Resident Evil 2

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the 1998 video game. For the 2019 remake, see Resident Evil 2 (2019 video game). For other uses, see Resident Evil 2 (disambiguation).
"Biohazard 2" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Biohazard Level 2.

Resident Evil 2
NTSC Resident Evil 2 Cover.png
North American PlayStation cover art
Developer(s)Capcom[a]
Publisher(s)
Capcom
Director(s)Hideki Kamiya
Producer(s)Shinji Mikami
Programmer(s)Yasuhiro Anpo
Artist(s)
  • Isao Ohishi
  • Ryoji Shimogama
Writer(s)Noboru Sugimura
Composer(s)
  • Masami Ueda
  • Shusaku Uchiyama
  • Syun Nishigaki
SeriesResident Evil
Platform(s)PlayStation, Windows, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, GameCube, Game.com
Release
January 21, 1998
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Resident Evil 2[b] is a 1998 survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation. The player controls Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, who must escape Raccoon City after its citizens are transformed into zombies by a biological weapon two months after the events of the original Resident Evil. The gameplay focuses on exploration, puzzles, and combat; the main difference from its predecessor are the branching paths, with each player character having unique storylines, partners and obstacles.

Resident Evil 2 was produced by Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami, directed by Hideki Kamiya, and developed by a team of around 50 over 21 months. The initial version, commonly referred to as Resident Evil 1.5, differed drastically; it was canceled when it was around two thirds complete after Mikami decided it was inadequate. The final design introduced a more cinematic presentation.

Resident Evil 2 received acclaim for its atmosphere, setting, graphics, audio, scenarios, and overall gameplay, as well as its improvements over the original game, but with some criticism towards its controls, voice acting and certain gameplay elements. It has appeared on a number of lists of the best video games ever made. It is the best-selling Resident Evil game for a single platform, shipping 5.77 million copies on PlayStation, combining its original release on PlayStation with the DualShock release. It was ported to Windows, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and GameCube, and a modified 2.5D version was released for the Game.com handheld. The story of Resident Evil 2 was retold and built upon in several later games, and has been adapted into a variety of licensed works. It was followed by Resident Evil 3: Nemesis in 1999. A remake was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows in 2019.

Gameplay[]

A young police officer is defending himself against a group of attacking zombies with a shotgun. The scene takes place in a small room decorated with pieces of art.
A screenshot showing protagonist Leon in battle with zombies at a police department. The character and item models are the only moving elements of the graphics. The backgrounds are pre-rendered still images, which allows for a higher level of graphical detail.[1]

A survival horror game, Resident Evil 2 features the same basic gameplay mechanics as its predecessor, Resident Evil. The player explores a fictional city while solving puzzles and fighting monsters.[2] The game's two protagonists may be equipped with firearms, but limited ammunition adds a tactical element to weapon use.[2][3] On the status screen, the player can check the condition of the protagonists, use medicine to heal their wounds, and assign weapons.[4][5] The characters' current health can also be determined by their posture and movement speed. For example, a character will hold their stomach in pain if wounded, and will limp slowly if on the verge of death.[2][6] The protagonists may carry a limited number of items, and must store others in boxes placed throughout the game world, where they may later be retrieved.[2][7] Each protagonist is joined by a support partner during the course of the story. These characters accompany the player in certain scenes, and occasionally become playable.[1][8] Certain rooms contain typewriters that the player may use to save the game. However, each save expends one of a limited number of ink ribbons, which the player must collect in the game world.[9][10] The graphics of Resident Evil 2 are composed of real-time generated – and thus movable – polygonal character and item models, superimposed over pre-rendered backgrounds that are viewed from fixed camera angles.[2][11] The game uses tank controls, meaning that pressing up moves the character in the direction they face, down reverses them, and left and right rotates them, regardless of the perspective of the camera.[12]

The main addition over the preceding game is the "Zapping System",[13] by which each of the two playable characters are confronted with different puzzles and storylines in their respective scenarios.[2] After finishing the "A" scenario with one protagonist, a "B" scenario, in which the events are depicted from the other character's perspective, is unlocked.[2][14] The player has the option of starting the "A" scenario with either of the two protagonists, resulting in a total of four different scenarios.[15] Actions taken during the first playthrough affect the second. For example, the availability of certain items may be altered.[2] After each game, the player receives a ranking based on the total time taken to complete the scenario, and on the number of saves and special healing items used.[16] Depending on the player's accomplishments, bonus weapons and costumes may be unlocked as a reward.[14] The original version of Resident Evil 2 contains two stand-alone minigames: "The 4th Survivor" and "The To-fu Survivor". In both of these minigames, the player must reach the goal while fighting every enemy along the way with only the default item loadout.[17] All later versions (except the Nintendo 64 version) add a third minigame, "Extreme Battle", which consists of four playable characters and three stages.[17][18]

