Showing posts with label chief irons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chief irons. Show all posts

Thursday, April 02, 2020

My Top 50 Favourite Resident Evil Moments: #10 to #1

We're here! What are my Top 10 Favourite Moments in the Resident Evil series! Scroll down to find out! If you've missed #20 to #11 then click here, for #30 to to #21 click here, for #40 to #31 then click here, and to view #50 to #41 click here. It's time to reveal half of my Top 20. Let's do this!

#10 - Zombies Walk Through the Door - Resident Evil 2
Another moment that's incredibly special for us old school Resi fans. Picture this. You've played the original Resident Evil. It was terrifying, nothing at the time looked or played like it in the horror gaming genre. You've observed the door opening sequence many times throughout the game. A few years later you then play Resident Evil 2. Even more scary. Even more mundane yet iconic door sequences. And then there's just one door, ONE DOOR, in the game where they decide to scare the absolute shit out of you by having two zombies come through it. It was absolutely terrifying, it scarred me for a very long time! 

A couple of other things to note, when you play the B Scenario Campaign with either character, you understand why these zombies come through the door, and also, they did do homage to this scene in the 2 Remake, but, of course, with all the advancements in technology it was no where near as impactful but served as a nice little Easter egg for us oldies who played the original.

#9 - The Merchant - Resident Evil 4
"Welcome!"
"Whatr'ya buyin'?"
"Whatr'ya sellin'?"
"Ahhhh, I'll buy it at a high price!"
"Heh heh hah heh, thank you!"
"Not enough cash, stranger!"
"Come back anytime!"

Even to this day I quote The Merchant. He's one of my all time favourite minor characters in video game history. He's got so much personality for such a minor character. I'm so gutted that this guy was never seen again after Resident Evil 4, he was hugely popular amongst hardcore fans of the series and the fact that he wasn't in Resi 5, where there is a shop system, was hugely disappointing. I don't think fans would have cared about the potential lack of logic, placing him in Africa when he was in Spain in the previous game. We don't care! We just want The Merchant, dammit! And obviously, as an arms dealer, he's so helpful, giving Leon well needed guns, upgrades and first aid sprays. The man is a legend and we'll never forget him!

#8 - Ben Bertolucci's Death - Resident Evil 2 Remake
What a fucking moment. Sure, it's only been just over a year since RE2 Remake came out, but this moment deserves to be mentioned this high up on this list. It was singularly the best moment in the Remake. I mentioned it in my article last year "5 Changes I Like, Don't Like, and Would Have Changed".

In the original game Ben dies in a completely different way, which is again one of the reasons why I love this part in the Remake so much. Ben gets implanted with an G-virus embryo by William Birkin, or brutally brought down by his iron pipe, depending if you play the A or B campaign. Not only that, but Ben in the original game has two scenes of dialogue.

But in this Remake, oh no. That doesn't happen. He only has one scene, and it ends as quickly as it begins. In his prison cell, feeling safe from the chaos happening outside, Ben chills and smokes a cigarette. He bumps into Leon and before you know it, Tyrant grabs him from behind the wall and crushes his face with one hand. It's absolutely brutal and I love it. It's simply... wow. My mouth was ajar when I saw it for the first time. Incredible.

#7 - Tyrant Smashes Through the Wall - Resident Evil 2
Honest to Chris you don't realise how many people crapped their pants when this scene happened unless you played it back in the day. Tyrant, the original stalker, was everywhere in the B Campaign of Resi 2, but perhaps his finest moment is when you solve the torch puzzle towards the end of your time in the police station. You've solved this puzzle in the A Campaign, and the puzzle hasn't changed in the B Campaign at all, it's the same outcome. But as soon as the gear falls out on the opposite side of the room ready for you to collect, Tyrant smashes through the wall OUT OF NOWHERE. It's one of the best jump scares in video game history, so much to the point that they replicate it in the Remake to the same effect... but make it a random occurrence!

And then, of course, when you've dealt with the wall smash, you have to walk the long way round the corridor on the outside... and you wonder if he'll do it again, and he does! Sure it's not as scary but you just don't know which wall and when it would happen so it still catches you!

#6 - Krauser and Leon's Knife Fight - Resident Evil 4
When it comes to villains with short amounts of gametime that stay with me, Jack Krauser is high on that list when it comes to how much I love them. He featured at #18 in my Favourite Villains list, so that says a lot. He's only really in the game for one chapter, 5-3 to be exact, but his stamp on this chapter is immense. His history with Leon, his cool demeanour, his respect for his old comrade, despite wanting to kill him, everything about Krauser is just badass.

If we're going to narrow it down to one moment, it is, of course, the knife fight at the beginning of the chapter. When it comes to cool moments, Resident Evil 4 has them in abundance, but perhaps the coolest moment in the whole game has to be this fight. It's so slick, so cool, you feel like an absolute badass fighting Krauser knife on knife, man on man. The quick button exchanges are hard too, it took me ages to finish this sequence when I first did it. I just love this section of the game so much and Krauser is fully responsible towards why.

