We are still waiting for confirmation on what comes next for resident Evilbe it a full-fledged RE9, a Code Veronica remake, or perhaps a fresh take on the hard-to-love Resident Evil Zero. Nonetheless, Capcom’s survival horror genre lives on thanks to an important re-release of one of the best games in the entire series, Resident Evil 2. RE2 Remake is an excellent reimagining of the fixed-camera classic, but the 1998 original is scarier, more atmospheric, and an important part of video game history. It also brought us Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield for the first time, as well as the iconic Raccoon City Police Station. It’s difficult to access on PC in the modern era, but as of today, it’s finally extremely easy to buy and play RE2.
I have a personal fascination – almost an obsession, I think – with Resident Evil 2. It’s one of the few games I’ve ever learned to speedrun – by playing through it four or five times a day for about a month, I managed to get my time down to an admirable one hour, 16 minutes and six seconds – far from a world record, but not bad for the US version, which has more zombies and is therefore harder to sprint through.
A survival horror game in the classic style (2D backgrounds, fixed camera angles, complicated inventory management, limited save options). While I really like RE2 Remake, the original Resident Evil 2 will always be superior because it did everything first. The RPD, William Birkin, Hunk, that wonderful upgraded shotgun – Resident Evil 2 is the predecessor to all of them.
Until now, however, if you wanted to play it on PC, you needed a disc drive and a (usually ridiculously expensive) physical copy. But those days are over. Starting today, Tuesday, August 27, Resident Evil 2 is available as a digital re-release on GOG.
Complete with improved graphics, some bug fixes, better subtitles, new rendering options, and all the extra modes and scenarios unlocked from the start, this is the definitive way to play Resident Evil 2, and it’s just $11.37 / £8.99If you’ve always enjoyed it and want to give it another go, or if you’re lucky enough to have never played it, you can download RE2 right here on GOG.
Unfortunately, Shinji Mikami, the original creator of Resident Evil, recently told us directly that survival horror isn’t really his thing at the moment…
Indulge in even more nostalgia with the best old games, or try something brutal with the best survival games for PC.
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