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Resident Evil 2
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Resident Evil 2, known in Japan as , is a survival horror game by Capcom originally released for the PlayStation in 1998. It is the second installment in the Resident Evil series, and was later ported to the PC, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube and Game.com.
esident Evil 2 follows the same gameplay mechanics as its predecessor. The game's graphics are composed of polygonal character models, and items superimposed over pre-rendered graphics, using fixed camera angles.
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Encyclopedia
Resident Evil 2, known in Japan as , is a survival horror game by Capcom originally released for the PlayStation in 1998. It is the second installment in the Resident Evil series, and was later ported to the PC, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube and Game.com.
Gameplay
Resident Evil 2 follows the same gameplay mechanics as its predecessor. The game's graphics are composed of polygonal character models, and items superimposed over pre-rendered graphics, using fixed camera angles. The player must travel through a variety of locations, solving puzzles and fighting numerous mutated creatures in order to complete the game. The player can arm themselves with a variety of firearms, although ammunition is limited. The game features an improved graphics engine over the previous game, allowing for more zombies to appear on screen. In addition, the player can now determine their character's health based on their animation. A character in the 'caution' stage of injury will cover their stomach with his or her hand, while a character on the verge of death will limp. The game over screens are more gruesome this time, featuring the player's character being devoured by the creature that killed him or her.
The main addition to the gameplay is a scenario system. Resident Evil 2 offers two playable characters, each with their own scenario. However, after finishing one character's scenario (the "A" game) and saving the data, a second scenario (the "B" game) is unlocked in which the same series of events are depicted from the other character's perspective. Actions taken by the player during the first scenario affects the player's surroundings during the second scenario. In addition, one's character also has access to one area in their B game that they normally would not have access to. There are two scenarios for each character.
The player is awarded with unlockable weapons and other bonuses after completing a scenario and fulfilling certain requirements. A ranking system has been implemented in which the player is graded based on the amount of time taken to complete the game, number of times the game was saved and the number of first-aid sprays used. Several hidden minigames can also be unlocked as well such as The 4th Survivor, its spoof/harder version The Tofu Survivor and in the DualShock Version, an Extreme Battle minigame.
Plot
The game begins on September 29, 1998, as the citizens of Raccoon City have been turned into zombies by a biological weapon known as the T-virus.
Leon S. Kennedy, a police officer on his first day in the Raccoon Police Department, and Claire Redfield, a college student looking for her brother, enter the city. They fight many zombies to reach the police station. There they find Ada Wong and a little girl called Sherry Birkin.
They learn that Claire's brother, Chris Redfield, has gone to Europe to stop Umbrella's experiments. They escape the station through the sewers and find Annette Birkin, Sherry's mother. They learn that the viral outbreak was accidental, and that her husband William Birkin has turned into a monster who plans to infect Sherry with the G-virus. They also learn that Ada is a spy. They fight their way to Umbrella's underground laboratory where the T- and G-viruses were being produced. Many enemies attack them, including William Birkin, who infects Sherry.
Claire continues into the laboratory to find the cure. Annette tries to kill Claire, but is killed by her husband. As she dies, Annette tells Claire how to prepare the cure for Sherry. Leon and Ada face the T-103, and Ada is apparently killed.
When the laboratory self-destruct is activated, Claire tells Leon to get Sherry and go to the train, which will take them out of the underground laboratory, while she prepares the cure. The three escape the self-destructing laboratory. Claire injects Sherry with the cure and Birkin reappears, now a massive blob. To destroy it, they activate the self-destruct mechanism on the train, and escape as the train explodes.
Development
Regional differences
In Japan, where Resident Evil 2 was titled Biohazard 2, the game was released a week after the North American release. The game was made easier for the Japanese market with changes in item and enemy placement, increased firepower for weapons and the auto-aiming feature turned on by default.
In addition, the game over scenes are less violent and edited in the Japanese version, as zombies and other creatures do not devour or eviscerate the player's character on-screen like they do in the North American and PAL versions.
DualShock Version
Several months after the original release, a second version of Resident Evil 2 was released known as the DualShock Version. As the title suggests, the game was modified to incorporate support for the vibration function and analog control of the PlayStation DualShock controller. The main addition is a new unlockable minigame, Extreme Battle. The objective is to reach the police station from the underground laboratory and retrieve four anti-biohazard bombs located throughout the station. There are four playable characters and three difficulty settings. The Extreme Battle became a standard feature for subsequent versions of the game.
