Out of curiosity, I went back and replayed the remake of Resident Evil 2 (first and second run, starting with Leon and ending with Claire). Keep in mind this was only a few days after I finished three complete playthroughs of the Resident Evil 4 remake. So, there are some thoughts and comparisons I'd like to make while both games are fresh in my mind.
Right off the bat, the zombies in RE2 remake are kind of startling and hilarious at the same time. They tend to pretend to be dead only to spring to life with a loud shriek or angry groan when the player draws close. This sometimes leads to situations that can be summarized as follows:
Uhhhhh...
Urrrrr...THUD!
Got'em
Gruuuuh...
Nope. He's up again.
Blam! Blam!
Gahhhh...THUMP!
OK, now it's safe to -
Raaaah...!
What the hell?!?
I'm paraphrasing a bit, but you get the idea. It's all very unlike the people infected with "Las Plagas," who are always active and will only occasionally make an abrupt recovery from what seemed like a deathblow. Zombies in RE2 remake are trying to fake out the player left and right. Other than zombies trying to pull a fast one on the player, there are the "Lickers". They occupy a role similar to "Hunters" in the first and third games, as well as "Garradors" in the fourth. Supposedly, Lickers are what zombies become if they eat a whole lot, but if you ask me they're really just xenomorphs without skin or a tail. Did you notice their ability to walk on walls and the celling (as well as their ability to perform a deadly tongue attack)? Did I mention they hiss like aliens? As loath as I am to admit it, it took me a really long time to figure out that you can bypass some fights with these guys just by carefully walking around them. The lack of eyes means only the sounds of running or gunshots are enough to get their attention.
While we're on the topic of similarities to the film Aliens, there are chest-bursting embryos and a Ripley/Newt relationship reflected in the interactions between Claire and Sherry. Incidentally, the Ada and Sherry interludes in the RE2 remake are not very good. They're short, thankfully, but require a far too stringent set of actions on the player's part to clear successfully. In the original, not to mention RE4, the player has a bit more flexibility in terms of how they can overcome the obstacles that they are presented with.
I've heard people claim that the boss battles in Resident Evil games aren't very good. I don't think they are especially great either, but they do serve as a chance to cathartically open up with all that weaponry and ammo that the player has (hopefully) been painstakingly hording up to that point (see the encounters with mutated versions of William Birkin for numerous examples). For some reason the battle with him that happens right after obtaining a G-virus sample/cure always cracks me up because at the start of the fight he does this flexing gesture that seems to say "check out these big new claws I got!" For better or worse, RE4 remake doesn't have anything as showy for its bosses. In fact, the performances for the cast of characters (across the board) is more subdued too. Actually, I take that back. "Subdued" isn't the right word..."subtle" is how I think it is best described. It's not a bad thing, but defiantly a direction the series has drifted in over time.
Anyway, those are just some random Resident Evil thoughts I wanted to share. Until the next one.
No comments:
Post a Comment