#5 - Wesker's Return - Resident Evil Code Veronica
When Code Veronica came out on the Dreamcast I was gutted. I didn't look at any of the previews of the game or any info of what happens in the game - don't forget that back then there was no YouTube. Most of my information was actually from magazines. So when the game came out on the PS2 a year later, I went into the game completely blind.

So when I heard "Greetings... you must be the lovely Claire Redfield" in a pompous British accent, I had goosebumps. I hadn't seen Albert Wesker since Resident Evil 1, so we're talking 4-5 years. In that time Resident Evil 2 and 3 had already came out. There was no signs at all that Wesker was to be brought back from the dead to haunt us again, and it was a stroke of genius by Capcom to bring him back into the series.

What's so good about this scene, a truly underrated scene in the Resident Evil series in my opinion, is how not only were you not expecting the return of Wesker (unless of course you knew in advance, which as I said, I did not), but Claire Redfield has no idea who he is either. She knew of Wesker but it takes her a moment to figure out it was him, what, with him being presumed dead and all. I love how he toys with her, beating her about, purely out of his hatred for Chris, her brother. After he gets a message he decides not to kill her and let her live for another day.

And then - there it is - the red glint in his sunglasses, and the huge supernatural jump into the abyss. Whatever Wesker is, he's not human, and it's truly a jaw dropping moment. I truly love this moment in the game because there's so much information to process at once. Wesker isn't dead. Wesker isn't human. Wesker is using Claire as bait to get Chris to come to the island so he can kill him in an act of revenge. It's all so good and it's a shame most people don't agree with me when I say it's one of the best moments in the series history.

#4 - Meeting The Licker - Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2 Remake did the Licker tremendously proud. These bastards are one of the worst/best monsters in all of Resident Evil. They're so tricky manoeuvre, tough as hell and absolutely terrifying. I hate the noise they make in the original game, that's possibly the one thing they've struggled to replicate in any game since.

The first time you meet The Licker in Resident Evil 2 is simply one of those moments that players never forget. When you've seen Zombies, Dogs, Crows, Snakes, Spiders and other creatures in Resident Evil 1, they really needed to create a brand new enemy to scare the shit out of us with back in 1998. And this was the result. Thank you Capcom for the nightmare fuel, these bastards are just truly awful.

#3 - Regenerators - Resident Evil 4
Oh god. Oh fucking god. Has there ever been a more scary Resident Evil enemy in the series? In my opinion, perhaps not.

Regenerators are terrifying. They're tall, with abnormally long limbs, make the most god-awful noises, and creepily walk at you at a decent pace. What makes it worse is that the only way to kill them is to shoot invisible parasites that are all over their body - front and back.

Taking care of the parasites on the front isn't a problem, you have the infrared scope and you take them out. It's the ones on the back that are the problem. You can't go round the Regenerators because the corridors are too narrow, and they can extend their arms and grab you from afar. So you normally have to shoot a leg off. But... if you do that then they crawl at you at a quicker speed than their walking animation and jump up at you. They're just so scary and give you such anxiety taking them out. You have to be quick, in taking out the parasites on their backs.

Also, in what seems like an unpopular opinion, Regenerators for me are worse than the Iron Maidens. Iron Maidens, if you didn't know, are Regenerators with large spikes covering their bodies. Regenerators for me are worse for that very reason - if they bite you, they make the most awful noises chomping on your neck or wherever they latch on top of you. And even when you die, they don't let go, still chewing on your dead corpse for dinner! They're just, for me, probably the scariest monsters in the whole series.

#2 - Chief Irons'/Ben Bertolucci's Death - Resident Evil 2
So we covered Ben's death in the Remake earlier at #8, but his death, and Chief Irons' death in the original game, perhaps serve longer in the memory. This death was done in the Remake but to Chief Irons exclusively, yet it wasn't done to the same extent as the original.

William Birkin in the A Campaign will implant an embryo in either Ben or Chief Irons, depending on who you're playing as. When you get to either character in their next scene, the creature bursts out of them, rejecting their host. What makes this death so damn gruesome, is how the Baby G crawls through the chest and up through the shoulder. It's truly awful and gory, and I was hoping they'd do this scene justice in the Remake. Sadly they didn't, because the creature comes out of the chest rather than through the shoulder. It's good, but this original scene in the original Resident Evil 2, is truly a horrifying moment that wasn't done justice in the Remake. Just look at the GIF below, it's gruesome!