There are also some minor additions, such as ranking screens for the Hunk and Tofu minigames, a Rookie difficulty setting for the main game, as well as a "USA version" mode in the Japanese version, based on the North American version's default setting and a new cheat code that grants the player unlimited ammo for all weapons.
Other platforms
Like the original game, Resident Evil 2 was released on other platforms after its initial success on the PlayStation. The first of these ports was a PC version titled Resident Evil 2 Platinum in 1999. It features all the additions from the Dual Shock Version and added a new gallery mode featuring illustrations, renders and in-game character models, as well as a new Hard difficulty setting for the main game. The Sega Dreamcast version, released the same year, features these additions, along with the added benefit of viewing the character's health in a VMU. In Japan, the Dreamcast version (where it was titled Biohazard 2 Value Plus) was bundled with a demo of Resident Evil Code: Veronica and also contained assorted music from several Resident Evil soundtracks released in Japan.
A Nintendo 64 version was also released in 1999, ported by Angel Studios (currently Rockstar San Diego). While it was the only port of the game that did not feature the Extreme Battle mode, it did contain some console-exclusive features. The most prominent was a series of additional in-game documents known as the "EX Files" that connected the plot of the game with the other games in the series (including the then-unreleased Resident Evil Zero). Other features include an item randomizer, violence control, first-person controls and new unlockable outfits replacing the ones from the previous versions. A Hunter from the first Resident Evil is also given a cameo appearance. The game supported the Rumble Pak and Expansion Pak. The N64 version is notable due to the compression techniques that the developers were forced to use in order to fit two CD-ROMs worth of data onto a single 64MB cartridge. It also featured, for the time, a high resolution display of 640x480 compared to the PS1 version's 320x240. The game changes the resolution at each camera cut based on the number of enemies in the room. Many enemies take more processing power, so the game chooses lower resolutions. When all the enemies are defeated, it runs again at 640x480. The N64 version also features surround sound, not found on the PS1 version, using the Mosys system from Factor 5.
The Nintendo GameCube version, released in 2003, is identical to the PlayStation's Dual Shock Version in terms of content, featuring only a minimal set of improvements such as skippable cut scenes and a higher framerate for the game's FMV sequences.
An LCD game based on Resident Evil 2 was also released for the short-lived game.com in late 1998. Two versions of the game.com game were scheduled to be released, one starring Leon and the other with Claire, but only the former saw release. An aborted port for the Sega Saturn was also planned that utilized the 4MB RAM included with X-Men vs. Street Fighter. There was also an aborted port planned for the Game Boy Advance.
In 2006, it was re-released on the PC platform in Japan, with full Windows XP support and uncompressed FMV sequences.
Rumours have surfaced of a remake of the game. Officially, developers have not mentioned such a remake, aside from Jun Takeuchi expressing interest in the idea during an interview.
Music
The Biohazard 2 Original Soundtrack is the original soundtrack CD for Resident Evil 2, and was composed by Masami Ueda, Shusaku Uchiyama, and Shun Nishigaki. It does not contain every track written for the game however. Most of the remaining tracks were included in the subsequent release of the Biohazard 2 Complete Track album on August 21, 1998.
Reception and legacy
Resident Evil 2 received positive reviews from most publications. Resident Evil 2 was a commercial success and the PS version alone has sold over 4.96 million copies since its release, making it the best selling game in the series, as well as Capcom's second best-selling game of all time. Game Revolution called it "a great game with good graphics, terrific sound, riveting action, and puzzles that will keep you entertained for hours". Game Pro said "For staunch veterans of the series, RE2 Dual Shock demands at least a rental...for newcomers to the series, there's never been a better time to get scared". Games Domain said "Had the game lasted a little longer, and if the monsters had been a little more creative, this would be one of the best games ever made for the PSX". GameSpot criticised the puzzles for being "a little out of place", and the inventory system for making players "mindlessly keep bringing items to and retrieving them from these "magical" storage bins", but concluded "Resident Evil 2 is one of the most entertaining games I've ever played". IGN criticised the aiming, camera angles, puzzles and inventory system, while praising the atmosphere, graphics, sound and design, calling Resident Evil 2 "a good sequel...a superb game in it's own right and it will consume your life for hours, but it's not a quantum leap forward in the evolution of the game or the genre".
Resident Evil 2 has an average of 89 out of 100 for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 versions, 77 out of 100 for the Dreamcast version, and 59 out of 100 for the GameCube version on Metacritic.
Novelization
A novelization of the game titled Resident Evil: City of the Dead was written by author S.D. Perry, as the third book in her series of Resident Evil novels.
External links
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