Resident Evil 2 Remake’s one-shot demo has been downloaded over three million times, according to Capcom. That’s a lot of people fighting their way through Raccoon City. But only a quarter of the people using the Resident Evil.Net stat tracking feature have actually finished the 30-minute misadventure.
Of the three million or so demo players, 2,440,739 use Resident Evil.Net to track their game progress and other stats, and of them, only 26 percent have actually made it through the whole demo. It's an interesting tool just to see who's playing the game around the world—at 574,321, North America unsurprisingly comprises the largest number of players.
It’s a relatively small number of people who have actually beat the demo. Perhaps our skills has atrophied a wee bit since 1998? Not me, though. I’ve always been terrible at Resident Evil 2. Or maybe it’s just too spooky, so halfway through people are throwing down the controller and hiding under the covers. I can certainly sympathise.
Other players can’t get enough of it. The one-shot restriction can be bypassed, it turns out, so players have been speedrunning the demo, making multiple attempts to shave down their time.
The Resident Evil 2 Remake demo will vanish on January 31, not long after the game launches on January 25, so if you want to take it for a test drive, you’ll need to do so very soon.
A Resident Evil 2 Remake trailer that plays at the end of the one-shot demo confirms the return of masked mercenary Hunk and a healthy, knife-wielding snack. Watch it above to see Hunk and Tofu in action, briefly, or take the demo for a spin.
Capcom said they’d be returning last year, but this is the first time we’re getting to see them in-game. Both appeared in the original Resident Evil 2 as unlockable characters with their own missions, though unlocking them wasn’t a walk in the park.
Both characters are mysteries. The only thing we know about Hunk, who’s appeared in several games, is he’s good at his job and hard to kill. We know even less about the sentient cube of tofu or what horrific Umbrella experiment created it, but that’s probably for the best.
The trailer also teases a source of many nightmares: the horrible alligator. We only get to see the scaly bastard for a few seconds, but those jaws do not look welcoming.
While it’s meant to be a one-shot, 30-minute teaser, players have found a workaround and have been using their extra attempts wisely; they’ve been speedrunning the Resident Evil 2 remake demo.
Resident Evil 2 Remake’s 30-minute demo is supposed to be just a single go-round, literally one chance to live or die, but that obviously hasn’t stopped enterprising players from finding ways to get around the restriction. PC players have figured out a hack to reset the timer, and console players are using multiple profiles to get around it.
Naturally, the best choice when confronted with the idea that you can play an extremely short demo more than once is to make it even shorter. Thus, we have the burgeoning, likely short-lived, idea of speedrunning the thing. As of writing, the current world record is just under three minutes, at 2:55, dethroning yesterday’s record of 2:57. Knowing speedrunners, surely someone will do better, but here’s the video:
The Resident Evil 2 Remake demo is available until January 31st. The full game releases on January 25th.
Samuel recently played a demo for the upcoming Resident Evil 2 Remake, and it left him certain that he wants the full game. Capcom, he wrote, "seems to have worked it out: keep the strange bits and iconic enemies that people love, bring characters and places back to life in serious detail, but change enough that they can still be surprised."
If you don't find that sufficiently convincing, you'll soon have the opportunity to try it for yourself. From January 11-31, a "1-Shot Demo" will give players 30 minutes to complete a mission in Raccoon City as rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy—or die beneath the jagged nails and rotting teeth of the zombie horde, as the case may be. Either way, you've got a half-hour to do your best, after which you'll be treated to a demo-exclusive cinematic trailer. The demo is one-and-done, but the trailer can be viewed as many times as you like.
Resident Evil 2, known as Biohazard 2 in Japan, was originally released in 1998 for the original PlayStation. I assume that's why we call it Resident Evil 2 Remake, even though it's just Resident Evil 2 on Steam, and I'll probably start calling it that on a regular basis because I never owned a PlayStation. The full game will be out on January 25.
Above: I only got to play Resi 2 on PS4, so check out Nvidia's footage of what it looks like on PC.
I remember just moments from 1998's Resident Evil 2 now: making my dad buy the CD-ROM version for me from Virgin Megastore back when that was a thing, because I wasn't old enough to do so myself yet. A grainy cutscene of a licker crawling over the ceiling. Unloading Leon's pitiful remaining three or four bullets into the Tyrant Mr X, while the creature strides towards me in his ludicrous jacket. Me and two mates crowding around a big CRT TV to play the later parts of the game on PlayStation, because we were too cowardly to do it alone. The ill-fated weapons shop guy at the start.
