Resident Evil 2 is a 1998 survival horror video game created and released by Capcom for the PlayStation. Players control Leon S. Kennedy, a new police officer, and Claire Redfield, a college student, who must escape Raccoon City after its people become zombies due to a biological weapon two months after the events of the original Resident Evil. The game includes exploration, puzzles, and combat. A major change from the first game is that players can choose different paths, with each character having their own story, allies, and challenges.
Resident Evil 2 was directed by Shinji Mikami, the creator of the original Resident Evil, and led by Hideki Kamiya. A team of about 50 people worked on the game for 21 months. The first version, often called Resident Evil 1.5, was canceled after about two-thirds of the work was completed because Mikami believed it was not good enough. The final version used a more movie-like style.
The game was praised for its atmosphere, setting, graphics, sound, story, and improvements over the original. However, some people criticized its controls, voice acting, and certain gameplay features. It is often listed as one of the best video games ever made. It sold more than 6 million copies across all platforms, making it the most successful Resident Evil game for a single platform. The game was released on Windows, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and GameCube. A 2.5D version was made for the Game.com handheld. The story was later expanded in other games and adapted into licensed works. It was followed by Resident Evil 3: Nemesis in 1999. A remake was released in 2019 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One.
Gameplay
Resident Evil 2 is a game where players control characters from a side view and must survive scary situations. The game takes place in Raccoon City, a made-up town in the Midwestern Arklay Mountains. Players can choose to control Leon S. Kennedy, a new police officer, or Claire Redfield, a college student, as they try to survive a zombie outbreak in the city. As players move through the city, they fight monsters, solve puzzles, and use limited bullets to make smart choices about fighting or avoiding enemies.
The game uses tank controls, which means pressing up makes the character move forward, down makes them move backward, and left/right turns them, regardless of the camera angle. On the status screen, players can check their character’s health, view a map, read files they have found, and use or combine items. A character’s health is shown by how they move and stand. For example, if hurt, a character might hold their stomach or limp slowly. If a character takes too much damage, they will die, and the game ends. Players can use herbs or first aid spray to heal. Safe rooms in the city have typewriters where players can save their progress using ink ribbons and item boxes to store items, which are needed because characters can only carry a limited number of items at once.
Unlike the previous game, where characters had different abilities, Leon and Claire only differ in the starting items they have (a lighter and a lockpick). The game introduces a "Zapping System" where each character faces different puzzles, story parts, and enemies. After completing one character’s story, players can unlock the other character’s story, which changes based on choices made in the first story, such as enemies killed or puzzles solved. This creates four unique playthroughs, increasing replayability. Each character is joined by a support partner who helps during certain scenes and can be played briefly. The game has multiple endings, and which ending players see depends on which of the four scenarios they play.
The game’s graphics use computer-generated characters and items that move in real time, placed on fixed background images. After finishing a story, players receive a rank based on how long they took to complete it and how many times they saved or used healing items. Higher ranks unlock extra weapons and costumes. The game includes two standalone missions: "The 4th Survivor" and "The To-fu Survivor." In these missions, players must reach a goal while fighting enemies with only basic items. The PlayStation version requires completing both stories with high ranks to unlock these missions, while the Dreamcast version allows access from the start. Later versions, except for the Nintendo 64 version, include an "Extreme Battle" minigame where players, as Leon, Claire, Ada, or Chris Redfield, must place four antivirus bombs on one of three maps while fighting enemies with limited supplies.
Plot
Depending on the order players choose to play the scenarios, the game presents one of two conflicting storylines. This summary describes the path that follows the Claire A and Leon B scenarios, which Capcom has labeled as the official version of events.
On September 30, 1998, two months after the events of the first Resident Evil game, most people in Raccoon City, a mountain town in the American Midwest, have turned into zombies due to the T-virus. This virus was secretly created by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella. Leon S. Kennedy, a new officer in the Raccoon Police Department, meets Claire Redfield, a college student searching for her brother, Chris. After separating, Leon and Claire both travel to the Raccoon Police Station. They find that most police officers have been killed, and Chris has left the city to investigate Umbrella’s headquarters in Europe. They split up to search for survivors and look for a way to escape the city. While searching, Claire meets Sherry Birkin, a young girl fleeing from an unknown creature, and Leon encounters Ada Wong, who claims to be searching for her boyfriend, John, an Umbrella researcher from Chicago.
