Wow. I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. The only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars is I wish Claire and Leon’s stories were more different, because you’re essentially doing the same stuff throughout both stories, but with different motivations. Nonetheless such a tense game that makes walking around a police station looking for 20 different things creepy af. That initial feeling of dread I got when Leon first entered the police station and was forced to explore it is a gaming memory that will stick with me.

First of all, the zombies in this game are fantastic. They're slow and clumsy, but manage to keep you on edge by being completely unpredictable and almost impossible to kill. Combine that with the cramped hallways and barely lit rooms, and you've got yourself a tense atmosphere that leaves you constantly thinking on your toes. While many games give you hordes of zombies, this game makes it worrying enough to see two of them.

The limited inventory space, items and save points that are scattered around the map, the cramped hallways, bullet-sponge zombies combined with limited ammo create this air of tension and keep you constantly making decisions. The maze-like structure of the map have you planning routes, and as you go through the game you start to familiarise yourself with the police station - the safest rooms, the hallways you dread. The map effectively becomes its own character as you uncover its secrets and history. And Mr X of course. Consistently hearing him, planning around him, dreading him.

Gameplay-wise, the only thing I don't like is the boss fights, and frankly, I wish this game had none of them (or far fewer) as they kind of go against the whole philosophy of the game. I would recommend sticking with them though because it's worth it.

The game's story isn't... great. It's got a lot of camp but I understand that it is trying to keep to the original game and there are plenty of genuinely good moments mixed in as well. The timelines of the two main characters are a bit confusing (you have to play both storylines to get the full experience), and I wish Leon and Claire interacted with each other more, but overall a really, really solid survival horror game. It's flawed in many ways, but I just have to give it 5 stars because its strengths really outshine its weaknesses.

It's really not often survival horror is blessed with such a polished entry into the canon. No doubt, it should be expected from a remake of this caliber, but this not only reaches the heights of its predecessor but sets new ones for the series in general.

The classic B horror movie stylings are back and the updated graphics mean they're able to better indulge in that grindhouse feeling with heightened gore and brutality. While the story and dialogue are on the campy side, the acting is always impressive with Chief Irons being a standout. As a whole, it takes itself more seriously than past entries and to its benefit. There were few point I was actually engaged with the narrative, but it does a really good job of setting up the tone. Which is bonkers but dreadful.

The levels are designed to keep you on your feet at all times and they often fold back into themselves. The map is one of the most helpful I've come across where it indicates when a room has been fully searched and if your avatar sees something it'll mark it. There are plenty of quality of life considerations and I appreciate it. You have an option of different difficulties and I'm sure the more I play it I'll be likely to bump it up, but the standard difficulty is something of a marvel where it dynamically adjusts to how you're performing and keeps you with just enough ammo, if you're diligent, to get through.

There may not be a ton of enemy variety, but it's a short game and so consistently dread inducing that it more than makes up for it. Zombies have this strange lurch that, even late game, makes it hard to decipher if they're finally going down after bullet seven or coming for your neck again. Lickers are lethal and frightening here and made brilliant when you realize their blindness means you can sneak past them making for some wildly tense moments. And this is without talking about Mr. X who is one of the greatest additions to horror gaming. He makes headphones a daunting proposition. His footsteps will haunt me.

This is some of the most fun I've had with zombies in a video game. If you've ever been a fan of the genre or the series, this is almost as good as it gets.

The gold standard for modern survival horror games. My first playthrough was genuinely terrifying up until I left the police station, especially due to the fantastic sound design which doesn't get enough credit. However, after the terror wears off you're still left with a very fun and mechanically satisfying game. It feels great to optimize your run on multiple playthroughs, figuring out exactly what items you'll need to get to the end as fast as possible and earn that S rank. Almost infinitely replayable to me, but I do find the Sherry section on Claire's route to be a tad tedious.

From a modern perspective this is a good game. As someone who grew up playing PS1 survival horror, I understand why this is a good remake. But honestly, this remake wasn't made with people like me in mind.

I just don't get anything out of these modern touches on classic games. That's why the original remake of the original Resident Evil works so well for me. I liked that formula, and I want more of it. RE2 19 is all of RE2 with none of the clunk or flair or even the charm of what made these games so special to me growing up. This is just another zombie horror game like the rest of them.

I do need to be honest, I am not a huge fan of the original RE2. I never was, and I never will be. I do like this version a whole of a heck of a lot more. This is a solid game through to the end. The pacing, the story beats, the combat, etc. just all feels so bland to me though. It's a classic game steeped in modern design. That's not bad perse, but what always drew me to the old games was the slow churn despite the short run times and the campy nature of a Romero-esque escapade through zombified labyrinths.

I think anyone interested in horror games or Resident Evil should check this out, but I really need to say that maybe the praise for this game, like every game featuring Leon, might be a little overblown. I don't know what it is about Leon, but he seems to just swoon people over with kind of okay games.

perhaps even better than the first one, dare i say. as lover of the movies this story felt really close to the earlier ones. i gush. graphically and gameplay wise a leap ahead of res 1 remake, though the over shoulder pov felt a bit off at first coming off 1. that quickly went away as i had so much fun finally knowing wtf i'm doing and being able to run truh it in one session. i swear i'll start saving my ammo and health for 3. i emptied entire clips into zombies ahem monsters heads

a 9 hour session with a C ranking on the end screen, but alas! fuck you tyrant!

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Windows 10, Mouse & Keyboard

First Playthrough: Leon - 09:06:24 - Standard Difficulty - Rating: C

Bizarre in tone and scope, and at odds with itself.

The horror elements are undermined by the familiarity of the whole ordeal, as well as by seams so prominent they could make most stealth games blush. The limited enemy AI and the emphasis on sub-weapons call back to the combat loop of REmake, which feels tense, yet one-note in a 2019 title despite the addition of RE4-style aiming. The dynamism of previous action RE combat is gone here, this is as disempowering as gun-oriented AAA survival-horror combat can be nowadays.

It's the level design what shines in spades, particularly the entire police station as a lived-in, ruinous space dripping with danger, locks, and keys at every corner. In classic RE tradition, however, the non-linear progression and routing choices of the early game all but disappear after the first hours of play, but in this instance their absence cuts deeper due to the reduced number of locations present. Leon and Claire just blaze through the environments and plot beats of the original at neck-breaking pace, and the end result is a game too lean and self-serious, borderline uninterested in its source material past the iconic first location. Raccoon City, or what made it into the final game, has never felt more tired, or smaller.

It's an all-time great for speed runs, and a fun romp overall, but it deserved to be so, so much more.