# Game Resident Evil 2 Remake Recap
Macatrens – Released by Capcom in 2019 on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, Resident Evil 2 is a remake of the 1998 release of the same name. Directed by Kazuhiro Aoyama and Yasuhiro Anpo, who both worked on Resident Evil 5 and Revelations 2, and written by Brent Friedman, the game reimagines many of the characters, environments, and story points of the original instead of being an exact reproduction. The game was in development since Resident Evil 7, despite demand being present since the remake of the first Resident Evil game.
Multiple ideas were experimented with, such as fixed camera angles identical to the original, first-person perspective, or having both Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield travel together for gameplay. Resident Evil 2 continues a survival horror focus on puzzles, exploration, limited resources, and monsters. The framework utilizes the new engine made for Resident Evil 7. The game brings back an inventory slot system where players start with eight slots that can be expanded to 20, though some items and weapons occupy two slots, and ammo has smaller stack caps than the original.
Besides many quality-of-life improvements for items and maps, zombies can now open doors and specifically have durability. Windows can be boarded up. Gunpowder can be used to make ammo. Defensive items and actions return. Players can be attacked and pinned by more than one zombie, and zombies dynamically adjust their health and behavior based on the player’s health and ammo resources. The blue herb has a new mixture with the red herb to not only make one temporarily immune to poison but also reduce damage received. Saving in hardcore mode requires an ink ribbon item, like before.
In addition, extra scenarios besides the main game can be played as minigames. One is The Fourth Survivor, in which Umbrella infiltrator Hunk must extract the G-virus. Another is a comical trial of a piece of tofu escaping the same scenario. There are also non-canon “what-if” scenarios called The Ghost Survivors, where one plays as the gun shop owner Robert Kendo, the mayor’s daughter Katherine Warren, a forgotten Umbrella soldier, and the Arklay Sheriff Daniel Cortini.
The game features two protagonists, Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, with the ability to play as two other side characters, Sherry Birkin and Ada Wong, for small segments. Each character has unique scenarios, stories, weapons, and obstacles. Once players complete the game as one of them, they unlock a subsequent version of the game as the other hero, with changes made to the story and areas to reflect the decisions and actions of the first hero.
Keep in mind, there is no A and B scenario like in the original. The intended canon is that each campaign’s first run is canon in its own right, while the second run is meant to add context from a different perspective, despite glaring contradictions. For this telling, the setup involves playing Leon’s story first, then Claire’s second run. This will be told in the form of Leon’s campaign overlaid by Claire’s.
The story begins in 1998, two months after the events of the first game. The Midwestern industrial community of Raccoon City has been exposed to the T-virus, a mutagenic toxin created by the pharmaceutical enterprise Umbrella for use in bioweapon experiments. On September 22nd, the eventual Umbrella researcher William Birkin attempts to steal away his life’s work, the G-virus, from Umbrella, who is trying to take it from him. Umbrella’s internal security confronts him to take back G, but as William tries to draw a weapon, he is gunned down by one of the operatives.
As the operatives retrieve the G-virus, William uses the last bit of his life to inject himself with his own G-virus, saving his life and giving him the power to slaughter most of the team that attacked him. However, the dropped samples of the T-virus are picked up by rats, which continue to spread it.
On September 28, the spread of the virus has reached beyond the city. On a dark and stormy night, a truck driver is startled by hitting a body on the road, only to find the dead ominously rise again. At this time, Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie cop, stops by a gas station but notices it is strangely quiet despite the vehicles around. He hears glass shattering inside the dark gas station mart and, seeing blood splattered across the ground, decides to investigate.
Seeing a wounded man and hearing a struggle in the back, he walks in on the Arklay County Sheriff being attacked by a zombie as it rips his throat out. Leon S. Kennedy, in disbelief, now shoots these monsters in the head a few times, but it is still not enough to put them down for good. Looking behind him, he sees the dead bodies at the station suddenly rise and reach for him.
At the same time, Claire Redfield, a college student traveling to Raccoon City in search of her brother and S.T.A.R.S. member Chris, stops by the same gas station. After making a phone call, she hears a commotion inside the mart and moves closer, only to find zombies quickly encroaching behind her.
As Leon S. Kennedy makes a quick escape, he runs into Claire. In a split second, he has her duck as he shoots the zombie just behind her. Surrounded on all sides, the duo makes a break for the nearby sheriff’s car and uses it to escape the overrun gas station.