The RPD Chief, Brian Irons, had been paid by Umbrella to hide evidence of the company’s experiments outside the city. He kept secret the development of the G-virus, a substance that can change humans into powerful bioweapons. Leon faces a monster named Mr. X, a Tyrant zombie dropped into the police station by Umbrella to find the G-virus. Irons tries to kill Claire but is killed by a G-virus mutant. Claire and Sherry escape through the sewers but become separated. After parting ways with Leon, Ada finds Sherry and picks up a golden pendant the girl drops. Later, Ada reluctantly teams up with Leon again after he insists on protecting her. They meet Annette, a middle-aged woman who shoots at Ada, but Leon steps in and takes a bullet instead. Ada ignores Leon and follows Annette, who reveals herself as Sherry’s mother and the wife of William Birkin, the Umbrella scientist who created the G-virus. William injected himself with the virus, which turned him into a deformed creature now chasing Sherry because of her genetic traits. Annette tries to take the pendant from Ada, leading to a fight where Annette falls over a railing. Ada learns the pendant contains a sample of the G-virus and later helps Leon with his injury.
Meanwhile, Claire reunites with Sherry and discovers William implanted an embryo into her to create offspring. Leon, Ada, Claire, and Sherry enter an abandoned factory connected to Umbrella’s secret research facility. William attacks Ada, seriously wounding her, and Leon searches the lab for a cure. He is interrupted by Annette, who claims Ada is a spy working for an unknown group. Leon refuses to believe her and is nearly shot by Annette before the Tyrant appears, forcing her to flee. Ada returns to save Leon and fights the Tyrant, which falls into a pit of molten metal. Ada is mortally wounded during the battle and confesses her love for Leon before dying. Annette tries to escape with another G-virus sample but is killed by William. Before dying, she tells Claire how to make a vaccine to stop the mutations in Sherry. After creating the vaccine, Leon and Claire reunite on an emergency train and inject Sherry, saving her life. During the escape, Leon is helped by an unknown figure to defeat the mutated Super Tyrant, which he briefly thinks is Ada. William, now enormous, pursues Leon and Claire but is destroyed when the train explodes. After escaping with Sherry, Leon plans to stop Umbrella, while Claire continues searching for Chris. HUNK, a surviving Umbrella agent, completes his mission to retrieve the G-virus.
Development
Resident Evil 2 started being made one month after the first game was finished in early 1996. About 45 people worked on the game, and later they became part of Capcom Production Studio 4. Hideki Kamiya was the director, and the team included newer Capcom employees and more than half of the staff from the original Resident Evil. At first, producer Shinji Mikami had disagreements with Kamiya about creative choices. Mikami later stepped back to a supervisory role and only checked the game’s progress once a month. The development cost over $1 million.
The Raccoon City Police Station was designed based on the Osaka City Central Public Hall.
The first footage of Resident Evil 2 was shown at the V Jump Festival '96 in July. This version, called Resident Evil 1.5 by Mikami, had a different story than the final game. It followed the same basic plot but showed Raccoon City two months after the first game’s events. In this version, Umbrella had already been shut down due to its illegal experiments.
The development team wanted to keep the fear from the original game. They introduced two new characters: Leon S. Kennedy, who was similar to his final version, and Elza Walker, a college student and motorcycle racer visiting Raccoon City. In this version, the characters’ paths did not cross, and each had two support partners instead of one. Leon had help from Marvin Branagh and Linda, an early version of Ada, while Elza was aided by Sherry Birkin and John, who later became Robert Kendo in the final game. Mikami said the sequel would have more monsters and up to seven enemies on screen at once to create a sense of fear.
