"Resident Evil 2" was also praised for its graphics, which many critics believed were a substantial improvement upon those of the first installment. Sanchez and Weigand thought that the pre-rendered backgrounds were an impressive leap ahead of those in the original "Resident Evil", thanks to their increased detail and interactivity. Mac Donald praised the model animations for having reached "true realism", and commended the game's use of body language as a means of seamlessly communicating the condition of the protagonists' health. Allgame's Shawn Sackenheim awarded its graphics the highest possible score, as he found the backgrounds to be "rendered to perfection", the cutscenes "a work of art" and the animation "fluid and eerie". The audio was well received by critics. Weigand cited it as an "excellent accompaniment to the visuals". Sanchez went as far as to say that "Resident Evil 2" "may have the best sound design yet for a console game". Sackenheim described the music and sound effects as "spot on perfect", and called the soundtrack "perfectly composed", while Mac Donald likened the game's use of audio to that of classic horror films.