Resident Evil 2 Dual Shock

Well, this game's hard to rate. I mean, every- i one who wanted RE2 already owns it, right? Is there enough new stuff here among the rehash? Let's run down the list of enhancements. Yes, the game rumbles--a lot. It shakes when you shoot, fall, get attacked, ride the elevators--even when you select a menu option! It's a nice addition if you're not yet desensitized to jumping joypads. Next up is Rookie Mode, which from the outset arms you with the machine gun (and soon after the gatling gun and rocket launcher) and unlimited ammo. I'll admit, there's something insanely fun about strolling around, blasting everything in sight. Nothing--short of stopping to smooch every zombie--will keep you from breezing through this mode. Finally, you get Extreme Battle Mode, which opens when you beat Scenario B (your save from the original RE2 works, so you don't have to replay both scenarios). This mode has you working through the game backward, hunting for four bombs placed randomly in the police station. Beat it the first time and you can play again at a higher difficulty as Ada. Beat that to unlock Chris Redfield and a third difficulty level. EB Mode is a simple, cool bonus, with more to it than the Hunk and Tofu scenarios. Still, if you already own RE2, you can pass this by without losing much sleep.

Slightly upgraded games always provide a problem for game reviewers. On one hand, RE2: Dual Shock is 99 percent the same as the plain RE2. On the other hand, it's still excellent. At least this time, Capcom isn't promising something that's not there (remember RE: Director's Cut?). I must state the obvious here: You should only buy this if you don't have RE2 already. The new modes aren't worth buying the game again.

We fought about this one. Oh boy...on one hand it's an excellent game which now has some extra "bonus" features added. On the other, it's the same thing again with not enough extra stuff. Sure, the rumble doofah works well; the daft thing tries to shake itself out of your hand even on Menu Screens. But is it worth buying if you've already got RE2? No. If you don't own the original RE2, buy this--it's a true classic.

As much as I love Resident Evil 2, it's hard to recommend this. The improvements are subtle, and while the new Extreme Battle Mode will keep the die-hards busy (it's actually very cool, and being able to play as Chris Redfield rocks), there's not enough new here to warrant another purchase. Still, if you've never played RE2 before, I can't recommend this game enough. It's easily one of my favorite games this year for any system.