IHC Game Reviews: Resident Evil Revelations

Resident Evil Revelations

or

“Why, Capcom, Why. Why did you not make this game instead of making Resident Evil 5?”

Resident Evil Revelations is Capcom’s second outing on the 3DS, and those of you who thought Mercenaries was lacking, let me assure you that Resident Evil Revelations is packed to the gills with content.  I personally, have thoroughly enjoyed Mercenaries. It has spent more time in my 3DS than Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 3D Land, Star Fox 64, Mario Kart 64, or any other first party Nintendo rehash.  

I brought up the activity log on my 3DS to give you an idea of the re-playability provided by Revelations:

Netflix, clocks in at 99 hours, first played 7/14/11

Pokemon Black, clocks in at 41 hours, first played 5/14/11

Pictobits, clocks in at 35 hours, first played 6/12/11

Resident Evil Mercenaries, clocks in at 32 hours, first played 6/29/11

Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, clocks in at 32 hours, first played 3/27/11

Ocarina of Time, clocks in at 19 hours, first played 6/19/11

Super Mario 3D Land, clocks in at 13 hours, first played 11/14/11

Pokemon White, clocks in at 8 hours, first played 4/1/11

Aliens: Infestation, clocks in at 7 hours, first played 10/11/11

In less than a week, Resident Evil Revelations has jumped to my number six most played. I’m level 26 in Raid mode, and on my first New Game+ mode, both of which I’ll explain in full detail later. I will also explain the nuances of the Circle Pad Pro and attempt to quell any hatred or suspicion of the peripheral. 

I’m going to start with the Circle Pad Pro. I bought it as a “bundle” from Gamestop (no bargain price or anything much to my dismay.) I ran home and immediately tore it open. I emptied the container, half expecting there to be an apology note from Nintendo. I held it, confused. “Ok, I thought, what do I have to plug this into and risk damaging my 3DS on a regular basis?” It turns out that it is powered by a single AAA battery which is said to hold a “480 hour charge.” I haven’t had the time to log 480 hours with it, but as soon as it dies, I will let you know if that is accurate. To dock the 3DS, you just easily pop it in, and all the the commands from the Circle Pad Pro, the right analog stick, the R, ZR, and ZL are all transmitted to the device using the IR port on the 3DS. When the 3DS is docked, the only inaccessible parts are the IR port, the game cartridge slot, and the SD card slot, but popping the device out to swap games is a quick and effortless procedure.

I had my concerns that after lodging and unlodging my 3DS from the Circle Pad Pro thousands of times might wear down the plastic but there are these rubber stoppers on the CPP which hold it in place and appear to be less likely to wear down. When docked, it doesn’t become some unportable behemoth, it is relatively the size of the original PSP fat model.

Holding on to the system has almost become second nature— it just feels right, like a large, comfortable Gamecube controller. 

I honestly can’t wait for more games to be released for the peripheral and Metal Gear Solid 3DS comes out soon…

Control is the key to why Revelations is so fantastic. You can move and shoot, navigate context sensitive terrain, reload, quick turn, swim, swap weapons, and swap sub weapons with absolutely no hassle. You can even use the 3DS’s internal gyro to aim which works surprisingly well, even though it messes with the 3D if it is on. The swimming segments are an interesting new game play mechanic. I died a couple of times my first play through of the swimming sections, once because I didn’t know what to do, another because a cheap spawning enemy kept attacking me and you only have one defense underwater, pulse grenades, and I was all out. 

If there is one adjective for Revelation’s story mode it is harrowing. I played through the game on normal the first time, and I have not dreaded every corner (in a good way) of a Resident Evil game since the first. I am not knocking the initial difficulty, as too many games hold your hand, but this game has some serious teeth. Resident Evil 3’s Nemesis battles are the closest I can compare to average boss encounters in Revelations. I would stop before and after every battle to switch out my weapons, reload every one, check my sub weapon inventory, and make sure I was fully prepared before entering. Then running around screaming like a little girl as the huge disgusting blob monster chases me into a corner, then ducking out of the way right before it would attempt to attack. A new, long over due gameplay mechanic introduced in Revelations is evasion. When a monster’s attack animation starts if you press up or down on the left analog stick and B you will duck out of the way. It is not as easy as it seems, and it doesn’t work as often as I would like, but that is me, I am a spaz attempting to game the system by standing still and repeatedly tapping the analog stick and B, so I know it’s my fault. You can also stun enemies, approach them and a little fist icon will appear. Hold down the button for a charged melee attack and you will most likely kill a standard enemy. It works on boss monsters as well.

I know some fans cried foul when it was announced there wouldn’t be actual zombies in the game. The T-Abyss virus introduced in the game transforms humans into “Ooze” and other mutated variants. Their designs are fantastic, they’re revolting and nauseating, truly creative on the concept designers part. For one, they’re very unpredictable. They lurch, jerk, and move sporadically.  Shoot the arms and they flail if you land a critical hit, shoot the legs and they’ll continue to crawl after you. Once you kill them they melt into a gory puddle of blood, bones, and cartilage. Reading the manual, the T-Abyss virus overloads and transforms the subject’s cells into spongy membranes, their one and only desire is to sustain themselves with water, which I thought was a nice aside from flesh driven zombies. Which is also apparently why they melt once killed. Head shots do critical hits, but this is probably the first Resident Evil game ever where it is more feasible to disable the creature’s arms and stun it for a melee take down. I’ve saved more ammo aiming for the torso and arms then executing melee attacks than attempting to go for head shots. 

