498 Words About: The Lickers in Resident Evil 2 Remake
My friends make fun of me because I’m obsessed with Lickers. In my defense, they’re just really flipping cute alright? That slick skin, the exposed brain, that mouth full of sharp teeth, and of course their tongue that’s used to drag enemies up into the air and directly into the path of those aforementioned teeth. They’re horrific, derpy, adorable creatures that exemplify the spirit of body horror, and I love them.
They’re also a brilliant videogame design element.
Resident Evil 2: Remake is a superb videogame, and not just because it managed to shine outside the shadow of its original namesake. Every moment of Resident Evil 2: Remake is designed to heighten dramatic tension, challenge the player's ability to manage resources, and of course not die. The latter challenge is difficult due entirely to the durability of zombies, limited resources, and enemies such as the Tyrant Mr. X who simply cannot die. As characters move Leon Kennedy and/or Claire Redfield from room to room of the Racoon City Police Department, obstacles become more frequent and by the time players arrive in rooms occupied by Lickers I’ve already been pushed psychologically and intellectually to my limit.
Lickers cannot see players because they’re blind, but they can hear them. This means I will have to move slowly through hallways, or expend bullets on killing Lickers which have significantly higher hit points than zombies. Lickers are also, to quote Socrates, “pretty gol-dern fast.”
I went into the fight against one with 17 shotgun shells and I left with three. I killed the blasted cretin but at great cost.
The question for the player becomes: do I kill this monster and use up my ammo, or try and sneak past and save it for another enemy?
And this question is exactly what survival horror is about.
Any good survival horror game incorporates real-time-strategy(RTS) because players have to assess situations quickly and then make a decision about how to proceed; games become continually evolving puzzles.
By the time Mr. X arrives I will be moving constantly to avoid him which is stressful but not difficult. Lickers however make this challenge a nightmare because if I try to run through a hallway they’ll hear me, strike, and drain my health down to its limits. And by the time I pick myself back up Mr. X’s panic-inducing heavy footsteps have become terribly louder.
As a design element Lickers inhibit movement more than any other enemy non-playable character (npcs) in Resident Evil 2: Remake because they’re more than bullet sponges. Lickers force me to evaluate my immediate environment and decide what rooms need to be cleared and what rooms can reasonably remain dangerous to trek.
No room with a Licker is safe, even if I can sneak around it.
For all the memes that expressed the sentiment that, “Mr. X goin’ give it to you,” there remained a smaller voice whispering, “not if the licker gets you first.” And spoiler alert, it usually did.
Joshua “Jammer” Smith
11.17.2025
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