2000. Last modified February 22, 2024.