Resident Evil 2

Capcom did not treat the remake of Resident Evil 2 as a mere graphical update to the 1998 classic, but completely reworked the level design, the over-the-shoulder camera system, and the pacing of the game using the RE Engine, which also powered the modern Resident Evil 7.

Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield make their way through the Raccoon City police station overrun by a zombie outbreak caused by the T-virus, while the merciless, practically indestructible Mr. X, a giant pursuer that reacts to the player's noise, adds a permanent tension the original game never had - his heavy footsteps heard a floor above turn even a routine trip for a key into a nerve-wracking decision. Limited ammunition and inventory space force the player to choose between fighting and fleeing; zombies can take several headshots without going down, so it often pays to simply go around them and remember which routes are already blocked. The key-and-symbol puzzles remain faithful to the spirit of the original survival horror classic.

The new, elaborate model of the police headquarters, with its many interconnected corridors and rooms that the player gradually memorizes, showed just how strongly familiarity with the environment can heighten the tension of repeated encounters with Mr. X. The visual presentation, with photorealistic lighting, wet reflective surfaces, and precise sound design, amplifies the claustrophobic atmosphere of the station and its adjoining sewers, while the added alternate scenarios of the so-called second playthrough for both Leon and Claire offered plenty of content for repeat play. Capcom also kept the two-protagonist structure, whose paths sometimes intertwine and sometimes diverge, so the player sees the same catastrophe from two angles and only pieces together the full picture of Raccoon City's fall by playing both. Critics called the remake a model example of how to properly modernize a classic without losing its identity, and its commercial success convinced Capcom to continue with the remakes of Resident Evil 3 and 4, as well as to restore confidence in the series as a whole.