(zombie growls)

- [Daemon] Now this is how you remake a classic.

Capcom didn't just update 1998's Resident Evil 2

with modern graphics and controls.

They started from scratch to craft a modern feeling game

that expertly reanimates the horrifying atmosphere

and moments of extreme tension

that made the original so revered.

There's not a ton of content here

but I've enjoyed nearly every gory minute

of my return to Leon and Claire's shoes.

(ominous music)

20 years is a long time, long enough that I'd forgotten

nearly everything about Resident Evil 2,

other than that I'd loved it back in the age

of the first Playstation.

So I got to experience it much as many of you

playing for the first time will.

But viewed side by side it's apparent

what an enormous improvement this remake is.

The horror heightening lighting affects

and convincingly terrified facial animations

are especially impressive

and the satisfyingly dismemberable zombies

are the best looking undead I've ever seen in a game,

and the juiciest.

I love the way they lurch around

and I'd venture a guess

that the designers were heavily inspired

by the tar man from Return of the Living Dead.

Some events have been rearranged or expanded upon

and there are some surprising twists I didn't remember.

But this is a mostly loyal remake

of the suitably dark and twisted story of Resident Evil 2.

Our heroes meanwhile are likable enough

but two-dimensional in their unwavering heroism.

That makes 'em a bit dull,

whereas a couple of the side characters

are more charismatic and interesting.

- [Leon] Jesus.

- [Daemon] Whether you play as Leon or Claire,

exploring dark hallways, solving silly but fun puzzles,

and blasting zombies all remains just as enjoyable today.

Raccoon City is divided into three large areas

which also serve as the stories acts.

Charting each area, learning the lay of the land,

and eventually overcoming the obstacles in your way

really never gets old.

(stairs rumble)

Capcom clearly doesn't expect us

to be running and gunning like superheroes.

The bloody beating heart of Resident Evil

is in careful inventory and management

and challenging, skin of your teeth survival.

It always seems like I was just barely scraping by

with enough bullets and healing items

which created a real feeling that I was in constant danger.

That tension has been elevated

by the commendable sound design.

- [Claire] What the hell is that?

- [Daemon] Resident Evil 2 gets horror atmosphere

like nobody's business.

At the same time, the remake

is a little more merciful than the original.

We get modern conveniences

like being able to save your progress at any typewriter

and maps which automatically update

to let you know if a room has been cleared of items.

(ominous music)

The real chiller in the first two thirds of the campaign

is the Tyrant super zombie.

He appears early on to stalk you

and his emotionless face and steady unstoppable gait

makes him Resident Evil's worthy counterpart

to Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers.

Hearing his relentless footsteps getting louder and louder,

knowing there is nothing I can do to stop him

filled me with a true sense of dread.

Eventually though, he becomes

more of an obnoxious inconvenience than a fear factor.

When you're trying to solve a puzzle and advance the story

it would've been nice if the big lug

would just take a hint and reside somewhere else.

(screaming)

I finished Leon's campaign in eight hours

that seemed to fly by a little too quickly

and eagerly jumped into Claire's

for what I expected to be a completely different perspective

on that faithful evenings events

after the two are separated in the story's opening moments,

but I was disappointed to find that she took

an extremely similar path, met the same people,

solved the same puzzles, and fought the same bosses.

You do have to adapt your tactics

and learn to use a new set of weaponry

and each hero does meet a unique, important person

that causes them to deviate from the shared path for a time.

It turns out the other perspective does exist,

but it's confusingly hidden

behind each character's second game mode.

You have to play through as Leon once

to unlock the second version as Leon

and the same for Claire.

By the time I figured this out

I had already played through the same campaign twice

but at least I'm finally seeing some new areas

and there is the promise of an alternate ending.

The way Capcom laid out these two versions

of the campaign is baffling.

(ominous music)

Capcom did a fantastic job of resurrecting

all the best part of the classic Resident Evil 2

and making them look, sound, and play like a 2019 game.

If you're of the mind

that the series had lost its way for awhile there

this game is very much a return to form.

The zombie combat is satisfying

and exploring the dilapidated ruins

of Raccoon City is a thrill.

The one big letdown is that Capcom

unintuitively hides the alternate perspective content.

Though whichever character you play as,

the experience of playing through

the new Resident Evil 2 for the first time

establishes a new standard for remaking classic games.

For more on Resident Evil

check out the first 15 minutes of gameplay,

our comparison of the remake and the original,

and our favorite moments from the series.

And for everything else stick with us right here at IGN.

(screams)

(ominous music)