TL;DR: recommend to both gamers and horror fans. Resident Evil 1 does not need to be played before this game.
Synopsis: you play as either a young girl or a police officer who deal with the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse in a small city.
About 15 minutes into this game, it was obvious why this game sold the best out of all the resident evil games. The game has the modern elements of the Resident Evil 4 remake including the graphics and free aiming, while retaining the creepy and eerie atmosphere of the 1st. It is not a better horror game than the 1st Resident Evil, and it isn’t a better action game than the 4th game, but ultimately it suprasses both by providing the combined experience.
On to specific sections…
Production Value
CAPCOM being CAPCOM, the graphics and sound design is amazing. As with the other resident evil games, the soundtrack wasn’t particularly inspiring, though maybe this is due to the genre - the soundtrack is supposed to supplement the atmosphere, not overtake it.
No bugs/issues on linux mint.
Story (Leon)
In terms of narrative, this is the best of the four Resident Evil games that I have played. Even then, I can’t say I was impressed with the writing at all. Like in the 4th game, all of the deaths were telegraphed and there was little complexity to the story. The ending was a little surprising, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
That said, this is a zombie horror game. Having a Legend of the Galactic Heroes tier script is not necessary, all it needs is to be reasonably well written and interesting.
Ada’s character shines much better in Resident Evil 2 than 4. In the 4th game, her presence on the screen feels forced, and the only aspect of her character that is really shown is the disagreeable femme fatale side; in Resident Evil 2, you see her more emotional personality.
Gameplay
The gun gameplay in this game is almost identical to that of the fourth game. And I’m not surprised that it is; if something is not broken, it shouldn’t be fixed. The only complaint I have is the RNG - whether or not a zombie’s head will be blown off by a shot feels way too random.
Scoring:
Design (18/20):
Atmosphere: (4/5) - better than the 4th, but worse than the 1st
Graphics: (5/5) - S tier
UI: (2/2)
Bugs: (2/2)
Sound: (2/2) - extremely crisp
OST: (1/2)
Character designs: (2/2) - S tier
Script (19/25):
Character Investment: (4/5)
Character Realism: (2/2)
Character Complexity: (2/3)
Writing: (7/10)
Ending: (4/5)
Gameplay (24/30):
Skill expression: (8/10)
RNG: (4/5) - whether or not a zombie’s head is blown off is way too random
Satisfaction: (8/10)
Optionality: (3/3)
Novelty: (1/2)
Value (9/15):
Skill: (4/5)
Originality: (3/5)
Thematic elements: (2/5) - nothing
Enjoyment (9/10):
Did I like it: (9/10)