This remake is a third-person shooter in the Resident Evil 4/5/6/Revelations mold, though the general spirit of the original game is here: you don't always have enough ammo to fight the enemies in front of you, and sometimes it's better to run. You might recognise a puzzle from the original version of Resident Evil 2, but how it's represented in the remake could be completely different. This means my three-or-so hours with the game offers a mix of nostalgia and light surprise, which I think is probably a better approach than a faithful recreation.
Playing the remake with my hazy memories is more satisfying than putting it side-by-side with the original, I figure. It lets me work out which parts left an impact that has lasted almost two decades. The cavernous Raccoon City PD building has, of course, as well as its two fitty protagonists, floppy-haired Leon S Kennedy and the crossbow-wielding Claire Redfield (she doesn't have one in what I've played). There is some tongue-in-cheek presentation here and there, but generally it's played more seriously. Two decades of advances in cutscene presentation pay off: as in Resi 7, the characters are photorealistic and the violence is truly nasty.
"I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn." (Sorry.)
My demo is split across two areas of the game. Like Resident Evil 2, the remake has two campaigns starring each protagonist, and I've played about an hour with Leon, then two or so with Claire. Leon spends a little time in Raccoon City's streets then ends up in the sewers, while Claire is mostly exploring the RCPD building.
It's a faithful remake in the areas that count—it still has Resi 2's idiosyncrasies, like a police station that requires absurd keys in the shapes of hearts and diamonds just to navigate the damn place. It's also lit and coloured like I remember. My muscle memory from playing the game almost 20 years ago tells me roughly where locations like the library and STARS office are. Even though this is the first time I'm seeing them in 3D, locations feel entirely familiar.
The biggest change in this remake, aside from making the game into more of a third-person shooter, is how the developers have expanded on the story. I play one new section as Ada Wong, who dabbles in corporate espionage and is trying to get hold of the deadly G-virus. Her section gives you a Batman-style EMF visualiser, a device that lets you remotely activate objects through walls.
One of the best sections of the demo requires Ada to activate a ladder to escape an area of the sewer, but the switch can only be reached by navigating about four or five zombies who stand in the way. This space is filled with slightly too many enemies to kill, even if you're constantly landing headshots, which means you have no choice but to avoid some of them.
I'm not used to having an actual ammo shortage in a recent Resident Evil game: even the seventh game ended with lots of gunfire unleashed upon identical goop monsters.
I died a few times before I figured out combat wasn't going to be a winning strategy here. I use my bullets to slow the zombies down instead of killing them—and once the ladder is activated, after a nervous pause, I have to run back past them to get out of this area. Ada doesn't carry a knife like Leon or Claire, nor does she have any other weapons, which makes her section more challenging when it comes to combat.
Claire's section is more of a mixed experience. The opening, set in RCPD's parking lot, is fantastic. I encounter police officer zombies coming to life in the interrogation room, and have my first encounter with the original game's iconic enemy, the licker, which is even nastier to look at than it was in Resident Evil 5. The second part of the demo, though, set in the RCPD building, probably isn't how I'd like to have been reintroduced to this classic location.
Capcom's chosen to show off a part of the game where you're constantly being pursued by Mr X, the Tyrant, which means I spend a lot of the demo sprinting through familiar rooms trying not to get beaten to death by him. I'm assuming the Tyrant's appearances in the game are scripted, but there is some suggestion that he'll turn up whenever you make a commotion. In this demo, he follows Claire everywhere, up and down stairs, into different parts of the RCPD. You can hear him stomping from rooms away. Hitting him with a few grenades or headshots will temporarily slow him down, but it's almost not worth wasting the ammo.
I guess Capcom wanted to create some real peril and excitement, but given this is my first sample of the remake, I'm not overly fond of how the pace is dictated by this giant jerkwad chasing after me. Hopefully in the context of the game, it'll make more sense. I look forward to playing an earlier part of the game set in the police station where I'm not being chased all the time.
