Resident Evil 2

What it is

Resident Evil 2 rebuilds Capcom's 1998 survival-horror classic from the ground up, replacing its fixed-camera tank controls with a modern over-the-shoulder perspective while faithfully recreating the zombie-infested Raccoon City Police Department, now stalked by the relentless, near-unkillable Mr. X. Developed and published by Capcom, it follows Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield through interwoven campaigns as they fight to survive and uncover the source of the outbreak. It released on 24 January 2019.

Its review corpus, 58,706 in English, sits at an exceptional Overwhelmingly Positive 96.9% (56,911 to 1,795) — among the largest and most positively received corpuses this lane has documented — and reading through it in depth confirms the game itself is a genuine, widely-agreed-upon achievement. This review also needs to give equal weight to two serious, well-documented controversies that emerged well after launch and materially affect what buying this game means today.

A remake widely called among the best ever made

Reviewers across this enormous corpus converge on remarkably similar praise. "This game is what other developers should aspire to when creating a remake. It is hands down the best remake I have ever played," writes one detailed reviewer, describing genuine, sustained terror even on repeat playthroughs: "I'm on my third or fourth playthrough and I still scream like a little girl at parts." A separate reviewer, writing at launch, captures the immediate reaction: "what a way to start off 2019 dude. My god. Gorgeous graphics and animations... they should remake all the other RE games with this same quality." A particularly compelling account comes from a self-described horror-averse player: "I thought about challenging myself... I get scared very easily, and I don't like the dark... I managed to finish the game, and I'm proud of myself for having done it. If you're thinking about playing this game, go for it."

A serious, sustained anti-modding DRM controversy

This review needs to state plainly a specific, well-documented business decision that a large share of this corpus treats as a serious breach of trust independent of the game's quality. "Capcom is adding unfamiliar DRM to their back catalogue of games... I would caution you against purchasing any capcom product that contains this DRM as it's unfamiliar, and untrustworthy," writes one detailed reviewer. A separate reviewer identifies the specific technology by name: "I'm leaving a negative review because Capcom added the Enigma Protector DRM years after release... this additional DRM layer serves no meaningful purpose, offers no benefit to players, and was introduced without transparency." Crucially, this complaint recurs across many reviews from players who explicitly state they love the underlying game — the negative rating is a deliberate, principled protest rather than a judgment on the remake itself.

A mandatory update that broke mods and hurt performance

A second, related controversy concerns a subsequent "next-gen" update. "Avoid this game. Years after release of this single player game they have released a mandatory massive bandwidth wasting 21GB update that has caused numerous game breaking bugs, killed performance causing lag and low fps, broke all mods, and raised system requirements across the board making it impossible for many people to play. The update can not even be avoided," writes one detailed reviewer. A separate reviewer reports the specific hardware impact: "next gen update makes the game near unplayable on Kepler and RX200 graphics cards and windows 7, needlessly screwing people who can't or don't want to upgrade their PCs and have already bought the game." A third reviewer frames the frustration succinctly: "thanks for the update Capcom, I really wanted the base game back with no noticeable difference and no way to use my favorite mods." That's a specific, concrete complaint about a purchased single-player game being altered against the owner's wishes with no ability to decline — worth taking as seriously as any gameplay critique.

Scenario B and other more conventional criticisms

Beyond the two controversies, a real, more traditional critical thread concerns the game's structure compared to the 1998 original. "The Scenario B is completely wasted and barely differs from A. The game starts a bit differently but then it's the same puzzles, locations and boss encounters," writes one detailed reviewer, noting the original's two scenarios showed the story "from two different perspectives" in a way this remake doesn't replicate. A separate reviewer raises a specific regional complaint: "Warning to users in Japan: You will be paying extra... for a censored version of the game" compared to the international release available elsewhere.

What the achievement data confirms

Resident Evil 2's achievement curve shows a healthy, gradual decline typical of a very well-received, thoroughly-played game: 94.9% for the first achievement, descending steadily through the 50-80% range for mid-game milestones, and settling at 4-10% for the hardest, most demanding completionist achievements. That's consistent with a corpus this size and this positive — a substantial share of buyers engage deeply with the campaign well beyond a single playthrough.

Verdict

Resident Evil 2 earns its reputation as one of the finest remakes in the medium, delivering genuine, sustained horror craft that both series veterans and newcomers consistently praise. But an honest account of this game today has to give real weight to two later, well-documented controversies — intrusive anti-modding DRM and a mandatory update that broke mods and degraded performance for existing owners — that a large, principled share of this game's own biggest fans have specifically protested. The game itself remains an easy recommendation; the way Capcom has managed it since launch deserves real scrutiny before you buy.