The first episode of Resident Evil Revelations 2 was a solid foundation. It introduced the game's mechanics, characters and overarching story in a way that wasn't overwhelming...however, it didn't do anything particularly new, either.
It was a good start, but it just didn't do a lot to really draw people in.
Resident Evil Revelations 2: Episode Two has just launched - and, if the first episode was supposed to be a foundation, then the second should build upon it.
Good news: that's exactly what Revelations 2: Episode Two does.
Claire's story picks up sometime after the first episode's ending, and immediately introduces a wealth of new characters. The overall goal is still to try and find out who's behind everything, but there's more of a focus on working together with other survivors. None of these new characters are particularly developed or three-dimensional - one comes with a borderline racist accent, and another disappears and reappears several times for the sake of the plot - but they're of no real detriment to the story. Everything is about getting to that giant, ominous tower in the distance and finding out just what exactly is going on.
This theme continues into Barry's campaign, where the Raccoon City veteran is still trying to catch up with his missing daughter. It's here that the story begins to expand, and at a much faster rate than some may expect. The larger, overarching plot starts to take form rather quickly: hints about a new virus are dropped, the main villain becomes more tangible, and ties to the first Revelations game and the main Resident Evil story are revealed. There are still plenty of mysteries left unsolved; don't worry about that - but there's also a much stronger narrative hook this time around.
Let's put it this way: once the credits role, the wait for the third episode is going to feel a whole lot longer.
