Story. Two months have passed since the Spencer Mansion incident in the Arklay Mountains, people have started to return to their normal lives, but then things take a turn for the worst. The T-Virus has spread throughout the city, and it is under quarantine by the US Government. A rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy arrives in the city for his first assignment, while Claire Redfield, heads to the city in search of her brother Chris. They do not know of the outbreak, until they enter the city. Soon when they meet, they find themselves fighting for their lives, and searching for survivors and escape the city, but it is only the beginning of their worst nightmare.
Concept. At first you start where the first scene in the game ends, you must head to the Police Department to meet with either Claire or Leon. While in the station, you get to know different characters. You must go from the streets, to the police station, the sewers and finally the lab. There will be many horrifying places and scenes as you progress throughout the game. After beating the game, your rank may be low or high depending on time and actions you made during the game.
Scenarios. There are two different scenarios: Leon A/Claire B and Claire A/Leon B. n Claire A/Leon B, Sherry is found by William Birkin and implanted with a G-Virus embryo, which Claire must counteract with a vaccine known as Devil.
In Leon A/Claire B, however, Sherry is never found by William and witnesses the death of her mother. Ada, meanwhile, is revealed to be a spy sent to recover a sample of the G-Virus, but before she can take it from Leon, she is shot in the shoulder and nearly falls down a pit; Leon tries to hoist her back up, but she plummets regardless. Angered by what the G-virus had caused, Leon takes the G-Virus sample and throws it into the same pit before evacuating with Claire and Sherry.
Development. This game started to be created in 1996 and scheduled for released by the end of the Winter in 1997. However, the producers and creators felt unsatisfied with the game, and decided to re-create it. The difference is that there was no Claire, and a character named Elza Walker was there instead. She had no relationship to any other characters from the games. She was also a college student and motorcyclist like Claire. This scrapped version was called Resident Evil 1.5. In Japan, Resident Evil 2 was titled Biohazard 2, and shortly after its release, a Dual Shock Version of the game was released and had an unlockable mini-game known as the Extreme Battle Mode
Memories. I still remember the ad for the game. It was awesome, and filmed by legendary Dead series creator George A. Romero, in which Leon S. Kennedy was played by the late Brad Renfro. Also my most memorable part is being scared the crap out of by the Licker whenever he made a surprise attack, and also that robotic Tyrant known as Mr. X. Dr. Birkin was also the most persistent of bosses in the game, like Mr. X.
Bad Aspect. Claire's weapons pretty much sucked such as the Spark Shot. The ammo ran out fast and it could not be reloaded, and it was totally useless against bosses. I also hated the crows, from the pit of my stomach I just can't stand them, equally like the medusa heads in Castlevania. Also, I hated it when there was only one side pocket for a character, come on. Also, I hated fighting the final form of Mr. X, he seemed almost harder than I imagined, it took me more than ten tries to beat him, whoa.
Good Aspect. I really liked how the music fit the whole game, almost like watching a scary movie filmed by George A. Romero. Leon's shotgun upgrade was really awesome and a lot more powerful, although it used 7 bullets, rather than 5, using up ammo rather quickly. Claire was also pretty good for beginners, like Jill in the original Resident Evil. Also one of the most memorable scenes in the game is when Birkin turns into his own creation. Leon and Claire are seen together again in Resident Evil: Degeneration, a CGI movie that was recently released on DVD and BluRay. That movie made justice to the games after Paul W.S. Anderson destroyed them with his four stupid movies.
Overall. For Resident Evil rookies, this game is a MUST HAVE. Resident Evil veterans also relive the memories playing it. I give this game a 9.8/10