Played the Demo last night; I suck, so I didn't get very far (basically just got the shotgun, saw that time was running out, so used it to chew through the zombies in that hall after you run up the stairs past the darkroom). Really, since you only get the one 30-minute shot, and I know I suck, I should've skimmed a guide beforehand to give myself the best shot of utilizing the 30 minutes to the fullest, BUT...in any case, the game is amazing. Claymore, you basically hit the nail on the head...it blends the old and new in such perfect fashion that it manages to recreate the SPIRIT of playing the original. Back in '98, playing RE2, those zombies WERE terrifying, and the game did feel cinematic, and keep you on the edge of your seat. While it's still a fun game to play, those aspects have faded with time...but in this RE2, the zombies are terrifying again, the whole thing feels like a super-tense film, any time there was the sound of breaking glass or a distant moan, even if it was probably just the sound of one singular zombie, I aimed my gun and flashlight wildly with white-knuckles. THIS is what Resident Evil is supposed to be!!
Talking with a friend while playing the demo, we were discussing a 'games as film' comparison, action games as action films, horror games as horror films, etc. We were basically saying how, back then, horror games were about on the level of creating slasher/b-movie type horror films, Return of the Living Dead, things in that vein. Now, they've reached the level of being able to emulate more sophisticated intelligent horror films..."28 Days Later" is the one that comes to mind in terms of 'zombie', but I'm even thinking of a cut above that, even. But yeah. Excited.
EDIT: Btw, how about that location-specific damage?? Even with the handgun, I was loving taking headshots, or taking out their legs so they couldn't come after me. Then, for the brief time I had the shotgun, I was BLOWING motherfuckers in half!! So great