Craig Reviews Resident Evil: Revelations

I've had this game since it launched back in January, and initially enjoyed it greatly. My last experience with the Resident Evil franchise was Resident Evil 4, which remains one of my favourite games, and towards the start at least this game bears a lot of resemblance to it's excellent predecessor. Halfway through however, the tense atmosphere dissipates and leaves an action-heavy, and somewhat tiring, point-and-shoot game in it’s place. At this point I stalled for a long time, but with Kid Icarus: Uprising just days away I decided it was finally time to finish the campaign mode at least once. I’m glad I did as the last few chapters did a lot to make up for the slightly unfocused middle section, with some great action setpieces that really make the game stand out from anything else available on 3DS at the moment.

 I’ll start things off with what the game has most obviously got going for it, it’s graphics.  This is easily the best-looking game currently available on 3DS, and it really shows off what the system can do. Character models are generally great, especially some of the more unique creatures you’ll come across, the environments are detailed and animation is always good. There are however a few minor flaws that do take some of the polish away from the games otherwise stellar visuals. The game’s attempt at covering up it’s loading times with lengthy, stuttering scenes spent in elevators or watching door handles spin doesn't really work and these can often take you out of the game a bit. The lack of mouth animation on characters also seems a little strange, perhaps only because the rest of the game is so polished, but it certainly spoils some of the in-game cut-scenes. Likewise the death animation for the creatures you’ll encounter stands out against the rest of the game’s high-quality visuals, as they simply fade into a low resolution red smear on the floor that I assume is supposed to be blood. There’s not a huge amount of variety in the creatures you’ll meet throughout the game either, outside of the rare boss battles. We basically get lots of Hunters and maybe six or seven varieties of mutated nautical globs. Another very minor issue I found with the game was that while the 3D was turned on the subtitles during pre-rendered cut-scenes were set at a strange depth, so that often the action taking place behind the subtitles was actually happening in front of them, but with the subtitles still visible it creates a strange effect that is a little awkward to look at. All in all though the game’s graphics are still something worth writing home about, thought a little more polish could've  made for a truly stunning title, at least visually.

"We're off to kill a bunch of mutant fish creatures? I knew I'd need that one-legged wetsuit one day!"

I found that the game’s controls took a little bit of getting used to. Aiming with the gyroscope is actually pretty great and allows for moving while aiming without the need for a Circle Pad Pro, though I often found myself winding up contorted into strange positions on the sofa. I also found myself accidentally using herbs when I wanted to fire and throwing grenades when I meant to heal a little too often. This is particularly annoying with the herbs, as you can only keep a very limited amount with you, so using one up accidentally can be frustrating. Generally speaking though the control scheme works perfectly fine, and the gameplay itself is solid, occasionally even fantastic. The game is undoubtedly at it’s best early on, when the ship is still new and every dark corner is a terrifying new turn. These early sequences on the ship really ratchet up the tension, providing some effective scares along the way. The build-up to the first boss fight is particularly memorable, though the fight itself is a little disappointing. Indeed, the boss fights in the game are few and far between, except for the rather charming Rachel, who just does not showing up, and more often than not the fights are usually just a case of shooting it until it’s dead. The puzzle elements from previous entries in the franchise are all but missing in this game, outside of some annoying touch screen gimmicks, which means there’s not a lot to do in the game besides point and shoot. At first the game makes up for this with it’s intense atmosphere, but during the middle sections the game becomes a bit repetitive, especially the chapters that take place off the ship. The Terragrigia sections basically just throw Hunters at you while you wander hallways, and the Quint and Keith sections are equally bland. The later chapters eventually pull focus back, however, in the final three chapters there are some pretty dazzling action sequences that suit the run-and-shoot gameplay style perfectly. Running up the ship as it sinks into the ocean is particularly memorable, while the helicopter sequence that follows makes for a refreshing change of pace, as well as showing off some impressive 3D visuals. So, while the games middle section is perhaps a little on the flabby side, the beginning and the end are pretty impressive, and quite possibly some of the best gameplay that the series has offered since Resident Evil 4.

The game’s story on the other hand is really cheesy and convoluted even by Resident Evil’s already low standards. In fact, even after completing the game I’m not entirely sure what was going on. There are a lot of twists and turns that I didn’t really care about, and all of the characters who aren’t Chris or Jill come off as really bad stereotypes. It’s like someone at Capcom hunted down the most generic American action movie they could find, took notes on how the characters acted and then thought they’d dial it up another ten shades of ridiculous. Keith and Quint in particular mark a new low in videogame characterisation. They are just awful, and their playable sections are also extremely boring, which doesn’t help matters. The game even does that whole cheesy “show a scene of the character followed by an explanation of what they went on to do after the story” thing, which just feels silly after the supposed untold horrors they all just went through. Throw in a fan-baiting glimpse at what’s coming next for Jill and Chris, and a frankly irritating final post-credits cliffhanger, that only really serves to show that there could’ve been more game here, and we’ve got a story that isn’t exactly up there with the greatest, but that’s only to be expected when it comes to Resident Evil.

In terms of value for money, it’s fair to say the game is somewhat lacking in content, with the main campaign providing just 12 chapters. I completed my playthrough in about 10 hours, and I’d say I was playing pretty slowly and making an effort to explore, so I can imagine others completing this mode in a lot less time very easily. There is some replay value in the form of a New Game+ and the unlockable Hell Mode, as well as ‘missions’ which are basically achievements with rewards varying from weapons to character outfits, but I can’t say I feel any compelling urge to start the story all over again just yet. There’s also Raid Mode, which takes settings from the main story and fills them with creatures for you to kill as efficiently as possible. There are 20 levels in this mode, with three different difficulty levels, all of which can be played with local or online multiplayer as well as single player. As multiplayer modes go this is actually pretty compelling and certainly provides some decent fun, though there’s no way of communicating with your partner, so you may as well be playing with the AI to be honest. Still, there’s a certain element of fun in knowing that there’s another human playing, and small touches like health bars over enemies and buffed creatures help tailor this mode to a more action-oriented style of play. So, while there’s not as much story in here as I would have liked, Raid Mode just about makes up for it.

This game is not without it’s faults, and for those who don’t know their way around Resident Evil very well it may not be worth picking up, but fans of the series could certainly do a lot worse. It’s not quite a glorious return to form for the franchise, but it is a competent entry that occasionally shines, and is certainly one of the better spin-offs in the series. The ridiculous story bogs down the campaign a little too often, but there’s some great stuff in here, and it’s certainly one of the boldest 3DS games out there right now.