I finally got around to playing Resident Evil 2 Remake after it went on sale not long ago on Steam. This isn’t my first play-through of RE2 though. I originally played it when it was released on the GameCube back in 2003, so I’m still familiar with the original story, both Leon and Claire’s stories (Yes, I know it came out on PlayStation first in 1998). Have to say, the team did an excellent job remaking the game. Little tweaks here and there, with the obvious addition of fricken Mr. X, but it still very much felt like RE2 with a beautiful overhaul.

I did completed both Leon and Claire’s initial stories. Leon first and then Claire. Honestly happy I went in that order as I found Claire’s play-through easier then Leon’s. I’m thinking it is likely due to the fact Claire gets a single shot grenade launcher early on, verses the shotgun Leon gets at the same point. That weapon felt a bit overpowered in my opinion, but not going to complain as it was my second play-through and I was moving through it quicker. Still played slow enough to catch the differences, but the Stage 4 William fight was a cake walk for me with a fully stocked launcher. Still had a blast as I felt a bit badass taking him down so quickly compared how I handled that fight with Leon. Far less badass in comparison.

Now, the one wild card to the whole remake equation, is fricken Mr. X. More than anything else, he scared the he’ll out of me, even after I had his behavior more figured out. Didn’t help that I had to backtrack some of my first play-through as Leon due to poor ammo management by the time Mr. X first showed up (I had a couple shotgun shells and less then a full clip in my handgun, really poor management). First time I was dealing with him, he did not break through the conference room wall in the hallway going to the interrogation rooms. After I had to backtrack so I could manage my ammo better, I figured I’d run the same route since I was having some luck. Burst through the wall when I was heading back from the interrogation rooms, scared me so bad, I had to take a breather. Granted, after learning how he behaved with Leon, he wasn’t so bad with Claire. Still scared me when as he was clomping around like fricken Frankenstein though. While I could have lived without him,  I will begrudgingly admit that Mr. X did bring a new element to the game that was kind of fun. It was also extremely satisfying when I finally got to take him down.

Still trying to think if I’ll try Leon and Claire’s Second Run’s. For now, I’ll likely take a break to catch up on other games I’ve been wanting to play. For about $20 and 20 hours of play time, well worth it.