Resident Evil 2 (Multi)
By: Capcom
THE Godfather II of games, Resident Evil's 1998 sequel remains the zenith of zombie-busting. Despite the horror genre swelling handsomely since its release – including five stable-mates of varying quality – RE2’s police station setting and pants-destroying atmosphere has never been bettered.
A mere 21 years since this cocktail of cheese and fear first spun in the original PlayStation, Capcom has finally seen fit to let vets and newcomers alike enjoy a reimagining of the 90s masterpiece. Retooled to perfection, bleeding edge tech is draped elegantly over the original’s bones for a visually stunning blend of lateral thinking and bloody ultraviolence that proves class never goes out of date.
While there’s a comforting whiff of déjà vu, the original has been lovingly rebuilt from the ground up to spectacular effect – nothing is quite as you remember in a fully featured, polished-as-hell slice of nostalgia for a golden age of gaming. Given it was previously glimpsed on a bulbous old-school screen, Resident Evil 2 now sings in HD plasma, with glorious gore, top-drawer thesping and a menagerie of stiffs guaranteed to make players jettison their dung.
A glorious halfway haunted house that mixes the claustrophobic puzzle-solving of the original games with the over-the-shoulder action of later efforts, players once take the reins of rookie cop Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield as they attempt to hightail it from Raccoon City and its coffin-dodging citizenry.
With ammo in short supply, fight or flight is a constant as you revel in gloopy man-on-zombie violence while constantly staying one step ahead of Mr X, a fedora-topped monstrosity who stalks players throughout.
Spooky and camp in equal measure, the original’s blend of cop-shop cadavers, puzzles and item management returns across two scenarios for Claire and Leon, each clocking in at around seven hours. And the good times don't end with the credits, with secret modes and a laundry list of sweet unlockables to keep the hardcore happy.
Keeping the home fires burning, Capcom is also set to release a Ghost Survivors mode – three what-if yarns of minor characters – as a free update on February 15.
Single-player story-based games unsullied by loot boxes and microtransactions are like hen's teeth these days and it’s even rarer for a must-play blockbuster to release in the fallow post-Christmas period – making Resident Evil 2 the perfect way to squander that long-awaited January pay-packet.
A lean, mean monster mash unencumbered with side-quests or open world padding, this is the remake by which all others will be judged and a strong contender for Game of the Year.
