Hello again zombie friends! Today I bring you chapter 2 in the Resident Evil 2 portion of the “Nostalgia Diaries”; the series that helps you relive and reminisce of the good ole’ days of classic Resident Evil in preparation for the launch of the upcoming Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles . Today I’ll be covering off on graphics and horror elements. Be sure to join in the discussion with your comments or by posting in our dedicated thread here on Unity. See you after the jump!

Visuals and Graphics

When Resident Evil 2 released it was the talk of the town in terms of face melting graphics. Polygons were hot and the unique pre-rendered backgrounds were something new that the franchise brought in terms of design… something that still receives great praise even today. The cut scenes were particularly memorable to me. I liked the idea of having little cinematic bits during the game. They looked amazing and gave us a little break to hype up whatever was coming next. Think about it, would it have been quite as memorable if you just walked into the hallway and there was a licker on the ceiling?  Probably not. What made you remember that scene was having this great looking cinematic of seeing your character walk into the room with a pool of blood on the floor, having them look up and seeing a creature with huge claws/teeth/tongue staring back at you and drooling.

Looking back on the game now you may think it looks a bit dated and to an extent I agree, but it’s hard to compare a game like Resident Evil 2 to a newer release like Resident Evil 5 solely on graphical capabilities. 10 years and 2 platforms later, let’s face it, you’re going to have a little bias going back to the older titles. Speaking of the franchise as a whole though, Resident Evil games have done a great job of staying on the cutting edge of the eye candy department, which bring me to Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles . Being the gaming fanatic that I am, I spend a good amount of time talking with other gamers discussing what they like and what they think. The general consensus I’ve received from others is that most Wii titles are drab and fickle in terms of graphical output. Well our wizards here at Capcom have heard your cries and are going to deliver quite possibly the best looking Wii title you’ve seen to date. One of the things that makes Darkside Chronicles so appealing is the fact that it will be revisiting the scenes/stories of RE2 and ‘Code Veronica’. Hardcore Resident Evil fans like myself are in for a real treat when they see their favorite scenes redone and updated on a “next-gen” platform. To give you a little taste, we just released a brand new trailer today which is up on IGN, which should give you a quick sample of what you can expect in terms of cinematic quality when Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles drops. 

Here’s a link to the new trailer. Be sure to full screen it when playing. The little window doesn’t do it justice as to how great the visuals are… especially for a Wii title.

Horror Elements

My next moment, well moments, are what I like to call the “horror scenes” in RE2. Now before you think, “but wait isn’t the whole game technically horror?” Arguably yes, but “horror scenes” sounds a lot nicer than “bad guys jumping out and scaring the crap out of me moments”. As I mentioned last time, I’ve been a fan of horror movies. Aside from all the monsters, blood, and brutal scenes found in your run of the mill horror; what I found most appealing was the shock factor from the ups and downs created by tension and relief. Some examples of this could be something unexpected surprising you or being relieved that you lost a pursuer only to turn back around and have this guy standing right in front of you.

As I’ve always done it, when I watch movies or really want to focus on a game, I play with all the lights off and the volume up. In my mind it helps bring me closer to the experience. So when I’m cruising the quiet halls of the Raccoon City Police Department and a Licker flies through a window knocking me over or I finally gun down the Tyrant Mr. X only to turn the next corner and BOOM having him blast right through the wall in front of me… it gets my heart going, but I’ve also got a big manic smile on my face as well.

A little bit of a tangent, but still a fun note, the last notable moment of me freaking out during a Resident Evil game was when RE4 came out. I was, again, in my basement with the lights off playing the game when I came to a part with Salazar and his guards. Leon is running through the sewers and the game cuts to Salazar’s “right hand” guard slithering through the sewers after him. It kept cutting back and forth between Leon and the monster’s POV violently chasing after him and I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t even want to see whatever this thing chasing after me was. I think I remember tossing the controller over my shoulder and making a quick exit up the stairs, of course looking behind me the whole time. I finished the scene the next day after gathering myself, but that’s the kind of stuff that keeps me coming back to the series. Not many games let alone actual horror movies have gotten me that immersed into what going on that it can mentally/physically dictate my behavior.

That concludes this entry of RE2 Nostalgia Diaries, but there are still a few more items I want to share with everyone so keep your eyes up on the Unity blog for Chapter 3 as well as any other little RE surprises I might have for you. In the meantime you should check out Claire and Leon’s twitter, as they seem to be re-living the experience right now! As always, feel free to comment or discuss anything RE2 in our Tribute Thread . Until next time, enjoy this photo of thug Leon

mike~