As they have a moment to breathe, they introduce themselves. Leon S. Kennedy reveals he’s a cop on his way to the Raccoon City Police Station, and it turns out Claire Redfield was headed there as well, as her brother is also a cop. Driving through the ruined streets, they come as close to the station as they can before a blockade forces them to stop and consider running the rest of the way.
Zombies quickly besiege them, and just after that, the truck driver from earlier is driving recklessly through town, clutching his wounds from the zombie he encountered. Seeing he’s not slowing down, Leon S. Kennedy shouts to bail out as the oil tanker skids and collides against them, pushing them away.
In the crash, Leon S. Kennedy scrambles from the car just before it explodes, causing the wrecked tanker to ignite soon after. Claire Redfield and Leon call out to each other, each safe from the fire but still in danger. They agree to meet at the station and take different paths for now. Leon makes haste to the station but, upon entering, calls out to an empty
lobby, seeing Claire Redfield is yet to arrive. Believing someone else must be alive, he checks on a nearby security feed, seeing an officer in a nearby hall who’s fighting for his life and holding up something, claiming it to be their way out. He moves through the dark, flooded hallway and helps open the fire escape door, locking the officer out. He tries to pull the man through, but the zombies on the other side rip him in half in a struggle.
Leon S. Kennedy sees there’s no hope for the man but retrieves the item he wanted to deliver. The office he’s in gets overrun as well, and hurrying to get out, Leon is grabbed. Making his way to the lobby, he is helped and saved by Lieutenant Marvin Branagh. Marvin helps Leon suit up into his uniform while nursing his own wound. While Marvin doesn’t know how this all started, what he does know is this city will eat them alive if they’re not careful.
He shares that Elliot, the officer Leon tried to save, had a notebook revealing a secret passageway out of the police station. Leon offers to help Marvin to a hospital, but Marvin rejects it, knowing he would just slow Leon down. Marvin insists Leon needs to focus on escaping first and foremost. Handing him a knife, he also warns him not to make the same mistake he did: hesitate to run from or shoot any monsters he sees, uniform or not.
Leon moves out to decipher the clues for the statue in the middle of the lobby, which is linked to the hidden passageway. Along the way, he hears of a rescue chopper en route. He also learns that while the police tried their best to turn the station into a shelter, infected refugees and attacks from outside claimed the lives of many, all while their communication equipment was strangely malfunctioning.
Marvin then shows Leon where Claire Redfieldis, now at the gate to the courtyard, and gives directions on how to get there. The clues Elliot found indeed lead to a new passageway. The statue is one of many secrets hidden in the station, as the station was converted from an old museum with many curiosities still in place.
As Leon gets closer to the courtyard, he hears the rescue helicopter crash into the side of the station, killing the pilot instantly. He’s soon called out by Claire, who just arrived at the station, and the two are reassured by their mutual survival.
Unfortunately, the door to the courtyard is locked, and the wreckage of the helicopter now explodes, setting off the fire alarm and alerting all the nearby zombies to them. Claire Redfield sees the mobs rising around her and, obsolete for now, both of them agree to meet up later and survive this.
Leon returns to solving the statue’s puzzles, unlocking a pathway that leads underground. He tries one more time to get Marvin to come with him, but the lieutenant knows it’s too late for him, forcing Leon to leave him behind as the rookie ventures ahead.
Marvin closes the door behind him. Outside, Claire Redfield falls back to a small closet full of supplies and a key to the courtyard gate. Gearing up, she enters the police station on her own, finding a lobby breached by zombies, including Marvin, who was already zombified and is put down by her. She also sees a strange large man in a trench coat and fedora approach one of the security cameras and punch it out.
Finding Elliot’s clues on a way out, she also sees a note from Leon stating that her brother isn’t here and urges her to find a way out. A note from Chris himself says he’s in Europe and will probably stay for six months, but to her, it sounds strangely out of character for him. Thinking to use the statue clues so far, she also seeks to open the hidden passageway.
With Leon, the passageway leads to an ornate office and an elevator leading to further utility tunnels. He catches a glimpse of something lumbering above him as someone from the shadows drops a ladder for him to use as an escape. Finding a manhole that leads to the parking garage, infected dogs attack him before he is rescued by a mysterious woman.
