Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Review (Arch Geneforger)
TL; DR I do not like this quite as much as its predecessor, but it is still a great game, and fun for a couple of playthroughs. This is due in part to the partner system, the way that each character complements their friend, and have unique mechanics, but also the quite stellar enemy design, and worthwhile story.
I crave spinoff titles for my favourite IPs.
Note that this takes place in-between the fifth and sixth games.
Story
Moira did not follow in Barry Burton’s footsteps, instead of joining the BSAA like everyone else she joined Terra Save to work alongside Claire Redfield. They are a real up-and-coming organisation, and soon they might even compete in the big leagues, so things are going well, and they are all happily celebrating their successes. Surely, nothing, will go wrong, surely, they will not get attacked and kidnapped.
Terra Save! Because “Terr” doesn’t have to end with “rist.”
Revelations 2 is a short title told in an episodic format, but while its predecessor felt more like a TV-series this is more like a mini-series with fewer instalments but with a similar total length.
This works well to tell a more self-contained story and is a great opportunity to catchup with Barry and Claire as well as exploring certain ideas introduced in previous games, so, yeah, this is proper territory for a spinoff title.
If you wish you can even play the Extra Episodes, they do a good job of bridging narrative gaps, as well as explaining some mysteries left behind after the completing the campaign. The Struggle is the most entertaining of the two, but I cannot talk about them since that would spoil the entire game.
However, there is one issue I have with Revelations 2, the supporting cast is just sort of bad? In Revelations 1 we met some ridiculous characters but at least they were entertaining, and had some depth, here, they are just not that good, nor is there more than one or two notes to them, yet that is not much of a problem…
Since the game focuses on Claire, Moira, Barry, and Natalia, their interactions are great and are the vast majority of the dialogue. Barry and Natalia, is peak dad-game writing, as was the style at the time, while Moira feels like one of the most normal people in the entire series. Yeah, she is still ridiculous, but at least she knows how ridiculous this is. Maybe it is not normal that we will find the exact spare parts we are looking for in this exact village.
I should say something of the Overseer as well, she is a Franz Kafka fan, but not as extreme as anyone in the previous title, so no, unfortunately Kafka’s writing does not permeate Revelations 2 in the most heavy-handed of ways, and I cannot help but feel that that is unfortunate.
Of course, there are plenty of references, and some are very explicit, but in Revelations 1 you always knew when they were making a reference, it was almost impossible to miss, and that is the sort of subtlety you usually see in Resident Evil, these references are just too well integrated, I wish there was more hamminess to it.
Presentation
Revelations 2 takes place on an industrial isle but it manages to have some environmental diversity, torture prisons and torture factories blend together but that means that the foggy, green thickets and the anarchic city streets stick out more and that gives you some reason to appreciate them.
Of course, this is a Resident Evil game, so there are also laboratories and some overdesigned, nouveau riche interiors. However, the best areas are only in Barry’s episodes, you can see some genuinely unsettling and disturbing visuals, even though they lack the gore of other locations they are still far more disturbing, because it is proof that you are not the only ones on the island.
As for the enemies, they are sort of a mixed bag, they are split in two varieties and you only fight one type per character, so Claire will always be fighting the Afflicted who generally look pretty generic and boring—they are your average infected with weapons—on the other hand we have the Revenants and they are far more interesting…
They are different bodies stitched together, limbs of differing sizes and shapes, multiple heads sewn as one, their flesh affixed with weapons, very visually striking, though not quite as disgusting as the bloated, insectoid Glasps.
I do not have a lot to say on the OST, it is good, and works well for the game, but on the whole, it does not stick out as especially remarkable, it blends, and heightens the atmosphere, which is good because it does not detract from the game.
Theme of Barry, however, is probably my favourite track in the game, it is sad, and heavy, perfectly illustrating how Barry is feeling. He regrets his actions as a father, their strained relationship, and how he has acted in the past, and now she is lost, and he does not know whether she is safe or not.
Gameplay
If you have played a 3rd person Resident Evil game you know what to expect, you fight enemies, conserve ammunition and explore a little bit.
I found that this entry could have done with a few more puzzles as most of what we get boils down to finding the key item or moving a box to the proper location. Revelations 1 was quite light on them as well but not to this extent, and it also had a bigger focus on exploration.
Having the missions be so linear is a bit of a letdown as well however, if you are going to do levels in an episodic format this is probably a good way to do it.
An episode takes place on the same selection of maps but Claire and Barry venture through them in different ways, sometimes the opposite direction which means it does not feel repetitive.
A couple others things makes it better than it otherwise might have been, there are unique areas for each character, and sometimes (once or twice) they are quite expansive and even the majority of the entire episode but there is also the fact that sometimes your choices affect the other character.
Claire can do things that makes Barry's episode easier or harder, and it usually comes with some sort of payoff.
However, they also brought wholesale improvements, the partner system is an actual system now with each character having different playstyles to complement their friends. Moira does not shoot but she has a flashlight to stun enemies, Natalia can throw bricks and see through walls and skin. That seems pretty useful!
This all means you will switch between characters to make the best use of their differing abilities as you go, though you will be primarily playing as Claire or Barry during shootouts. Or during the stealth sections, as they are the only ones who can preform takedowns, however, have no fear! There is no mandatory stealth, it is only used to conserve your ammunition… unless you play the Extra Episode Little Miss.
A system like this really lends itself to co-op, but unfortunately they did not think too far ahead, this was released at the death of local co-op games so they will allow that but not the more readily usable system of online play.
It is quite unfortunate because desperately trying to point out the literally invisible Glasps or the weak spots of Revenants would make for some very hectic and memorable moments, it is a real missed opportunity that three is no online co-op for Revelations 2...
RAID MODE
Raid mode! It has coop!
They even let you play levels from Resident Evil 6 which adds some much-needed level variety, unfortunately I do feel that this is a bit of a downgrade from the previous instalment.
The fact is that the enemy variety is not necessarily there, they feel varied because they require a multitude of strategies but neither bosses nor mobs are as engaging and memorable to fight as the sort of encounters from the previous games. If you like them you get a lot of content, if you do not, then you do not.