The reason the game play is so nerve wracking are the limited resources bestowed upon you. As you go through the game you can find hidden ammo caches with a scanner called the Genesis Device. It is a game play gimmick that is absolutely needed. You can easily bring up the scanner at anytime by pressing up on the d-pad and if a little circle in the bottom right glows yellow, something hidden is nearby. You can also scan enemies, once an enemy is fully scanned it’s green outline turns white so you know which ones you’ve scanned. Every time you fill the scanning bar to 100% you get a free health herb. There are hidden hand prints to scan too and they unlock weapons and costumes for the single player campaign and Raid mode.  There is also an awesome new feature where you can apply custom upgrades to acquired weapons in both the single player campaign and Raid mode. You can apply upgrades to any weapon class it is available for, Pistols, Shotguns, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, and Magnums. You can apply them, and remove them and place them onto another gun. I wish I knew that half way through my first play through, I was paranoid to apply my damage boost to the starting pistol I never thought I would use again. But that is not the case. 

The story itself is presented episodically. At the beginning of each chapter you are shown a “Previously on Resident Evil Revelations” which plays the pre-rendered cut scenes of previous chapters to fill you in if you manage to put the game down. Thankfully, they can be skipped. The cut scenes are nothing special, they are downscaled, muddy, the 3D effect is like watching any 3D video off of the Nintendo Video or Nintendo Zone apps. It has that shiny gloss but nothing eye-popping. The game itself looks fantastic for a 3DS game, with a few loading hitches. Elevators and door lobbies to the next area bring the frame rate to a standstill, but enemies are never in these areas so game play is not affected. Monster spawns are another matter though, the game lapses every time another monster is introduced into an area. Kill a monster, it is very obvious another one is oozing out of a nearby vent or duct nearby because the game has just chugged. When they’re on the screen and attacking or bosses destroy terrain, everything runs fluently. 

Raid mode is the faster paced cousin to Mercenaries mode. As you go through story missions, you unlock them for play in Raid mode, you run through the same stage with increased enemy placement. Their level is locked to the stage, so you can revisit the earlier stage with your awesome level 20 gear and just slaughter enemies with one shot.

Weapons and upgrades are unlocked through found cases in the stages, or can be bought from a store with BP (acquired currency accumulated through the story campaign, Raid stage runs, or completed Missions) or Nintendo Play Coins. Every time you enter the store it is random, so if you don’t see a weapon you want just exit and re-enter. Make sure you know what you have though because if there is a rare or legendary weapon (some of them are truly awesome, I found a long barrelled Magnum called the “Pale Rider” that deals 9958 damage with no upgrades) you should buy it because it won’t be there next time.

The online play is easily accessible, you can engage in local play, or find a stranger online to play with. Communication is non-existent, but the objective is usually straight forward enough where it doesn’t dampen the experience. Playing with strangers nets you a “Mission” which are Revelation’s “achievements/trophies.” You have to seek them out and kill their infected avatar in another stage, and they usually have a rare drop. There are preset Missions like “Reach level 10, 20, etc.” “Kill 5 Hunters” etc. and unlocking them yields BP or some other reward like a custom part or even an alternate outfit. 

The new characters introduced are memorable as well. Let’s see, Resident Evil 5 introduced Sheva, Joshua, Excella, and that annoying dude who turned into a tentacle tonsil. Everyone else was recurring. Resident Evil Revelations has Parker Luciani, a new, likable, fourth-wall-breaking playable protagonist. Jessica Sherawat, an annoying, overtly sexualized…thing. Her only two motivations are Chris Redfield and expensive dinners. Her combat gear is “practical and subtle.”

Keith Lumley (call sign Grinder) a laid back BSAA agent, who has an awesome melee attack in Raid mode. Quint Cetchem (call sign Jackass, yes really) who is a likable, amusing tech geek. Raymond Vester, an unusual, wrinkled faced, swoop haired Conan O’Brian look-alike. Clive O’Brian is introduced as the head of the BSAA. Morgan Landale is the primary antagonist running the show from behind the scenes, he quotes Dante’s The Divine Comedy frequently. And Jack Norman, first introduced as the antagonist and the leader of the bio-terrorist group “Veltro.”  

The sound and music get a special mention as well, I haven’t walked away humming Resident Evil themes since Outbreak. The sound design is fantastic as well, I’d recommend playing with headphones on for two reasons, one some of the gunshots pop rather loudly, and I don’t know if that will damage the speakers, but on a more positive note, the grunts, grumbles, groans, and sloshing noises of the creatures. The T-Abyss virus doesn’t completely kill all of it’s victims, they become shadows of their former self, unaware of their current state of transformation, some will remark “I’m human” or “It hurts” and it’s spine-chilling. To hear the anguished whispers of the creatures around the bend is fantastic in a morbid kind of way. 

Highlights:

-Circle Pad Pro, it’s not a flop

-The writing and likable new characters

-The new weapons, controls, upgrades

-The new monster designs

-Raid mode

-The music

Negatives

-Jessica Sherawat, she’s that annoying

 -AI partners are useless. Even as decoys, the monsters always gun for you. 

-Graphical hitches when monsters spawn

-Loud gun shot pops when the device is turned up all the way

-The fact they try and tie up lose ends to justify the existence of Resident Evil 5. I would have been totally ok with them doing a history reboot and accepting this as the canonical 5.