Players: 1
Resident Evil 2 Capcom 's
sequel to 1996's superlative Resident Evil which was released in the UK
last year, both of which are released by Virgin Interactive .
In the first game, the S.T.A.R.S. members Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine
battled to find out what lurked behind the cause of the zombie-infested town
of Raccoon City. It seemed the task was complete when they eradicated the
deadly T-Virus.
Things couldn't be further from the truth though as the Umbrella Corporation
have manufactured the G-Virus and those caught up in the diseased city this
time round are Chris' sister Claire and Leon, a cop on his first day in the
job patrolling the town.
In the opening FMV sequence, fate pulls them together and then tears them apart.
When you play this sequel, you won't be playing one scenario but four: first go
through the game as Leon and then as Clare. Then you'll play each character
again, but things will be even harder.
Like the first game, you'll need to solve puzzles, find keys, combinations and
special weapons, not to mention trying to stay alive as fear lurks around
every corner. Also, at certain points in the game you'll take on the guise of
two other characters mentioned later in the review - Ada and Sherry.
Characters
Leon
Leon is an idealistic rookie cop. He has quickly become disenchanted with the
very system he is trained to uphold as he learns the harsh realities of the
real world. He is somewhat reckless and brash, and certainly not as naive as
his outward demeanor would have the casual observer believe. Leon is highly
qualified for his job and his sense of humor makes him a very likeable officer
despite his rowdy attitude.
Claire
Claire is a light-hearted and articulate modern women. Her intelligence and
optimism combine to make her both worldly and keenly aware of her surroundings.
While Claire is a bit of a tomboy at times, she is very attractive and retains
very feminine qualities. Her demeanor softens considerably when she deals with
children. She can also be described as somewhat of a wild girl. Both extroverted
and self-confident, she is typically the first person to try things many others
would not. With her strong opinions on most issues, she can come across as quite
sarcastic.
Ada
Ada is a very professional woman, highly skilled and intelligent. However, she
also can come across as very condescending with her tendency to talk down to
those she deems "inferior" to herself. This is most evident in her tone of voice
when addressing others. She is a Chinese-American who is engaged to be married
in the near future.
Sherry
The daughter of William Birkin, Sherry is a bit insecure yet very intelligent
for her age of 12. She is very shy and when she speaks she always sounds a bit
unsure of herself like a lost little girl. Her father, William Birkin is a
brilliant scientist working for the Umbrella Corporation.
Game Options
Key Configuration
Sound
Monitor Adjust
Reset
Load Game
New Game
Hints and Tips
N.B. I didn't write any of the following cheats, so can't vouch for them if they
don't work.
Kill the Camera
Take the east exit out of the basement, and go to the area with two dogs and a
manhole in it. Stand with your back to the manhole, walk forward from the
manhole until the camera changes angles, then face the camera and fire with the
Shotgun. You may have to tweak the aim a bit, but check it out!
Safe Combination
To open the safe use 2236 as the Code
Brad Vickers (Special Key)
Begin the game on normal difficulty on the 1st scenario. Play through from the
beginning without picking up any items. When you reach the gate before the
R.P.D., take the stairs to your left. You will encounter a special zombie wear
camouflage pants and an orange vest. Say hi to Brad Vickers who you might recall
as the pilot of the chopper that airlifted Chris and Jill out of R.E.1. He's no
ordinary zombie. He's super powered and takes far more hits than any other
zombie. You can try to kill him now with your limited Handgun ammo (not nearly
enough shots to kill him) and your knife (uhh, good luck) but a better idea is
to pass him and head into the R.P.D. and grab a shotgun and come back for him
(once you've made him appear you can go grab any items you want, he'll still be
there waiting for you) You can kill him with one shotgun blow to the head. Or
wait till he's facing you and slowly move backwards. He'll take a lunge at you
and end up at your feet. This only take up 1/8 of your health but you can kill
him with one simple boot smash. Search his corpse and you'll find the special
key (you can only fight Brad Vickers in the 2nd scenario if you encountered him
in the first and you can still pick up items along the way)
Special Costumes
Once you've obtained the special key from Brad, as described above, take the key
to the 1st F west wing save room that also has the darkroom attached. You will
find a locker there. Use the special key and Voila! With Leon you get choice of
two new costumes. Plus you'll get the awesome ability to fire the handgun
one-handed which is twice as fast as usual. Claire gets only one new costume but
also gains the Colt S.A.A. gun. This weapon will give you a real taste of the
wild west, as Claire fires it gunslinger style, holding the pistol from the hip
and fanning the hammer with her palm. Not only does this look awesome, but she
pumps out bullets at more than twice the rate of the normal handgun. But it only
holds six shots(but reloads ultra fast)
(Note: If you change clothes in the first scenario, that character will still be
wearing the new outfit in the others 2nd scenario.)
