The Unused Backgrounds of Resident Evil 2

Originally I was going to skip over most of these because some of them are so subtle that it may as well not matter but I decided for documentation purposes I will be showing ALL backgrounds. Some of them are really interesting…and some are not. But regardless, we are going to go through all of them.
Because some of the image changes are so subtle I will be fading between them on and off to make it easier for you to see the differences. So let’s get into it, here are the unused and changed backgrounds from Resident Evil 2.

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[blacksunshine]

Just hearing the Resi 2 Police Station theme in the background of this video reminds me how they really nailed the soundtrack. Just hearing it now creeps me out. Such an important part of the game.

[officertom]

I can only imagine the rumbling in the tunnel to the tram was caused by mutated William Birkin. Because Leon and Ada are later attacked by Willian Birkin's claws through the ceiling of the tram. And the large holes can only be caused by some monsters that were in those places. I also remember from Resident Evil Zero that there was a large hole in the bulkhead after defeating the Tyrant Prototype as Rebecca and returning to that place.

[FrankMakesStuff]

I LOVE the pre-rendered backgrounds of the original RE games. There is such a huge jump in the level of detail from the first game to the second; the artists really upped their game. As much as I love the first game with all my heart, sometimes it's disheartening to see that some areas look a little strange, just because it isn't lit well, or the texturing is poorly done (mansion wallpaper is the biggest offender I've seen) I've often wanted to see a fan-made "de-make" that mimics the original 1996 version, but with cleaned up and re-rendered backgrounds with proper lighting and texturing.

[MortonGoldthwait]

The loud mysterious thud is most definitely Birkin. It was probably added to keep his presence in the back of the players mind. That's also the reason the bloody hole is there in the path to the turntable.

[monkeybone]

Preservation is important, so I'm glad you decided to not skip anything, as it's all interesting!

[absolutions]

Love seeing the alt shot of the main hall in the RPD. Kind of bizarre seeing something brand new from a game we've all been playing since we were kids. I've also looked into that thud in the sewers and could never find anything about it. :/

[lordvlygar]

I love videos like these. The thud is Birkin following your character to the tram. The RE2 demo packaged with Director's Cut has a good portion of the RPD in it. The deeper into the building you go, it turns into the gray blocks. I'm guessing in the earlier builds, the Licker reveal was still there, which has a different angle from outside the window as it drops infront of the player.

I am really, really looking forward to seeing the differences in the earlier versions of the game.

[JoesGuy]

That bloody wall hole actually can be seen in the PS1 version, but weirdly it's only during one of Claire's scenarios.

[ste]

ah yes the mystery of 'THE HOLE!!' i remember seeing some really odd backgrounds running my RE2 demo disk i got with re directors cut through my gameshark, was some interesting stuff if you could debug teleport around the hard ends of the demo and get to places you shouldnt be able to (2f west side, basement parts of the sewer) though could never find the right addresses to find stuff from the lab, dont think that was on the disk at all.

[Gojiro]

this may sound silly compared to everything shared, but the most facinating to me was seeing what WIP backgrounds look before their pre rendered backgrounds, thats a part of 90's and early 2000's game development I just never say any behind the scenes of and it was cool to see it :D

[MistrBlistr]

Thank you for not putting ads all over your video. Much appreciated!

[Hichamca]

"An alternate close up of the stairs where Leon meets Ada" looks like where Jill met Dario Rosso in the beginning of RE3.

[IncognitaEX]

3:10 This shot of the helicopter in fire is present in the final game. 😉

I remember the beta version was full with slightly different backgrounds. Most of them you can only notice if you put the images side to side.

You also can find unused background textures in the discs for the standard releases with extracting tools.

[ChristopherToro]

RE2 is such an incredible game, love every detail I can get out of this game.

[solid_fire]

love these classic unused stuff from RE :)

[ScoutJoe]

there's still a lot to discover on this game wow

[michelaraujo]

There are so many secrets about RE2, thankfully they re-used that scenario of the shooting range from RE 1.5 for RE2 remake for example.

[carmexuser]

The thud was probably Birkin catching up to Claire/Leon. Because you shortly encounter his arm trying to stab you through the ceiling of the car moving to the other side towards the flare gun.

[wormskull]

@2:55 That shot from the 2nd floor mezzanine is gorgeous! The symmetry is very Argento & reminiscent of the shots in the housing complex from the beginning of Suspiria.

Then again the Licker dropping through the skylight in the art room has always made me think of Suspiria too haha.

[kingpoocomedy]

It's possible the Big Thud is a reference to the Grave Digger Worm from Resident Evil 3. Awesome Video sir. Thank you for all your hard work on showing us the Awesomeness of the Original Resident Evil Games all these years later.