365//365: Day 159 – Resident Evil 2 (PSX) [PP]

Resident Evil 2 is one of those sequels that really built upon everything laid out before it during the previous title. The graphics are more colorful, with a ton more detail throughout. Your two characters this go, Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield, are actually a bit more fleshed out than Chris and Jill Sandwich, with a much better script and a definite step up in the voice acting department. The controls retain the tank-like maneuverability of the first title, although for its time, it was still an acceptable method of controlling your characters. Even the CG quality has taken a significant bump upwards, with some of the better CG scenes on the Sony PlayStation outside Namco and Squaresoft. Perhaps the most welcome bonus was the unlockable Hunk and Tofu side missions, in which you play as Hunk, a member of the Umbrella Special Forces Unit heading to an extraction point with limited ammo, and Tofu, who….is a giant piece of tofu with a knife, playing through Hunk’s side mission. It’s a welcome bonus to an otherwise solid package of intense gameplay, puzzle solving and a script with less drivel and fewer hammy performances by the voice actors. One of the best PSX titles out there, with one of the most spine tingling final boss themes you’ll ever encounter. A must own in every which way.

Tons of zombies on screen at once, commendable fire effects and more detailed static environments made Resident Evil 2 a lot more pleasant to look at than the first title.

Rating: 9.3