How To Survive Mr. X In The Resident Evil 2 Remake

Resident Evil 2 (2019) has just been remastered for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S along with the Resident Evil 3 Remake and Resident Evil 7, so the games now look better than ever. As a result, players can experience the horror of Mr. X chasing them through the Raccoon City Police Precinct in even higher quality.

Mr. X is an imposing enemy with more durability than any of the other monsters Leon and Claire will face during Resident Evil 2. He stalks the player through the RPD and tracks them based on sound, making him a constant presence that will catch the player off-guard if they're not careful. Should Mr. X find the player then he will chase them unless they can take him down temporarily or evade him until he looks elsewhere.

Mr. X becomes even more terrifying on higher difficulties as his speed, damage output, and health are all increased. On hardcore mode, Mr. X is almost as fast as Claire and Leon at running speed which means he's never far behind once he spots them. And in the event that players are able to take him down on hardcore, his recovery time before he gets back up isn't very long leaving players with only a few seconds to create some distance.

How To Evade Mr. X

Leon and Claire will first encounter Mr. X after they obtain the club key or heart key respectively. It's after this that Mr. X will patrol the RPD and attempt to hunt the player down while they continue to navigate the corridors and solve the remaining puzzles. Mr. X has distinct footsteps that can be heard when he is near, and they grow louder as he gets closer. There will also be a musical cue when he spots the player and a chase ensues.

When playing on assisted or normal mode, Mr. X isn't too tricky to get away from as his movement speed is much slower than Claire's and Leon's. Moving between rooms and breaking his line of sight is usually enough to shake him but on hardcore difficulty, this tactic will be much harder to pull off. On hardcore, Mr. X can move at almost the same speed as the player so running away is much trickier to pull off. One counter to Mr. X that works on any difficulty setting is to hide in a room to which he cannot gain access.

The rooms in the RPD that Mr. X cannot enter are as follows:

Interrogation/Observation Room (1F)
STARS Office (2F)
Clock Tower (3F)
Dark Room (1F Save Room)
Break Room (1F Save Room)
Boiler Room (1F Leon Save Room)
Chief Irons' Office (2F Claire Save Room)

Another tip for evading Mr. X is to learn his movements and use them against him. Mr. X is huge, but he also has a slow build-up before he attacks. If the player can move to the side once they see him prepare his punch attack then they'll have a valuable few seconds to run past him before he begins moving again. This will take practice, but it's a vital trick to learn when attempting an S-Rank run. Another good way of giving Mr. X the slip is by going through as many doors as possible while being chased as he slows down when walking through them.

How To Fight Mr. X

Mr. X can't be killed, but that doesn't mean bullets won't slow him down. It's not advisable to start firing at Mr. X as he's incredibly durable on higher difficulties and even if the player does pump enough lead into him, he won't stay down for long. However, the RPD has lots of tight corridors and dead ends so getting cornered is likely if a player isn't familiar with the map layout, and facing Mr. X head-on may be the only option.

Another reason players may want to start shooting at Mr. X is to gain the "Hats Off!" achievement which appears if the player shoots off Mr. X's hat. This isn't difficult and only requires one shot with any weapon, so trophy hunters will want to make sure they pick this one up as it's easily missed. The best weapons to use against Mr. X are the Lightning Hawk, Grenade launcher, and the shotgun but as these are some of the best weapons in Resident Evil 2, players should conserve their ammo and save it for the boss fights later in the game.

Mr. X: Super Tyrant Boss Fight

When playing through Leon's campaign, Mr. X is the final boss after he ambushes Leon just as he's about to escape. This boss fight is short but tough compared to many of the others in Resident Evil 2 due to the lack of space provided for the player.

The battle takes place in an elevator and Mr. X has a move set that will keep players on their toes. The tyrant will swipe at Leon if he gets too close, or he can leap towards Leon for a ranged attack. These aren't very hard to avoid so long as players keep their distance while picking shots at the tyrant's heart – which is visible on the outside of his chest – at every given opportunity.

The one attack which is sure to kill players on their first attempt at this boss, however, is Mr. X's sweep attack. Around every 20 seconds or so the tyrant will roar and then charge toward Leon with his claw scraping along the ground. If this attack connects with Leon then he will be instantly killed.

One way of countering this move is to keep shooting at Mr. X's heart before and during his charge as he will be stunned if the player shoots him enough times before he reaches them. Another way to avoid it is to use the falling debris as cover. As the timer counts down, debris from the building's collapse will land on the elevator and provide some cover for Leon. Mr. X has no trouble tearing through this debris with his charge attack, but he will stop the maneuver once he makes contact with it so hiding behind some will quickly put a stop to the action.

After the player has dealt enough damage and enough time has passed on the countdown, one of the other characters in the game will bail Leon out by dropping him a rocket launcher to finish the tyrant off for good. Once this small Cutscene has played out, it's just a matter of picking up the rocket launcher and firing it at Mr. X.

Resident Evil 2 (2019) is available on PC, PS4, Ps5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

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