Just completed the first run through of Resident Evil 2. Re-engineered to take advantage of today’s multi-core processors and high performance graphic cards Resident Evil 2 lives up to the hype. The original Resident Evil was released for the Playstation back in March of 1996 with Resident Evil 2 following hot on its heels in early 1998. Being a fan favorite the treatment the Resident Evil 2 reboot release in 2019 stays true to the original story line. Featuring beautiful, creepy, and professional artwork paired with Reality Engine, the same graphical 3d engine that Resident Evil 7 was based on, the gameplay is smooth and memorable. With the iconic third person over the shoulder view it will be immediately recognizable to anyone who has played Resident Evil. The storyline, the characters, and the various locales which your character might find him or her self reminds us what made the original release such a big hit. It’s not a one for one identical of the original but if you’ve played the original Resident Evil 2 it might be hard to notice the differences.

The original Sony Playstation debuted in Japan during September of 1994 with North America getting it’s official Playstation release during September of 1995 it’s easy to understand the leaps and bounds today’s computers have in processing power over those of yesteryear. With that second installment of Resident Evil it officially becomes a “series” and goes down in history as the survival horror we all know and love today. With worldwide release it becomes an overnight sensation and defines the blossoming genre. The Resident Evil series becomes the de facto standard of which all other survival horror franchises will measure themselves against.

Here are my stats of the first run through with RPD (Racoon Police Department) Rookie Leon S. Kennedy:

• Story Completed: Leon S. Kennedy
• Game Mode: Assisted
• Total Time: 25:59:26
• Saves: 50
• Grade: C

I’ll admit my first run through was a little rough. I had been playing on standard game mode until I hit the level where you need to knock Birken off the platform with crane and storage container. This was the second boss battle if I recall correctly and it was at this point I switched to assisted mode. My health was on its last legs meaning I would die if I was hit once plus I didn’t have the .50 caliber Lightning Hawk handgun. This is what alerted me to the fact that I might not have searched all the area’s I had access to. So I brought up the map and sure enough there were a couple of rooms which I had access to but had not checked yet. Once I found my way to the rooms in question, I found the much needed items. It was actually 1 item but it was a multi-purpose item that could be used in two places. I had finally found what I needed and officially “cleared” the Racoon City police department so I could progress in the game. Forgive me for being a bit vague but I don’t want to spoil the game for those who are going to play so I’m avoiding being too specific.

All in all Resident Evil 2 was a great game. It was fun, challenging, and reminded me how much I loved this game when I was a kid. I’m 50+ years young these days and the nostalgia of playing the Resident Evil games continues to keep me interested even now, some 35 years later. I have the reboot of Resident Evil 3 which I have just started to play so I’ll write an article on that when I finish that game.

I’m not done with Resident Evil 2 yet though. I still need to make a second run through with the Claire Redfield character to get her story and only then will I have actually “completed” the game. From what I understand once Resident Evil 2 is played through a second time with the character you didn’t pick the first time through, another character is opened and if I recall correctly from various reviews I have read, that character will be Hunk, another fan favorite character. I’m looking forward to that.

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