Plot[]

On September 29, 1998, two months after the events of the first Resident Evil,[19] most citizens of the Midwestern American mountain community Raccoon City have been transformed into zombies by the T-virus, a biological weapon secretly developed by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella.[20][21] Leon S. Kennedy, a police officer on his first day of duty, and Claire Redfield, a college student looking for her brother Chris, make their way to the Raccoon Police Department.[20] They discover that most of the police force have been killed,[22] and that Chris has left town to investigate Umbrella's headquarters in Europe.[23] They split up to look for survivors and find a way out of the city.[24][25] While searching for an escape route, Claire meets a little girl, Sherry Birkin, who is on the run from an unknown creature, and Leon encounters Ada Wong, who claims to be looking for her boyfriend John, an Umbrella researcher from Chicago.[24][26]

Raccoon City police chief Brian Irons had been bribed by Umbrella to hide evidence of the company's experiments in the outskirts of the city. He concealed their development of the new G-virus, an agent capable of mutating a human into the ultimate bioweapon.[24][27] Leon has multiple encounters with a Tyrant, a monster air-dropped into the Raccoon Police Department by Umbrella to seek the G-virus. Irons tries to murder Claire but is killed by a G-virus mutant in the police department. Claire and Sherry escape through the sewers and become separated. After splitting up with Leon, Ada finds Sherry and picks up a golden pendant the girl loses while running away. Further into the sewers, Ada reluctantly teams up with Leon again, after he insists on his duty to protect her. They encounter a middle-aged woman who fires at Ada, but Leon jumps between them and takes a bullet himself. Ada ignores the unconscious Leon and follows the woman, who reveals herself to be Sherry's mother Annette and the wife of William Birkin, the Umbrella scientist who created the G-virus. In an attempt to protect his life's work from special agents sent by the Umbrella headquarters, he injected himself with the virus, which turned him into the malformed creature and is now chasing Sherry because of her genetic make-up.[24] Annette recognizes her daughter's pendant and attempts to take it from Ada. A fight ensues, during which Annette is thrown over a railing.[28] Ada learns that the golden locket contains a sample of the G-virus, and later – taken over by her emotions – returns to Leon, tending to his bullet wound.[20][24]

Meanwhile, Claire is reunited with Sherry and discovers that William has implanted his daughter with an embryo to produce offspring. Leon, Ada, Claire, and Sherry advance through an abandoned factory connected to Umbrella's secret underground research facility. An attack by William leaves Ada heavily wounded, and Leon explores the laboratory to find something to treat her wounds.[24] He is interrupted by a psychotic Annette, who explains to him that Ada's relationship with John was only a means of getting information about Umbrella: Ada is a spy sent to steal the G-virus for an unknown organization.[24][29] Just as Annette is about to shoot Leon, the Tyrant appears, and she is forced to retreat. Ada returns to save Leon and battles the Tyrant – which falls into a pit of molten metal – seemingly at the cost of her own life. She confesses her love to Leon, who leaves behind her motionless body, however, Ada survives. Meanwhile, Annette tries to escape with another sample of the G-virus but is fatally wounded by her mutated husband. However, before she dies, she tells Claire how to create a vaccine that will stop the mutations caused by the embryo within Sherry. After preparing the cure, Leon and Claire reunite at an emergency escape train and inject Sherry with the vaccine, which saves her life. En route, Leon is assisted in terminating the now-mutated Super Tyrant by Ada who escapes with the G-virus in the pendant.[24][30] William—now mutated into an agglomeration of flesh and teeth—follows Leon and Claire, but is destroyed when the train self-destructs.[24] After escaping from the city with Sherry, Leon intends to take down Umbrella, while Claire continues to search for Chris.[24][31] HUNK, one of the surviving special agents sent by Umbrella, completes his G-virus retrieval mission.[30]

Development[]

