This is a supplementary post to accompany the Resident Evil 2 (2019) S+ Rank Hardcore Walkthrough Video Guide (Claire’s 2nd Run). There is no trophy or achievement for getting an S+ Rank on the Hardcore difficulty. However, there is a bonus weapon — the minigun weapon with infinite ammo that is unlocked for achieving this difficult feat. Getting S+ Rank for Leon unlocks the infinite Rocket Launcher. There is also a trophy for getting an S Rank for either character.
Getting S+ Rank for the Hardcore difficulty also naturally unlocks the Minimalist trophy, which requires walking less than 14,000 steps in a single playthrough. This is achieved from Claire’s 2nd Run campaign. The video walkthrough pauses the game frequently to check the game time counter.
Resident Evil 2 (2019) S+ Rank Hardcore Walkthrough | Hardcore Changes
What’s new for the Hardcore mode? For one, your inventory potential is reduced. Hip pouch upgrades that were available in Normal standard difficulty are not there, or are replaced by ink ribbons or other items. This forces you to manage your inventory space. You’ll have to give up the idea of being a pack mule, and picking every item you come across.
Zombies (and Tyrant) all shamble to you much faster, and it takes more to make sure they’re down for the count. To get S+ rank, you can’t afford the time to make sure the zombie’s head explode. It’s more about stunning them and running past them. Only in certain areas will you need to put down every zombie, to make sure your plan goes without problems. Damage is also more severe on Hardcore, making the use of blue defense herbs critical.
There is no autosave like in Normal difficulty, and you must use an ink ribbon item in order to save. This is not a big deal since ink ribbons are plentiful as long as you look for them.
Resident Evil 2 (2019) S+ Rank Hardcore Walkthrough | The ‘S+’ Rank
To get past Hardcore mode is accomplishment enough. But to be able to finish it with Rank S+? Not many people will understand the difficulty, so I will try to explain. The rank of your playthrough is based on how fast you complete it. The requirement for S Rank for Claire’s 2nd Run is 2 hours or less. I played point-to-point, with no messing around and was only able to clear it at 1:57:49 — just less than 3 minutes left. Over a two hour run, it’s very easy to eat up 3 minutes — trying to hide from Tyrant, dealing with zombies in your path, or fighting bosses that can absorb more damage. Spending time in your inventory or weapons box also eats time.
The ‘S’ may as well stand for “Speedrun”, because that is what is needed. You can look at it as a giant time trial event. To put it in perspective, I got the Minimalist trophy on this run with 13,152 steps taken. This is 848 steps under the requirement, which means zero backtracking. I optimized my run and still had to hustle until the very end.
To get S+ Rank, you are not allowed to use any infinite ammo bonus weapons that you may have unlocked. You also cannot use more than 3 game saves. The time limit for the S Rank also applies.
Resident Evil 2 (2019) S+ Rank Hardcore Walkthrough | No Extra Stuff and Etc.
On a more leisurely playthrough of the game, you can get more powerful by seeking out custom parts for your weapons. They are helpful for the Hardcore enemies. Not for S Rank. You don’t have the time or the inventory space to spare. Those spare button keys for the Storage Locker Room? No time to mess with that either.
Remember that sometimes it’s better to walk slowly when nearby zombies to avoid waking up them up and having to deal with it. The exception is that if you know for sure a zombie is going to wake up later on, then it’s better to dispatch it while you can. Check the video description for time checks to track your progress against my own. You shouldn’t be lagging behind too much, or else you might have to reload a previous save. Memorizing and mapping a short segment between save rooms is a good idea. Unload your inventory, and only bring along what I bring to properly collect what is needed.
Resident Evil 2 (2019) S+ Rank Hardcore Walkthrough | Save Points & Solutions
- Save Point #1 of 3. Time check: 32:39. My current objective is to get the Parking Garage Key. At this point, you’ve made a lot of progress and it’s time to get the Jack Handle to get to 3F Clock Tower. This save point is key — because of Tyrant’s interference in your affairs. Waiting for him to leave can eat up a lot of your time, so a save around this point is advisable. It’s up to you to gamble on where to place your first save.
- Save Point #2 of 3. This is right before G (Stage 2), Crane. This one should be mandatory, since it’s very easy to die here.
