25 Things You DIDN'T Know About Resident Evil 2

25 Things You Didn’t Know About Resident Evil 2

Welcome to MojoPlays and we’re taking a trip to Raccoon City to revisit some of the making of, behind the scenes secrets and easter eggs still hidden within the zombie infested city Umbrella called home.

Resident Evil 1.5

It’s almost impossible not to mention Resident Evil 1.5 when breaking down the history of Resident Evil 2. The original prototype for Resident Evil 2, 1.5 went through so many dramatic changes before becoming RE2 that it’s almost an entirely separate Resident Evil game. Not only were the characters different, we almost got Grant Bitman and Elza Walker instead of Leon and Claire, but almost the entire narrative, enemies and events were and Grant and Elza would have never crossed paths. Designs for familiar locations were also altered more modern like the police station, and 1.5 even featured a bizarre VR training mode for some reason. Even though production on 1.5 was nearly complete, producer and series creator Shinji Mikami scrapped the entire game and restarted from scratch. Resident Evil 1.5 is actually playable today through various outlets and is a time capsule of what could have originally been Resident Evil 2.

Wesker’s Return

For fans of the Resident Evil series, Wesker will always be the series main antagonist and although he seemingly met his end in RE1, his superpowered return in Code Veronica almost wasn’t the grand re-reveal for Umbrella’s big bad guy. Early on in development, Wesker was planned to return, somehow, at the end of the game players would have faced down a cut boss known as the Golgatha who would later be replaced with William Burkin. Bizarrely, the creature itself wouldn’t have been Wesker, rather Wesker’s head would have appeared at the Golgatha’s tail. How this creature was connected to Wesker and just how any of it would have made sense is unknown as the creature never made it past the conceptual stage and Wesker secured his grand re-entrance into the series in Code Veronica.

Geared Up

Although most of Resident Evil 1.5 was scrapped, it almost introduced some interesting game mechanics that would have altered the traditional RE formula. The most interesting aspect would have been the concept of gear. These pieces of equipment would not only allow players to carry more ammo and weapons but also would have worked as armor. This gear also would have allowed players to customize their appearance as every piece you had equipped would realistically be represented on the character and would even break and depict different levels of damage. Although the gear itself was cut, the idea of expanding the players inventory space using packs was altered and remained a part of the series from Resident Evil 2 onward.

X Gonna Give It To Ya

As bad as Mr. X is in the base game, he could have been so, so much worse. Although nowhere near as intimidating as he would be in the remake decades later, Mr. X from the original Resident Evil 2 is still an imposing presence even when you know he’s coming. However, plans were originally for the Tyrant to be even more deadly. During the development stages, Mr. X was planned to carry a minigun, making encounters with the lumbering shadow even more dangerous than his usual attacks. While this concept of Mr. X was scrapped, the idea of a Tyrant wielding weapons did manage to make its way back into the series with Nemesis in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

Custom Controller

These days, custom controllers to celebrate video game releases are fairly common, but the special edition controller that was released to celebrate Resident Evil 2 was more than just a custom paint reskin. Designed to resemble a firearm, the traditional button layout was altered and placed most of the trigger buttons on the front of the controller and a special trigger adaptation to coincide with the gun redesign. There were even custom buttons labeled “Run” and “Ready”. The idea was to further immerse the player in the Resident Evil 2 experience, but for anyone who had grown accustomed to the traditional PlayStation controller like an extra limb, this controller was more likely to get you killed while looking for the correct button.

Evil End

Changing Elza Walker to Clair Redfield and updating the locations weren’t the only major changes Resident Evil 2’s narrative underwent during production. Originally, Resident Evil 2 was planned to be the final game in the series, tying up loose ends from the original game and seeing Umbrella stopped completely and left almost no room for potential sequels. Series creator Shinji Mikami believed that horror could lose its effect if it becomes too over-serialized and wanted to end the Resident Evil franchise before the formula became stale and less terrifying. After production restarted, Clair was introduced and Umbrella remained a much bigger and more global threat, leaving the series open to future entries and the continuation of the fight against Umbrella’s experiments. We can’t imagine all these years without Resident Evil so we’re very grateful that plans changed during development.

