Topic: Resident Evil 2

[DHKopper]

A 30 minute demo of the remake is available to try on all formats at the minute.  I've just given it a blast on PC and I'll definitely be getting the full game, loved every minute (all 30 of them).

[Schmidt]

Yeah think I'll be getting this too, though I still haven't picked up RE7 yet. Has the first game been given the same remake treatment? I didn't really play the first few games back in the day and they're too janky to pick up now.

[DangerScouse]

What a game this was!!

[PhilV]

I have it pre-ordered and am ready to shit my pants all over again, memories as a 12 yr old playing this and Dogs or Lickers (can't remember) burst in through a windows in the Cop Shop. 

[DHKopper]

Yeah think I'll be getting this too, though I still haven't picked up RE7 yet. Has the first game been given the same remake treatment? I didn't really play the first few games back in the day and they're too janky to pick up now.

The remake of the first one was more quick makeover to make it look not so shit.  This one has been remade fully and has an up to date control system, doesn't feel clunky like the first one still did.

[Macphisto80]

The REmake was a total overhaul of the visuals from the PSX original. It wasn't just a quick makeover. It was the remaster of the REmake that was a bit of a quick makeover. They just upscaled the 3d models, improved some of the normals on them, and scaled the rendered backgrounds up and just slapped a sharpen filter from Photoshop over the top of them or something, and adjusted the aspect ratio. It did the trick enough for 1080p TV's today, but they must have lost the original scene files or something to re-render the backgrounds properly. It still looks very good, though. Even for today's standard. It also still holds up very well as a game because it's so well designed. The REmake and Zero can be picked up for cheap, so I'd recommend picking them up before playing the second game.

[AndyMuller]

Shit that there hasn’t been any VR confirmed for it.

[blacksun]

I have to be honest, I don't get this fascination with remaking good/great games from the past. I've been gaming since I was 5 (I'm now 43 ) and I have spent more hours than I care to remember enjoying multitudes of games over that (almost) four decades but I like remembering those games with the fondness I had at the time. In my experience, playing remakes years later (even with the tech advancements) doesn't do anything but diminish the memories I had for the game. Also I like playing new stories not going over a story I had already played out and therefore know how it ends.

[Macphisto80]

Shit that there hasn’t been any VR confirmed for it.

One of the things that's deflated any kind of hype I had for it. After playing RE7 in VR, sadly, I think the only benefit I could get from playing this remake would be purely nostalgic reasons. The reasons Capcom gave for it not being in VR were also a load of bollocks. Hopefully in the future they'll give us it in VR. Don't care if they charge for it either. If more devs charged for a VR component to standard games, I'd have no issues paying for it, if that's what it takes.

I have to be honest, I don't get this fascination with remaking good/great games from the past. I've been gaming since I was 5 (I'm now 43 ) and I have spent more hours than I care to remember enjoying multitudes of games over that (almost) four decades but I like remembering those games with the fondness I had at the time. In my experience, playing remakes years later (even with the tech advancements) doesn't do anything but diminish the memories I had for the game. Also I like playing new stories not going over a story I had already played out and therefore know how it ends.

I agree. But I don't think they diminish the originals. I don't mind this series being remade because the originals just have not aged very well at all. The design is still there and better than most things today, but the visuals just doesn't do them justice.

[rowan_d]

I'm all for PS1 games being remade, they've pretty much all aged badly visually except for MGS

[Schmidt]

It's not just visually, the control schemes and camera angles of games like RE and MGS are so clunky and uncomfortable now. I'd be all over an MGS remake in the engine they used for MGSV.

[DHKopper]

The REmake was a total overhaul of the visuals from the PSX original. It wasn't just a quick makeover. It was the remaster of the REmake that was a bit of a quick makeover. They just upscaled the 3d models, improved some of the normals on them, and scaled the rendered backgrounds up and just slapped a sharpen filter from Photoshop over the top of them or something, and adjusted the aspect ratio. It did the trick enough for 1080p TV's today, but they must have lost the original scene files or something to re-render the backgrounds properly. It still looks very good, though. Even for today's standard. It also still holds up very well as a game because it's so well designed. The REmake and Zero can be picked up for cheap, so I'd recommend picking them up before playing the second game.

That's what I meant, just not in so many words  .

[Macphisto80]

It's not just visually, the control schemes and camera angles of games like RE and MGS are so clunky and uncomfortable now. I'd be all over an MGS remake in the engine they used for MGSV.

Uncomfortable by design. Apart from the awkward turning, which is just bad in any case. The camera was strategically placed. It was always unnerving - and still is - to hear a threat that you can't see, especially if you knew it was close. And those Crimson Heads. When you opened a door and you could hear one growling and running at you from somewhere, it was just a frantic turn and hoped you opened the door again. I think a hybrid camera, like the one in Code Veronica, is probably the best solution for these types of games.

