If you're reading this, you're probably in the police station, you have four handgun bullets and a yellow "Caution" on your status screen, and you can hear something scratching behind the door you were just about to open. Relax. I've been there. I've been there about forty times.

I'm Dominic Arce. I'm 20, I work at a video store in Albuquerque, and I've beaten Resident Evil 2 every possible way: Leon A, Claire B, Claire A, Leon B, the 4th Survivor, and the one with the tofu, which I'll explain on the secrets page. This guide is everything I wish somebody had told me the first time.

> HOW THE GAME IS SET UP
There are two discs, one for Leon Kennedy (a rookie cop on his first day, great timing) and one for Claire Redfield (a college student looking for her brother). Whoever you play first gets the "A" scenario. When you finish, you save, and then play the "B" scenario as the other one. It's the same night seen from the other side, and things you do in A change what's waiting in B. Some things you pick up in A won't be there for the other character in B. Think about that before you grab everything.

> SAVING
You save at typewriters, and every save uses up one ink ribbon. Don't waste ribbons saving after every room. Save before anything that looks like a boss fight and before you walk into somewhere new with low health. If you want a good rank at the end, save as little as you can stand.

> THE ITEM BOXES
All the item boxes are connected. Put something in the box in the police station and you can take it out of the box in the sewers. You can only carry eight things (more with the side pack), so dump what you don't need every time you pass a box. Don't carry a crank around "just in case."

> HERBS (READ THIS ONE TWICE)

Always mix herbs before you use them. Mixed herbs take up one space instead of two or three, and green plus red is worth far more than two greens. First aid sprays also heal you all the way. Save them for emergencies.

> AMMO AND RUNNING AWAY
The best advice I can give you: you don't have to kill everything. Zombies are slow. In a wide hallway you can walk right around them. Save your bullets for the ones that block a door you have to use over and over, and for anything that isn't a zombie. You'll see why on the enemies page.

When you do fight, aim a little up after they get close. Zombies that fall down aren't always dead. If one's lying on the floor and you're about to step over it, shoot it again or walk the long way.

> STATUS SCREEN COLORS
Green "Fine" is good. Yellow "Caution" means you're getting slow. Orange "Caution" means heal soon. Red "Danger" means you're limping and anything can finish you. Purple means poisoned. Take a blue herb.

NEWS 9/22/99: Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is already out in Japan and comes out here in November. I have it reserved at two stores, just in case. When I've played it, it'll get its own case file.

Questions, corrections, or you found something I missed: [email protected]

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Last updated Wednesday, September 22, 1999
Resident Evil 2 is a Capcom game. I'm just a guy with a memory card.