Development of Resident Evil 2 began one month after the completion of its predecessor in early 1996.[32] Resident Evil 2 was developed by a group of about 45 people that later became part of Capcom Production Studio 4.[33][34] Director Hideki Kamiya led the team, which was composed of newer Capcom employees and over half of the staff from the original Resident Evil.[32][33][35] In the initial stages of development, producer Shinji Mikami often had creative disagreements with Kamiya, and tried to influence the team with his own direction. He eventually stepped back to an overseeing role as producer, and only demanded to be shown the latest build once a month.[36]

Resident Evil 1.5[]

A young woman in a red and white racing suit is shooting at a pair of undead police officers, while two more enemies sneak up on her from behind. The office of the police station they are fighting in has sheets of paper scattered on the floor, and the whole scene features a bluish tint.
In Resident Evil 1.5, an early version of the game, players controlled protagonist Elza Walker. The interior of the police station was completely different, with a more modern design.

The first footage of Resident Evil 2 was shown at the V Jump Festival '96 in July.[37] This build, later dubbed Resident Evil 1.5 by Mikami, differed drastically from the final version.[33][35] Its plot followed the same basic outline and features a zombie outbreak in Raccoon City two months after the events of the first game. However, Umbrella had already been closed as a consequence of its illegal experiments.[38]

The development team sought to retain the degree of fear from the original game, and introduced two characters without experience of terrifying situations: Leon S. Kennedy, largely identical to his persona in the final build, and Elza Walker, a college student and motorcycle racer vacationing in Raccoon City, her hometown.[35][38][39][40] Unlike the final version, the character paths did not cross, and each character had two support partners instead of one.[39] Leon received help from fellow police officer Marvin Branagh and researcher Linda – an early version of Ada – while Elza was aided by Sherry Birkin and John, who appears in Resident Evil 2 as gun shop owner Robert Kendo.[39][41]

Real-world examples influenced character designs by artists Isao Ohishi and Ryoji Shimogama. For example, Ohishi based Leon on his bloodhound, and Annette Birkin was modeled after actress Jodie Foster.[41] The police department was smaller and had a more modern and realistic design.[38][39] There were more encounters with surviving policemen, such as a superior officer of Leon called Roy.[39][41] Enemy models used far fewer polygons,[33] allowing many zombies to appear on the screen.[33][35] The game employed dynamic music, and altered pre-rendered backgrounds in response to gameplay events.[38] The playable characters could use equipment such as protective clothes to enhance their defense and enable them to carry more items.[42][43] The character models were altered by costume changes and by damage received from enemies.[42]

Believing the game's assets were good individually, but not yet satisfactory as a whole, Mikami expected that everything would coalesce in the three months leading up to the projected May 1997 release date.[40][36] Shortly thereafter, however, Resident Evil 1.5 was scrapped at 60–80 percent completion.[32][33][39][44] Mikami later explained that the game would not have reached the desired quality in the aforementioned period, and felt the gameplay and locations were dull.[32][33][36]

A photograph of a Japanese man wearing a baseball cap.
Producer Shinji Mikami backed down from his hands-on role in development after creative disagreements with the director.

Development restarted[]

Mikami planned to the end the series with Resident Evil 2. Supervisor Yoshiki Okamoto criticized the story, finding it too conclusive to allow for future installments. Instead, Okamoto proposed the creation of a fictional universe that would turn Resident Evil into a metaseries – similar to the Gundam and James Bond franchises – in which self-contained stories with common elements could be told.[45]

During a period in which the team made no progress rewriting the scenario, Okamoto was introduced to professional screenwriter Noboru Sugimura, who was enthusiastic about the first game's story.[46] Sugimura was initially consulted on a trial basis, but Okamoto was impressed by the ease with which Sugimara solved script problems, and soon asked him to compose the entire scenario for Resident Evil 2.[33][46] One fundamental modification to the story was the reworking of Elza Walker into Claire Redfield, in order to introduce a connection to the plot of the first game.[32]

To fulfill Capcom's sales plan of two million copies, director Kamiya tried to attract new customers with a more ostentatious and Hollywood-like story presentation.[47] As Okamoto did not want to simply enforce the new direction, he had Sugimura discuss the plot revisions with Mikami and the development staff.[45] The planners redesigned the game from the ground up to fit the changes, and the programmers and other remaining members of the team were sent to work on Resident Evil Director's Cut, which was shipped with a playable preview disc of the new Resident Evil 2 version in order to promote the sequel and to apologize to the players for its belated release.[33][48]

