What would a Jill sandwich taste like?

The macabre setting of the Spencer mansion was for many the first taste of three dimensional horror, and is still seen in the collective gaming ethos as the birthplace of the survival horror genre.

Two years later in 1998, Resident Evil 2 swapped its big brother’s foreboding mansion and secret laboratory for the urban streets and…secret laboratory of Raccoon City. The tone shifted along with the locale; from spooky suspense towards more action-heavy escapades.

Comparing the first 10 seconds of Resident Evil with it’s sequel provides an insight into how this tonal change occurred.

For RE, 1 it’s an atmospheric, precarious walk through a large baroque mansion.

For RE 2 it’s a: ‘holy-shit everything is on fire and there are zombies everywhere’ welcome-card to Raccoon City, forcing you to run through the streets to escape certain death.

That’s not to say that RE 2 doesn’t provide it’s fair share of jump scares and creepy moments. One moment in particular see’s the player opening a polygonal door in first person -a series-staple transition from one room to the other- only to find a group of zombies leaping out at you and forcing you back into the room from which you came.

Help please.

Subverting the design blueprints of it’s precursor accounts for most of RE 2’s most memorable moments.

After reentering the Raccoon City Police Station (the game’s hub) halfway through RE 2, any windows you haven’t electronically locked are flooded with zombies, re-populating corridors and galvanising any previously-mollified anxiety.

In the first Resident Evil, once you had cleared a room, it stayed that way, allowing you safe passage for the duration of your playthrough (bar the goddamn lizard people). RE 2 is maniacal and cheeky in how it tears up the design rule-book.

The aforementioned goddamn lizard people.

The aforementioned police station is a welcome return to the original RE’s level layout, with copious corridors and doorways requiring various accoutrements to gain access to. It conjures a feeling of satisfaction similar to that of Metroidvania titles; where arbitrary locked doors and sealed entrances are sequentially revealed via item procurement.

Resident Evil 2 stays extremely faithful to the pillars of its precursor’s design philosophy regarding progression. You find keys, jewels, chess-inspired plugs and all manner of miscellaneous objects that illuminate your path forward.

Similar to RE 1, this segmented and highly-curated design makes for a focused and refined experience, although one that is not entirely devoid of frustrating moments as you trace back your steps and scour every last corner of the rooms you currently have access to.

These navigational woes are only exacerbated further by the limited inventory of your character, which requires you to equip puzzle-specific items in tandem with weapons and healing items. How you micro-manage your inventory has a palpable impact on gameplay. Either you have plentiful ammo but need to retrace your steps to re-equip puzzles items or visa-versa. This has remained identical to that of RE 1, however Leon now starts with a lighter that doesn’t take up an inventory slot.

Later in RE 2’s campaign you come across a weapon’s room filled with munitions, including a machine gun and satchel which extends your carrying capacity. You may choose to take both, however the game is sure to remind you that Claire Redfield (the game’s second protagonist, after Leon Kennedy) may want to make use of it later, suggesting the item is accessible upon your second playthrough.

This consideration for your inevitable second run with a different character is a clever subversion of the dual-protagonist meta; requiring you to weigh up the benefits of immediate consolidation, or face being under equipped in the future.

You inevitably venture down into the secret laboratory that lays beneath the police station, upon which the game’s pace is given a liberal injection of adrenaline. RE 2’s late-game areas are tightly designed and quickly overcome, making for an exhilarating sprint towards the final boss.

Resident Evil 2 is better than it’s big brother in almost every way. The Raccoon City Police Station fails to capture the same aura of dread that was so thickly draped over the Spencer Mansion, though it still manages to be a captivating playground for a truly special survival horror experience.

Subverting design tropes and precipitously increasing the pace of gameplay consolidate the already solid formula to create a sequel that is funner and easier to play than it’s precursor, without sacrificing scares along the way.

If you haven’t played Resident Evil 1 or 2, please do.