The woman reveals herself to be with the FBI but refuses to answer his questions. Dismissing his lack of skills, she advises him to escape while he can and moves on. Compelled to ask her more, he follows her trail. With Claire, she unlocks the underground passageway and continues onward.
Hearing the sounds of someone running above her that sound human, she spots a little girl hiding and offers her help, but the little girl warns her that Claire Redfield is the one that needs help, pointing to the monster right behind her.
Looking back, Claire Redfield sees a horribly mutated man that destroys the walkway they are on and swings a pipe at her in a wild fashion. She fends off the threat, sending it tumbling over the edge into the deeper underground. Safe for now, Claire calls out for the little girl and asks her to lower a ladder for her. The little girl asks if Claire can help her find her mother, who is likely down here.
Agreeing to help each other out, the girl shares that her parents both work at Umbrella as researchers, but her dad is gone now. Finding the manhole leading to the parking garage, they then try opening the gate, but it’s locked tight.
At this time, Police Chief Irons approaches them. He identifies the little girl as Sherry Birkin and immediately pulls a gun on Claire. Confused, Claire Redfield complies, but asking what Irons wants only gets her a swift kick as an answer. Forcing Sherry to go with him, using Claire as a hostage, Sherry surrenders but insists she be taken to her mother.
Pistol-whipping a defiant Claire, Irons drags Sherry Birkin with him. As Sherry Birkin drops a pendant in the struggle, Claire Redfield breaks out of her ties, but it’s too late as Irons locks the gate behind him. Picking up Sherry’s pendant, Claire Redfield is now determined to pay back Irons and get Sherry back. Looking for a key card to the garage.
Now back with Leon, he loses sight of Ada in the jail area but instead runs into a man named Ben, who is locked in one of the cells. Ben is glad to see Leon but wonders if Police Chief Irons sent him, hoping the man to be dead. Leon cautiously asks him why, and Ben explains Irons is the one who locked him in here before Ben was about to blow the whistle on Irons being a dirty cop. They hear something coming their way, and, panicking,
Undeterred, Leon agrees to join her as long as it saves the city, and so they continue as Ada explains the pharmaceutical giant Umbrella is secretly making bioweapons. It created a virus that turns people into the monsters they’ve met so far, and she claims the one responsible is Annette Birkin, so that’s who they’re after.
Leon wonders how Umbrella can build a facility connected to the sewers without the city knowing, and Ada reveals Umbrella has been controlling Raccoon City for years. They encounter a massive infected alligator down here, and as Leon hustles to keep ahead of its jaws, he manages to get it stuck on a gas main, exploiting the gas and killing the creature.
Landing a timely one-liner on the sewer gator, he jabs back at Ada that she didn’t mention the virus affected more than just people and wonders if Umbrella is selling those creatures. Ada then points out Umbrella doesn’t sell the monsters, just the virus that makes them.
With Claire, she passes in and out of consciousness as Sherry Birkin warns her the monster is still nearby. The next thing she knows, Sherry is gone, and she’s being examined by a woman in a lab coat who confirms Claire Redfield is not infected. Claire asks who she is and what happened to Sherry, but the woman, who mentions she’s Annette, is more concerned about tracking down the monster that attacked them, called William. Annette states her daughter Sherry is fine and none of Claire’s concern, and then moves on.
Elsewhere, Claire resumes her search for Sherry, learning that the G-virus was entering the final phase of testing and meant to create a creature that would surpass humans with adaptable evolution, rapid regeneration, and a means to reproduce. The creature would seek out hosts with close genetic matches to their own, like children or family, and implant an embryo within them.
However, if the DNA is not a close enough match, an imperfect G creature will instead be created. Wading through the filthy sewers, she finds a cable car oddly stationed here. She also spots Sherry Birkin speaking to her mother through an intercom, but Annette is displeased to see Sherry here and cannot be bothered to look after her.
Seeing Sherry suddenly collapse, Claire rushes to save her, but she runs into William again and does her best to survive. She baits the monster into getting struck by a swinging crane and thrown over the edge again. Annette is surprised to watch Claire come to Sherry’s aid, and Claire is shocked to see Sherry’s infected. Annette explains she’s been implanted and can’t be saved, so their focus needs to be on stopping William.
Refusing to accept that, Claire picks up Sherry anyway, and Annette gives in, revealing she can treat Sherry in her lab nearby, but they don’t have much time. Annette tries to convey she loves Sherry, though she puts her work first. She turns to thank Claire for caring so much as well.
