In Resident Evil 2 Remake, you step into the rookie boots of Leon S. Kennedy, a fresh-faced cop reporting for his very first day on the job—only to find Raccoon City has gone full zombie apocalypse. Talk about bad onboarding.

Armed with grit, a pistol, and hair that somehow stays perfect through it all, Leon must navigate the creepy, blood-soaked halls of the Raccoon City Police Department, uncover sinister Umbrella Corp secrets, and survive encounters with mutant monsters and the trenchcoat-wearing Terminator wannabe known as Mr. X.

It’s a tense, terrifying, and surprisingly emotional ride through one of the best survival horror remakes ever made. Also, lots of locked doors… seriously, who designed this place?

Time for another trip down the spooky memory lane! Resident Evil 2 Remake was yet another game I used to watch others play on PlayStation while I sat on the sidelines like a horror fanboy in waiting. So naturally, it made total sense to finally play it myself—on my channel, of course.

By this point, I had received my first Proteus Controller from ByoWave—a modular, customizable Frankenstein’s monster of a controller. I tried so many different configurations: some worked like magic, others… let’s just say they looked cooler than they played. With the Proteus, your only limit is your imagination—which is awesome until your imagination decides to sabotage you mid-boss fight.

Once I found a setup that didn’t require three hands and a prayer, I started my playthrough as Leon. Things were going well—until the intense monster battles started, and my controller decided to enter witness protection. Random disconnects meant poor Leon got chewed up more times than Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow. It was tragic. And slightly hilarious.

Thankfully, the folks over at ByoWave (shoutout to the legends in Ireland!) were absolute champs and sent me a replacement. But while I waited for it to arrive, I had to fall back on my trusty Lexip Pu94 mouse—thumbstick on the side and all—to get Leon through the zombie-infested chaos of Raccoon City.

I’d honestly forgotten about some of the game’s quirks—like the inventory system that thinks you’re packing for a weekend getaway instead of surviving a viral outbreak. A bit frustrating, but nothing that can’t be fixed with some good ol’ backpack Tetris.

Still, Resident Evil 2 holds a special place in my horror-loving heart. The atmosphere, the tension, the characters—it’s all top-notch. I only wish the Milla Jovovich movies had half the storytelling and character depth this game delivered. We might’ve actually gotten a decent movie franchise!

Gameplay-wise, some item-hunting quests felt a little tedious (seriously, why are all the keys shaped like playing cards?), but overall, I had a great time.

Final score: 6 out of 10.
Would I play more games in the franchise? Maybe. Let’s just say… I haven’t stored my green herbs away just yet.