The Resident Evil 2 remake is out now and it’s doing fantastic, due the winning combination of fearsome enemies to fight and puzzles to solve. Nevertheless, some of those puzzles can be tricky when you’ve got zombies biting at your ankles, and one of the most frustrating puzzles can be found in the Resident Evil 2 remake Clock Tower.
The Clock Tower’s one of the last parts of the RPD building that you’ll visit, and can be reached on the top floor of the police station, but how do you get to it in the first place? There’s a Small Gear in the tower, but where do you find the Large Gear? And even when you get there and have everything you need, how do you solve the Clock Tower puzzle? We’ve got all the answers.
Where is the Large Gear in Resident Evil 2?
Before you get to the Clock Tower, you’ll need the Large Gear in order to solve the Tower’s main puzzle. The Large Gear is located in the East Storage Room, which can be found on the 3rd Floor of the RPD, which is the same floor as the Clock Tower. You can see how close they are in the map above. Like most things in the game, though, it’s not that easy. For starters, once you’ve got the Large Gear, you can’t simply walk through the door in the top left corner and head round to the Clock Tower, since that door’s locked from the other side.
More on how to actually get in the Clock Tower in a moment, but for now let’s concentrate on getting the Large Gear from the East Storage Room. You access this part of Floor 3 from the north-east stairwell, which you can also take to go down to the Interrogation Room, which is where you can find the Heart Key and Waiting Room safe code. However, this area’s closed off by a set of shutters.
If you’re playing Leon in a first playthrough, you’ll need the Square Crank Handle to open those shutters. The first time you return to the RPD, after the fight with the first G-Virus boss, you’ll emerge in the Parking Garage, and on the left is the Jail area. The Crank Tool is located at the end of the Jail, next to the journalist who’s been imprisoned, and an electrical puzzle you’ll need to know for later. Grab the Crank Tool, open the shutters, and go get the Large Gear.
However, if you’re playing Claire Redfield instead, getting to the stairwell is different because you cannot access the Jail, and so cannot get the Crank Handle to open the shutters. Instead, you’ll have to go through a different door in the Parking Garage and use the elevator to head up to Chief Irons’ office. Be mindful of a similar electrical puzzle here, but then simply head through the Chief’s office and you’ll end up at the north-east stairwell, just the same. Now, head up and grab that Large Gear.
How to access the Resident Evil 2 remake Clock Tower
Now that we’ve got the Large Gear all we need to do is get into the Clock Tower. Unfortunately, as we’ve mentioned, the East Storage Room door that connects to the Clock Tower corridor is locked. Instead, this area can only be accessed from the top floor of the Library. However, if you try to walk there the floor will collapse, and the other side is broken too. So how do you get over there?
The solution to this puzzle lies in the large bookshelves below, and it’s the same for both Leon and Claire. If you get close to them you’ll discover that you can slide these shelves across. You have to line up the shelves to block the hole in the walkway above, and so create a bridge you can walk across. Unfortunately, one of these shelves is raised up by a jack, and the handle is missing. You’ll have to get the Jack Handle first, and luckily for you we’ve got a guide on how to find it.
Use the handle on the jack, lower the shelf, then slide it to the right so you can slide the other shelves next to it until the gap above is filled. Head up the ladder, cross the bridge you made, open the door, and you’ll be on the corridor at the top of the Main Hall that leads to the Clock Tower. If you wish you can also head around to unlock the East Storage Room, especially if you haven’t got the Large Gear yet. You’ll be needing it now.
How to solve the Resident Evil 2 remake Clock Tower puzzle
Now you’re finally up in the RPD Clock Tower, and you’re mostly likely being pursued by the Tyrant Mr. X, but don’t worry because this is one of the few areas in the building that he can’t enter, and neither can the game’s other enemies. You’re therefore free to focus on the Clock Tower gears puzzle, which is lucky, because it can be a bit confusing. The main source of the confusion is that it’s one of the few puzzles in the game where you actually have to remove an item you’ve already used successfully, and the only time you have to do this as part of the same puzzle in the same room.
If you look immediately to your right as you enter the Clock Tower you’ll see a place to interact, with a vacant slot between some gears. Use the Large Gear here, and it’ll lower the staircase next to the bell. You’ll find a note nearby that warns of how unstable this bell is. You probably noticed an orange box just next to the bell which brings up an interact icon when you’re standing underneath, but you can’t get close enough to grab it. Your objective is to bring down the bell and the box with it, so you can pick it up.
Once the stairs are lowered, pick up the Large Gear again. Head around the bell area, and just in front of the stairs you’ll see another gear slot, the one in the picture above. However, it’s far too little for the Large Gear, so for now head up the stairs. You’ll find another gear slot in this new area, but this one already has a gear in it. Pick that gear up and swap it for the Large Gear, then head back downstairs and use your new Small Gear on that smaller slot. The bell will drop, as will the box you need.
What do you get for solving the Clock Tower puzzle?
Pick up the box and examine it until you find an area you can interact with to open the box. This will reveal its contents: an Electronic Part. Now, you’ll remember earlier you passed an electrical puzzle like the one above? While Leon and Claire’s electrical puzzles are in separate locations (Leon’s is in the Jail, Claire’s is in the Chief’s Private Collection room) both of them need two Electronic Parts in order to solve the puzzle and get the same prize: the Parking Garage pass card. You’ll just need the second part now, which you hopefully picked up in the East Storage Room along with the Large Gear. If not, head there now. Either way: your time in the Clock Tower is finished.