Infinite Weapons
Infinite weapons are a special reward for skilled R.E.2 players. If you beat the
1st scenario with an A or B ranking in under 2 hours, you get an Infinite
Rocket Launcher. In the 2nd scenario there are two possibilities. If you simply
beat the 2nd mission with an A or B ranking in under 3 hours, you get the
Infinite Submachine gun. If you beat the 2nd mission with an A or B ranking
in under 2 hours you get an Infinite Rocket Launcher, Submachine gun,
AND the awesome Gatling gun!
1-hit Gator Kill
Here's a secret trick to kill the Gator boss. When he starts advancing on you.
You'll notice a yellow light on the left wall. Search it and a canister will
fall to the ground. When the gator chomps down on the gas canister, shoot the
canister and the gator will explode into bloody chunks!
Reserve Power Control
To activate reserve power, enter the sequence: Up, Down, Up, Up, Down.
The 4th Survivor
The fourth survivor is a bonus game mode that features another
playable character named "Hunk." Hunk is one of the soldiers who
tried to take the G-virus from William, as seen during the midgame
CG FMV. Hunk's mission is to get from the sewer to the second
floor of the police station. It is a battle mode of sorts, with no
puzzles to solve or items to pick up. To open up this mode, beat
the second scenario for either of the two characters in under two
and a half hours, using fewer than twelve saves.
Tofu
Tofu is yet another playable character... well sort of. He's actually a
giant piece of tofu, who plays the same scenario as Hunk but is
armed with only a knife. To open up Tofu, you must play through the
game three consecutive times. Play through a first scenario, then
its corresponding second scenario, then the other character's first
scenario and its corresponding second scenario, then finally the
first and second scenario all over again. If you can finish each one
of the six scenarios in under three hours, with fewer than twelve
saves in each one, and without using any of the unlimited weapons
mentioned below, he's all yours.
Ranking System
To get a ranking of :
D - finish the game in seven hours or more.
Note that your rank will be lowered by one grade if you use any special
weapons or if you saved more than 12 times.
Graphics, Sound and Playability
Most people who've played the first will know what to expect in terms of
graphics. Crisp, clear and colourful with excellent interaction between yourself
and the characters than inhabit the city. Not to mention those you'll come
across who mutate into something even more evil.
Sound is also first-rate. The menacing background music, the pistol-shooting
followed by the sound of each spent cartridge hitting the floor, the groan of
the zombies as they come at you, or slump to the floor. Plus, the squelching
sound of several zombies sucking your blood as they pin you to the floor...
The gameplay is also very good. The controls take a little getting used to
although if you've played the first game then you shouldn't have any problems
with this game. The whole game plays slightly slower in the PAL version than
the NTSC version, also with some black bars at the top and bottom of the screen,
but this is to be expected with most PAL games. It doesn't make too much of a
difference though and is only probably noticeable if you've played the NTSC
version.
Overall
Overall, if you've played the original and liked that, then you'll be eager
for some more and this certainly doesn't disappoint, especially as you have
to play out four scenarios.
If I could make two alterations, the first is when you go through a door.
Every time you go through you get the 'opening door' sequence, which can be
quite annoying if you need to go through a lot of doors to get somewhere and
you know that there's no more zombies left in that room. Therefore I feel you
should only get the 'opening door' graphic the first time you go through.
The other alteration is that a spare pair of underpants should be included with
the game as this and its prequel are the only ones I've played in which you can
be genuinely scared of what's around the corner...particularly if it's late at
night.
If you're after some more info on Virgin Interactive's games, you can check
out their official Website at
www.vie.co.uk
Also, check out Capcom's site at www.capcom.com
GRAPHICS : *****
SOUND EFFECTS : *****
PLAYABILITY : ****
ORIGINALITY : ****
ENJOYMENT : *****
-----------------------
OVERALL : *****
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.
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Amazon.co.uk Widgets
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