I love how Capcom has done zombies this time around. They're properly horrible, surviving headshots, often getting up when they should definitely be dead, and they pose a real threat in numbers. I also like how other elements from the original game have made the journey across. The RCPD is packed with items to find, including better weapons that are locked away behind smaller sidequests. Sometimes you have to examine an item in the menu screen to discover its true purpose, pressing a correct combination or opening a lid to obtain what you need, more like the original.
It's quite a tricky game, too. Alongside my deaths as Ada, I died a few more as Claire, sprinting away from Tyrant and straight into packs of enemies that populate the station's tight corridors. Strategic saving, via the returning typewriters, is a must. This is a refit of the third-person shooter Resi games, but it has a welcome sense of struggle to it.
I finished the Resident Evil 2 Remake demo certain I want to play the full game. '90s nostalgia is on an upswing right now: the old C&C games are getting a refresh, Black Mesa's Xen levels are so elaborate they're taking years to make, and System Shock's been through a rough patch figuring out what should and shouldn't be part of a remake.
Capcom, though, seems to have worked it out: keep the strange bits and iconic enemies that people love, bring characters and places back to life in serious detail, but change enough that they can still be surprised. I just hope I don't have to spend too much of the game running away from the Tyrant.
The scene showcased above has to be one of the most terrifying cut scenes in survival horror history. And while Resi aficionados often recall that head-turning Spencer Mansion zombie as the series' most iconic fright, nothing comes close to our first encounter with the second game's Licker species for me.
The Resident Evil 2 remake's reworked version of the familiar slack-tongued beast is, as you might expect, a sight to behold. Go on, take a look. I'm right behind you, I swear.
I'm well into the attention to detail here—the Licker's slithering, uneven tongue; its torn skin and visible tendons, bone and muscle sinew; its overlapping teeth, oversized feet and talons. I'm into it. And I'm petrified. But I wouldn't want it any other way.
Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield didn't really have faces back then. I mean, they did, but in the original Resident Evil 2 they were largely identifiable by some wild haircuts and colorful clothing. Their mugs otherwise resembled those of bargain bin action figures. It was 1998. Making up for the lack of polygons with some imagination came with the territory.
When the Resident Evil 2 remake releases in January next year, we'll be able to see every bead of sweat on Leon's face and the strands of hair in Claire's ponytail bounce and tangle as she moves around. With so many advances in technology and major changes in creative direction, there won't be much left to the imagination. In that way, 2019's Resident Evil is less of a remake and more of an adaptation.
It's also one of the most beloved entries in the series, which makes it precarious to reinterpret, especially with so many radical changes in mind. But after playing the demo available at PAX West this year, this iteration of Resident Evil 2 is headed in a fascinating direction thanks to a slightly more authentic script, the tension provided by a tighter camera, and a new level of gruesome detail that wasn't possible in 1998.
The undead, born again
The demo opens with Leon at Raccoon City Police Station on his first day on the force, and after all these years there’s some much-needed life brought to the character. Instead of staying silent while zombies shuffle up, he’ll bark out warnings that they need to stop or he’ll open fire. Similarly, if Leon enters a dark corridor, he’ll try to pump himself with some self-affirming words before tip-toeing along. Too often in horror games the illusion is shattered when the protagonist has no reaction to the terrible scenarios they're a part of.
The tension rockets when the frame tightens on a zombie s disease-ridden mouth snapping at the air only inches from Leon s neck.
Leon's contextual dialogue makes him a more palpable character than he was in the original Resident Evil 2 and a touch easier to care about from the start. Obviously, it isn’t hard to take the campy acting and script of an original PlayStation game and improve them, but these little quips add tremendously to the atmosphere.
One of the more contentious decisions is the move from fixed camera angles to the over-the-shoulder perspective introduced in Resident Evil 4, but it’s a change made for the better. When Leon is grabbed by a zombie, the camera zooms in and you get an intimate view of the struggle. The tension rockets when the frame tightens on a zombie’s disease-ridden mouth snapping at the air only inches from Leon’s neck. Whenever this happened I was so caught up in the moment that I nearly forgot about the new defense mechanic, where a timely button press will shove a knife into their chest and force them off.
There’s a sigh of relief to be had when the camera pans out again to mark that you’re safe, but it's not a win button. In classic form, there are a lot of zombies and little ammo and healing items to carry you through them. Some may consider it heresy, but the over-the-shoulder camera makes Resident Evil 2 a scarier, far more intense game than it was before.
