Top 5 Biggest Changes In Resident Evil 2 Remake

Classic Scares For a New Generation

Seems like the Resident Evil franchise has well and truly risen from its grave and is once against standing at the pinnacle of the survival horror genre. First we had the excellent return to form in Resident Evil VII, and now we’ve got the mother of all remakes with the highly acclaimed Resident Evil 2. While it certainly retains all the aspects that fans enjoyed about the 1998 original, there were a few changes that managed to elevate it far beyond the remasters of the past.

#5: Gore

Fresh graphics and new developers have led to a huge increase in the level of gore in “Resident Evil 2.” While the original has no shortage of blood and guts, it’s unfortunately just pixelated polygons to modern eyes. The revamp will see even veteran gamers sick to their stomachs, which is exactly how you want to feel when playing a “Resident Evil” game. Officer Elliot meets a gruesome end when he’s ripped in half early on, and one corpse Leon finds in a hallway now has his head sliced into segments by the RPD’s monstrous inhabitants. It’s not only the aesthetics which have been kicked up a notch, though, there’s also realistic damage modelling on the enemies. Meaning that when you shoot someone in the face with a shotgun, their head is damaged in a realistic way – flesh is left hanging off the remaining bones as the shamblers keep coming, until you finally pop their heads clean off.

#4: Keys and Puzzles

Since anyone who’s played the original game more than once will have memorized all the puzzle solutions, key locations, and where the best items are stashed, Capcom decided to switch all that up for the remake to keep gamers on their toes. Already we’ve seen that the Goddess Statue puzzle in the RPD lobby has a completely different solution, with three medals to collect throughout the station rather than just the one. It also won’t grant players the Spade Key anymore, instead, you’ll find that in an office on one of the upper floors. The shotgun has also moved locations; you now don’t get it from the cowardly gun store owner, but instead discover it in the brand-new Safety Deposit Room. Along with that is the combat knife, now used to escape zombie grapples and open certain taped-up boxes. To put it simply, everything you thought you knew about “Resident Evil 2” probably won’t be of any use to you this time around.

#3: Combat and Camera

While “Resident Evil 2” deserves to be brought into the modern era, its tank controls should be left behind in the 90s where they belong. The remake will see a welcome update of the awkward movement, and there won’t be any more static cameras – instead, players can move the camera around as they please, just like they’re used to doing. The updated controls mean the combat has also been updated, it’s now much easier to aim and fire properly with standard over-the-shoulder, third-person gunplay. While there will be some people out there very attached to the old-style of playing, the update to the gameplay will definitely encourage new people to jump in. Even long-time “Resident Evil” fans will appreciate this update, since it’s now in-line with the gameplay styles of “4”, “5”, and “6.”

#2: Reimagined Events

While Marvin gets some more screen time in the pre-release gameplay demos we’ve seen so far, one other memorable character has so far been given a lot less. Gamers will remember the first Licker scuttling past a downstairs window before crawling towards Leon or Claire on the ceiling, but it’s no longer found in that same corridor. Traces of it are discovered all over the walls and on the corpses, but it just doesn’t show itself. There’s some suggestion that this may be a bait and switch, but it’s not the only event that’s completely changed. There’s also Officer Elliot, who now drops a new puzzle clue for Leon, and Sherry finding herself kidnapped in the RPD parking lot by Bryan Irons instead of just running off. Some people even speculate that the game’s whole opening might have changed as well, as the sequence in Kendo’s Gun Shop now occurs after leaving the RPD en route to the sewer, as opposed to the original where the Gun Shop was the first building the players entered.

#1: Graphics

It only makes sense that players will get to experience “Resident Evil 2’s” twenty-one-year legacy with twenty-one years of graphical improvements. Still Capcom have gone all out to produce a full remake from the ground-up using their home-grown RE Engine. In only its second outing since the wildly successful “Resident Evil 7,” the RE Engine is sure to be pushed to its limits this time around. On top of the stomach-churning gore mechanics, the updated graphics make for a much more atmospheric game. The lightning effects and Leon’s flashlight make every shadowy hallway or dark room a tense experience; even Leon himself has had a visual update. His character model now reflects his status as a young, rookie cop, and he feels like a relatable and fallible character – and the much-improved voice acting certainly doesn’t go amiss.

Be sure to check out the video below to see our picks for the Top 10 Scariest Resident Evil Monsters.