The Resident Evil as a franchise has mutated as much as the bio-weapons you face in it with each new iteration. Starting as a survival horror series, it has slowly become more action-oriented. While there has been an outcry from people who wish for the series to go back to its horror roots, it seems Capcom had just the remedy for their aliment. Resident Evil Revelations came out for the Nintendo 3DS fairly recently, but is the new HD port worth the extra cash?
Resident Evil Revelations has you as multiple characters across a variety of locales, from a barren white tundra to an abandoned cruise ship. While I enjoyed playing in other areas, the luxury liner known as the Queen Zenobia is as close to RE1’s mansion as you can get. Small rooms and dim lighting create a sense of horror that compliments the outlandish monsters dwelling within. Ammo isn’t as scare in this as it was in the original games, but enough so to contribute to a constant nagging feeling of fear. A new feature to the game, the Genesis scanner, adds a sense of exploration as you attempt to find every hidden item. Scanning enough B.O.Ws will yield green herbs which while this can be extremely helpful, it quickly destroy the suspension of belief the rest of the game works so hard to create.
Raid Mode abandons this formula altogether for something far more action packed. You pick your character and weapon then attempt to rid a chosen stage of enemies. This is a stark contrast to the story mode and is a great way to take a break from it should the campaign get too stressful. Items obtained on one stage can be used in the next which can be both and blessing and a curse. You can have a friend help you out too but for some reason it’s limited to online only. While I found this to be a strange decision, going around murdering things that were scaring you before is fairly satisfying.
A lack of a tutorial makes the beginning conflicts harder than they need to be, which is further frustrating by a lack of a physical manual. There is a virtual one which explains the controls, but there’s so mention of it in-game. This game looks like touched up port at best. It’s easy to see that they used the same models from the 3DS version which is only heightened by the higher definition. Despite this, not playing Revelations is a sin for any RE fan. The grandparent of the horror genre has come back to show how it’s done and does so with flying colors.
Resident Evil Revelations Story Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Df_l4KfRiE
Resident Evil Revelations First 10 Minutes Gameplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLNdX0JyNpw
Resident Evil Revelations Raid Mode Gameplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxkUEpRU74I