Review
Played on: Xbox OneReleased: 2015
The Resident Evil franchise spans so many titles, it's confusing. As such, I'll only focus on the spin-off series, Revelations, here. The previous Revelations, which launched on the Nintendo 3DS in 2012, received an upgraded version for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in 2013. I played the latter to bits on my 360, and it's still a game I warmly recommend and love, read my review here.
Why I enjoyed Rev1 so much, was mostly due to the more atmospheric and creepy focus, much like the original RE titles, only with modern third person shooter controls. A stark contrast, to the action games RE4/5/6 have become. Strangely enough, Capcom decided to make a Revelations sequel and I was initially excited. However, the end result seemed somewhat low-budget and the reviews were mixed.
Luckily though, I caved later into the year and purchased the complete box set of Rev2. This complete version contains all four episodes, plus two extra ones and all the DLC that was released in episodic form digitally. While I'm not a huge fan of episodic releases, this particular box set works just like a full title, so it doesn't affect my view. All episodes have since been bundled and retailed collected at a fair price digitally. There's a lot of value for money here.
Rev2 kicks off in a familiar cheesy RE fashion, showing a TV advertisement for the anti-bioterrorism organisation Terrasave, which the two main protagonists are connected to. Namely Claire Redfield and Barry Burton of RE fame. Although this laughable intro is actually intended to be overdone and sarcastic, its joke falls flat. Not only is the following cutscene full of classic RE dialogue awkwardness, but all the prejudices for bad storytelling throughout the RE series overshadow the developers intention. Let it be noted though, the dialogue is slightly better than previous instalments, conversations sound more casual and believable.
The gameplay begins when you wake up in a prison cell as Claire, together with Barry's daughter, Moira. Here, the game introduces you to it's mechanics and character swapping feature. Be it with another person, or on your own. Strangely, Capcom seem to have been pushing for you to play with two characters since RE5, well actually RE:0, but that's another story. Unlike previous attempts though, in Rev2 it works surprisingly well.
How this "play two characters at once" feature somehow works better for Rev2, is much to do with the them having different natures in their skills and abilities. Claire is the offensive player with weapons to kill zombies, while Moira is the defensive one with a torch that can find hidden items and slow enemies down. I found this shift in gameplay style refreshing. I also appreciated that you could, and must, swap between them to progress. Items and ammo that you pick up are easy to manage and swap between each other.
I must stress, playing coop is the best way to go. Be it locally, in split screen, or online. Swapping characters on your own breaks some momentum.
One could argue that playing the second character, which basically only has defensive abilities, while the other player has all the guns, could be boring in coop. Understandably, both the players would like to actually shoot the enemies. But for those looking for a coop adventure with something different, perhaps where one of you doesn't feel comfortable with third person shooting, then this is a perfect solution. In essence, it's what makes Rev2 truly unique and memorable.
I ended up really enjoying my playthrough, together with my wife in coop . She always preferred to be the defensive character and left the shooting to me. Knowing this divide in gameplay, before purchase, is essential for those with coop play in mind. Local coop has a neat feature too: simply drop in or drop out of the session and it switches on the fly between full screen and split screen! Great for those wanting to just test out the coop and then continue on their own.
Technically, Rev2 does a fine job, there's no bells and whistles. The graphics, while I truly appreciate the 60fps decision, look lower budget and it could be mistaken for a last generation title on the 360/PS3. I don't want to think what this game looks like on last-gen, with the high framerate and resolution missing. Luckily, I'm playing the Xbox One version, which apparently has the best performance on current gen consoles.
The visuals do their job though and, in the more organic nature areas of the game, shine though as looking quite pretty. Sadly, there's a lot of repetitiveness in the indoor locations in the first two chapters and little actual interaction with the environments. There are crates you can smash and boxes that can be moved to reach places higher up, but they stick out like a sore thumb screaming "look, here's something you can interact with". The rest of the environments look stale and often have this feeling of emptiness to them.
Rev2 has great gameplay, that lets you beef up your character even further with new skills and stats. There's just a smooth, mechanically precise and well controlled feeling to the shooting that is criminally overlooked by Capcom themselves in their inferior controlled mainline RE series. It's a shame to see that the laughably bad RE6 simply ignored the first Revelations and had an inferior control system of it's own.
Rev2 takes it to new heights though, and is simply just amazing play, it's even more so in coop with someone. Especially as each and every episode feels distinctly different and throw a lot of new ideas in for each chapter.
I went from a "this should be okay for a cheap price" to truly enjoying my playthrough with my wife. Granted, we thought the story was stupid at times, however the ending and especially the tense build-up towards it was very good and exciting. We appreciated the diversity in each episode and the introduction to new enemies and puzzles keeping us at our toes through it's 10-12 hour lifespan. There's almost no filler here either.
We also enjoyed the locations, which I won't reveal as it's a spoiler and the many creepy areas. Artistically, it reminded me a lot of the Silent Hill games, with dark, worn-down and abandoned buildings. It's perhaps the RE game that strays the most away from previous games in it's environments, but in a good way.
We also enjoyed the locations, which I won't reveal as it's a spoiler and the many creepy areas. Artistically, it reminded me a lot of the Silent Hill games, with dark, worn-down and abandoned buildings. It's perhaps the RE game that strays the most away from previous games in it's environments, but in a good way.
Thinking more about it, the scary atmosphere and messed up looking enemies, the comparison to Silent Hill is actually quite spot-on. Just don't expect the more unnatural and psychological side of SH to make an appearance, this is a RE game after all.
It must be mentioned, that I loved the small references for RE fans in the dialogue too, like the comment to Barry about Jill's legendary bad, lock pick and sandwich, conversations from RE1. I even ended up being hooked to the Raid mode again, much like in Rev1, with it's addictive levelling and weapons upgrade system.
Raid mode pits you against a certain number of enemies in increasingly difficult missions. The take place on smaller locations, some even from RE6 and Rev1, where the goal is to traverse through them and simply survive. It's fun addition, that I would have loved to try out in coop. Again the excellent gameplay mechanics shine through in this mode, showcasing how well Rev2 is suited for a third person shooter.
All in all, a surprise title that really should be played for RE fans and coop players alike. While it lacks substance in it's story and technically needs more polish, it proves that great gameplay is what makes a title last in the long run.
Warmly recommended and one of 2015's finest moments in my pleasantly surprised opinion.
It must be mentioned, that I loved the small references for RE fans in the dialogue too, like the comment to Barry about Jill's legendary bad, lock pick and sandwich, conversations from RE1. I even ended up being hooked to the Raid mode again, much like in Rev1, with it's addictive levelling and weapons upgrade system.
Raid mode pits you against a certain number of enemies in increasingly difficult missions. The take place on smaller locations, some even from RE6 and Rev1, where the goal is to traverse through them and simply survive. It's fun addition, that I would have loved to try out in coop. Again the excellent gameplay mechanics shine through in this mode, showcasing how well Rev2 is suited for a third person shooter.
All in all, a surprise title that really should be played for RE fans and coop players alike. While it lacks substance in it's story and technically needs more polish, it proves that great gameplay is what makes a title last in the long run.
Warmly recommended and one of 2015's finest moments in my pleasantly surprised opinion.
