Players control the rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy and the college student Claire Redfield as they attempt to escape Raccoon City during a zombie outbreak.

Due to the technical and graphical upgrades offered by the RE Engine, the environment is rendered in full 3D using photorealism, improving its appearance and allowing for the tank controls of the original version to be replaced with a more flexible control scheme similar to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard – the player can move in any direction, rotate the camera around their character, alternate between walking and sprinting, and move around while shooting (however, standing still while aiming will tighten the crosshair, improving the accuracy and power of gunshots).

[6] Zombies are much stronger than in the original, able to take more bullets before going down, get back up after being knocked down unless their head was blown off, and chase the player into different rooms.

Both protagonists have a section where their supporting partner briefly becomes playable – Ada can use an EMF gun to hack and overload electronic devices, while Sherry can crouch to fit through small gaps and focuses more on stealth.

Beating the game unlocks the "2nd Run" for the other protagonist, which remixes item locations and contains the true final boss and ending to the story.

The remake adds difficulty modes, Assisted, Standard, and Hardcore, which determine the abundance of items, strength of enemies, and whether the game autosaves or requires ink ribbons to use typewriters.

Completing specific in-game objectives, or "Records", will reward the player with concept art, 3D models of characters and items, or in some cases, special weapons with unlimited ammunition or durability.

[citation needed] "The Ghost Survivors" is a free bonus mode that is available from the beginning, and focuses on a series of "what-if" scenarios – each scenario depicts an alternate timeline where a side character who dies in the main story survives, and the player can control them as they attempt to reach a specific area in a manner similar to "The 4th Survivor" – unlike that mode, however, "The Ghost Survivors" contains special zombie types, zombies with backpacks that can be looted after killing them, and resupply machines that lets the player choose one of three items to take from it.

[citation needed] "The Ghost Survivors" has its own set of Records separate from the main story, which unlock cosmetic hats the player can wear.

The player character finds an infected Lieutenant Marvin Branagh, who reveals a secret passage leading out of the station before later succumbing to his bite.

The player character[b] eventually reaches the underground passage, where they are attacked by a mutated William Birkin, Umbrella's leading scientist, whom they fight off before escaping.

Ada claims to be an FBI agent sent to retrieve an incriminating sample of the G-virus, the virus responsible for Birkin's mutation, which he developed with his wife and coworker Annette.

[13] Meanwhile, Claire finds paperwork revealing her brother had left Raccoon City weeks prior to investigate Umbrella overseas.

Witnessing Robert put down his daughter before committing suicide, Leon decides to help Ada retrieve the G-virus sample to expose Umbrella's corruption.

The two encounter Annette in the sewers, who shoots Leon in the back before escaping to Umbrella's underground lab, NEST, unwilling to give up the G-virus sample.

[17] Leon then defeats the mutated and deadlier "Super Tyrant" after Ada, having survived her fall, throws him a rocket launcher before departing.

In this alternate scenario, before Robert can pull the trigger on his shotgun, he receives a radio message from a longtime friend, who managed to call a rescue helicopter for them both to escape in.

Taking the prison keys off his corpse, Katherine makes her way back to the police station, where she reaches Ben's cell and frees him.

Fending off numerous waves of zombies, Daniel is eventually saved by Leon just as he is overpowered, and the two set off for Raccoon City in the same manner as the beginning of the game.

[27] To meet modern expectations, the team altered some character designs to better match the more photorealistic setting; for example, Leon no longer wears large shoulder pads, which were added to distinguish his original, low-polygon model.

Though they strove to make a "modern, accessible" game, they focused on horror over action, hoping to preserve a claustrophobic feel.

[29] Producer Tsuyoshi Kanda acknowledged the difficulty of making zombies seem scary and threatening, as they had become ubiquitous in entertainment media since the release of the original Resident Evil in 1996.

[28] By removing the fixed camera angles, the team had to use different ways to conceal enemies, using elements such as room layout, lighting, and smoke.

[38] A collector's edition was made available for the console versions, featuring extras such as a Leon S. Kennedy figurine, a hardcover art book, a R.P.D.

"No Time to Mourn" (featuring gun shop owner Robert Kendo, who commits suicide after putting down his infected daughter), "Runaway" (Katherine Warren, the mayor's daughter who is normally murdered by Chief Irons), and "Forgotten Soldier" (Ghost, a special ops agent who survives G's assault) require the player to reach a destination as they make their way through waves of special enemies, while "No Way Out" (Sheriff Daniel Cortini, who is normally killed by a zombie at the beginning of the game), which is unlocked after completing the other three missions, requires the player to defeat a wave of a hundred zombies inside the gas station from the beginning of the game.

The consensus on the website states: "Resident Evil 2 is a gold-standard for how to do a remake, combining the original's nostalgia with modernized and fresh gameplay to bring an awesome experience for players old and new.

"[62] Ben Reeves of Game Informer wrote that "Resident Evil 2 not only looks great, it plays well, and it forces you into a series of dark encounters that are a total rush.

[64] IGN's Daemon Hatfield originally gave the game an 8.8 in their review, increasing it to a 9.0 after being made aware of the unlockable second playthrough that presents the story from another point of view.

He stated in his review that "Capcom did a fantastic job of resurrecting all the best parts of the classic Resident Evil 2 and making it look, sound, and play like a 2019 game.

[68] Alessandro Fillari of GameSpot said that with Resident Evil 2 "the classic survival horror franchise embraces its past in a new, exciting way".