RESIDENT EVIL 2

'''Resident Evil 2''', known in Japan as , is a survival horror game by Capcom originally released for the PlayStation in 1998 and the second installment in the Resident Evil series. It was later ported to the PC, Nintendo 64, game.com, Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo GameCube.

Contents

Gameplay

Plot

Cast

Development

Regional Differences

Dual Shock Version

Other platforms

Reception

Music

Novelization

References

External links

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 and body language. A character in the 'caution' stage of injury will cover his 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 two-scenario system. As in the original ''Resident Evil'', the game offers two playable characters, each with their own scenario. However, after finishing one character's scenario (referred as 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 character also has access to one area in their B game that they normally would not have access to. There are four scenarios, with two for each character.
Similarly to the original game, the player is awarded with unlockable weapons and other bonuses after completing a scenario under certain requirements. A ranking system has been implemented in which the player is graded based not only on the amount of time taken to complete the game, but also on the number of times the game was saved and the number of first-aid sprays used. Several hidden minigames can also be unlocked as well, the "The 4th Survivor", its spoof/harder version "The Tofu Survivor" and in some versions, a minigame called "Extreme Battle".

Plot

The game is set on September 29, 1998. A biological weapon known as the T-virus was released into the sewer system. Rats then spread the virus to the city's population. Two people make their way to Raccoon City: Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie police officer on his first day on the job, and Claire Redfield, a college student looking for her brother, Chris Redfield. Leon and Claire find themselves fighting against hordes of creatures in their search for survival.

Cast

See Characters in Resident Evil 2.

Development

''Resident Evil 2'' began development in 1996 shortly after the original game and was originally scheduled for a March 1997 release. However, as the game was approaching its release date, the developers were dissatisfied with the resulting product. Rather than releasing a game they were unhappy with, the developers took the risk of developing the game again from scratch. This scrapped version of the game was later dubbed ''Resident Evil 1.5'' by Capcom. This prototype version of the game starred Leon S. Kennedy from the finished game and Elza Walker, a prototype of Claire Redfield. Like Claire Redfield, Elza was a motorcyclist and college student, with the only difference being her appearance and the fact that Elza had no ties to any established character from the previous games. Other supporting characters from the released game also appeared in ''Resident Evil 1.5''. For example, Marvin Branagh, a minor character who gets killed off early in ''Resident Evil 2'' played a major role in the prototype, helping Leon and Ada escape. The settings of the game were also significantly changed, with the police station in the original prototype having a more contemporary design.
There were dozens of sketches done for the main boss of the game, G, and there were even final bosses planned before him, entitled "Zeiram" and "Gorgoda". When they were scrapped, their designs were incorporated into G's, however, little remains of their original appearance. Some of the sketches of G differ so drastically from the used version that they appear as if they could be entirely different creatures.
The actual finished version of ''Resident Evil 2'' was preceded by a demo version of the game that came bundled with ''Resident Evil: Director's Cut''.

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.

Dual Shock Version

Several months after the original release, a second version of ''Resident Evil 2'' was released known as the ''Dual Shock Version''. As the title suggests, the game was modified to incorporate support for the vibration function and analog control of the Dual Shock 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 (including Ada Wong and Chris Redfield) 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 '' 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 0''). Other features include an item randomizer, violence control (allowing players to change the color of the blood), first-person controls and new unlockable outfits replacing the ones from the previous versions. 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 2 CD-ROMs worth of data onto a single 64MB cartridge.
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''.

'Reviews and Awards'

Publication	Score
GameSpot	8.9 of 10
IGN	9.3 of 10
GameStats	9.2 of 10
1UP.com	9.3 of 10
MobyGames	94 of 100
Compilations of multiple reviews
Metacritic	89 of 100 (based on 13 reviews)
Game Rankings	92 of 100 (based on 28 reviews)

Reception

''Resident Evil 2'' received positive reviews from most publications. ''Resident Evil 2'' was a commercial success and has sold 4.96 million copies on the PSX version alone since its release, making it the best selling game in the series.^[1]

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. The remaining tracks were included in the subsequent release of the Biohazard 2 Complete Track album on August 21, 1998.

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. The narrative is based on the ''Leon A/Claire B'' scenario, with Leon fighting the mutated Birkin for most of the story, while Claire fights the Tyrant (Mr. X). The book downplays most of the puzzle-solving elements from the game and focuses more on the interaction between the characters. There are also added scenes in the book involving the supporting characters such as Ada, Annette and Chief Irons. The ending is slightly altered, in which the survivors of S.T.A.R.S. Exeter pick up Leon, Claire, and Sherry, as opposed to the "walk into the sunset" scenario.
City of the Dead was written before the release of ''Resident Evil 3: Nemesis'' and as a result has contradictions in areas. Of note, the novelization gave Marvin's then unknown surname as Branagh, which was corroborated in ''Resident Evil 3: Nemesis''.

References

1. http://ir.capcom.co.jp/english/data/million.html

External links

★ Biohazard 2 PlayStation version site

★ Biohazard 2: Dual Shock Ver site

★ Biohazard 2 Value Plus site

★ Biohazard 2 Nintendo 64 version site

★ Biohazard 2 GameCube version site

★ European Resident Evil 2 site