- Save Point #3 of 3. Your final save point should be right before G (Stage 3), Laboratory. This allows you reload the save point if you are slacking in either the G (Stage 3) or G (Stage 4) fight. It also allows you to perhaps manage your firepower better, which I needed to do since I once ran out of everything on G (Stage 5).
- Police Station – West Office 1F Safe Code: 9, 15, 7. Leon’s Desk code: NED (left), MRG (right)
- 2F Locker code: CAP. 3F Locker code: DCM.
- Chess Piece Order: (TOP) Knight, Rook, Pawn. (BOTTOM) King, Bishop, Queen.
- Laboratory – Drug Testing (Blue=B, Red=R, Green=G) BRG-BRG-BRG
- For time checks to make sure you are making good progress, check the video description!
Resident Evil 2 (2019) S+ Rank Hardcore Walkthrough | Boss Strategies
Conserve your ammo. For the zombies that get in your way, you should generally shoot them until they are dazed, then run past them. Blowing off their leg(s) is another good tactic. Generally speaking, on Hardcore it seems to be difficult to pop their heads. There are a few zombies you need to make sure stay dead. For instance, the one that rises by the door after you grab the Diamond Key in the Morgue.
Boss: G (Stage 1) – Underground Facility
Weapon Loadout: GM 79, Flame Rounds, MQ 11, MQ 11 ammo, Knife. I prefer to carry light inventory, to be able to collect the items in the battle area. You can waste a lot of time trying to find the opportunity to shoot this boss when he’s chasing you. The trick is to tap L2 to “aim down sights” while he’s chasing. This momentary aim causes him to attack, giving you the opportunity to shoot the eyeball on his arm.
Sewers
Those giant blob enemies that pop up out of the sewer water are a pain. You can run past the one on the way to the Workman’s Lift. But the ones going to the Supplies Storage Room are troublesome. If you get grabbed, don’t counterattack with grenades (don’t have them equipped). You won’t be able to run past it because it will grab you again. Flash grenades work, however. I’m not sure how well knives work. My strategy to get past them is to blast them with an Acid Round at close range. This is guaranteed to stun them long enough to run past.
Boss: G (Stage 2) – Crane
Weapon Loadout: Flash Grenade (2), MQ 11, MQ 11 ammo, Knife, GRB Herb. The key takeaway is conservation of ammo. Use your flash grenades; you’ll need 3 hits of the crane to knock him off permanently. Remember, there is already 1 flash grenade at the crane site. I just shoot at his eyeball to keep him distracted. Be good at making sharp turns during his attacks to evade them. Once you hit the button to make the crane come back, he will do a charge-grab move. This is unavoidable. You have no choice but to use a Flash Grenade before he grabs you.
Bring one mix of GRB Herb with you. You can gather and mix another on the way. During the first part when it attacks from the ceiling, I’ve found that walking slowly tends to work better than running around. It avoids the attacks better. Also walking backwards, and zig-zagging seems to help. You can hear from which direction it is at.
Boss: G (Stage 3) – Laboratory
I ran into a problem with this boss at the Laboratory during my initial runs. This boss takes a lot of damage, and a long time to go down. The key here is the Acid Rounds from the grenade launcher. Put away your Flame Rounds, since they don’t stun like the Acid. If you have been following the video walkthrough, you should have refrained from using many Acid Rounds, and also should have lots of gunpowder components to make plenty more.
One other tip that I did not show in my video walkthrough — you should use up a GBR herb mix before entering the battle, to begin with defense boost. You should have plenty — no point in saving them now. One thing I regret not doing: I didn’t grab the SLS 60 custom part. You need this to be able to use the high-powered rounds.
Boss: G (Stage 4) – Countdown Escape
Weapon Loadout: GM 79, Acid Rounds, Quick Army, .45 ammo. At least 1x GRB Herb, and anything else you’ve got. This boss can take a lot of damage if you are not focused solely on the eyeballs on it’s front. I actually used up all my ammo on this one, and had to replay it over from the save point. The trick here is to focus your fire only at the mess of eyeballs, and nothing else (e.g. his back). When you finally bring it to it’s knees and it’s crawling, stop firing and just keep away from it. It will die by itself eventually. Conserve your ammo.
Boss: G (Stage 5) – Last Car
Weapon Loadout: Whatever you have left. Bring it every last round. You can actually fail and die here. Or run out of ammo, as I did once.
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