Real-life examples influenced character designs. For example, artist Isao Ohishi based Leon on his bloodhound and Annette Birkin on actress Jodie Foster. The police station was smaller and more modern. Players met more surviving police officers, like Leon’s superior, Roy. Enemy models used fewer polygons, allowing more zombies to appear on screen. The game used dynamic music and changed pre-rendered backgrounds based on gameplay. Players could use equipment like protective clothing to improve defense and carry more items. Character models changed through costume switches and damage from enemies.
Mikami believed the game’s individual assets were good but not yet complete. He expected improvements in the three months before the planned May 1997 release. Soon after, Resident Evil 1.5 was scrapped at 60–80% completion. Mikami said the game would not have reached the desired quality on time, and the gameplay and locations were too dull.
Mikami planned to end the series with Resident Evil 2. Supervisor Yoshiki Okamoto criticized the story, saying it was too conclusive for future games. Instead, Okamoto proposed creating a fictional universe for Resident Evil, like the Gundam or James Bond franchises, allowing self-contained stories with shared elements.
When the team struggled to rewrite the story, Okamoto introduced screenwriter Noboru Sugimura, who was excited about the first game’s plot. Sugimura was hired to write the full script for Resident Evil 2. One major change was replacing Elza Walker with Claire Redfield to connect the story to the first game.
To meet Capcom’s goal of selling two million copies, Kamiya wanted a more dramatic and Hollywood-style story. Okamoto worked with Sugimura to discuss changes with Mikami and the team. The game was redesigned from the start to fit the new story. Programmers and other team members worked on Resident Evil Director’s Cut, which included a playable preview disc of the new Resident Evil 2 version to promote the sequel and apologize for its late release.
Few assets from Resident Evil 1.5 could be reused because the final game’s locations were more extravagant and artistic, based on photos of Western-style buildings in Japanese cities. Environments were created on SGI O2 computers, and each background took two to three weeks to render. The maximum number of zombies on screen at once was seven, allowing detailed models of Leon and Claire with 450 polygons each. Protagonists limped slowly after heavy damage instead of showing visible wounds. A key new feature was the "Zapping System," partly inspired by the movie Back to the Future Part II. Voice-overs by a Canadian cast were recorded before cutscenes were finished. Full-motion videos (FMVs) were made by filming stop-motion animations of action figures and then using computer graphics to complete the scenes. Ada was the only main character not in a pre-rendered cutscene because her model was not finished in time.
Regional versions had changes. The North American version had more violent game over screens, which were removed from the Japanese version. Resident Evil 2 was harder and longer in the U.S. to prevent short-term rentals from affecting sales.
The music was composed by Masami Ueda, Shusaku Uchiyama, and Syun Nishigaki, with one track by Naoshi Mizuta. The theme was "desperation." Ueda created the main motifs, and Uchiyama composed horror-themed music for investigation and movie scenes. The main theme, a three-note leitmotif, appeared in tracks like "Prologue" and "Raccoon City." Different musical styles, such as ambient horror and industrial, matched the game’s environments. For example, militaristic music emphasized Raccoon City’s streets, while ominous piano music underscored the police station. Key story moments used orchestral and cinematic music, inspired by blockbuster films.
Two music albums were released in 1998: Biohazard 2 Original Soundtrack and Biohazard 2 Complete Track. The first included most major compositions, while the second had less common themes, an orchestral medley, and a second CD with sound effects, voice collections, and interviews with the sound team. The European version of Biohazard 2 Original was also released.
Releases
After its first release for the PlayStation in January 1998, Resident Evil 2 was released again and made available on other systems, with many versions adding new features.
The first re-release was called the Dual Shock Ver., which included support for the vibration and analog control features of the PlayStation's DualShock controller. This version also added a new unlockable minigame called "Extreme Battle" and a "Rookie" mode that allowed players to begin the main story with a powerful weapon and unlimited ammunition. The Japanese release of the Dual Shock Ver. included a "U.S.A. Version" mode based on the difficulty level of the Western versions of the game. The Dual Shock Ver. became the foundation for many other ports, such as the Windows 9x-based PC-CD version called Resident Evil 2 Platinum. The PC version kept all the added features and could be played at higher resolutions. A "Data Gallery" was added to the main menu, allowing players to view movies, rough sketches, illustrations, and 3D models. In February 2006, a Japan-exclusive version of the game for Windows XP was released. Developed by Sourcenext, it included high-quality FMVs encoded at 640×480 pixels.