Only a few assets from Resident Evil 1.5 could be recycled, as the principal locations in the final build were made to look more extravagant and artistic, based on photographs taken of the interiors of Western-style buildings in Japanese cities.[33] The environments were created on SGI O2 computers, and each background took two or three weeks to render. The maximum number of zombies displayed on the screen at one time was limited to seven, making it possible to use 450 polygons for the comparatively detailed models of Leon and Claire.[32] The protagonists, instead of being given visible wounds, were made to limp slowly upon receiving heavy damage.[33] Apart from the graphics, one of the most important new features was the "Zapping System",[49] which was partly inspired by Back to the Future Part II, a time travel-themed film sequel that offers a different perspective on the story of the original film. The voice-overs by the all-Canadian cast of Resident Evil 2 were recorded before the actual cutscenes were completed, with each of the actors selected from a roster of ten people per role.[50] Thereafter, the full-motion videos (FMVs) were created by filming stop-motion animations of action figures, which were then rendered to completed pictures with computer graphics (CG) tools.[51] Ada's movie model could not be finished in time. Thus, she is the only main character not to appear in a pre-rendered cutscene.[50]

Several changes had to be made between the regional releases of Resident Evil 2. The North American version contains more violent "game over" screens, which were removed from the Japanese Biohazard 2. Resident Evil 2 was also made more difficult (and thus longer-playing) than its Japanese equivalent to prevent short-term rentals from affecting U.S. sales.[51][32][52]

Music[]

See also: Discography of the Resident Evil video game series

The music for Resident Evil 2 was composed by Masami Ueda, Shusaku Uchiyama and Syun Nishigaki, with one track composed by Naoshi Mizuta.[53][54] The compositions were meant to convey "desperation" as their underlying theme.[32] In his role as lead composer, Ueda provided the motifs, while Uchiyama was responsible for the horror-themed music used for the investigation and movie scenes.[55] The main theme of the score, a versatile three-note leitmotif, appears several times throughout the course of the story, being included in compositions such as "Prologue", "Raccoon City" and "The Third Malformation of G". Various musical styles, ranging from ambient horror music to industrial pieces, are used to represent the different environments of the game. For example, the streets of Raccoon City are emphasized with militaristic percussion-based music, while the police department features ominous piano underscores.[56] Key events of the story are supported with orchestral and cinematic compositions – a move that was inspired by blockbuster films.[55][56]

Two albums containing music from the game were released in January and August 1998, respectively.[57][58] The first, Biohazard 2 Original Soundtrack, is the main release and includes most of the significant compositions.[56] The second, Biohazard 2 Complete Track, largely encompasses less prevalent themes, but offers an orchestral medley and a second CD with sound effects and voice collections, as well as an interview with the sound staff.[59] Biohazard 2 Original Soundtrack received an identical European CD, Resident Evil 2 Original Soundtrack. In the North American album of the same name, the opening theme "The Beginning of Story" is split up into four individual tracks.[56] Five orchestral arrangements of the game's music were included on the Bio Hazard Orchestra Album, a recording of a live concert performed by the New Japan Philharmonic.[60] Disc jockey Piston Nishizawa created electronic remixes for several of the compositions, which were later released as the album Biohazard 2 Remix: Metamorphoses.[61]

Releases[]

An image showing a video game peripheral for Sega's Dreamcast console.
A port of Resident Evil 2 to the Dreamcast added support for the Visual Memory Unit, which displays the condition of the player character.

After its initial release for the PlayStation in January 1998, Resident Evil 2 was reissued and ported to other systems, often gaining new features in the process.

Dual Shock Ver.[]

The first re-release is the Dual Shock Ver., which supports the vibration and analog control functions of the PlayStation's DualShock controller. Other additions include a new unlockable minigame called "Extreme Battle", and a "Rookie" mode that enables the player to start the main story with a powerful weapon and infinite ammunition. The Japanese release of the Dual Shock Ver. contains a "U.S.A. Version" mode based on the difficulty level of Resident Evil 2's Western versions.[62] The Dual Shock Ver. served as the basis for the majority of ports, such as the Windows 9x-based PC-CD version Resident Evil 2 Platinum. The PC version retains all previously added features and can be run in higher resolutions.[63] A "Data Gallery" was added to the main menu, allowing the player to view movies, rough sketches, illustrations, and 3D models.[63][64] In February 2006, a Japan-exclusive, Windows XP-compatible PC-DVD re-release was published. Developed by Sourcenext, it includes high-quality FMVs encoded at a resolution of 640×480 pixels.[65][66]