And here we are. What is my Favourite Moment in Resident Evil? Before we reveal, here's a countdown from #50 to #2...
  • #50 - The Mysterious White Bag (Resident Evil 4)
  • #49 - Piers Nivans' Sacrifice (Resident Evil 6)
  • #48 - Lurker Frogs (Resident Evil 0)
  • #47 - The Master of Unlocking (Resident Evil)
  • #46 - Eveline's True Identity (Resident Evil 7)
  • #45 - Playground Fun (Resident Evil 6)
  • #44 - G-Adult (Resident Evil 2 Remake)
  • #43 - Wesker vs Chris (Resident Evil: Code Veronica)
  • #42 - The First Zombie (Resident Evil)
  • #41 - The Orphanage (Resident Evil 2 Remake)
  • #40 - Meeting El Gigante (Resident Evil 4)
  • #39 - Ada's Trap (Resident Evil 6)
  • #38 - Meeting Yawn (Resident Evil)
  • #37 - Crimson Heads (Resident Evil Remake)
  • #36 - Tyrant vs Birkin (Resident Evil 2 Remake)
  • #35 - The Gallery Room (Resident Evil)
  • #34 - The First Tape (Resident Evil 7)
  • #33 - Entering the Village (Resident Evil 4)
  • #32 - Meeting Mimicry Marcus (Resident Evil 0)
  • #31 - The First Zombie (Resident Evil 2 Remake)
  • #30 - Ada's Return (Resident Evil 4)
  • #29 - Meeting Lisa Trevor (Resident Evil Remake)
  • #28 - Wesker vs Jill and Chris (Resident Evil 5)
  • #27 - Return to the Police Station (Resident Evil 3: Nemesis)
  • #26 - Reuniting with Mia (Resident Evil 7)
  • #25 - "…SHIT!" (Resident Evil 4)
  • #24 - The Intro (Resident Evil)
  • #23 - Meeting Nosferatu (Resident Evil: Code Veronica)
  • #22 - Cerberus Teasing to Smash Through the Window (Resident Evil Remake)
  • #21 - Discovering the B Campaign (Resident Evil 2)
  • #20 - The First Las Plagas (Resident Evil 4)
  • #19 - The Garage (Resident Evil 7)
  • #18 - Double Mirror Licker (Resident Evil 2)
  • #17 - Scientist Attack in the Lab (Resident Evil: Code Veronica)
  • #16 - Cerberus Smashing Through the Window (Resident Evil)
  • #15 - Dinner with The Baker Family (Resident Evil 7)
  • #14 - Meeting Nemesis (Resident Evil 3: Nemesis)
  • #13 - Lickers Everywhere (Resident Evil 5)
  • #12 - Jill Sandwich (Resident Evil)
  • #11 - Chainsaw Death Match (Resident Evil 7)
  • #10 - Zombies Walk Through the Door (Resident Evil 2)
  • #9 - The Merchant (Resident Evil 4)
  • #8 - Ben Bertolucci's Death (Resident Evil 2 Remake)
  • #7 - Tyrant Smashes Through the Wall (Resident Evil 2)
  • #6 - Krauser and Leon's Knife Fight (Resident Evil 4)
  • #5 - Wesker's Return (Resident Evil: Code Veronica)
  • #4 - Meeting The Licker (Resident Evil 2)
  • #3 - Regenerators (Resident Evil 4)
  • #2 - Chief Irons' Death (Resident Evil 2)
So, my Favourite Moment in Resident Evil is...

#1 - Meeting The Hunter - Resident Evil
Here we have it. The original Resident Evil Hunters. Nothing has been, in my opinion, as awful as the Hunters in the first game. More scary? Sure. Regenerators are probably scarier. And the graphics haven't been kind to that original FMV sequence when that Hunter chases after you through the Courtyard. But I can promise you, nothing crapped me up more than when I first saw that video sequence back in the day.

You'd never faced ANYTHING like the Hunters until that part of the game. Zombies, Dogs, Spiders, sure. But The Hunter was like nothing else. These guys were fast, they were strong, they can leap ridiculous heights in the air, they can combo attack you. If you're in bad health, they can swipe attack you and take your head off. They were truly awful.

We've had Hunters in other Resident Evil games. RE3 - they weren't as difficult. RE Code Veronica - they were difficult but not as scary. It's the one enemy that has never been replicated to a justifiable level. Even the RE1 Remake doesn't do them justice. Resident Evil, back in 1996, created a horrible bastard of a monster that gives me anxiety to this day because they're so tough, there's so many of them back in the mansion upon your return, and they're so unpredictable. So thank you Capcom, for filling me with anxiety, whenever I see one of these green bastards.

And that's it! I hope you've enjoyed my countdown of my 50 Favourite Resident Evil Moments. I'm sure everyone's list would be different, but let me know in the comments you agree with, disagree with and what are your most memorable moments in the series that maybe I haven't mentioned.

As always, here's a pie charts of stats from my listing you may or may not be interested in:


When we talk about titles individually, Resi 4 comes on top. It is, along with Resi 2, my favourite games in the series, so it shouldn't come as a surprise. With Resi 1 being the original you can understand why that game is so memorable, without we wouldn't have the other games.

That's pretty much it from me. I hope you've enjoyed the list as I said. Let us know what you think in the comments! Thanks for reading, any shares would be greatly appreciated! And until next time, take care!

Sunday, March 29, 2020

My Top 50 Favourite Resident Evil Moments: #50 to #41


Ahoy there and welcome to another one of my listings. With the dust settled on Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 3 Remake announced and less than a week away I thought now would be a good time to reveal what my 50 favourite moments are in the series. When I say the series I'm talking about the main games, so I'm not including Resident Evil Survivor, Revelations or Umbrella Chronicles or similar. It's literally Resident Evil 0, 1, 2, 3, Code Veronica, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1 Remake and 2 Remake.

