Capcom
Resident Evil 2

"Resident Evil 2". A familiar name for those who are fans (to use young and social network jargon) of video games controlled with a joypad.

It was born in the distant 1998 as a sequel to what was "Resident Evil", a title of vital importance that shaped the perception that society as a whole held of our favorite hobby in the years to come. In the sense that whereas before, video games were associated with the image of childish and joyful innocence spent stomping on turtles and eating magical mushrooms (and here come the double meanings) as a funny mustached plumber in overalls, from "Resident Evil" onwards nothing would ever be the same again.

No more mushrooms and turtles, therefore, much to the chagrin of parents who left their kids in fantasy land, but many zombies, blood, and horror, clearly inspired by Romero to boot. A call, a reinterpretation of a "cult" cinematic iconography capable of making our childish game also a cultured piece, goodness gracious. And I will tell you more; in the good old "resident evil 2", contrary to the scenic realism of the last parts (or abortions?) of the saga, there is also an important element that perhaps someone younger and blinded by the destructive and testosterone-driven violence of today's video games might overlook...

"Resident Evil 2" starts with a fairly classic incipit for 90s genre cinema: a government agent and a woman searching for their loved ones plunge headlong into the streets of a claustrophobic racoon city, an American city now bent by zombies and the atrocities spawned by the spread of the infection caused by a certain "G-Virus". Their paths will split, giving rise to two different narrative strands (while visiting the same locations, but at different times) only to meet again in the "grand finale". The whole plot revolves around the personal narrative intertwine, events close to the two protagonists compose a larger puzzle even within the mystery that permeates the city, thus also letting us discover the cause of the infection. The plot, as mentioned earlier, does not offer many thrills, at least not compared to what is offered by the various b-movies on the subject, but it must also be said that it encourages a more cerebral player’s approach to reconstructing the drama that fell upon racoon city, since it'd be reconstructed more by reading various documents found during the adventure than through real cut-scenes (a narrative device also used to circumvent the technological limitations of the time).

But the real novelty of "Resident Evil 2" compared to current productions (yes, the CURRENT productions) lies in the cautious, and anxiety-inducing directing style, the game's frugality in dispensing ammunition and health kits to the player, instilling in them a real sense of powerlessness against the horrors unleashed by the g-virus, in the continuous silences shattered by the dull moans of zombies. Or to put it bluntly, in the incredible rhythm with which Capcom orchestrated the entire adventure: multiple logical puzzles interspersed with sporadic encounters with beasts, creating a game of silences and actions that never completely spills over into one of the two; there are no heart-pounding phases in "Resident Evil 2" alternating with "quiet" exploration phases, but there is a sense of constant tension, since the action sequences are never overly action-packed and the reflective ones are never entirely so, a perennial sense of anxiety and tension almost detectable in works of Stephen King, keeping in the field of "cultured" references.

Thanks to this wise balance, and the choice of some of the best locations ever among which must be mentioned for the sake of accuracy the wonderful police station (ps: locations all realized with sublimely drawn two-dimensional backgrounds) "Resident Evil 2" creates a gaming fresco of imposing grandeur and horror, a vast tribute from video games to the cinema of Romero and beyond.

Moreover, "Resident Evil 2" still has excellent play value today, since the decision to make only the protagonists and zombies through a polygonal modeling work allowed the piece not to lose its sheen over the passing decades, gaining a visual rendering that today appears undoubtedly dated but not so much as to make the piece unplayable today. 

Before concluding this Review, if I have not yet convinced you of the product's worth, allow me two considerations from an old-timer to a young audience. Not everyone (certainly not the younger ones) knows that "Resident Evil 2" was developed not once but twice: indeed, the godfather of the work (Shinji Mikami) realizing he had produced a sequel too similar to the first episode decided to wipe it clear on the nearly market-ready title to redo it from scratch (take note, modern developers!!!)

But above all, "Resident Evil 2" entered history as one of those famous titles hounded by censorship, so much so that an Italian magistrate decided to seize all copies from stores back in 1999. A product of an era where video games could not boast the expressive freedom typical of art forms, "Resident Evil 2" paid the price of the priggishness of the beautiful country, proposing a concept of video games far from the stereotype of a children's toy that many were accustomed to at the time. Or who knows, perhaps the explicit violence of the 90s was an uncomfortable element, yet to be well assimilated by the Italian benevolent society.

Maybe if the next GTAV actually talked about the economic crisis....