Resident Evil 2

Overview

September 1998, Raccoon City is collapsing under a deadly virus, and you step into the mess as Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield. Resident Evil 2 brings the classic survival horror setup back in a completely rebuilt form, with tense exploration, combat, and puzzle solving pushing you through a city swarming with the dead.

Capcom’s RE Engine gives the remake its sharp edge: over-the-shoulder camera, modernized controls, realistic visuals, and immersive audio all reshape the pace without dropping the series’ trademark pressure. Leon and Claire each have separate playable campaigns, so the story shifts depending on who you follow and how the outbreak unfolds around them.

This is still a fight for scraps, locked doors, and bad timing. Limited ammunition keeps every encounter sharp, while safe rooms, item boxes, and healing items become your breathing space between panicked corridors and ugly surprises. If you want horror that makes you listen to every footstep and weigh every bullet, this is the sort of city that bites back.

Why play it

• Two separate campaigns change the story perspective.
• Rebuilt with modern controls and an over-the-shoulder camera.
• Tense combat, exploration, and puzzle solving stay at the core.
• Raccoon City is packed with zombies, hazards, and grim atmosphere.

Quick facts

Beginner walkthrough

Choose Leon or Claire

You begin with one of two protagonists, and each one has a separate playable campaign. That choice matters from the start, because the story is built to show events from both perspectives. Leon and Claire also have different starting key items, so the way you approach locked areas and useful pickups changes with the character you pick.

Move carefully, not loudly

The game leans on exploration, combat, and puzzle solving. Ammunition is limited, so every fight asks whether you should stand your ground or slip past. Safe rooms act as your pause button: use typewriters to save progress, item boxes to store gear, and healing items to keep your character alive when the city starts chewing you up.

Replay through the paired scenarios

After finishing an A Scenario with one character, you unlock the B Scenario for the other. Those runs change based on what happened before, including enemies, puzzles, and hazards affected by your actions. The result is four unique playthroughs in total, with short segments where support partners become playable too.

Key characters

• Leon Kennedy rookie police officer

  Leon is thrust into the outbreak as a rookie cop trying to survive Raccoon City and uncover what is behind the attack.

• Claire Redfield college student

  Claire is searching for her brother while trying to survive the city’s zombie epidemic and the dangers closing in around her.

Our take

Resident Evil 2 keeps the series’ nerve-tight loop intact: search, shoot, solve, survive, then do it again from the other side of the story. The remake’s modern camera and controls make the old nightmare easier to read, not easier to survive. If you want a single-player horror run with real pressure and replayable routes, this has a lot of bite.

FAQ