After two decades, Capcom revisits the grisly events of Raccoon City that led to its fiery destruction. Released in 1998, "Resident Evil 2" was the follow up to one of the most famous survival horror games. It put players in the shoes of Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy. Featuring two discs, players had the choice of playing either the first and second scenarios with Leon and Claire respectively or vice versa.

First day on the job

The "Resident Evil 2" remake demo presented to me at E3 2018 was a re-imagining of the Leon A Claire B scenario of the original game that featured essentially the same story with some new twists and turns.

As in the original, Leon's first day on the force involves wandering around a zombie-infested police station while his comrades get bumped off violently before his eyes. Once I took control of Leon, I looked at security footage which showed one of his colleagues being pursued by a zombie in the west hall. Like any good officer, I proceeded to make my way over there to save my brother in blue.

To get to him, I had to traverse through a dark hallway illuminated only by a flashlight that I had equipped. Unfortunately, although I managed to bump into the officer, a zombie tore him in half before I could rescue him. This lead to a bunch of zombies surrounding the once empty hallways. Luckily, I managed to find another officer and get back to the main hall in one piece.

After looking at the notes left by the deceased officer, we surmised that the way out of the station was through the puzzles guarding the exits.

Re-worked from the ground up

Unlike Capcom’s previous "RE" remake, this "Resident Evil 2" remake is a complete re-imagining of the original title in both gameplay and story. Gone are the tank controls and pre-rendered backgrounds of old.

Instead, this remake incorporates the over the shoulder view of "RE4," while mixing it with the more survival and puzzle-focused gameplay of the first two installments. While this new style might not give players as much trouble fumbling with controls, the claustrophobic and dark environments mixed with the limited resources will evoke the lingering dread from the original.

Players expecting a game like "RE4" set in Raccoon City will be in for a surprise, as this game isn't nearly as action-focused. It makes sense that "RE2" era Leon doesn't have the flashy moves that his future self would learn.

Look for the remake to "Resident Evil 2" on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows in January of next year.
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