The Dreamcast version keeps the additions from the original PC release, and incorporates real-time display of the character's condition on the Visual Memory Unit peripheral.[67][68] The Japanese edition of the Dreamcast port has the subtitle Value Plus and a playable demo of Resident Evil – Code: Veronica.[64] An unmodified port of the Dual Shock Ver. was released for the GameCube.[69] The initial PlayStation version was re-released on the Japanese PlayStation Network in 2007, while the service's North American counterpart received the Dual Shock Ver. two years later.[70][71][72]

Nintendo 64[]

The Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 2 is one of the few games released for the console to have FMVs, overcoming the limited storage space on the cartridge. The PlayStation version with two CD-ROMs of up to 700 MB per disc was faithfully replicated (with unique enhancements) on a 64 MB Nintendo 64 Game Pak. Audio and video assets had to be more aggressively and creatively compressed, using novel techniques that shift the burden more toward the console's high real-time processing power.[73] Over the course of twelve months and with a budget of $1 million,[73] Resident Evil 2 was ported to the console by a team led by nine full-time and one part-time personnel from Angel Studios.[73] Further help was provided by ten staff from Capcom Production Studio 3 and Factor 5.[74][75] This version offers features that were not included on any other system, such as alternate costumes, the ability to adjust the degree of violence and to change the blood color, a randomizer to place items differently during each playthrough, and a more responsive first-person control scheme.[11][75][76][77] Additionally, the port features 16 new in-game documents known as the "Ex Files",[11][76] written by Tetsuro Oyama.[53] Hidden throughout the four scenarios, they reveal new information about the series' lore and connect the story of Resident Evil 2 to those of the other installments, including some that had not been released yet.[11][76]

The Nintendo 64 version adjusts its display resolution depending on the number of polygonal models currently on screen, and supports the console's Expansion Pak accessory for a maximum resolution of 640×480 during gameplay.[78][79] Other visual enhancements include smoother character animations and sharper, perspective-corrected textures for the 3D models.[78] The Nintendo 64 version is the only one to use surround sound, with the soundtrack converted to Dolby Surround by Chris Hülsbeck, Rudolf Stember and Thomas Engel.[75] The team reworked the sound set from the ground up to provide each instrument with a higher sample rate than on the PlayStation, thus resulting in higher-quality music.[80] Some features from the other enhanced ports based on the Dual Shock Ver. do not appear in the Nintendo 64 version, such as the "Extreme Battle" minigame.[81] In 2018, Eurogamer called this "one of the most ambitious [and impressive] console ports of all time".[77]

Minor versions[]

Tiger Electronics released a sprite-based 2.5D version for their Game.com handheld in late 1998. It includes only Leon's story path, and removed several of the original game's core features.[82][83] In February 2013, an unfinished build of Resident Evil 1.5 was leaked onto the Internet.[84] In Italy, Resident Evil 2 was temporarily banned in 1999 following criticism from the political organization "Movimento Diritti Civili" (Civil Rights Movement) for its realistic depiction of violence, with the law enforcement agency Guardia di Finanza seizing over 5,500 unsold copies.[85][86] After Sony Computer Entertainment asked for a re-examination of the seizure decree, the ban was lifted a few months later.[87]

A port of Resident Evil 2 for the Sega Saturn was developed internally at Capcom for a time, but technical difficulties led to its cancellation in October 1998.[88]

Reception[]

Resident Evil 2 received generally positive reviews. Its original PlayStation release holds an average aggregate score of 93% at GameRankings based on 25 reviews,[129] and 89 out of 100 points at Metacritic for both the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 versions based on 13 reviews.[131] The majority of reviews praised Resident Evil 2 for its atmosphere, setting, graphics, audio, and overall gameplay, but criticized its controls, voice acting and certain gameplay elements.[b]

Computer and Video Games magazine's Steve Key and Alex Huhtahla praised the gameplay, puzzles, horror, graphics, audio, and the scenario system's replay factor.[94] Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine's four reviewers agreed it was better than the original game, and said almost everything about the sequel is "flawless", including the excellent gameplay, graphics, layout, level of detail, sound, frightful atmosphere, suspenseful story and scenario system. However, they criticized the controls, menu system, and voice acting, but said the controls and voice acting were an improvement over the original.[97] GameFan magazine's three reviewers praised the gameplay, tension, environments, graphics, voice acting, and scenario system.[103] Game Informer magazine's three reviewers praised the game's concept, graphics, sound, playability and entertainment.[105] PSM magazine praised the puzzles, monsters and weapons.[127]