Some of these moments are scary, some are funny, some are sad and some are just iconic.

I'll post these 50 moments across 5 parts over 5 days. Today I'm posting #50 to #41, so come back tomorrow for #40 to #31.

Because some people prefer videos, some prefer text, some prefer GIFs and some want just a picture - I tried to get one of everything in here for each entry.. although some seem to have disappeared due to copyright issues perhaps. Some explanations may be longer than others. And don't forget - all of this is my opinion, so if you disagree, that's cool, we can discuss that in the comments.

I shouldn't have to say but just in case - there are likely to be SPOILERS in these posts. So if you've not played any of the games above and don't want to know what happens, don't take the risk!

Enjoy my favourite moments from *FLASH*
Resident. Evil.

#50 - The Mysterious White Bag - Resident Evil 4
Right at the end of Resident Evil 4 - and we mean one of the last rooms you enter in the entire game has the last Regenerator enemy to defeat in there. Before that though you can open a cupboard to find a white bag inside. It takes a good couple of seconds, but after a moment, the bag starts moving. And moving. And it won't stop unless to strike or shoot it with a weapon, and when you do it stretches in a weird way and flops dead.

Why?

What was it?

The answer remains a mystery to this day. It has no impact to the game in any way, shape or form and you don't even have to open the cupboard. It's just a weird moment and it's simplicity is great.





#49 - Piers Nivans' Sacrifice - Resident Evil 6
Let's get something out of the way - Resi 6 is by far the worst entry in the series. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have its moments. And when I say moments I do literally mean... moments. Most of it is just meh. And again, my opinion here, one redeeming thing about Resi 6 is actually Chris Redfield. I've never been the biggest Chris fan, and his character in Resi 5 was really crap in honesty. But in Resi 6 he does somehow redeem himself. Acting like the elderly statesman to a group of young BSAA rookies, he is the role model for the likes of Finn and Piers. More on Finn later.

But Piers is the shining light of the BSAA. He's young, quite brash, but quickly becomes an incredibly reliable soldier working alongside Chris and is there when the shit hits the fan. He's the future. But then he gets attacked and infected by a monster named Haos. He still helps Chris defeat the monster and Chris says they'll escape.

But Piers has other ideas. He throws Chris into the escape pod and locks the door. Chris begs him to open the door but Piers refuses.

It's a heartbreaking moment in the game, one that caught me by surprise. Mainly because everything leading up to this point in Chris' story was mostly boring, apart from other scenes which we'll get to later. Chris was supposed to retire after training up these young rookies in Finn and Piers. But he outlives them and continues to fight on in their memory.



#48 - Lurker Frogs - Resident Evil 0
Resident Evil 0 isn't a bad game, not at all. It's decent enough. Most of the general enemies in the game are dull... apart from Lurker Frogs. These massive frogs don't look that intimidating and that's part of the beauty of the situation. By this point in the series, most fans had played Resi 1, Resi 2, Resi 3, Code Veronica and Resi 1 Remake. We had seen countless enemies in that time.

We get towards the end of Resi 0 and see a big frog jump out of the water. We take a look at it and almost laugh. They look like shit versions of Hunters.

But then they attack you with their massive tongue and drag you towards them... and eat you whole. That's it. Game Over.


What just happened??

Did that really just happen??

It really comes out of nowhere, and it's a one-hit kill. The only way out of it is if you have both Rebecca and Billy, and one shoots the Lurker Frog before the other gets eaten. But chances are the first few times you encounter these frogs you're separated, so until you reunite you literally have to either be quick and kill them before they attack you, or run and run FAST. Because their tongues are really long and once they attack, you're fucked.



#47 - The Master of Unlocking - Resident Evil
Some fans may say I'm placing this too low in the list and I understand if you're one of those people. It's a classic moment but there was so much to cover in this Top 50 it just kept getting bumped downwards. It's still an amazing moment though.

If you don't know, the original Resident Evil had some TERRIBLE acting. I mean just woeful. And most of the worst lines were by Barry Burton. I mean, personally, when I say the acting is terrible, I LOVE it. I love how cheesy the lines are. I love the poor dialogue. And Barry's lines are absolute corkers.

"Jill, here's a lockpick. It might be handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you."

I mean, sure. Maybe Jill is AMAZING at unlocking doors. If Jill was in Skyrim, perhaps her Pickpocket Level is 100. But to call her "The Master of Unlocking" is just a strange phrase to use. ESPECIALLY in a situation where you're stuck in a mansion full of zombies and other monstrosities. It's simply a classic Resident Evil moment and I love it.




#46 - Eveline's True Identity - Resident Evil 7
I did warn you about spoilers! Don't want to know the true identity of Eveline? Skip ahead. I mean it. The video thumbnail for the YouTube video shows you who it is! You get this warning for free.