Carrying Sherry to the tram, it turns out Sherry has an Umbrella ID that allows them access, so the two get on. As they ride, Sherry struggles against the infection but still thanks Claire for wrapping her in her jacket. Claire replies that her brother Chris gave it to her, and since then, it’s always been her lucky jacket. She hands back Sherry her pendant, but Sherry doesn’t want it, explaining it was a birthday gift from her mother last year.
She laments that she only wants her mom to be home more often. Claire replies that her mom really does care, even if it doesn’t show. As the tram stops, they get off at Umbrella’s underground lab, NEST.
Leon and Ada now turn a corner, running into Annette Birkin examining a body. Ada wastes no time demanding the G-virus. Annette scoffs and runs away, and as they give chase, Annette opens fire, catching Ada off guard. Leon dives in to save Ada, taking a bullet for her as Annette gets away.
Leon passes out quickly after that. Ada decides to patch him up as she radios someone about the status of her mission. Control switches to Ada, who pulls out a remote hacking device and pursues Annette on her own. She dodges Mr. X, who has followed them down here, steals a lab ID, and escapes Annette’s trap to try and kill her in an incinerator.
However, Annette catches her in another trap, driving Ada over the edge into a scrap pile and causing her to injure her leg. Unable to move, Ada openly wishes for Leon to be here to help her again. As Leon now comes to, he looks for Ada, wading through the sewer and running into the giant cesspool spawning imperfect G-forms and their embryos.
He finds a video from a soldier being slaughtered by the same monster that attacked him before. As rats crowd around a spilled sample of a virus, he figures this is how the virus spread to the rest of the city. He spots a wounded Ada and quickly moves to save her.
And he repeats he has no intention of leaving her behind, as they now saved each other. Limping, she tells him that they need to reach NEST, Umbrella’s lab located right beneath them, and together again, they move on, each lightening the mood with small jabs and joking about keeping score of their saves.
Elsewhere, elite operative Hunk, also dubbed the Grim Reaper, makes his way from the sewers all the way back into a hopelessly overrun Police Department, where even multiple Tyrant 103 models have been deployed. As he is informed, Umbrella has ordered a full cleanup of the city.
Despite the overwhelming odds, the cool-headed professional makes it outside, where his extraction chopper is again amazed at his legendary skill in getting out alive and with the G-virus inside. Claire sets down Sherry in a nearby lab and finds a note on an antiviral agent called Devil. It’s the only known way to prevent gene mutation if infected, as it will target and destroy G’s cells in the body.
Borrowing Sherry’s ID, she hurries to locate a dosage of Devil. Fighting past the infected staff of the compromised lab, she observes the ornate lock on where it’s stored has a slot that matches Sherry’s pendant perfectly. Picking up a vial of Devil, she begins to head back.
Meanwhile, using the Umbrella ID she stole earlier, Ada unlocks a tram headed for NEST, and while Leon cannot wait to have the FBI raid Umbrella, Ada points out she’s just here for the G-virus. She asks him if he trusts her, and a little offended, he asks if she trusts him. She replies that she does.
She asks him again for his help, for if he can secure the virus, she can make sure this outbreak disaster won’t happen again. He doesn’t want to leave her behind just to get the virus, but she suddenly gives him a long kiss, telling him she won’t die and wants to see him again.
Handing him the Umbrella ID, she asks again for his help, and he reluctantly agrees. This time, stepping off from the tram, exploring the lab, Leon encounters a unique plant-based zombie called an Ivy, caused by infection from the T-virus. Created B.O.W. Plant 43, generating an herbicide to kill the plant, Leon finds Mr. X still doggedly pursuing him but makes his way to where the G-virus sample is and finds it surprisingly unlocked for him.
However, upon removal, an alarm is triggered. The facility declares a lockdown, as a subsequent self-destruct sequence begins. As he leaves, the G-virus monster crashes down again, but this time Annette Birkin limps in and suppresses him. She reveals to Leon this is actually William Birkin. Leon demands to know more, and she shares that William injected himself with the G-virus out of desperation.
She begs him to destroy the G-virus he took, but Leon says it’s evidence that’ll be going to the FBI. She laughs at him, saying that Ada isn’t FBI, but instead a mercenary intending to sell the G-virus. Leon refuses to believe that, and Annette passes out, asking him again to destroy it. As Leon goes back to find Ada, not far, William now crashes down on Claire. Annette is there to suppress William once more, regarding that when she observed William infecting himself with the G-virus, she had an opportunity to kill him but hesitated.
