Resident Evil Revelations

Resident Evil has come along way since its humble beginnings as a PlayStation 1 title. In the last 16 years, there have been 6 full games, with a seventh due by the end of the year, and more spin offs and movie deals that a zombie with all of his rotting digits can count. It can also be argued that the franchise has moved away from the Survival Horror genre it created into the territory of Action/Horror. The latest instalment – Resident Evil Revelations however has different ideas.

From the outset, the game looks and feels like the latest instalment into the series. It has the same over the shoulder look as Resident Evil 4 and 5 and even the character models are similar, although Chris has lost a lot of his bulk since the last time we saw him. The game spends the majority of time in an abandoned cruise ship where Jill Valentine and Parker Luciani are sent to find Chris.

Of course, all is not what it seems and the way the story unfolds is more an old school approach than we have seen in recent times. The cruise liner can quite easily be compared to the mansion from the first game or even the train scenario from Resident Evil 0 as the vessel is lined with unthinkable monsters and has to be navigated in a slow and calm manner and presents an air of claustrophobia.

Resident Evil Revelations brings an element of terror and suspense to the 3DS in a way that has not been seen since the PlayStation days. Enemies will crop up anywhere at anytime and as Capcom have opted to use BOWs instead of Zombies, they can drop, slide or burst through pretty much anything to suck your face off.
The game is set out in episodes (and you are even given a cheesy American TV “previously on Resident Evil Revelations” recap when returning to the game), which cause breaks in the mood in favour for a more action-based approach. This does fragment the game’s story in terms of flow but it does piece together the story in a way that means it wasn’t necessary to have played Resident Evil 5. What the change in pace provides for the game is a chance to show off its control system.

This is where Resident Evil Revelations has no shortage, as there is an almost infinite amount of controls to be implemented. Most are a mix of button and stylus configurations, with the choice of a first or third person aiming perspective. As the aim requires the character to stand still and with a useless AI partner just like Resident Evil 5, this results in a lot of deaths. Thankfully, Capcom have decided to use the Circle Pad Pro accessory and using two sticks instead of one makes the game a whole lot more manageable and highly recommended as the way to play the game.

A well as the Circle Pad Pro, Capcom have incorporated a multiplayer element to Revelations, which allows two players to cooperatively navigate the levels in order to obtain points to spend on weapons. Known, as Raid Mode, the mission is to get from one end of the level to the other. These are tweaked versions of the main game so different enemies will attempt to halt progress where ever possible. Street Pass is also included to send health and ammo to one and other.

Ammo and health from strangers will be greatly appreciated because Revelations isn’t just a game of Resident Evil titles past in terms of story, Capcom have stripped down the Herbs and ammunition to a minimum. What they have saved on ammo however, Revelations makes up for on looks. Visually it is stunning. It pushes the Nintendo 3DS console to another level and there isn’t anything on the system that compares. The 3D is wonderfully implemented so you can judge the distance between an enemy to work out if it is better to run or fight.

The only issue with the 3D is when you notice how far Chris or Jill’s buttocks stick out of the screen, it is hard to take your eyes off them. Another point to rise is the inclusion of a Genesis Scanner. This encourages you to scan any BOW or point of interest that is in the area in return for health items. Since you have to do this during action sequences, the health earned is massively disadvantaged to the health lost.

It seems for every old survival horror point in Resident Evil Revelations there seems to be a deliberate point to counteract this. For Revelations, this unfortunately comes across as muddled. If Capcom took out the utterly diabolical AI that is as useless as a cow on the moon and dialled down the action sequences this would have been the best Resident Evil game since number two. At its heart beats the survival horror game it deserves to be and ticks all the right boxes, great graphics, great story, great controls (with the Circle Pad Pro) and very little ammo to be moving on with.

Be in no doubt that Revelations will have you throwing the Nintendo 3DS across the bed in terror as it is pant wettingly scary. The core of Resident Evil Revelations proves that Capcom can still make the perfect Survival Horror game 16 years after they created the genre. Everything around this proves Capcom just don’t want to.