I’d been promised that the newest Resident Evil would immerse me in the “classic survival horror” of the series’ earlier days. Looking back fondly to the many hours I’d passed with those older games creeping around in dark corridors, heart racing like I’d just finished running the mile, I was eager to see if Resident Evil: Revelations could deliver on that boast.
Does it? Yes, more or less. Let’s go ahead and get the less part out of the way. The writing stinks. The dialog, the plot – terrible. This is not unexpected in context of the series or, to be frank, games in general. Maybe I didn’t notice in my early gaming days, or maybe bad scripts just didn’t seem so out of place back when games had less sophisticated graphics and sound effects. With production values what they are now, however, I have trouble not being distracted. Apart from that, the only real negative is the game’s being somewhat disjointed. Sometimes it departs from the old survival horror style and becomes more action-oriented like the more recent Resident Evil releases. I prefer the survival horror myself but still enjoyed the last few releases well enough, so this wasn’t a huge problem for me. It may be an issue for anyone who hoped for something totally in the spirit of the early Resident Evils.
Graphics and Sound
Great production values, as I mentioned. This isn’t something that I am usually concerned about, as the crude, pixelated graphics of those old Nintendo and computer games never impeded my fun. If you do care, there’s nothing in Resident Evil: Revelations that will disappoint.
It has 3D effects, of course. Nothing too prominent, which in my book is a virtue. Overkill on the 3D can be distracting at this stage of the technology, so I was happy that Revelations used it with restraint. It’s there, with the best effects occurring during the cut scenes, but it wasn’t long before I stopped noticing.
Gameplay
Revelations’ main gameplay departure from the Resident Evil: The Mercenaries is the dodging mechanic, which is glorious. Shuddering in some cramped corner and armed only with my knife, I know dodging the next enemy I come across is the only way to make it through alive.
I won’t ruin any surprises by giving away other weaponry; one of my favorite elements of games in general is discovering what new toys I get to pick up throughout the game to blast away my enemies. I will mention that there are special weapons not accessible during your first play, but must be unlocked through raid mode after you’ve completed the story once.
Replayability
Those special weapons along with the raid mode give Revelations considerable replayability. You can fight wave after wave of sinister enemies either solo or with friends via wi-fi. Raid mode offers plenty of characters, outfits, and weapons to unlock the longer you play. Again, this will also unlock weapons in story mode; the new weapons demanded at least one more play through in story mode.