You don't mind knowing who Eveline is? Or know already? Okay. Fine. So yeah. I'm not going to lie to you, when you find out that Eveline is actually the old lady in the wheelchair it did catch me by surprise. Is it the biggest plot twist in video game history? No. But it's still fun and I didn't see it coming. All this time, seeing that creepy old lady, doing nothing, singing in corridors, staring at you like a Mona Lisa painting, barely surviving, never dying, just... being... there. And of course, there's that one particular corridor where she's not facing you and you think this is the moment - she's gonna grab you, but she doesn't. Then when you turn around she's disappeared.

Eveline's plot twist wasn't expected and it's not the most original reveal but I did really enjoy it regardless.




#45 - Playground Fun - Resident Evil 6
I missed this moment when I first played Resident Evil 6! I did go down the slide and that was comical. But I didn't actually ride the panda! It's one of those moments where you think... did that just happen?? But I'm glad it did. Resident Evil over the years has had moments where you do wonder if the games take themselves too seriously. But we have over the years had some hilarious moments in the game. So it was a refreshing change of pace to have Chris Redfield mess about in a playground despite bioterrorism threatening to destroy the world. It's hilarious!




#44 - G-Adult - Resident Evil 2 Remake
Resident Evil 2 Remake was brilliant. Truly brilliant. What they kept the same was mostly the right decision and what they changed was usually for the better. There were some things I didn't agree with and to read my thoughts on that click here.

But one thing that was a stroke of genius was what they did with G-Adult.

In the original Resi 2, G-Adult was the first boss in the game. There was only one, and it was the creature that burst out of Ben or Chief Irons, depending on if you were playing as Leon or Claire respectively in the A Campaign. It's the offspring of William Birkin's monster who is trying to find the correct host.

So by that logic, there shouldn't be one G-Adult, but many. William Birkin creeps all the way from the labs underground to the sewers and then to the police station. So it makes a lot of sense to suggest that there can't be just one G-Adult, because William Birkin must have planted many embryos in many poor victims on his way up.

So Capcom realised this and made the decision in the Remake to scrap the G-Adult boss and instead make him a regular enemy. And what an enemy he is. He's an absolute grotesque bag of gore, eyes, flesh and poison. It's fucking revolting. And defeating them are an absolute pain in the ass. So bravo Capcom, for making a great change from the original game to the Remake in making G-Adult far more significant in the latter.




#43 - Wesker vs Chris - Resident Evil Code Veronica
When I first played Resident Evil Code Veronica I was so happy with the return of Wesker. I'll talk more about that in a later entry in this list. But one of the best things about the return of Wesker was the rivalry between Wesker and Chris. They hate each other, and for very good reason. Wesker betrayed the STARS team and Chris thwarted Wesker's plans back in the mansion in Resi 1, leaving him for dead.

And in the end of Code Veronica, we get to see what we really wanted - a fight between Wesker and Chris. And sure, it's a little one sided with Wesker's superpowers, but Chris, as he always does, manages to use some tricks up his sleeve. It's one of my favourite moments in Code Veronica and for some unknown reason not many people give the scene the love I feel it deserves. I love this fight!




#42 - The First Zombie - Resident Evil
Again, this is another moment I can see a lot of fans questioning why I've placed this all the way down in #42. And as iconic as this moment truly is, it never did scare me much, even when I played the game as a kid in the late nineties. There were far more scary moments in Resident Evil 1 than this. But I can't deny it's status as one of video games truly iconic moments. It's likely to be in a Top 100 video game moments list of all time, if someone was to make such a list. It's truly video game royalty, when it comes to how big this moment was for so many people. It's just that as much as I like this moment, it just didn't move me as much as it seemed to for others.

Also, I never knew that Forest's head got decapitated. They seemed to edit that scene, depending on what version you played.




#41 - The Orphanage - Resident Evil 2 Remake
We return to the Remake of Resident Evil 2 with another "change" they made that wasn't in the original game. The whole orphanage segment of Claire's campaign is excellent. They added so much more to the story and relationship of Chief Irons and Sherry Birkin. And there are moments in the orphanage that are quite uncomfortable. Chief Irons is much more of a scumbag in this remake, and Sherry is far less annoying than she is in the original. Overall, those tweaks to those characters made this whole scene much more impactful than I ever anticipated. I didn't really care for either character in the original game, but my feelings for both characters were far more this time round. So, again, kudos Capcom, for making another great addition to the already good story of Resi 2.


Saturday, February 23, 2019

Resident Evil 2 Remake - 5 Changes I Like, Don't Like, and Would Have Changed


Warning - this post contains lots of spoilers from both the original Resident Evil 2 and the Remake. You have been warned!

Hey everyone, I thought I'd do something slightly different today. I, like many people have recently been playing Resident Evil 2 Remake and it's absolutely brilliant. I may well review it for the website, but at the moment I thought I'd just do this post and see what happens in the future.

Resident Evil 2 (2019) is a full remake of the original Resident Evil 2 from 1998. That being said, like the original Resident Evil remake from 2002, which was a full remake of the original from 1996, they have made some changes and added some things, so it's not a 100% copy and paste interpretation.

