THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

In the fabled remake of 1998's Resident Evil 2, players again take control of either rookie police officer, Leon S. Kennedy, or college student, Claire Redfield, as they attempt to flee a Zombie apocalypse in Raccoon City; the place they now find themselves trapped. The two characters get separated near the start of their adventure and have different stories to tell but it becomes clear that this diabolical attack of the undead was caused by an escaped (or let loose) virus, created by the Umbrella Corporation. With this knowledge, a new fact dawns; there are far worse things than Zombies to contend with...

MY VERDICT:

Resident Evil 2 is a fantastic game that I cannot recommend strongly enough. First of all, and most notable, the graphics are absolutely incredible with an updated Resident Evil 7 engine handling the epic, superbly-detailed environments; from the well-lit sections of the R. P. D. (Raccoon Police Department) headquarters to the gruesome dirt and grime of the sewers. These great visuals also extend to the enemies with Zombies, Lickers, Zombie Dogs and other nasties all looking, and moving, disturbingly real. There are tons of hidden details too such as Zombies reacting to sound and Lickers being blind, able to be avoided by skilful players. The standout enemy though is Mr. X - the menacing, heavy-footed and nightmare-inducing tyrant. He stalks Leon as he wanders around the museum turned police station, collecting keys, solving puzzles, dispensing with Zombies and making the best of the scant resources on offer. And, yes, this game is true survival horror; none of the larger than life action heroes or infinitely-sized ammo pockets - inventory space is at a premium, health, while at first plentiful, quickly becomes highly prized. All things considered, Resident Evil 2 is very nearly the perfect game from my point of view but there are some minor niggles holding it back. Most are not worth mentioning though I was disappointed to find how similar Claire's and Leon's campaigns are; they fight mostly the same bosses and participate in mostly the same cutscenes, causing havoc with a consistent storyline. Still, both campaigns are stupidly excellent fun so there is only one thing left to say: buy this game, buy it now.