Resident Evil 6's October release date draws ever closer, and we're continuing to pave the way for Capcom's newest sequel by replaying all of the company's older efforts in storyline order. We first looked back at Resident Evil Zero in April, and in May we replayed the original 1996 adventure via its 2002 GameCube remake. Today, our series continues. It's time for Resident Evil 2.
The Trendsetter for Zombie MediaCapcom's Resident Evil games began with a story of outbreak and infection, as the T-virus plague swept across a fictional section of America and zombified the helpless citizens living there. It was a gruesome scenario, and thankfully, with the exception of a few odd "bath salt" incidents in recent memory, such an outbreak has never actually afflicted our nation. In a way, though, this series – and Resident Evil 2, in particular – actually did portend a plague to come. A pop culture plague.
Zombies today have infected seemingly every popular entertainment medium. TV, film, comics, books and video games have all been gripped by the undead tales told by The Walking Dead, World War Z, Zombieland, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Lollipop Chainsaw, just to name a few. Not a day goes by when we don't hear about some new board game or mobile app dedicated to the eradication of these relentless creatures, whose true power seems not to be their ability to keep on functioning after death, but rather to bring hundreds, thousands and even millions of dollars to the artists and corporate decision makers striking while this iron is hot. More people are probably killing zombies than Nazis in Call of Duty these days.
So zombies are huge right now, no doubt. And I'd argue we have Resident Evil 2 to thank for that.
There were zombie games before this one, and the Resident Evil franchise obviously began with its 1996 installment – but the setting of Resident Evil 2, the infected Raccoon City, I'd put forth as more inspirational for the 15 years worth of zombie-filled media we've seen since. The imagery of a huge horde of undead filling a city's streets is much more in line with what projects like Shaun of the Dead and I Am Legend have presented in more recent years. Resident Evil 2's early 1998 debut, and the fact that it took the horror out of the contained walls of a single mansion and painted a broader picture, makes it the trendsetter that nearly all of today's zombie media has to acknowledge as an inspiration.
Resident Evil 2 isn't just an important game for how it inspired other zombie-related media – it did plenty to hold up as a critical influence even when you pull back the scope to focus on just its own series. Absolutely key to the success of the franchise were the new characters introduced in this sequel, two new playable faces that went on to become arguably the most popular of all RE's many heroes.
Leon S. Kennedy made his debut in Resident Evil 2. Employed as a Raccoon City police officer when the T-virus outbreak occured, it's through Leon's eyes that we experience first-hand the horror of an entire town gone to hell. As he battles his way through the undead-infested city blocks and even his own police station, Leon certainly must have had no idea that zombie-killing would become a regular way of life for him. He returned to the series later as the main character of Resident Evil 4, he'll be back again as one of the main cast for Resident Evil 6, and he even headlined one of Capcom's CGI films – Resident Evil: Degeneration.
Of course, you didn't have to see this sequel through Leon's eyes – you could use Claire's instead. Claire Redfield was the second new protagonist in Resident Evil 2, and the first to help expand the series' storyline by having a tie back to the original game – she came to Raccoon City to search for her missing brother, Chris Redfield. (One of the first games' selectable heroes.) Claire got herself in too deep as well, and her story continued into Resident Evil: Code Veronica, as well as a couple of the (cough) live-action films.
The absolute best new character to be introduced in 2? Tofu! For being a series with such a serious overall tone, it was preposterously hilarious when Capcom decided to include a hidden joke character to unlock deep within the game. Tofu is a living, walking block of, well, tofu. He's the playable character in the "Tofu Survivor" mini-game, a challenge only the best and most dedicated RE2 players ever accessed – and an even smaller, more elite group can say they've completed it.
Since Resident Evil 2 arrived on Sony's first PlayStation just two years after the original adventure, and since Capcom didn't do too much to change the underlying mechanics in the meanwhile, many of the common complaints leveled against the series' debut have also been voiced against this sequel over the years. It has stiff, clunky controls. Its voice acting is sub-par. Its puzzles are obtuse, or unnecessary. But whether or not you agree with those critiques, and whether or not you think RE1 is a superior game to this follow-up – opinion is split on that – you've got to concede that RE2 made a big step forward with its "Zapping System."
The refinement enhanced the original Resident Evil's dual character set-up. In the first game you could play through as either Chris or Jill. Play one, then, if you want to, replay as the other. In RE2, though, you're automatically taken and placed in the second characters' shoes on completion of the first's campaign – so if you started as Leon, you'll finish his story and then jump back to Claire at the start of hers (or vice versa.) What's brilliant about this seemingly subtle change is that the second scenario you play will be influenced by your actions taken in the first – so, for example, if you picked up a gun in the police station while using Leon, that same gun won't be sitting there any more for Claire to grab when she comes through later on.
This gameplay refinement is potentially going to be a big influence on the upcoming Resident Evil 6, as Capcom has confirmed that the new sequel will feature three different scenarios with three different playable characters – one with Leon, one with Chris and one with newcomer Jake (who'll be partnered with Sherry Birkin, who coincidentally made her debut in Resident Evil 2 as well). We don't know for sure how interconnected each of RE6's storylines will be, but if Capcom does call back to RE2 then we could very well see similar events unfold – Chris not being able to grab a gun because Leon got to it first, to use the same example.
If there's one letdown about 1998's Resident Evil 2, it's that Capcom hasn't kept it as current as other older installments in its series. The first Resident Evil got its impressive GameCube remake a decade ago, and RE2 was brought to Cube shortly after that too – but as a straight port. RE2's never had a full remake of its own, and its best version today is probably still the 1999 N64 port lovingly crafted and enhanced with more features and better controls by a dedicated porting team. Most recently the game was made available again through the PlayStation Network's PSone Classics line in late 2009, so it's still around and available if you want to experience it again yourself – or play it for the first time. But we'd love to see Capcom revisit it with a full remake someday. Resident Evil 2 was the trendsetter, after all. Without it we wouldn't have nearly as many zombies to kill in other media today.
Lucas M. Thomas still plays Resident Evil games with the lights on. You're not going to change his mind about that. Join him on his IGN blog and Twitter.
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