Resident Evil 2

Published by Capcom
Developed by Capcom
Platform: GameCube
Released - 30th May 2003
Price : £29.99

After the glorious remake of the original Resident Evil on the GameCube and the excellent (if you ignore the fact that it wasn't subtitled) Resident Evil Zero it was always going to be difficult to accept a direct port for Resident Evil 2. There are two ways of looking at it though and whilst it's easy to be critical about the fact that the game hasn't received the star makeover that the first game had, it is widely know that Capcom have been creating Resident Evil 4 and at least with Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 being released together it give gamers who may not have owned a PlayStation, Nintendo 64 or Dreamcast, a chance to play the game.

As you would expect this game follows on from the event in the mansion in Resident Evil. The Umbrella Corporation, who were responsible for the T-Virus, a toxin to be used in biological weapons responsible for turning people into zombies, would not be defeated and after a series of terrible accidents Raccoon City is under siege from Zombies. You can play the game as either the rookie police officer Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield as she searches for her brother Chris who was one of the main characters in Resident Evil. Having a choice of two characters to play as in the game gives you instant replayability that is always appreciated.

You can choose to play the game with it's original difficulty or you could choose an easier difficulty with makes the enemies slightly easier and more ammo available throughout the game. You can also select arrange game which has a Rookie mode that gives you a sub-machine gun with unlimited ammo and easier enemies. This is perfect for newcomers to the game that want to focus more on the puzzle elements within the game rather than enjoy difficult zombie battles.

If you've played any of the Resident Evil games before then you'll know exactly what to expect here as it contains all of the familiar ingredients that made the series legendary. The puzzles are of the same nature as in previous games where you had to find keys and switches etc. it's not overly complex but it makes you search every room you come across thoroughly. As before your characters only have limited health and as they take more damage you'll see them go from walking normally to hardly being able to walk at all. This places great importance on finding health items such as herbs and first-aid sprays.

We mentioned at the top of the review that the game is more or less a straight port and as a result it doesn't look anywhere near as good as the first two Resident Evil games on GameCube. The cutscenes don't look too bad but the in-game graphics look dated. Seeing the blocky blood that comes from the zombies when you fire at them, makes you realise just how much the graphics have improved over the years. The saving grace for the game though is that the backgrounds were pre-rendered on the other consoles and therefore they don't look hideous. More importantly once you get into the game, you'll ignore the quality of the visuals and just enjoy the game.

Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero had one major flaw for deaf gamers in that the cutscenes were not subtitled. The dramatic events of the game were not given in detail to the deaf gamer, as a result of this. Resident Evil 2 is exactly the same, I'm afraid to say and the cutscenes are again not subtitled. It's not the end of the world though as otherwise the game is fine but I'm just hoping that Resident Evil 4 is subtitled then we can finally give a Resident Evil game the mark it truly deserves.

If you can look past the disappointment of the game not receiving a graphical facelift there is much to enjoy with Resident Evil 2. The game has plenty of replayability and there are even some mini-games in there to boot. In fact there are many gamers out there that regard Resident Evil 2 to be the best in the series and it's difficult to argue with that opinion. Sadly the cutscenes not being subtitled is a big blow for deaf gamers and this is reflected in our rating of the game. Resident Evil fans cannot afford to miss it though, particularly if you didn't experience it on any other console.

Overall Game Rating: 6.0/10
If you're a fan of the series then ignore the rating and pick this up because despite not receiving a graphical facelift and the cutscenes not being subtitled, it's still a great game.

Deaf Gamers comment:
Cutscenes are not subtitled and therefore following the plot is a difficult task for a deaf gamer. Every other aspect of the game is fine though.