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 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

More and better! One of the best sequels to any game ever.

The Good
Improving the original on just about everything, Resident Evil 2 became another source of respect for Capcom after the release of the original (which proved that they could do more than just 2D fighting games and MegaMan sequels) by not being a louder and flashier remake of RE1, but by completely overhauling the game and introducing hundreds of great additions to it.

The game is not a direct sequel of the first, you take the role of two new characters, a rookie cop just transferred to Raccon City, and the sister of one of one of the main characters of RE1 who comes to the city looking for him. After an amazing intro sequence both characters come to the realization that the city is completely overtaken by zombies and from that point on is survival-horror bonanza as both characters scramble to find a way out of the city, survive the madness, and hopefully find out what the hell just went wrong in this place.

The first real change in the game becomes obvious as soon as you start playing. Following the rules written in "the big book of sequels", RE2 doesn't make the mistake of trying to re-capture letter-by-letter the mistery formula of the original, (since we are all already aquainted with the zombies and co. and the trick wouldn't work again) so the developers wisely expand the scope of the adventure and focuss on quantity as a means to achieve the same level of quality without the originality. If you don't understand what I mean just think of Alien vs Aliens, or Terminator 1 vs 2. Just like those movies, Resident Evil 2 knows that it cannot recapture the same level of originality, so it compensates by overachieving on sheer chaos and proportions! While on the original you started alone on a mansion and after exploring a bit you had your first meeting with 1 zombie (which was a major event and even triggered an fmv clip), this one starts you off in a fiery car wreckage with a mob of zombies around going for your throat as soon as the game starts!! The atmosphere of RE2 is MUCH more chaotic than in the original. Running from enemies instead of shooting becomes much more common and instead of facing off against 1 or 2 critters at a time you'll be faced against veritable mobs of creatures all hungry for your blood.

Sure, some elements of the formula are still there, like the "sidekick" sequences and interaction for each character, the two-sided approach to the plot (though in this case each character's story overlaps each other and ends up forming "the big picture" instead of being an alternate version of the same storyline), the "jack-in-the-box" idea of horror etc. etc. And the gameplay concept remains the same: (go around solving dumb-as-doorknob puzzles while battling horrific creatures in the middle and trying to survive the whole thing since you are out-numbered, out-gunned and scared shitless)... But overall the game expands in such proportions from the original that it almost seems like a whole new thing! You have brand new weapons, including specific ones that need to be assembled appropiately, new (and more locations) such as city streets, a police station, an underground complex, laboratories, etc... and most notably a much more extensely cinematic feel to the game. The game has lots more character interaction, and much more scripted sequences than in the original, still weaving a simple storyline mind you, but doing so with many more peripheric elements that enhance it and make it much more engaging and thrilling than your regular cheap gore b-movie with zombies and gun-toting 20-something supermodels in it. These elements include everything from the occasional subplots introduced by survivors (such as a slightly deranged police chief and the major's daughter), conspiracies and corporation cover-ups, references to the original game (that both expand and connect the plots), the aforementioned "sidekicks" as well as other extraneous elements such as a fantastic "Terminator" touch which involves a seemingly indestructible and unstopable foe that pursues you throughout the entire second part of the game and forces you to be constantly on your toes (an element so good that was fleshed out as the main gameplay concept behind RE3).

Technically speaking the game does make some advancements, mainly in the graphic arena, with far more detailed textures, animations and character models (gone is that single suit-wearing, broad-shouldered zombie from the original), as well as new and absolutely amazingly done pre-rendered fmv cutscenes to replace the live action ones from the original. These cutscenes deserve special mention as they are absolutely incredibly animated (take a look for the crisp motion capture in the character animations) and incredibly detailed, leaving all competition in the dust even if they don't have that cheesy charm the ones in the original had... Heck, it may not have some thumping "epic" lyrics or a videoclip pace, but I still think the intro for RE2 is miles above the way overhyped intro of Final Fantasy 8!!

Oh! And the voice acting has been definetively improved!

The Bad
They still use that sorry-ass savegame system (I don't care it's checkpoint-based, I just hate having to manage those stupid ink ribbons!), and there are a series of elements that seem rather off now with the wider scope of the game. For instance, we could buy the idea that we had to solve stupid statue-pushing puzzles and crest-collecting pixel hunts in the original since it took place in some kooky mansion, but it gets kind of silly here. I mean, I can only imagine the amount of free time the RCPD had if each cop had to find the four crests of life, get the key of spades out of the cu-cu clock and solve the puzzle of the statues of Kukhulu and Khakhata just so they can go to the toilet!

The control is still love-or-hate, Oh... and there's also the matter that just like with the original, this is a very... shall we say..."pop" game... The premise is pure shlock, and the whole thing can be missed by some people. I always find it amusing when those people say how the story in RE is stupid and bla, bla, bla as if they had discovered america. These types of games are SUPPOSED to be like that!! Sure, there's oversexed comic-booky characters, predictable "Oh! you betrayed me!!" plot twists, un-necessary gore and violence, etc. etc. But that's what makes it so good!! I could never understand how some people can... say, appreciate the serious Final Fantasy games as well as the ridiculously inventive Monkey Island games and still not be able to understand that the middle ground between "ridiculous" and "serious" is a category on it's own, and that there is such a thing as "so bad it's good" (especially when it's as well produced as these games!) If you don't get these types of games do yourself a favor and don't play them! Do ourselves a favor too and just shut the fuck up whenever you want to feel smart and blabber on an on about how these games are for retards or adrenaline junkies and are beneath your mighty anal-retentive intellect....'kay?

Oh, and shoot yourself too. The world doesn't need any more arrogant bourgeoise wanna-be jackasses screaming about how they don't like zombies, gore and anything that's remotely cool.

The Bottom Line
Incredible sequel to an established survival/horror classic that manages to upgrade just about everything and remain a kickass contender in the series as well as being one of the best games ever made for the genre and a inductee on the "best sequels ever to any game" Hall of Fame.

Besides it's got Zombies, Babes and gore!!! How can you not love that????:))

PlayStation · by Zovni (10504) · 2001

A less-than-okay game

The Good
It's nice in the way RE1 was nice, it's similar to Alone in the Dark :-)

The Bad
At every aspect RE1 was bad RE2 is worse. The storyline is... well, beyond horrible. It's impossible to describe in words how much I hate the storyline, it seems to be contain every cliche possible. I'd personally like to rank this game series as one of the games with worst storyline list (although I think Final Fantasy barely beats it). The voice acting is still bad, though not as horrible as the prequel. The puzzles have actually become more simple and boring. It can now be better called an action game since basically all you do is fighting and fighting. And the combat is far more dull this time, in the prequel you actually had a challenge since ammo and health was scarce. In this game you can happily walk forward blasting everything in sight with no worries.

The Bottom Line
If you force me... I'll perhaps say that the game is enjoyable to play through once. It's a short experience, and there's some good points, the game still sort of has that AitD feeling and... er... yeah, it's got nice music too. Those weirdos who enjoyed the prequel a lot will probably enjoy this game as well, but everyone else should just look in another direction, or if you're totally bored borrow the game from a friend complete it in a few hours and toss it away.

PlayStation · by Kate Jones (416) · 2001

[ 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.