It seems people are finding this game very hard. It certainly is harder than the original Resident Evil 2 IMO. I wrote this guide to help with the most common issues people seem to be having.
Other RE2 Guides:- All Endings.
- All Mr Raccoons Locations.
- 100% Achievement Guide and Puzzle Solutions.
- Lockers, Safe Codes / Combinations and Leon's Desk.
- The Tofu Survivor Bonus Mode (Characters / Unlocks).
- Weapon's Upgrades Location.
- Laboratory Puzzle Solution.
- Items / Keys Location.
- Weapon's Guide.
Zombies - Why Won't They Die?!
So conventional zombie survival wisdom says you shoot them in the head and they become dead undead. As you've probably realized by now, that doesn't work so well in this game. Sometimes you get a "crit" and they die instantly, but the chance seems to be only about 10-15% if you take the time to line up the shot (aim til the reticule goes to a point) before you fire.
On the other hand, 4 leg shots will usually take the leg off. Once the zombie is down you can avoid it at your leisure, or finish it while it is down.
But how do you know when a zombie is "dead" for real? When a zombie dies you will hear a sort of squishing cracking sound. It's hard to describe but you will get used to hearing it, its very distinctive. When you hear that sound the zombie is dead.
You can finish a crippled zombie by standing behind it and knifing it repeatedly. It doesn't need to be the head, body shots seem to work just as well. When you hear the squish sound you know the zombie is dead.
Alternatively you can bait a zombie into a room you dont plan to go back into, take one of its legs off, then go back to where you were before. Legless zombies cannot open doors so it wont be able to pursue, just be aware that this zombie might be in the way later.
Later in the game you will find tons of knives. It might be worth while to use the knives to clean up downed zombies later on, you will be spending some time running through the police station from an enemy later and if the rooms are full of crawling zombies it becomes hard to escape. You can kill about 10 downed zombies per knife, and they only take 4 well aimed shots to cripple so it's a pretty good trade.
As for barricades, you should use them asap. You get plenty of them and its generally more convenient to just use them as soon as you get the chance to ensure you get some use out of them. They tend to appear right before a good time to use them presents itself anyway.
Lickers - Amazing DPS!
They are really dangerous on the ground. They're blind but they hear you very fast on the ground. If they are on the ceiling or high on a wall then they are mostly harmless. They will entire a sort of semi-aggro state if you get close and begin to slowly crawl towards you, but so long as you keep walking without stopping they will not fully aggro. It seems as if getting close sets off a timer until they fully aggro and you have to get far enough away before the timer expires and they aggro, but you have more than enough time to walk right past. Don't panic, walk slowly.
But supposing there is one in your path that you can't sneak past? Don't bother with the handgun they will aggro and put you in your place pretty fast. Either walk up close and then run for the door when they aggro and just use a healing item when they hit you, or use the grenade launcher if you are Claire. I don't know how well Leon's weapons work but the game is generous with healing items. You can also use a door to take shots at the licker with a handgun and keep backing away and shutting the door to keep it from hitting you since it cannot open the door and will return to it's default position after a while.
Later on you will get the spark gun which can one shot kill lickers. I'd also say it's well worth using grenades on them if they are really in the way.
Mr Trillby - Relentless Enemy
Yeah this guy is so damn annoying. Fortunately you don't actually have to put up with him for long. Ignore everything else and just rush straight for your objectives and you should be fine. I haven't played Leon's route yet, but as Claire you only need to run to the library, use the Jack to move the bookcase, use the cogs in the clocktower for the item you need, run to the electronic door in the Chief's Office, then run back down to the parking lot and into the next section.
This may be a hassle if there are many enemies still alive. It's good if you have cleared out the most important rooms you need to pass by. If Mr T is giving you trouble, use the knives to escape his grapple, flashbangs to stun him, and just keep running on ahead. If he is directly in your path then use a grenade launcher blast to briefly stun him while you run past him. I assume hand grenades work as well though it seems wasteful.
You may have to leave items behind in the Police Station, but you can return later once you open the shortcut to the Police Station and he will not be there to pursue you anymore. If you are quick you can get through this chase section in 5-10 minutes without having to expend too many resources.
The Bosses - Too Spongey?
Their eyes seem to take rather a lot of damage. You can down them with body shots but eye shots seem to do about 3x as much damage. They are open for a very long time after they miss a swipe so the usual best strategy is to bait an attack then take your shots during the long openings they leave after a miss.
For Boss 1, just keep running to avoid his swipes and lining up eye shots. You can use the knife to escape his grapple. You might have to slow down a bit to bait an attack. Whatever you do, don't take your shots while he is still running at you or he will probably hit you!
For Boss 2 you have to run towards him when he lunges and he will go past you. He seems to go into his stun animation fast but make sure the crane is in position before you stun him or you will miss the opening!
For Boss 3, hopefully by this point you have plenty of healing items, I found his swipes very hard to dodge. I just kept pouring ammo into him and chain using my stockpiled healing items but I feel like someone will come up with a good way to reliably dodge him soon.
For Boss 4, run like crazy anytime you see it winding up an attack then fire like crazy. Don't stop to shoot until after it's attack animation as it's animation carries it very far. If it starts jumping or climbing then run and don't stop until it is back on the ground or it will body slam you! The weapon you get before this fight is mostly enough to finish it, you shouldn't need much more to win the fight and it's attacks are very easy to dodge so long as you run the instant you see it winding an attack up.
TL;DR
So long as you aren't wasteful with your shots you can kill most enemies. Zombies are very easily knifed when you take a leg out and this saves a lot of ammo. Grenades handle lickers and should not be wasted on zombies. Mr Trillby section just channel your inner speedrunner and run through that section fast, you can come back for the items after the cutscene where he is gone (you will know when he is gone).
These are the main things you should be doing and will make your run go a lot more smoothly!
Source: https://gameplay.tips/guides/3787-resident-evil-2.html
More Resident Evil 2 guilds
- All Guilds
- Resident Evil 2 - The Tofu Survivor Bonus Mode (Characters / Unlocks)
- Resident Evil 2 - Items / Keys Location
- Resident Evil 2 - Weapon's Upgrades Location
- Resident Evil 2 - 100% Achievement Guide and Puzzle Solutions
- Resident Evil 2 - Weapon Damage Calculations
- Resident Evil 2 - Maps and Item Locations (Leon)
- Resident Evil 2 - Tips for Dealing with the Tyrant (Mr. X)
- Resident Evil 2 - Circuit Board Puzzle Solutions
- Resident Evil 2 - Weapon's Guide