The Dreamcast version included the same additions as the original PC release and added a real-time display of the character's condition on the Visual Memory Unit peripheral. The Japanese edition of the Dreamcast port had the subtitle "Value Plus" and included a playable demo of Resident Evil – Code: Veronica. An unmodified version of the Dual Shock Ver. was released for the GameCube. The original PlayStation version was re-released on the Japanese PlayStation Network in 2007, and the North American PlayStation Network received the Dual Shock Ver. two years later.
The Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 2, released on November 16, 1999, was one of the few games for the console to include full-motion video cutscenes. This was achieved despite the limited storage space on the cartridge by replicating the PlayStation version's two 700 MB CD-ROMs onto a 64 MB Nintendo 64 Game Pak. Audio and video assets were compressed using creative techniques that relied on the console's processing power. The port was completed by a team from Angel Studios, with support from Capcom Production Studio 3 and Factor 5. This version included bonus features not found on other ports, such as alternate costumes, a randomizer mode, options to adjust violence levels and blood color, and a more responsive first-person control scheme. It also included 16 new in-game documents called the "Ex Files," written by Tetsuro Oyama. These documents provided new information about the series and connected the story of Resident Evil 2 to other games, including some not yet released. This version was the only one to use surround sound, with the soundtrack converted to Dolby Surround by Chris Hülsbeck, Rudolf Stember, and Thomas Engel.
The Nintendo 64 version adjusted its display resolution based on the number of 3D models on screen and supported the Expansion Pak accessory for a maximum resolution of 640×480 during gameplay. Visual improvements included smoother character animations and sharper, perspective-corrected textures for 3D models. The sound set was completely reworked to use higher sample rates, resulting in better-quality music. Some features from other enhanced versions, like the "Extreme Battle" minigame, were not included in the Nintendo 64 version. In 2018, Eurogamer called this port "one of the most ambitious [and impressive] console ports of all time."
A version of Resident Evil 2 for the Sega Saturn was planned but canceled in October 1998 due to technical difficulties.
Tiger Electronics released a black-and-white 2.5D version of the game for its Game.com handheld in late 1998. This version included only Leon's story path and lacked many core features, such as cutscenes and music. It was the first Resident Evil game released on a handheld console and received a Teen 13+ rating from the ESRB. Tiger also released a dot-matrix version for its 99X Games handheld in 1999.
In February 2013, an unfinished build of Resident Evil 1.5 was leaked online.
On June 26, 2024, Resident Evil was released on GOG.com, with Resident Evil 2 following on August 27 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis on September 25. The games were sold individually or as a $24.99 bundle. The PC version was based on the Dual Shock Ver. and included high-resolution character models and an art gallery. On August 19, 2025, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis were released on PlayStation 4 and 5. On April 1, 2026, the GOG.com version of Resident Evil 2, along with the rest of the original trilogy, was released on Steam.
Reception
Resident Evil 2 received high praise from critics when it was first released. The original PlayStation version has an average score of 93% on GameRankings based on 25 reviews, and it earned 89 out of 100 points on Metacritic for both the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 versions, based on 13 reviews. Most reviews highlighted the game’s atmosphere, setting, graphics, audio, and gameplay, but some critics mentioned issues with the controls, voice acting, and certain gameplay elements.
