Resident Evil: Revelations 2 delivers another bite size instalment and just like a high octane television series, things are getting more interesting. Taking off from last episode, Claire and Moira are desperately trying to survive the nightmare along with some new faces on the island. The menacing Overseer’s not making life any easier as new monsters and traps await the duo’s journey to the “Tower”.
Barry’s also on the island as he attempts to locate his missing daughter with the help of Natila, a gifted child who was also a prisoner. The story’s written effectively with the structure of the episodic series, just like any successful television series.
However, I still have a problem with this means of releasing an episode per week, as playing a game and watching a show are two different things in nature. I find it difficult to truly enjoy the game and become immersed when I’m eruptively stopped and told to wait a week to play the rest of the game. It ruins the flow and makes it feel somewhat alienated having to start back up again after a whole week of no further progression.
I know I could have waited for the game to be released on disc, but having the flow interrupted ruins the experience a great deal sadly. Why not release it now?
Anyway, back to the actual game. The stakes are higher now and the game-play is becoming more intensified. A great deal of tension’s raised with the help of some nifty set-pieces and introducing some long over due boss battles that are both brutal and intense to say the least. There are other moments including a classic Resident Evil-style siege. The bosses themselves are lovingly designed and embody the disturbing image you’d expect from a horror-themed experience.
The co-op functionality’s another strong aspect of the game and feels more beneficial to the gameplay compared to Resident Evil 6. Certain set-pieces only help enforce good teamwork and communication in order for both parties to survive. The game’s highly enjoyable as either single or co-op, but playing with another person does make the journey slightly more manageable and fun overall. There are a few sections involving invisible enemies and this is where Barry and Natalia work together effectively in an interesting take. Natalia’s the only one who can see them while Barry’s got the firepower to deal with them swiftly.
The game does a great job at creating a chilling atmosphere in its game world, giving a strong essence of horror that hasn’t been seen in many Resident Evil games recently. The game takes players through deserted fishing towns, underground complexes and a decaying city in order to reach the tower, all of which have a creepy, unsettling vibe to them which creates a fearful amount of suspense. I do have some fault for certain areas which are near pitch black, making it difficult to navigate through without the help of the flash light buddy. It can be annoying but does, in some way re-enforce the nature of effective co-op play and team work once again.
I also found the game to be fairly linear and repetitive, as both both parties will travel near enough the same route as each other during their adventure. It would’ve been nice to have multiple paths or alternative means of disposing larger groups of enemies, such as large interactive traps (like the ones seen in Half Life 2).
I’d find some of the fault, however minor, to lie with your AI partner being rather stupid at times – alerting enemies or never passing you ammo, meaning you have to physically take it from them. This isn’t helped by the game’s agonizing difficulty and your partners being unhelpful at the worst possible moments. That’s why having another person play is advised.
There are a number of ways to overcome these difficult situations nonetheless. A number of hidden upgrades, ammo, and new weapons can be found and replaying levels is usually a good idea to find items that you may have missed the first time round, adding to the replay ability, but patience is needed as searching areas top to bottom will benefit your survival.
Sadly, graphics are still a sore spot for Episode 2. I know graphics aren’t everything, but after revisiting the first Revelations, I realized that it looked better than its sequel. In fact, Resident Evil 5 and 6 looked far better. Even the HD version of Resident Evil 4 looks a lot better than this. Why couldn’t Capcom just put a little more effort into making this game seem more polished? It’s a shame because sometimes I feel like I’m playing on an Xbox 360 and instead, I notice I’m playing my Xbox One. At least it has 60 frames-per-second and split-screen.
RE: Revelations 2‘s second episode offers some more engaging set-pieces, horror, and high tension, but ultimately feels short-lived thanks to its episodic structure. As always, the graphics are sub-par, but gameplay does make up for this short-coming.