Is this it as good as the original? My answer is no - but that's okay. The standards set back then were incredibly high, so I wasn't expecting it to be "as good", but I wanted it to be as close to the original in terms of offering the same feeling and giving a similar experience for modern or younger gamers who may have missed if they didn't play the original. And that's exactly what this Remake does on most fronts. They've added some stuff, they've taken away from stuff, and they've kept probably 85% of the original content, and the experience does feel incredibly fresh and nostalgic at the same time.

Here are five changes that I like, don't like and would have changed from Resident Evil 2 Remake. I'd again, like to emphasise, that this game is tremendous, and it's constructive criticism that I'm offering. Overall Capcom have made an excellent game and Remake, so keep that in mind if I may come across negative at times when explaining - I'm purely a hardcore fan and nothing more!

5 Changes I Like About Resident Evil 2 Remake

1. Sherry's Story

In the original game Sherry was a pain in the ass. There's no other way to put it. She slowed you down, she got herself into all sorts of trouble and, despite being a timid little girl with terrible parents you didn't feel sorry for her really.

But in the Remake they corrected pretty much EVERYTHING to do with Sherry. You do genuinely feel sorry for her in this version of the game. She doesn't slow you down at all, and because you can't control her in the game they took the frustrating elements out.

More than that though they added some pretty good stuff. The relationship between Chief Irons and Sherry wasn't something I expected to see but Capcom added a very interesting story there. Chief Irons was a creepy bastard in the Remake, more so than in the original, and by adding a story of him kidnapping Sherry and taking her to an abandoned orphanage was a stroke of genius. By having Sherry stand up to Chief Irons and throw acid in his face when he's trying to attack her really made you root for her. The game of hide and seek was quite tense in parts.

Another fantastic thing they added into the Remake was how Sherry's appearance changed after William Birkin implanted an embryo into her. Her eye looked messed up and it was pretty damn disgusting I must say. Great work Capcom with working a previously really frustrating character in Sherry and making her actually more than tolerable, but genuinely a character I sympathised with.



2. Tyrant vs William Birkin

It was the fight we never asked for, but again, massive credit where it's due, because seeing Tyrant and William Birkin together was a huge treat I never saw coming in the Remake. And seeing William Birkin come on top of the fight and absolutely destroying the Tyrant, ripping three quarters of his abdomen out was a great moment. I loved every second of that scene - Sherry calling out for her father, Claire realising that the monster that's hellbent on attacking them both is actually her Dad and seeing all the gore was just... wow. Great work Capcom.

3. The Subweapons and Gunpowder

I'm not the biggest fan of subweapons to be honest but they can be lifesavers at times. With Resident Evil 2 Remake being a far more dynamic game than the original, they needed to do something to breakdown the divide between the main character and the enemies they'll be facing. So by adding defensive knives and grenades to aid the player when in trouble, they managed to break down any potential issues that could develop.

But better than the subweapons for me was the gunpowder addition to the game. The subweapons were a feature from Resident Evil 1 Remake, so it's a bit of a homage to that entry in the series, but the gunpowder was a feature that was used in the original Resident Evil 3 game. It's likely, based on the rumours, that gunpowder will be used in the Resident Evil 3 remake apparently in development, so perhaps that decision impacted the idea of using it in its predecessor. I'm just speculating at this point, but either way it was a great feature and it gets a thumbs up from me.

4. Ben Bertolucci's Death

Well what can I say? Just look at the picture below! Holy crap this moment was amazing. We all knew that Ben was going to die, but I don't think anyone thought it'd be as quick as it was, and certainly not in the hands of Tyrant. The way Tyrant "broke" Ben's face with his bare hand was just brutal, and the eye pop was just the gory cherry on top of the horror cake. It was simply one of the best deaths in Resident Evil history.



5. G-Adult and The Sewers

In the original game the sewers were an okay and very brief part of the game that is largely forgettable. But in the Remake they really expanded on the network of tunnels and how utterly disgusting the whole section is.

Another great thing about the sewers was the use of the G-Adult. Rather than making G-Adult into the first boss of the game like in the original, Capcom decided to make G-Adult into a regular enemy in the sewers. It makes more sense this way story-line wise, because of the fact that William Birkin's G-virus is trying to find the perfect partner to "breed" his mutation into to prolong his legacy. All of the G-Adults in the sewers are "failures" of the embryo breeding process, so it makes so much more sense that there's more of them. And they're absolutely revolting, more so in this version of the game than in the remake.

5 Changes I Don't Like About Resident Evil 2 Remake


1. The Lab

What was so good about seeing the previews of Resi 2 Remake, and then playing the Demo, was seeing how much of the police station looked identical to how it looked in the original game. Sure they did change and add more parts, but overall the presentation of the police station was very similar. It was so nostalgic running down the corridors of the station because it looked so similar.

