Back in 2012, Capcom released Resident Evil: Revelations. As a 3DS exclusive, most fans of the franchise thought it would play second fiddle to the upcoming Resident Evil 6.
Surprisingly, Revelations didn't just outshine its console counterpart, but it felt like a sincere apology for everything that had gone wrong with the franchise over the years. It was a return to form, and fans absolutely loved it.
Now, three years later, Capcom has released the first episode of Resident Evil: Revelations 2. Can survival horror succeed in its new episodic format, or is Revelations 2 just cashing in on its predecessor's success?
From a story perspective, Revelations 2 is relatively light. Taking place months after the events of the previous game, Revelations 2 follows the story of Claire Redfield and her partner, Moira Burton. Within the first few minutes, the two are ambushed, kidnapped and left in the middle of a penal colony. Aside from that scene and a few brief snippets of story, there's not a whole lot of exposition.
It's understandable, as the first episode focuses more on introducing gameplay elements than anything else, but barely anything happens outside of the immediate story. Even when the game switches over to fan-favorite Barry Burton and a young girl named Natalia, the story fails to gain any momentum. There are no hints as to who the main villain is, what caused the outbreak, or where Natalia came from - there is some setup between Barry and his daughter Moira, but it doesn't go anywhere in the first episode.
Sadly, the only real motivation to continue only comes during the episode's final moments. It's understandable that Capcom didn't want to tell the entire story right away, but as it turns out, Revelation 2's plot is easily the weakest part of the package.
For a cross-generational game, Revelations 2 looks and sounds great. The game runs at a mostly steady 60 frames-per-second on Xbox One - there are a few hints of choppiness here and there, and some animations are a bit clunky, but it's nothing that'll ruin the experience. The textures, character models and environments all look great, too - the only drawback is that none of Revelations 2 is very original.
A haunted prison and outlying forest aren't exactly the most original locales in survival horror, and shambling zombies/genetic abominations have all been done before - that being said, everything is still very well done. The sound design is a mixed bag: effects and ambiance are great, but the voice acting is relatively uninspired. Barry's voice always seems just a little bit off, and Moira can get a little whiny after a while...but it's not so bad that you'll want to mute the TV.
If there's one thing about the presentation in Revelations 2 that doesn't hold up, it's the pre-rendered cutscenes. The gameplay itself looks great, but when it shifts to a CG movie, Revelations 2 falls apart: the cutscenes are compressed and grainy, the framerate doesn't match up, and both the lip sync and animations are incredibly stiff. Considering the cutscenes represent the only real story in the entire episode, it's a shame that they look so bad - instead of wasting time on lackluster CG, Capcom should have kept everything in-game.
All in all, Revelations 2 is off to a good start. It plays smoothly, it looks great, and while the story may not be a selling point just yet, there's enough here to please long-time fans of Resident Evil. Non-fans may want to wait and see what the rest of the season holds - outside of the story, there's nothing really unique about the experience, so it might be best to try it out with a friend or see what happens with future episodes before buying.
The first episode of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 feels like the opening chapter of a traditional Resident Evil game, which is definitely a good thing - it's just not all that revolutionary on its own.
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