Resident Evil 2 is a survival horror game by Capcom. The original game was released for PlayStation in 1998, and a rebuilt version was released in 2019 for modern platforms.
The article title can refer to either the 1998 game or the 2019 remake. Both centre on Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield trying to survive the Raccoon City outbreak.
1998 Game
The original Resident Evil 2 followed the first Resident Evil and expanded the series into a larger city setting. It used fixed camera angles, pre-rendered backgrounds, limited ammunition, puzzles, locked routes, and inventory management.
Players controlled Leon or Claire through overlapping campaigns. Each route changed parts of the story, supporting characters, weapons, and item placement. The police station, sewers, and laboratory became some of the series' most recognisable locations.
Story
The story takes place during the Raccoon City outbreak. Leon arrives for his first day as a police officer, while Claire arrives looking for her brother Chris Redfield. The city has been overrun by people infected through the T-virus, and Umbrella Corporation's experiments sit behind much of the disaster.
The game mixes police procedural imagery, body horror, corporate conspiracy, and escape storytelling. It also introduces characters and creatures that later became central to the wider series.
2019 Remake
The 2019 Resident Evil 2 rebuilt the game with modern visuals, over-the-shoulder aiming, redesigned spaces, new performances, and Capcom's RE Engine. It kept the broad structure of the original while changing level flow, combat rhythm, enemy behaviour, and presentation.
Capcom's official site describes the remake as the survival horror title reborn. Capcom's platinum-title data lists the 2019 Resident Evil 2 among the company's highest-selling games.
Gameplay
Both versions are based on survival rather than constant combat. The player has to decide when to fight, when to avoid enemies, what to carry, and how to use healing items and ammunition.
The original uses fixed camera angles and tank-style movement. The remake uses a third-person camera, manual aiming, and more direct movement, but still keeps tight resources and puzzle-led progression.
Legacy
Resident Evil 2 helped define the early survival horror formula and gave the series two of its long-running protagonists. The remake showed how a classic fixed-camera horror game could be redesigned for modern controls without becoming a pure action game.
See Also
References
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