Leon Backstory

Unbeknownst to many players, Leon’s history with Raccoon City begins long before he sets foot into the already overrun and zombie infested town. Those who dove into the game manual and expanded lore of the games discovered that Leon has quite a detailed backstory that is barely explored in the base game. A promising young cadet, Leon specifically requested a position at Raccoon City after becoming fascinated by the recent events of the Spencer Mansion incident. Before heading off to his new life at the RPD, Leon broke up with his girlfriend, and distraught over the breakup, stopped at a motel, got drunk and overslept, leading him to be late for his first day and his eventual arrival in Raccoon City already under siege. It’s a shame this backstory wasn’t fleshed out in the base game as it gives Leon’s character more depth and further highlights his eventual growth into the badass we all know and love.

Mr. Bean

While making your way to the RPD in the opening of the game, it could be all too easy to overlook the odd yellow mini parked along the side of the street. However, this is a reference to the wildly popular British comedy series of the 90s Mr. Bean and the character’s iconic yellow mini featured in many of the episodes of the series. While it would be easy to write off as background detail, the distinct black hood of the vehicle makes it unmistakable for anything but Mr. Bean’s mini.

Undead Leon

During the intro of the game after Leon arrives in Raccoon City and attempts to escape with Clair, players were likely too distracted by all the chaos to notice a bizarre easter egg or oversight by the developers. With the streets quickly filling with zombies, Clair and Leon attempt to escape to the police station in a commandeered police cruiser but are ambushed en route by a zombie in the backseat. If you look closely, you’ll notice the zombie is an undead version of Leon, notable by the same suave haircut as our main man. It’s unknown if the zombie Leon was originally a stand-in that didn’t get replaced or a clever easter egg only noticed by the most dedicated fans.

Classic Queen

Resident Evil 2 includes several nods to musical artists and albums such as Michael Jackson’s “Blood on the Dance Floor”, but the one to get the most attention is appropriately Freddie Mercury and the band Queen. Not only is Clair’s vest a direct nod to Queen’s classic “Made in Heaven”, but you can also find Chris’ matching jacket hanging next to his desk in the STARS office which was his secret costume in RE1. This isn’t Clair’s only outfit dedicated to Queen either. Clair’s unlockable costume sports the insignia on the back for “Let Me Live”, another iconic hit from Queen from the same album “Made in Heaven”. Safe to say the devs were big fans of the band.

Familiar Names

The devs at Capcom love to hide clever easter eggs that reference other titles in the Capcom library and Resident Evil 2 is a treasure trove of callbacks and references. Undoubtedly the most recognizable one is when Leon finds Marvin and the name Jojo is on the locker above him referencing the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure fighting game Capcom had previously worked on. However, this isn’t the only fighting game easter egg as the clothing store Arukas is Sakura from Capcom’s Street Fighter series spelled backwards. During development on what would become Resident Evil 1.5, the devs also included nods on the dogs’ cages in the police station, once again referencing Jojo, and Clair in a likely unconnected reference before her eventual inclusion in the game. Eagle-eyed players have also discovered possible references to the devs themselves such as Amiset Clothing is likely a nod to graphic effects developer Yoshiaki Teshima.

Photographic Evidence

By now it’s fairly common knowledge that Wesker seemingly had an odd fascination with Rebecca Chambers, as by clicking on Wesker’s desk in the STARS office a ridiculous 50 times players will find a roll of film they can develop that reveals a photo of Rebecca in a cheerleader’s outfit. However, this isn’t the only secret photo hiding in the STARS office. On the wall next to Wesker’s desk is a commemorative photo of the entire STARS team with all its members including Wesker, Jill, Chris and Barry among others. And in the back corner, although blurry, for some reason there is a replica of the cast photo of Marty, Doc Brown and Clara Clayton from Back to the Future Part III. While the first two can at least fit within the game’s universe, the Back to the Future one remains unexplained.