IGN's Ricardo Sanchez thought that the game's atmosphere was "dead on", and claimed that "[the] graphics, sound effects, music and level design all work together to create a spooky, horror-filled world".[118] Ryan Mac Donald of GameSpot shared the opinion, and found the game to be "like a product out of Hollywood". He believed that it was "more an interactive, cinematic experience than a video game".[2] Writing for ComputerAndVideoGames.com, Paul Mallinson considered the game's atmosphere, story and film-like presentation its most outstanding features, and though he found its plot to be "far-fetched", he believed it was "kept down to earth by clever scripting and gritty storytelling".[135] GamePro staff writer Mike Weigand called the narrative "engrossing and dramatic", and the dialogue "well-written" and "spell-binding".[1] Sanchez, GameSpy's Brian Davis and Eurogamer's Martin Taylor praised the "Zapping System" for adding to the story and increasing the replay value.[118][136][137] Mac Donald thought that the idea of actions in the first scenario affecting the second was "cool in concept", but underused in the game.[2]

Resident Evil 2 was also praised for its graphics, which many critics believed were a substantial improvement upon those of the first installment.[1][2][118] Sanchez and Weigand thought that the pre-rendered backgrounds were an impressive leap ahead of those in the original Resident Evil, thanks to their increased detail and interactivity.[1][118] Mac Donald praised the model animations for having reached "true realism", and commended the game's use of body language as a means of seamlessly communicating the condition of the protagonists' health.[2] Allgame's Shawn Sackenheim awarded its graphics the highest possible score, as he found the backgrounds to be "rendered to perfection", the cutscenes "a work of art" and the animation "fluid and eerie".[89] The audio was well received by critics. Weigand cited it as an "excellent accompaniment to the visuals".[1] Sanchez went as far as to say that Resident Evil 2 "may have the best sound design yet for a console game".[118] Sackenheim described the music and sound effects as "spot on perfect", and called the soundtrack "perfectly composed",[89] while Mac Donald likened the game's use of audio to that of classic horror films.[2]

A common point of criticism was the inventory system, which Sanchez called "a pain". He frowned upon the player's need to retrieve objects from item boxes,[118] and Mac Donald criticized the system for being unrealistic, as the boxes are "[magically]" interconnected and all items take the same amount of space when being carried, regardless of their size.[2] Furthermore, Mallinson and Mac Donald disapproved of certain puzzles, which they believed were out of place in a police station setting.[2][135] Sanchez thought that the puzzles were paced better than in the first game, but also found them less interesting and too easy for experienced players.[118] Sackenheim noted the game's brevity in his review, and remarked that the individual scenarios are not different enough to hold the interest of casual players until the end of the game.[89] He found the controls to be "easy to pick up and play", while Sanchez thought that aiming weapons was difficult.[89][118] Certain reviewers panned the voice acting, calling it "cheesy", "terrible" and "barbaric".[c]

With the exception of the game's critically acclaimed Nintendo 64 port,[98][132] most later releases of Resident Evil 2 have received slightly lower scores than the PlayStation version.[d] Weigand advised players who already owned Resident Evil 2 to rent the Dual Shock Ver. for the "Extreme Battle" minigame, and recommended that newcomers buy the updated edition instead of the original release.[107] The Windows port was praised for its additional content, but criticized for not allowing the player to save at will, and for lacking updated backgrounds to fit the higher in-game resolution.[e] Eurogamer said the PC's total elimination of CD-ROM load times make the game "extremely fun and simple".[77] The Nintendo 64 version was widely commended for the technical achievement of fitting a two-disc game on a single 512-Mbit (64MB) cartridge. However, Taylor criticized this version for retaining scenes from the PlayStation version that were used to conceal loading times – a technical disadvantage of optical discs that cartridges do not share.[f] A GamePro writer under the pseudonym "The Freshman" was impressed with the enhanced graphics of the Nintendo 64 port, but was disappointed by its heavily compressed CG FMVs.[138] GameSpot's Joe Fielder found the compression to be forgivable given the cartridge format, and noted that the new exclusive features made up for the lack of the "Extreme Battle" mode.[81] Eurogamer said the Nintendo 64's unique analog control "works supremely well to the point where it's borderline game-breaking".[77] IGN reviewer Matt Casamassina applauded the implementation of Dolby Surround support, and called the Nintendo 64 release the "best version of the game".[11] In 2018, Eurogamer called it "one of the most ambitious [and impressive] console ports of all time".[77]