But then when you get to the lab, which is now called The NEST, they changed almost everything. It's unrecognisable. Now if you're thinking I'm being a hypocrite because I'm complimenting Capcom for changing the Sewers but criticising them for changing the lab then I understand. But the difference here for me is that they expanded on the Sewers a lot, and the Sewers were quite a small section of the game. But I did like the lab and how it looked in the original game, so to not only change it but to change it as dramatically as they did, just disappointed me somewhat. Don't get me wrong, The NEST is a decent part of the game, but I feel they missed a trick here.

2. Super Tyrant

Don't get me wrong, Tyrant (or Mr X, but I've never really liked that name) is excellent. He's just as intimidating on this game, in fact he's probably more intimidating because he can't killed and follows you EVERYWHERE. But that fedora is just awful. Why give him a fedora?? To be fair, it looked worse in the trailers than it does in the actual game.

But more than the fedora, what disappointed me the most about Tyrant was the final boss fight. He just didn't look that good. The pictures below don't really do much justice to my point but bare with me. In the original he was completely naked, had two massive claws, and his pumping heart was really prominent. In the Remake they decided to keep his pants on - perhaps this is a weird thing to be critical about but I just think it looked odd. Also, because he's such a big guy, he had the worlds biggest abs it seemed. Where as in the original game, his body is highly mutilated by this point. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I truly believe that the original final Tyrant was better. Also the fight was a lot more intimidating in the original game - the way he'd zoom up to you and claw you was just brutal. In the Remake he's a lot less dangerous, again in my opinion.



3. Leon and Claire's Odd Flirting

Why? Just why? I really enjoyed the fact that Leon and Claire's relationship in the original game is genuinely platonic, there's no feelings there whatsoever for either of them for the other and anyone interpreting the situation as something different is seeing something that purely isn't there. Ada and Leon of course have feelings for eachother, and the story really is whether or not Ada was using Leon or did have feelings for him, and this plays further along in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 6. Claire of course falls for Steve in Resident Evil Code Veronica.

But Claire and Leon in Resident Evil 2, or other games or films that they appear in don't have any romance and nor should they. So it was a strange decision from Capcom to start the two flirting in this Remake. I mean, it's not heavy flirting, but even any hint of it felt strange and out of place, and simply becomes questionable.

4. Chief Iron's Death

Perhaps it's only a minor thing to most people but I was a little disappointed in how Chief Irons dies in this game. In the original game on the "A" scenario, both Chief Irons and Ben Bertolucci die by William Birkin planting an embryo into their bodies and then the G-Young creature pops out of them. They made Ben die in a different way in this game as stated above, and that's fine. But they saved the original death in the original game to Chief Irons.

What's different about the way he dies in this game than in the original? Sure, the G-Young creature pops out of him, just like in the original. But in the Remake, he pops out of his stomach. It's a great visual and I did enjoy it, but the way the G-Young bursts out in the original could have been even more amazing if he did it the same way in the Remake. As you can kind of see below, he bursts from the shoulder and chest area, ripping Chief Irons in half. It looked brutal back in 1998 and I really hoped they'd make it just as bad in the Remake. Whilst it was still good, it did disappoint me a little.



5. Leon/Claire A&B Scenarios

If I could only mention one thing that frustrated me about the Resident Evil 2 Remake it was this. I wasn't sure if Capcom were going to do Leon A/Claire B and Claire B/Leon A because of time constraints, budgets and if they could justify it. But when I found out they put a mode called "2nd Run", I was excited because it meant that Capcom were going to give hardcore fans what they wanted.

But "2nd Run" is just a mess. I hate to be negative and blunt but it is. The "1st Run" was great, and overall Resi 2 Remake is brilliant, but for me if they were going to do a "2nd Run" or a "B" Scenario campaign they really should have done it properly.

What's wrong with it, you may ask? Well, the "2nd Run", tries to do what the "B" Scenarios did on the original, which is basically that if you were playing as Leon, you'd then play as Claire to find out what she was up to "behind the scenes" so to speak. And vice versa if you played as Claire then you'd find out what Leon was up to. What the original from back in 1998 did by splitting these campaigns was in effect give you 4 different stories, because the game is split, literally, depending on what side of the fire Leon and Claire jump out of the car in.

But the "2nd Run" isn't the same as the "B" Scenarios. Why? Because after you arrive at the police station and take the "back entrance" to the building, you pretty much play the game in exactly the same way as the "A" Scenario, or the "1st Run" in this case. Sure, the puzzles are slightly different and some of the items are in slightly different places, but the game plays out almost exactly as the "1st Run", especially after you leave the police station.

Also, because Leon and Claire only meet up or communicate two or three times in the Remake, it becomes less of a question of "oh, so that's what they were up to behind the scenes", where as in the original it felt their paths crossed more often than that, perhaps four or five times. And even on their first encounter - the time lapse was a frustration. On the "1st Run", it takes you a good 30-45 minutes before you see the other character. But on the "2nd Run", it's literally within the first 5 minutes of playing the game. These little things don't add up, it's as simple as that.