Computer and Video Games magazine’s Steve Key and Alex Huhtahla praised the game’s gameplay, puzzles, horror, graphics, audio, and the scenario system’s replay value. Electronic Gaming Monthly’s four reviewers said the game was better than the original, calling most aspects “flawless,” including gameplay, graphics, layout, sound, and story. They noted the controls and menu system had some problems but said the controls were an improvement over the original. The game tied with the PlayStation version of Point Blank for “Game of the Month.” GameFan magazine’s three reviewers praised the gameplay, tension, environments, graphics, voice acting, and scenario system. Game Informer magazine’s three reviewers praised the game’s concept, graphics, sound, playability, and entertainment. PSM magazine praised the puzzles, monsters, and weapons. Next Generation called it “the must-own title of the year,” saying it improved on the original in terms of graphics and how long the game lasts while keeping the original’s fun elements.
IGN’s Ricardo Sanchez said the game’s atmosphere was “dead on,” and that the graphics, sound effects, music, and level design worked together to create a spooky, horror-filled world. Ryan Mac Donald of GameSpot said the game felt like a Hollywood product, calling it “more of an interactive, cinematic experience than a video game.” Paul Mallinson of ComputerAndVideoGames.com said the atmosphere, story, and film-like presentation were the most impressive parts, even though he thought the plot was “far-fetched.” He said the story was kept realistic by clever writing. Mike Weigand of GamePro called the story “engrossing and dramatic” and the dialogue “well-written.” IGN’s Sanchez, GameSpy’s Brian Davis, and Eurogamer’s Martin Taylor praised the “Zapping System” for helping the story and increasing replay value. Mac Donald said the idea of actions in the first scenario affecting the second was “cool in concept” but not used enough.
Many critics praised the game’s graphics, saying they were a big improvement over the first game. Sanchez and Weigand said the pre-rendered backgrounds were more detailed and interactive than in the original. Next Generation said the character models now blended better with the backgrounds. Shawn Smith of Electronic Gaming Monthly said the cutscenes were better than the live action ones in the original. Mac Donald praised the animations for looking “true to life” and said the use of body language helped show the characters’ health. Allgame’s Shawn Sackenheim gave the graphics the highest score, saying the backgrounds were “rendered to perfection,” the cutscenes were “a work of art,” and the animation was “fluid and eerie.” Critics also liked the audio. Weigand said it was an “excellent accompaniment to the visuals.” Sanchez said the sound design might be the best for a console game. Next Generation said the sound effects were “the most precise and realistic ever heard in a game.” Sackenheim said the music and sound effects were “perfect,” and Mac Donald compared the use of audio to classic horror films.
Some critics criticized the inventory system. Sanchez said it was “a pain,” and Mac Donald said it was unrealistic because the item boxes were magically connected and all items took the same space. Mallinson and Mac Donald said some puzzles didn’t fit well in a police station setting. Sanchez said the puzzles were better paced than in the original but less interesting and too easy for experienced players. Next Generation said the game was long and had enough differences between character scenarios to make replay value ten times better than the original. Sackenheim said the game was short and that the scenarios weren’t different enough to keep casual players interested. He said the controls were easy to learn, but Sanchez said aiming weapons was hard. Some reviewers said the voice acting was “terrible” or “barbaric.”
Most later versions of Resident Evil 2, except the Nintendo 64 version, received slightly lower scores than the PlayStation version. Weigand said players who already owned the game should rent the Dual Shock Ver. for the “Extreme Battle” minigame and buy the updated edition instead of the original. The Windows version was praised for extra content but criticized for not letting players save anytime and for not updating backgrounds for higher resolution. Eurogamer said the version’s removal of CD-ROM load times made the game “extremely fun and simple.” The Nintendo 64 version was praised for fitting a two-disc game on a single 512-Mbit (64MB) cartridge. However, Taylor said it kept scenes from the PlayStation version that hid CD-ROM loading times, a problem not present in the cartridge version. GamePro’s “The Freshman” said the Nintendo 64 version had better graphics but had compressed FMVs. GameSpot’s Joe Fielder said the compression was acceptable for the cartridge format and that new features made up for the lack of the “Extreme Battle” mode. Eurogamer said the Nintendo 64’s analog control was very effective. IGN’s Matt Casamassina praised the Dolby Surround support and called the Nintendo 64 version the best. In 2018, Eurogamer called it “one of the most ambitious [and impressive] console ports of all time.”