Bloody Evil

Like with most releases that made their way west, Resident Evil 2 went through a few changes between its original Japanese release and the one the rest of the world eventually got their hands on. However, these changes made the western release of RE2 better by comparison. The most immediate change was the increase in violence and gore. For Japanese audiences, the game over screens simply faded to black with the text “You Died”, while western players witnessed the full gruesome horrors of every single death, complete with bloody and violent animations. The western release also saw a bump in difficulty along with more and tougher enemies while also completely removing auto aim, all specifically designed to discourage single weekend rentals. Items and ammo were also more generous but usually hidden from view, requiring more exploration to track down supplies. These changes have made the western release the “Definitive” Resident Evil 2 experience.

Head Licker

The introduction of the Licker in Resident Evil 2 is as iconic as the dog jumping through the window in the original Resident Evil in terms of unsettling, but players’ first encounter with the Licker was almost even more disturbing. When making the turn into the hallway, players find the corpse of a headless officer just before the Licker drops onto the scene. However, the original plan was for the missing head to drop from the ceiling where the Licker was hiding to give players a quick jump scare before the Licker’s cinematic played. The scene was censored at the last minute and adjusting the camera reveals the head is still sitting up in the rafters, but the decision to cut the head drop remains unknown especially considering the amount of bloody gore throughout the rest of the game.

RPD Gate

Entering the Raccoon City Police Department for the first time remains one of the series most iconic moments. However, there is one more secret hiding in plain sight that seemed to be nothing more than an interesting easter egg. Just before entering the RPD, if players kill the straggler zombies in the courtyard and then head towards the main gate, a secret angle will reveal the street outside, overrun by the undead. The significance of this being this is the exact gate that Jill Valentine would use to enter the RPD in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis the following year. There’s not much players can do beyond take out the zombies, but it’s a nice continuity detail that most players overlooked in their rush to get inside the RPD to safety early on in Resident Evil 2.

Resident 64

Due to the limitations of cartridges, Resident Evil didn’t make its way to the N64 until Resident Evil 2 and it was honestly a miracle whatever Capcom did to make arguably their biggest RE game of the generation playable on the N64. Due to the inclusion of voice acting and multiple FMV cutscenes and the fact that it took two discs on the PlayStation led many to believe a port was impossible. And yet, somehow not only did Capcom accomplish this feat, they even managed to update the graphics, but the sound quality of the cutscenes and voice acting naturally took a substantial hit. The graphics weren’t the only aspect updated for the N64 port either. The N64 version of Resident Evil 2 is the only version that allows cheat codes to be entered on the title screen, violence controls, and item randomizers.

RE0 Report

The cheat codes weren’t the only advantage the N64 version had over other ports of Resident Evil 2. There was also an additional file players could find in the B Scenario that had detailed entries about Resident Evil 1, 2, 3, Code Veronica and most interestingly, notes from Rebecca Chambers about a convict named Billy. While at the time, this was nothing more than an easter egg detailing events of Rebecca’s journey to the Spencer Mansion, it was a subtle nod to the in development game Resident Evil 0, which was a prequel for the entire series that would release on the GameCube three years later.

Ported Evil

If you thought the N64 port of Resident Evil 2 was a marvel of technological ingenuity, then hold on for a pair of ports that are somehow even more unbelievable for all the wrong reasons. Somehow, Resident Evil 2 was ported to the ill-fated Tiger Electronics Gamecom with all the migraine-inducing graphics you’d expect, but that still isn’t even the strangest version of this game. Tiger Electronics also somehow ported Resident Evil 2 to the even smaller screen of the 99X Games handheld. This version touted itself to have “High Resolution Dot Matrix Graphics” and even allowed anyone else unfortunate enough to own this version to link up and battle with the included link cable.

Chris’ Diary

Along with all the photographs in the STARS office, players will also find Chris’ diary. While this one is harder to miss than the many other files scattered throughout the game, many players didn’t bother to read Chris’ writings which not only detail the events of Spencer Mansion and how Umbrella managed to stay operational due to most not believing the survivors and didn’t receive the widespread coverage the events deserved. His diary also sets up the future events of Resident Evil Code Veronica, with Chris remarking he’s heading to Europe to continue his hunt for Umbrella, setting up the then unannounced sequel. Classic Resident Evil foreshadowing.