An over-the-shoulder camera also makes the flashlight much more important, too. Darkness was never a factor in the original Resident Evil 2 because the pre-rendered backgrounds weren't capable of dynamic lighting, but with the remake that’s no longer an issue. Every darkened hallway is a problem now. If you shine your light on one zombie too long you won’t see his buddy just off to the right until it’s too late.
The flashlight’s cone of vision is just wide enough to line up nicely with where you’re aiming, but narrow enough so that you are not just walking around with your gun drawn at all times. And the darkness is truly dark, near pitch black at times. A zombie could be standing a few feet away and you wouldn't know it but for their shallow, raspy breathing. It makes for some legitimate scares and hectic combat.
Powered by the same graphics engine that debuted with Resident Evil 7, Resident Evil 2 is just as gorgeous. The new engine has allowed Capcom to add some gruesome detail to enemies, and not only in the resolution of their pale, rotting skin textures. When you pick off zombies, chunks of flesh will fly off wherever a bullet makes impact. It’s not uncommon to see a zombie shuffle around with very little of its head remaining, exposing the glistening innards. I rarely feel genuine revulsion playing games, but Resident Evil 2 does it better than most and with enough detail to keep one toe in reality, no matter how ridiculous the scenario.
There are still several months to go until Resident Evil 2’s release early next year, but my experience with the demo affirms that Capcom is on the right track. The essence of the original game appears to have not only been preserved, but enriched by a more personable Leon and a stark, realistic interpretation of the decay and violence we had to think up ourselves the first time around.
Capcom has released a story trailer for the Resident Evil 2 Remake, due out early next year.
We get our first look at the mysterious Ada Wong, though this time around, she's more suitably dressed for the zombie apocalypse, sporting a beige trench coat—though presumably, she's still wearing her trademark red dress underneath. Perhaps she's saving it for a special occasion, like a dinner party or the opening of a casino.
The video also shows Claire Redfield's first encounter with Sherry Birkin, and we get a glimpse of Leon's first encounter with the not-so-healthy-looking William Birkin. Once again, it underlines the differences in tone between the remake and the '90s original—you never know how silly Resident Evil will end up, these days, but this looks like pretty serious business.
Resident Evil 2's remake is set for release on January 25, 2019. Back in July, Capcom outlined the changes made to both Claire and Leon.
While we already know Claire Redfield has ditched her hotpants, it seems Wong's the next character to get a change of wardrobe for the reimagined survival horror game.
"It goes back to the same thing of, what would look natural to be wandering around in a photo-realistic environment in?" director Kazunori Kadoi told Eurogamer (via Resetera).
"I think wandering around in that dress just getting on with your job as a spy probably doesn't look as realistic and believable as we want in this new game."
While he wouldn't be drawn on the exact details of Wong's new look (and so far, the brief silhouette we've seen in the teaser doesn't give much away), Kadoi said: "Exactly what we've done with her design is something we're tight-lipped on, but it's safe to say we won't betray your expectations."
Interestingly, some fans have noticed that if you lighten the still taken from the Remake trailer, Ada's trenchcoat looks similar to a concept art design from the original game.
Commenters on the Resetera thread seem mostly content with the proposition to restyle Wong—providing she retains something "red" as homage to her iconic look—but some hope her original outfit will be available by way of DLC or an unlockable costume.
Others are less pleased, of course. "Man screw all this realism," said one commenter.
Capcom is releasing an Umbrella Corporation-themed keyboard to coincide with the launch of the Resident Evil 2 remake. Kotaku reports that the USB keyboard will cost 75,000 yen (about $675/£530), and carry Lexington branding. It's a pretty-looking thing that I will never own.
Fans of the Resident Evil games, of course, will remember that typewriters were once the series' traditional save game mechanism. That was until Resident Evil 5 introduced autosaving, which is probably the real reason that some fans think it marked the point that the mainline series got too far from its horror-based origins, until last year's Resident Evil 7. So far, it looks like the typewriter is just on-sale in Japan, through Capcom's official store. The American store, sadly, just has t-shirts for sale.
Resident Evil 2's remake is out January 25, 2019. Make sure you check out the gameplay footage revealed back at E3—it's pretty serious-looking stuff compared to the slightly cheesy (but still scary) original. If it's a success, Capcom plans on exploring more remakes to classic games, which I guess is where I place my vote for PS2 classics like Onimusha 2 and God Hand.