[Malaysian Kopite]

Uncomfortable by design. Apart from the awkward turning, which is just bad in any case. The camera was strategically placed. It was always unnerving - and still is - to hear a threat that you can't see, especially if you knew it was close. And those Crimson Heads. When you opened a door and you could hear one growling and running at you from somewhere, it was just a frantic turn and hoped you opened the door again. I think a hybrid camera, like the one in Code Veronica, is probably the best solution for these types of games.

The games would also be much easier with free movement. Even the modern RE's limit your movement somewhat to increase tension/difficulty.

[Schmidt]

Uncomfortable by design. Apart from the awkward turning, which is just bad in any case. The camera was strategically placed. It was always unnerving - and still is - to hear a threat that you can't see, especially if you knew it was close. And those Crimson Heads. When you opened a door and you could hear one growling and running at you from somewhere, it was just a frantic turn and hoped you opened the door again. I think a hybrid camera, like the one in Code Veronica, is probably the best solution for these types of games.

Design by necessity though to fit the limitations of the hardware. Fixed cameras allow you to control how much of any given scene can be viewed, and allow you to create pre-rendered backgrounds knowing that they'll only be seen from a certain angle. There's a reason lots of developers took this approach with PS1 games and then moved away from it as the hardware improved.

That said, some of this designing around hardware did lead to good games, like how Tomb Raider was set in primarily dark enclosed spaces for performance reasons.

[S]

Can't wait to play this, I know almost nothing about the original.

The games would also be much easier with free movement. Even the modern RE's limit your movement somewhat to increase tension/difficulty.

Resident Evil 7 was terrifying for this reason. I love how the movement is always slower than you want it to be, it's how people's nightmares usually play out.

[Macphisto80]

Design by necessity though to fit the limitations of the hardware. Fixed cameras allow you to control how much of any given scene can be viewed, and allow you to create pre-rendered backgrounds knowing that they'll only be seen from a certain angle. There's a reason lots of developers took this approach with PS1 games and then moved away from it as the hardware improved.

That said, some of this designing around hardware did lead to good games, like how Tomb Raider was set in primarily dark enclosed spaces for performance reasons.

Yeah. Less is more. Or sometimes limitations can create great things. It gets the developers thinking about how they are going to direct and design stuff to make the most out of what they have to work with. Just because you can, it doesn't mean you should. A quandary, I think, modern devs don't take enough time to think about.

[MrRaptorTurtle]

Can’t wait to play this on Friday!
Only just got around to finishing the Resident Evil Remaster after having it installed for about 2 years

1st time I’ve ever properly played it but holy shit what a game!

[PhilV]

I have friday off for this... got too excited I had to!

[Schmidt]

Yeah. Less is more. Or sometimes limitations can create great things. It gets the developers thinking about how they are going to direct and design stuff to make the most out of what they have to work with. Just because you can, it doesn't mean you should. A quandary, I think, modern devs don't take enough time to think about.

Plenty of devs do, there are a lot of small studios with limited time, budget, tools, etc who make pretty interesting stuff. The big studios don't always have the freedom to explore smaller titles, what with publishers breathing down their necks and all that.

[kj999]

Resi is my gaming magnus opus. I love Resi. Resi 1 on PS1 (or did I play it on Saturn? can't recall) was a seminal moment. Resi 2, I never completed. Resi Code Veronica on PS2 was brilliant. As was Resi 4. Then I stopped gaming. I have just got back into it, bought a PS4, and have bought Resi Zero, 5,6,7.

But am looking forward to Resi 2 the most!

[MrRaptorTurtle]

Played about 2 and a half hours earlier. The game is very good!
Not many games actually scare me but this has me on edge constantly!

[Father Ted]

This is horrible, as in it scares the shit out of me, not that it’s a poor game.

I’m way too much of a pussy for this.

[Macphisto80]

This is horrible, as in it scares the shit out of me, not that it’s a poor game.

I’m way too much of a pussy for this.

It is. It's very tense. They've done an amazing job with this, and it's further proof that games have taken a step backwards when developers dip into a 20 year old game to remake and it turns out this good. It retains all the fear that you experienced from the original game, and I'd say it surpasses it. It's probably a good job it didn't come out in VR, because I dare say it'd knock me sideways, and probably out a window. If it's this intense on a flat screen, I can only imagine. I'm still bummed out that it isn't VR, but what can you do.

[Macphisto80]

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/0pWeGfGb_mc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/0pWeGfGb_mc</a>

So much for the game's director saying that the game wouldn't be suitable for VR. A single modder just pulled Capcom's trousers down. Hopefully mods like this will force big developers hand in the near future and give us more hybrid games.