The Dreamcast port’s clearer sound effects were praised by GameRevolution’s Shawn Sparks, who also said the character models looked slightly sharper. Steve Key of Computer And Video Games disliked the Dreamcast version’s low-resolution backgrounds, which he said made the characters stand out too much and reduced the atmosphere. GameSpot’s James Mielke said the Dreamcast port was not “an essential purchase” but still a “great game” at a low price. The GameCube version was criticized for its high price and outdated graphics. GamePro’s “Four-Eyed Dragon” said its visuals were better than any other version. Davis and 1UP.com’s Mark MacDonald said the GameCube version lacked features from the Nintendo 64 release. IGN’s Peer Schneider said the 2.5D version for the Game.com was frustrating and only “partially faithful” to the original. He said the graphics were not as good as the original.
Legacy
Resident Evil 2 inspired many other works, including comics, books, and later games. Ted Adams and Kris Oprisko created comics based on the game, titled "Raccoon City – R.I.P." and "A New Chapter of Evil." These comics appeared in the first and second issues of Resident Evil: The Official Comic Book Magazine in March and June 1998. A Hong Kong comic series called Biohazard 2 was published weekly from February 1998 to April 1999, with 60 issues. A romantic comedy version of the story, focusing on characters Leon, Claire, and Ada, was released as a two-issue comic in Taiwan titled Èlíng Gǔbǎo II (meaning "Demon Castle II"). A book titled Resident Evil: City of the Dead, written by S. D. Perry in 1999, closely followed the game’s story. It was the third book in a series of Resident Evil novels published by Pocket Books.
The mobile game Resident Evil: Uprising includes a shortened version of the Resident Evil 2 story, adapted by Megan Swaine. A 2009 game called Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, which is an on-rails shooter for the Wii, features a scenario named "Memories of a Lost City." This scenario reimagines the original Resident Evil 2 story while keeping key scenes from the game. In 2008, Jun Takeuchi, a producer for Resident Evil 5, mentioned the possibility of remaking Resident Evil 2. This idea had been considered earlier for the GameCube in 2002, but it was abandoned because the developer, Mikami, did not want to delay the development of Resident Evil 4.
The story of Resident Evil 2 appeared in a British sitcom called Spaced in an episode titled "Art." In this episode, a character imagines fighting zombies. The director of Spaced, Edgar Wright, said this episode inspired his 2004 zombie comedy film Shaun of the Dead.
The events of Resident Evil 2 influenced later stories in drama albums and games. Screenwriters from Capcom’s former scenario company, Flagship, created two radio dramas: Chiisana Tōbōsha Sherry ("The Little Runaway Sherry") and Ikiteita Onna Spy Ada ("The Female Spy Ada Lives"). These were broadcast on Radio Osaka in early 1999 and later released as CDs titled Biohazard 2 Drama Album.
Chiisana Tōbōsha Sherry begins after the events of the game. Sherry separates from Claire while escaping Umbrella soldiers. Raccoon City is destroyed by the U.S. Government and Umbrella to hide the disaster. Sherry finds shelter in Stone Ville and later escapes to Canada with help from a girl named Meg.
Ikiteita Onna Spy Ada takes place a few days after Resident Evil 2. It follows Ada’s mission to retrieve a pendant containing a G-virus sample from a character named HUNK. Ada intercepts the delivery in France, kills HUNK and his men, and later encounters Umbrella officials involved in the plot. After a T-virus leak, Ada escapes and decides to leave her life as a spy to be with Leon. In the end, Sherry is taken into custody by the U.S. Government, and Ada keeps the pendant but continues her work as a spy. HUNK successfully delivers another G-virus sample to Umbrella.
In August 2015, Capcom announced a remake of Resident Evil 2. At E3 2018, the company showed trailers and gameplay footage of the game. It was released worldwide on January 25, 2019, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. The game uses the RE Engine, which is also in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. It replaces the old tank controls and fixed camera angles with a new "over-the-shoulder" gameplay style, similar to Resident Evil 4.