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Review  Resident Evil 2
- By Mike Schneider
The mere fact that Resident Evil 2 is even on N64 at all is quite remarkable. It's icing on the cake that the game plays as good as, if not better, than the playstation version. When Capcom announced that they were porting Resident Evil 2 to N64, nay-sayers chuckled.
"Surely it won't have full-motion videos because Nintendo cartridges don't have enough memory, so how can it be Resident Evil 2?" Or, "the pre-rendered backgrounds in RE2 will be more than the 64 will be able to cope with."
However, Capcom has successfully shut-up those nay-sayers, and then some. They got Nintendo's support for the project, and received a cheap price on a 512 mega-bit cartridge -- twice the size of Zelda's cartridge, and upon utilizing outstanding compression techniques, fit every FMV from RE2, all the voices, and hi-res in game graphics. And the rest, they say, is history...
Background info aside, let me say, for the record, that I have never played RE2 for playstation, and this review will reflect upon that fact, since I won't be using this version as a measuring stick against the psx version.
Gameplay:
After watching the opening 5 minute or so FMV, you'll begin your quest as Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield, each with the very similar alternate quest.
As I soon discovered in RE2, this is much more survival horror than shooter, since if you attempt to go threw the game leaving a pile of dead zombies in the wake of your footsteps, you'll be dead quite quickly. As soon as you realize that there isn't enough ammo in the game to kill every zombie, the suspense builds. You'll be asking yourself, "do I shoot this zombie, or try to run around him and conserve ammo?" Believe me, the gameplay is classic and works great.
If a zombie lays a couple bites on you, you'll see Leon or Claire holding their side, not able to move as fast. Take a few more hits from other creatures, and you'll be in a terrible limp, moving about the same speed as zombies themselves.
Resident Evil 2 is quite linear, meaning there's basically one route that you must travel to get through the game, but there are some puzzles that help spice up the variety. For example, you find a unicorn medal on a desk, and remember that there's a fountain in the police department lobby that had an inscribed message about unicorns being needed to free something. So, you go to the lobby, and put the unicorn medal on the fountain, which gives you a key that unlocks two of the many locked doors in the game.
Navigating through RE2 is very similar to how you'd move Link when outside the Temple of Time in Zelda, except the pre-rendered backgrounds are far more detailed than Zelda. Also, some of the environments are interactive; you can push statues or ladders, read posters on the walls, find documents on desks and read those, and so forth, by pressing the "A" button to investigate. Along with the pre-rendered backgrounds, you will encounter a pre-determined camera angle as well. This works most of the time, but can be frustrating too. In quite a few situations, the camera would be looking down a hallway, and a zombie or two would be a good ten feet or so in front of or behind me, causing me to not be able to see my character at all, and at times, causing me to run smack dab into a zombie. Plus, there are times when doors along walls are difficult to see, due to the camera angle not giving a good view of it. In one instance, I actually died because I couldn't find the door in an area.
Aesthetics:
Resident Evil 2 is one of the most visually stunning games to grace the N64, for even more than just the FMVs. Yes, the full-motion video is very pretty and a visual feast; but Capcom and Angel Studios didn't just stop there. The game packs full high resolution graphics that make environments appear very sharp.
Control:
A gamer that uses the default control style in RE2 is either: A) Brave. B) Stupid. Or C) Crazy. With the standard control setup, the only way to move at all is to press up on the control stick or pad. So, if you are going to move left across the screen, you have to press left or right so you will face the proper direction, than hold up to move in the direction you're facing. However, with this, Leon and Claire turn themselves around way too slowly. Holding B while moving will allow you to run, and, to use your equipped weapon you'd press R to get it out, and then A to use/fire it. Pressing start allows you to pause the game, and view your health, inventory, a map, and read various documents that you've picked up.
Thankfully, you can eliminate the quarks of the default setting by changing to a control setup that allows you to move in whatever direction you want with the joystick -- basically analog control. By using that style, the controls are much better.
Sound:
Resident Evil 2 runs in full-surround sound, something that even the playstation version can't boast. The music background in the game is relatively minimal compared to other games, but this is fine, since it ads to the mood of the game, something this game has plenty of. If you turn a corner and the deep thud of the background music stops, the tension within yourself builds. Although the music is "background music" in the truest form, the sound job is very effective. Sound effects are spectacular as well. This is the only game that I've ever played that has caused me to jump and skip a heartbeat, due to the well timed loud noise or crash simultaneously with a creature jumping out from no where. Times like these are what RE2 is all about. Full motion videos feature full voices too, but the voices do sound a little tinny. A mute complaint, really, considering the feat of fitting them in the game.
Multiplayer:
N/A
OVERALL:
Overall, I'm very pleased with Resident Evil 2. The game only allows you to carry 8 items at once, something more games should do, forcing you to store items in storage boxes scattered throughout the rooms, and save points are infrequent enough to keep it challenging, without the game becoming overly frustrating (5 save slots in game, no memory pak needed). A really atmospheric gem, complete with many scares, that comes off as a recommendation for any N64 owner who hasn't experienced it before on playstation.
The Lowdown on  Resident Evil 2
| Aesthetics: Awesome |
Control: Average |
| Gameplay: Very Good |
Multiplayer: |
| Sound: Very Good |
Innovation: 5/6 |
| Lasting Appeal: 4/6 |
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Overall: Awesome!
"Top of the Genre"
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This game is:
Awesome
Not every cut scene is FMV; some still retain the regular graphics.
There'll be plenty of zombies to raise pure Hell!
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INFO |
Developer: Capcom Entertainment, Angel Studios
Publisher: Capcom Entertainment
Number of Players: 1
Rumble Pak: Yes
Expansion Pak: Yes
Memory Pak: Yes
Transfer Pak: No
Cartridge Size: 64 MB
ESRB Rating: M
Release Date:
11.16.1999
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IN A
NUTSHELL: |
| Zombie slaying has never been this much fun, on any gaming console! A complete technical marvel! |
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