5 Changes I Would Have Made to Resident Evil 2 Remake

1. 2nd Run/B Campaign as Free DLC

Following on from Point 5 of things I "don't like", I truly feel that Capcom made the decision to have the "2nd Run" because of hardcore fans demanding it. And if that's the case, then, as stated above, credit where it's due, Capcom were listening to fans and put it in.

But because it was so rushed and didn't add up correctly, it would have been a better decision for Capcom to not release the "2nd Run" on release date, and then to add it as free DLC in the future. I mean, they added Ghost Survivors as free DLC already and the game only came out a few weeks ago. So it's not like would have had to wait long to get it "right" before releasing it.

Perhaps Capcom thought fans would have been disappointed that the "2nd Run" was not released on release day, so instead of putting up with that criticism, they decided to release it anyway, despite it being "undercooked", so to speak. But if that's the case, I do feel they made the wrong decision. Those fans would have soon become happy knowing it would have been free DLC and done properly, certainly happier than they are now, that's for sure.

2. Assignment Ada

I've seen quite a few fans mention this on social media already, so it's not my idea. But listen to the fans Capcom!

The wonderful thing about hindsight is that we could know what's going to happen before it actually happens. Back in 1998 we didn't know that Ada was going to be this badass spy that backstabs anyone and everyone to achieve her goal. She is wonderful in Resident Evil 4 and despite Resident Evil 6 being disappointing overall, Ada's role in the game was one of the better parts.

In Resident Evil 4 there was a mode called "Assignment Ada", which in itself was homage to the original Resident Evil 2. Remember we talk about the "B" Scenario? Well this was the Resi 4 equivalent of it. "Assignment Ada" shows you what Ada did "behind the scenes" whilst Leon was playing through the events of the game. You play as Ada in "Assignment Ada" and find out what she was up to, helping you out behind your back, getting herself into trouble before, of course, backstabbing Leon all over again at the end. It was a really cool part of Resi 4.

So why don't we have an "Assignment Ada" campaign in Resident Evil 2 Remake? I'm sure fans wouldn't mind even if it was paid DLC to be honest. What fans would love to know is what Ada got up to in the events of Resident Evil 2 - whether that's the original game or the Remake, regardless, fans want to see it. Capcom can put some story together and let her take on Birkin or Tyrant or perhaps another boss, perhaps the Moth boss or a Giant Spider, both of what was not put in the Remake for reasons unknown?

This is something fans want and I'd love it for Capcom to already be working on this without us even knowing!



3. More Streets

One disappointment from fans and myself when it comes to Resi 2 Remake was simply that we weren't on the streets for very long. The Raccoon City streets are iconic, and we only spend probably 10 minutes maximum on them, and for the most part they don't even resemble how they did in the original game. I was happy when playing Claire's campaign that they did put in the basketball court and the bus, but overall I think fans wanted the same streets of 1998 done in 2019, and even more streets to explore before arriving at the police station, but in the end it felt we got less. It's what I would have done if I had any power at Capcom at all, it was a bit disappointing but it's done now.

4. Brad Vickers

Where was Brad? Again it's not a big part of the original game but it's something people question when it comes to what was missing. It was great having what was basically an Easter Egg in the original game, and it did have a purpose because you had to take care of Brad to get access to alternative costumes in the game. So to take him out of the game was just disappointing.

In fact they could have made a similar scenario with Brad where we find out what happened to him, either during the events of Resi 2 or Resi 3, or both. It was, after all, a matter of days between the events of the games so they could have easily had a situation happen either where Nemesis didn't actually fully kill Brad, or have him added to the Ghost Survivors campaign that's already been done as DLC. Either way, just removing him completely wasn't the best move in my opinion.

5. Tyrant Mode



Again, not my idea but it's certainly something that would be awesome! Why not have a mode in the game where we control Tyrant? We could either make it so we actually have to go through a gauntlet of enemies, like 4th Survivor, before either taking on William Birkin (revenge!) or taking on Leon or Claire as a final boss.

Another way of doing Tyrant Mode is simply have the campaign of Claire and/or Leon but we swap them for Tyrant instead, and we just play the game as normal. It'd have to be a midget Tyrant though or one that can bend through small rooms because he is massive! Either way, I'd love a DLC where we can play as one of the most iconic bad guys of Resident Evil, and I know I'm not alone in wanting that.

So there we go! I hope you've enjoyed reading this article. I'm sure some people won't agree with everything I've said, and perhaps may think I'm being too critical. I promise you I have nothing but love for the Remake Capcom have given us. These are just small criticisms or tweaks I'd have suggested if I, in some fantasy world, got a chance to work with Capcom in hindsight. Overall this is a brilliant Remake.

By the way - I'd like to also mention that as a huge fan of William Birkin - Capcom, thank you. Thank you so much for doing him complete justice. I wrote an article on this website back in 2011 about how great The Transformations of William Birkin were, and how much I loved them. Birkin is a brilliant monster and he looks just as good in 2019 as he did in 1998. They really did make him just as ugly and monstrous and as brutal as he was all of those years ago. Thank you Capcom.

What changes would have you made? What do you agree or disagree with me on? Let me know in the comments below! Until next time, take care!

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