Resident Evil 2

The Good
Part 2 of the Resident Evil saga is a vast improvement visually over the original. The static pre-rendered backdrops with 3d characters over the top have returned but now the backdrops are packed to the gills with details, from knocked down chairs and tables to flaming car wrecks, it all looks very nice. The characters are far more solid in appearance and the animation is beautifully fluid making the zombies look a lot more creepy. The music and sound are suitably eerie and the cutscenes are fantastic, at the time of release they were the best around. Once again you can choose from 2 characters but this time the two have some fairly big changes to their games. Each one has their own unique sidekick character who you also get to control as well as some areas that the other character never gets to see etc. Also once you get through the game with one character, a special 2nd scenario mode opens up which allows you to play the game again but from the other characters perspective. This mode is different than if you just start again with the other character as it tells the story from their point of view and contains new areas, a vicious new monster called Mr X and an extended ending sequence. In fact you could say that you don't actually finish the game proper until you beat both the 1st and 2nd scenarios. There are even more secrets on top of these which are also a fun diversion. Perhaps most important in a game of this nature is that it's scary and I'm pleased to say that it is. The atmosphere is less intimidating this time round but the shocks are much better and keep you on your toes most of the time.

The Bad
Although the voice acting is a VAST improvement over the disasterous garbage featured in RE1, it's still a little dire. Not dreadful but still not up to a decent standard. Puzzles in this game are a joke. It seems that the simple puzzles in RE1 have been dropped in favour of utter no brainers. The hope that the puzzles would be harder in RE2 was dashed a few moments into the game.

The Bottom Line
RE2 is a great horror game that takes the brilliant formula of the original and in most ways adds to it tremendously. A great title.