Dank Clank Reviews: Resident Evil 2 (2019 remake)

Resident Evil is one of those franchises that for the longest time seemed to have passed me by almost completely. I was always aware of its existence, but never truly ventured into the series despite the repeated insistence of friends. Survival horror as a genre just never really gripped me. However, after playing the Resident Evil 2 remake, I honestly can’t believe what I’ve been missing all these years. This was one of the more solid gaming experiences I’ve had in a while. Especially after the fairly underwhelming time I had with Vampyr (2018).

This is a game that excels at atmosphere. Claustrophobic, uncomfortable, and often times providing just as many scares as the lumbering corpses that populate Raccoon City. Especially when accompanied by its phenomenal soundtrack. The original 1998 soundtrack mind you, not the remake's.

The story is solid. It's James Cameron's Aliens but with zombies and other such mutations. Though, as I said, I never did play the original RE2, so I’m unsure just how faithfully it follows its predecessor. However, I’d say the remake is successful in the sense that I’m now more inclined to check out the rest of the franchise than I was previously. That I feel is the mark of a good remake. However, while the story is fine, it’s not perfect. The only real gripe I have with it is its antagonist. Specifically, everyone’s favorite meme-machine, Mr.X.

Now again, I’m not certain how well REmake2 represents the original title, so I’m gonna have to judge this own its own terms. I'll come right out and say it: Mr. X really detracts from William Birkin's part in the story. He's more of a nuisance than a legit antagonist half the time. Plus, Birkin has far more going for him as a character by comparison. Throughout the course of the Leon and Claire campaigns, you're picking up breadcrumbs on who Birkin was, his motivations, and what lead to his gruesome transformation. What exactly does Mr. X have aside from his trench coat and fedora? Again, I’m fairly ignorant on the subject of the series’ history. So, feel free to correct me on this. But I really feel that Capcom should have just left him in the B plot scenario he was originally made for, rather than blow their Nemesis load before they have a chance to remake Resident Evil 3. He is a nuisance, but, he isn’t unmanageable. However, every time you do stumble into the fucker, you either make like Woodkid and run boy, run, or take a chance and put a few slugs into his face to try and shake him off your scent - while also possibly running the risk of running out of ammo. Even worse if he shows up while you're already surrounded by zombies. I feel like I need a degree in juggling after all this multitasking.

That being said, Birkin himself isn’t perfect either. This is more in regards to gameplay than story, but some of the boss fights involving Birkin range from being either okay, albeit a bit challenging, to unforgivably weak. Birkin’s first, third, and fourth forms are fine and make for some pretty decent boss fights. Of particular note is the first bossfight. Tight and compact space, barely maneuverable, and plenty of steam to mask Birkin's approach. I like it. However, the boss fights with his second and fifth forms are just bland. The second form involves you defeating him via a glorified puzzle, and the fifth form involves you just standing there and point then click at the thing you want to make dead. That’s literally it. Side note: Before you encounter Birkin’s fifth and final form, save all the ammo for the big guns. Because your pistols may as well be glorified spitball launchers.

And while I'm on the subject, I'm not a big fan of the damage scaling. Maybe it’s just the hundred plus hours I’ve sunk into Dying Light talking, but I’m kinda used to having head shots register almost immediately rather than taking three to sometimes five hits at a time. And that's just the zombies themselves. I get it. It's survival horror. REmake2 places an emphasis on the tactical approach. Sometimes it's best to play smart, as opposed to going in guns blazing only to realize towards the end that the two peashooters you have aren't enough to take down a toothy Jim Sterling with tentacles. Perhaps that's not so much a fault of the game as it is just personal preference. The damage scaling likely won't bother most people. Every encounter with an enemy is significant and carries weight to it. But still. The human head, undead or otherwise, is pretty susceptible to even a 9mm round.

Graphically speaking, this was one of the smoothest gaming experiences I’ve had in a long time. Aside from the odd frame drop, the game runs damn fine. Though, depending on your choice of GPU, you may need to fiddle around with the settings just to keep it within your GPU’s available memory. I should point out that halfway through the game I did end up upgrading from a GTX 1060 to a GTX 1080 Ti. Which did help. Art design-wise it looks great. Dark, gloomy, tight spaces and corners that leave your heart pounding as you navigate it, not knowing who or what is lurking in the dark. It's all the fun of a haunted house without having to go outside. Very introvert-friendly.

Overall, I’d say I had great time with Resident Evil 2 (2019). I’ve only played about twenty three hours thus far, so I haven’t even come close to beating the game to 100% completion - and it may be a while since I'm knee-deep in Devil May Cry 5 at the moment. There are alternate campaigns to play through, which goes a long way in terms of replay value for me. If you’re a newcomer like I was and are hesitant to bed down with a storied franchise such as this, then I’d recommend giving REmake2 a chance. It's a good one.

I give REmake2 an Ada Wong in a cocktail dress out of ten.