The clearer sound effects of the Dreamcast port were received well by Game Revolution's Shawn Sparks, who also remarked that the character models look slightly sharper.[139] However, Steve Key of Computer And Video Games disliked the Dreamcast release's low-resolution backgrounds, which he thought made the characters stand out too much from the environments, and thus lessened the game's atmosphere.[140] GameSpot staff writer James Mielke did not believe that the Dreamcast port was "an essential purchase", but still called it a "great game" at an attractively low price.[67] The GameCube release was heavily criticized for its high price and dated graphics.[g] However, "Four-Eyed Dragon" of GamePro noted its superior in-game visuals of any version of the game.[141] Davis and 1UP.com's Mark MacDonald were disappointed by the port's lack of features that were included in the Nintendo 64 release.[136][142] Peer Schneider of IGN found the 2.5D version for the Game.com to be frustrating and only "partially faithful" to the original release of Resident Evil 2. Although he believed that its graphics and sound effects managed to recreate the original game's atmosphere to a certain extent, he thought that its controls were too "sluggish" to allow for an enjoyable experience.[83]

Sales[]

Resident Evil 2 was promoted with a $5 million advertising campaign. In Italy, the game reached 100,000 pre-orders, worth over 12 billion lire (about more than $6.6 million).[86] It became the fastest-selling video game in North America. On the weekend following its release, it sold more than 380,000 copies and grossed $19 million. It therefore surpassed the revenue of all but one Hollywood movie at that time and broke previous sales records set by the video games Final Fantasy VII and Super Mario 64.[143] After one and a half months, the game's global sales had topped 3 million copies, with 1.9 million sold in Japan and over a million sold in the United States.[144]

Weekly Famitsu named it Japan's best-selling game for the first half of 1998, with sales of 2.13 million units.[145] According to The NPD Group, it was 1998's sixth best-selling game in the United States.[146] At the 1999 Milia festival in Cannes, Resident Evil 2 took home a "Gold" prize for revenues above €29 million in the European Union during 1998.[147] With 4.96 million copies sold, the original PlayStation version of Resident Evil 2 was a commercial success, and is the franchise's best-selling game on a single platform.[148] By March 1999, all versions of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2 had collectively sold approximately 11 million units worldwide,[149] with Resident Evil 2: Dual Shock Ver. having sold 810,000 copies by this time,[150] adding up to 5.77 million copies sold for both PlayStation versions of Resident Evil 2.

Accolades[]

In Electronic Gaming Monthly's 1998 Gamers' Choice Awards, Resident Evil 2 was the runner-up for Best Adventure Game of the Year and Readers' Choice Best PlayStation Game of the Year, behind Metal Gear Solid which won in both award categories.[151]

Resident Evil 2 has been held in high regard in the years following its initial release, and was named the fourth best game on the PlayStation by Famitsu.[152] Electronic Gaming Monthly, IGN, Empire, Game Informer and Official UK PlayStation Magazine included it in their lists of the 100 best games of all time; it came in 62nd, 58th, 49th, 34th and sixth place, respectively.[a] Readers of Retro Gamer voted Resident Evil 2 the 97th top retro game, with the staff noting that it was "considered by many to be the best in the long-running series".[153] GameTrailers ranked it fourth on a list of the games that most needed remakes.[154]

Legacy[]

Resident Evil 2 was the basis for several licensed works and later games. Ted Adams and Kris Oprisko loosely adapted it into the comics "Raccoon City – R.I.P." and "A New Chapter of Evil", which were released in the first and second issues of Resident Evil: The Official Comic Book Magazine in March and June 1998.[155][156] The 60-issue Hong Kong comics Biohazard 2 was published weekly from February 1998 to April 1999.[157] A romantic comedy retelling of the game's story, centered on Leon, Claire and Ada, was released as the Taiwanese two-issue comic Èlíng Gǔbǎo II (lit. "Demon Castle II").[158][159] Resident Evil: City of the Dead, a 1999 book written by author S. D. Perry, is a more direct adaptation of the narrative, and is the third release in her series of Resident Evil novelizations, published by Pocket Books in 1999.[160]