Claire suggests it may have been her feelings, but Annette confesses they were each more married to their work than to each other. Claire then asks why she abandoned Sherry in the city, and Annette defends that she was trying to prevent a world with a G-virus in it.
William then resuscitates and quickly grabs and slams Annette against the wall, as William pauses to evolve into an even larger and more powerful form. Claire hands Annette the antiviral agent and tells her to go save Sherry, while she’ll handle William.
As she battles against the G-virus behemoth Birkin, Claire hurries to check in on Sherry and Annette. She’s relieved to see Sherry has recovered, but the internal damage on Annette has been too much, as she dies. Annette hands Claire a key to get her to a train that they can use to escape and apologizes to Sherry for everything.
As they hear an update on the lockdown, Annette explains the self-destruct will begin soon and again asks Claire to save Sherry and go, as she breathes her last and dies, compelling Sherry to say her goodbyes. Sherry kisses her mother on the cheek and hugs Claire.
Her marking how the jacket really is lucky, as it brought Claire to her. As Claire and Sherry descend down to the train depot, Claire prepares the train for departure and finds a minigun nearby. Leon now hurries to the central elevator that leads to the train platform they can use to escape the lab.
Ada limps in to open up the elevator for him, and they are glad to see each other. However, when Ada asks about the G-virus, Leon tells her Annette claimed she wasn’t FBI after all. Slightly disheartened, Ada now pulls a gun on Leon, wishing it didn’t come to this.
Leon admits as much as he wanted to trust Ada, he simply didn’t, pulling his own gun on her. Ada hesitates to shoot him, and sensing this, Leon challenges her to shoot him, believing she wouldn’t. Indeed, she doesn’t, lowering her weapon and guard as their walkway gives out and Ada tumbles over.
Leon reaches out to grab her, refusing to let her go and dropping the G-virus sample. But Ada tells Leon to take care of himself as she lets go and lets herself drop. Swallowing his grief, he hurries to escape the self-destruct sequence but, along the way, spots Claire on a security camera.
He calls out to her, surprised to also see her down here, and urges her to get out. Claire is already on that as she starts lowering the train platform but is startled by William Birkin, still alive and mutated again thanks to the fierce G-virus, out-damaging its fearsome regeneration. Claire defeats Birkin once more.
The train is ready to go, coupling to the cars behind it. Leon finds Mr.X still determined to end his life early, though the explosions surrounding them barely keep him off Leon’s tail.
Activating a lift to take him to the train, a transformed Mr. X emerges from the flames, his limiter broken and super form unleashed. Dueling the monster on a small lift, the rookie cop edges out a win against Umbrella’s prized tyrant. From the shadows, Ada, who survived after all, discreetly tosses in a rocket launcher, and using it quickly, the TWU tyrant finally falls to the crushing firepower.
Wasting no time, Leon dashes for the train, finding it already on the move. He leaps aboard, finally taking a chance to breathe. He looks at the ID Ada gave him and remarks that he actually misses her while tossing the wristband away. Everyone on board, Claire cheers up Sherry, who wants to stay with her.
As Leon now comes in, glad to see Claire has made it too, she introduces him to Sherry. But the train is suddenly rocked by something massive. Going to check it out, Claire is dismayed to find Birkin has not only survived as well but grown into an unrecognizable colossal blob. Unloading everything she has into it, the fires of the exploding facility creep closer to them.
As Leon hurries to disconnect the car Birkin is on, stabbing a massive eye, the vengeful yet unfortunate William Birkin, Claire buys the time they need as Leon pulls her aboard, and the G-virus monstrosity is swallowed by the ensuing flames. As the game ends, the trio walks a quiet and peaceful road away from the city.
Sherry wonders out loud if Leon and Claire are boyfriend and girlfriend, and Leon chuckles that they actually just met last night. Sherry then spots a tanker on the road, and Claire wonders if they’ll have a repeat of what happened before. Fortunately, it turns out it’s a normal truck driver. But wondering if it’s truly over, Leon and Claire firmly agree to stop things if it’s not, knowing they’ll be fine as long as they stick together. Sherry proposes the idea of them adopting her as the sun rises on a new day.