Scenario Crossovers

Although both Leon and Clair’s scenarios are mostly self-contained with only minimal crossover between the two, there are actually ways players can witness the aftermath of pivotal events from the different campaigns. For example, Leon never encounters Chief Irons during his scenario, but by backtracking through specific areas, can find the Chief’s body after he was killed in Clair’s campaign. Likewise, Clair never directly meets or encounters Ben or Ada, but can backtrack to the prison and find Ben’s body. While neither Leon nor Clair will directly comment on finding these characters that they’ve never met before, it does add a layer of cohesiveness to the events that most players wouldn’t think to track down.

Zapping

Resident Evil 2 did a lot to push the survival horror genre that the series pioneered forward but the biggest contribution comes from the dual scenarios and the mechanic “Zapping”. While the events of both campaigns start out roughly the same, they do differentiate themselves in key ways, including characters and boss fights and are mostly self-contained. However, there are certain moments in which the actions the player takes in one scenario can affect the other. Specifically, if players pick up certain items or weapons, they won’t be available in the other scenario’s playthrough. Other moments such as the window shutters can have a more direct effect on your second playthrough as does turning on the B.O.W gas can make the enemies in Scenario B even harder. There are more than a handful of these moments in both scenarios that most players likely didn’t give a second thought until it was too late.

Screen Shot

Despite the serious tone of Resident Evil 2, Capcom added some fun easter eggs for players to discover almost purely on accident. Just like in the first Resident Evil, there are a number of locations where if the player faces the camera and fires their weapon, bullet holes will appear on the screen as if the shot is breaking the player’s television. While this works with nearly every weapon in the player’s arsenal, to get the best effect, using the shotgun will cause the most damage. This is an easter egg that Capcom would continue to use in every entry that utilized fixed camera angles.

Zombie Brad

Brad didn’t exactly make a great first impression leaving everyone behind at the start of Resident Evil 1, but players can find that Brad met quite an unfortunate fate during the events of Resident Evil 2. To find Brad, players need to make it to the RPD without picking up any items, you can find helicopter pilot Brad in the underpass tunnel of the RPD’s front yard. Brad acts as more than just a fun easter egg, however. If you kill Brad and loot his corpse, you’ll find the “Special Key” which opens the locker which contains the special bonus costumes for Leon and Clair.

Canonical Timeline

For those booting up Resident Evil 2 for the first time, you likely chose Leon for your first playthrough followed by Claire, which makes sense as Leon's scenario is labeled Scenario A and Clair’s Scenario B. However, thanks to the novelization of the game, yes these exist, Clair’s scenario is canonically first in the game’s timeline of events. Although the differences are minor, playing through Claire’s campaign first creates a better narrative flow for character interactions and sets up future character’s returns such as Ada and Sherry Birkin within the canonical timeline. Although Capcom has never truly confirmed this to be true was to play through RE2, future titles further reinforce this playthrough being canon such as Resident Evil The Darkside Chronicles, which canonizes Leon’s encounters with Mr. X in the latter parts of the campaign.

Return of Romero

George A. Romero is widely considered the grandfather of the zombie genre, having pioneered the concept with his breakout films “Night of Living Dead” and “Dawn of the Dead”. These films were a direct inspiration on the Resident Evil series and along with a film adaptation that didn’t pan out, for the release of Resident Evil 2, Capcom tapped the director to create an ad for their upcoming zombie survival horror sequel. The 30 second ad never aired outside of Japan but showcased Romero’s brilliance with the genre he helped pioneer. Full of zombies, apocalyptic destruction, the RPD, and plenty of tense action heavy camera movements, Romero’s Resident Evil 2 commercial felt more like a proof-of-concept short film than an ad for a video game. It’s truly a shame Romero’s film adaptation of Resident Evil never rose from the dead as the zombie aficionado likely could have delivered something far more faithful than Paul W.S. Anderson did.

What was your favorite thing about the original Resident Evil 2? Share your picks in the comments.