The mobile game Resident Evil: Uprising contains a condensed version of the Resident Evil 2 story, adapted by Megan Swaine.[161][162] Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, an on-rails shooter released for the Wii in 2009, includes a scenario named "Memories of a Lost City", which reimagines the original Resident Evil 2 plot while retaining key scenes from the game's four scenarios.[163] In 2008, Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi, who had previously worked on the series as weapons designer and graphics animator, alluded to the possibility of a full-fledged remake.[164][165][166] Such a project had already been considered for the GameCube in 2002, but Mikami abandoned the idea as he did not want to delay the in-development Resident Evil 4.[167]

Resident Evil 2 appears in the British sitcom Spaced in the episode "Art", in which a character hallucinates that he is fighting a zombie invasion. Spaced director Edgar Wright cited this episode inspired by Resident Evil 2 as the basis for his zombie comedy film Shaun of the Dead (2004).[168]

The story arcs introduced in Resident Evil 2 continue in drama albums and later game releases. Kyoko Sagiyama, Junichi Miyashita, Yasuyuki Suzuki, Noboru Sugimura, Hirohisa Soda and Kishiko Miyagi – screenwriters employed by Capcom's former scenario subsidiary Flagship – created two radio dramas, Chiisana Tōbōsha Sherry ("The Little Runaway Sherry") and Ikiteita Onna Spy Ada ("The Female Spy Ada Lives"). The dramas were broadcast on Radio Osaka in early 1999, and later released by publisher Suleputer as two separate CDs, Biohazard 2 Drama Album.[169][170][171][172] Chiisana Tōbōsha Sherry begins shortly after the events of the game. Sherry is separated from Claire while fleeing from Umbrella soldiers sent to kill all witnesses of the viral outbreak. Raccoon City is burned down by the U.S. Government and Umbrella in an attempt to cover up the disaster. Sherry seeks refuge in the neighboring town of Stone Ville, and later escapes to Canada with the help of a girl named Meg, who vows to help her reunite with Claire.[169]

Ikiteita Onna Spy Ada is set a few days after Resident Evil 2, and deals with Ada's mission to retrieve Sherry's pendant with the G-virus sample, which is said to be in the possession of HUNK in the backstory of the drama album.[171] Ada intercepts the delivery of the locket in France, and kills HUNK and his men. As a consequence of an accidental T-virus leak in Loire Village, the destination of the delivery, Ada is forced to retreat to an old castle. Along with a unit of the French Air Force sent to burn down the village, she encounters Christine Henry, the Umbrella facility director who gave HUNK the order to deliver the G-virus to France.[171][173] Jacob, the leader of the airborne unit, is revealed to be Christine's co-conspirator. However, he plans to keep the G-virus sample for himself, and shoots her. Philippe, another member of the unit, convinces Ada to give him the pendant, after which he injects himself with the G-virus to give himself the power to stop Jacob. Ada escapes and realizes her feelings for Leon, deciding to quit the spy business and return to him.[171] The characters' story arcs are continued differently: Sherry is taken into custody by the U.S. Government immediately after the events of Resident Evil 2, and Ada keeps the pendant with the G-virus and resumes her activities as a spy.[174][175] Hunk successfully delivers a separate G-virus sample to Umbrella.[30]

Remake[]

Main article: Resident Evil 2 (2019 video game)

In August 2015, Capcom announced that a remake of Resident Evil 2 was in development.[176] Capcom unveiled the game at E3 2018, with trailers and gameplay footage, and announced a worldwide release date of January 25, 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows.[177][178] The game uses the RE Engine, which was also used for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard,[179] and replaces the tank controls and fixed camera angles with "over-the-shoulder" gameplay similar to Resident Evil 4.[180]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Ported to Nintendo 64 by Angel Studios, with support by Capcom Production Studio 3 and Factor 5.
  2. ^ Known in Japan as Biohazard 2, stylized as BIOHAZARD 2 (Japanese: バイオハザード2, Hepburn: Baiohazādo Tsū)

References[]

^ Reference group a[181][182][183][184][185] ^ Reference group b[2][69][89][95][118][186] ^ Reference group c[63][69][141][187] ^ Reference group d[96][188][189][133][134]
^ Reference group e[9][63][187][190][191] ^ Reference group f[11][81][137][138][192][193] ^ Reference group g[69][136][142][194][195][196]
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