It took me a couple playthroughs to really appreciate Resident Evil 2. I owe this in part to playing it immediately after doing a run through the original Resident Evil, a game that by comparison is a lot more deliberately paced, slow even, with enemies thinly spread throughout the Spencer Mansion and its surrounding facilities. In comparison, Resident Evil 2 is absolutely swarming with zombies. While you may have been able to conserve ammo by using the generous size of the Mansion's hallways to juke around threats, Resident Evil 2 demands consideration to crowd control. Corridors are more narrow, with enemies placed in such a way that they can't simply be run past (at least for the most part), and some rooms are completely swarmed with the undead.
Ammo was never much of a concern for me in the original, but my first run in 2 had me stretched thin. I was trying to clear rooms out that I found to be too troublesome to jog through, but you can't really do that. Some should be thinned out, others require a better understanding of the police station's layout so that you can bypass them. This makes for a much more tense experience, one which I initially found to be frustrating but ultimately warmed up to.
The way the game handles its two scenarios is also pretty smart. Whichever you play through second introduces Mr.X, a hulking enemy that stalks you through the police department, dishes out a ton of damage, and acts as a bullet sponge to deplete your resources. It's a great way to make a second one subversive, forcing the player to abandon comfortable routes and think on their toes. Resident Evil 3 greatly expands on this mechanic, but it's very well executed here, and I think reserving it for your second run adds a lot to the replay value of the game.
This is a similar case to the original Resident Evil where I feel the remake is the definitive version to play, but unlike that game, I feel the Playstation release of RE2 has aged pretty well. Graphically it's a lot more impressive than the first, and the sound design is much improved. The remake retains just enough of the original to feel familiar while improving upon characters and atmosphere, but gameplay-wise it's a pretty different beast. If you're looking for a tanky survival horror game, then the original is the right fit for you. If you're more enamored with RE4 (and other over-the-shoulder Resident Evil games) then the remake is the easy pick. I think both offer enough to be well worth playing, even if I prefer the remake that much more.
Ammo was never much of a concern for me in the original, but my first run in 2 had me stretched thin. I was trying to clear rooms out that I found to be too troublesome to jog through, but you can't really do that. Some should be thinned out, others require a better understanding of the police station's layout so that you can bypass them. This makes for a much more tense experience, one which I initially found to be frustrating but ultimately warmed up to.
The way the game handles its two scenarios is also pretty smart. Whichever you play through second introduces Mr.X, a hulking enemy that stalks you through the police department, dishes out a ton of damage, and acts as a bullet sponge to deplete your resources. It's a great way to make a second one subversive, forcing the player to abandon comfortable routes and think on their toes. Resident Evil 3 greatly expands on this mechanic, but it's very well executed here, and I think reserving it for your second run adds a lot to the replay value of the game.
This is a similar case to the original Resident Evil where I feel the remake is the definitive version to play, but unlike that game, I feel the Playstation release of RE2 has aged pretty well. Graphically it's a lot more impressive than the first, and the sound design is much improved. The remake retains just enough of the original to feel familiar while improving upon characters and atmosphere, but gameplay-wise it's a pretty different beast. If you're looking for a tanky survival horror game, then the original is the right fit for you. If you're more enamored with RE4 (and other over-the-shoulder Resident Evil games) then the remake is the easy pick. I think both offer enough to be well worth playing, even if I prefer the remake that much more.