Resident Evil: Revelations (PS4)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Resident Evil: Revelations

As the years wore on, so did Capcom’s development of the Resident Evil series. While Resident Evil 5 (RE5) felt like a sort of conclusion to the main story, the series’ popularity meant that Capcom would continue development of future numbered entries, including Resident Evil 6 (RE6). In between RE5 and RE6, however, came Resident Evil: Revelations (Revelations), which released in 2012 on the Nintendo 3DS. Developed at the same time as the controversial The Mercenaries 3D, the team behind Revelations wanted to take advantage of the 3DS’ capabilities for handheld while also providing a uniquely portable experience in both the story structure and optional Raid Mode, which would let friends talk to one another as they played the game together. Despite the game’s intention for portable systems, it would receive ports for seventh generation consoles in 2013 and eight generation consoles in 2017.

While I would have jumped straight from RE5 to RE6 for my journey through the series, I also included Revelations, both because it received a PS4 port alongside the other numbered titles and because the Resident Evil Wiki labeled it as a major entry. Playing the game for myself made me doubt its supposed “major entry” status, but I nonetheless found myself feeling mixed on the experience, largely in regards to its technical accomplishments versus its writing.

In 2004, shortly after the events of Resident Evil 4, terrorist group Il Veltro launches an attack on the Mediterranean city of Terragrigia. The Federal Bioterrorism Commission (FBC) attempts to maintain control, but can only stop the attack with the aid of the city’s solar relay satellite, torching all of Terragrigia in the process. A year later, Clive R. O'Brian, head of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA), sends agents Jill Valentine and Parker Luciani to investigate the last known location of Chris Redfield and Jessica Sherawat, who have reportedly gone missing while investigating a possible resurgence from Il Veltro. This leads Jill and Parker to a ship, the Queen Zenobia, where they encounter the mysterious Ooze creatures and fall into a trap set by Il Veltro. Meanwhile, Chris and Jessica confirm that Il Veltro are operating out of an airstrip in the mountains, but O’Brian, who discovers he had given Jill and Parker false intel, sends them to search for their now missing colleagues. In their place, O’Brian sends agents Quint Cetcham and Keith Lumley to investigate the airstrip. The plot thickens once Il Veltro reveals their plans to unleash a new virus upon the world: the t-Abyss virus.

Jill and Parker investigate the Queen Zenobia.

My mixed feelings begin with the story. I liked certain aspects of the story, including the potentially devastating effects of the t-Abyss virus and a couple of the twists, as well as the idea of another villainous group unaffiliated with Umbrella or Albert Wesker. I also liked the idea of showing more of Chris and Jill’s time in the BSAA before they got separated while raiding the Spencer Mansion and didn’t mind the idea of showing multiple perspectives of the same events through the parallel storylines. Even the story’s Divine Comedy motif has room within a survival horror setting as a way of adding some literary depth.

That said, Revelations doesn’t really take full advantage of its own potential. The multiple perspectives, while interesting on paper, result in a number of starts and stops on different events, which at times negatively affects the pacing and can make the player feel impatient about getting back to the one they found more interesting (in my case, the Queen Zenobia). It certainly doesn’t help here that we occasionally experience the events of the Terragrigia Panic firsthand through flashbacks, which could be more interesting with better placement. These starts and stops could be forgiven if the narrative has very compelling characters the player would want to learn more about, but I didn’t find myself caring that much about most of the new characters, as they didn’t have much of a personality. Two in particular, Quint and Keith, are clearly meant more as comic relief, but aren’t too remarkable otherwise, with the only saving grace that their sections are mercifully short. I also found myself annoyed with Jessica, as she’s oddly almost laser focused on getting Chris’ sexual attention, and I didn’t get that attached to minor character Rachel Foley despite the one moment she came off a little terrifying after her transformation (solely because in the first encounter with her, I had almost no ammo left and hoped I could make her despawn by running away, which was apparently not how stuff worked). The only new character I found kind of interesting was O’Brian due to the twisty nature of his role in the story.

Jessica isn't very compelling.

What also doesn’t help is that the game is broken up into twelve Episodes sub-divided into two or three levels. This format works great for the original portable format, as well as for someone like me still recovering from Gamer’s Thumb who can only play games in shorter chunks. There’s even a “Previously on…” segment between Episodes, which helps if you took a break between play sessions. Played in quick succession, however, the pacing issues are more glaring and the recaps get a little annoying, as the game is reminding you of something you just saw. As if that wasn’t enough, after Episode 11, which features an event a Resident Evil game would traditionally end on (based on my experience playing them back-to-back), there’s actually one more Episode with two of the worst sections in terms of gameplay, all to wrap up a loose end with little build-up. On top of all of that, it’s only at the very end of an epilogue scene that the game features any connections to RE5, which boils down to just teasing that game and establishing that Revelations took place before the raid on the Spencer Mansion.

On a more minor note, there’s other wasted potential in the Divine Comedy motif, which mostly comes down to incorporating well-known quotes (in particular, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter.”) and using some of the names of the Malebranche as the names of different enemies. It would have felt more fitting if the story had woven in other elements of the Divine Comedy, but it’s otherwise rather surface level (unless there’s something subtle that I overlooked).

While Resident Evil veterans will find franchise staples within Revelations, like breaking objects for items or gathering information from looking at certain objects and Files, other gameplay aspects are streamlined to take advantage of its original portable nature. Running doesn’t require holding down another button, you only collect Green Herbs and can use them with a single button press (you have to look at how bloody the screen is to know when to use it since there’s no other health indicator) and swinging the Knife is a dedicated button. There is no inventory system but you can hold up to three different Weapons at once and can switch between Weapons and Subweapons with the d-pad (reloading Weapons and using Subweapons requires aiming), though you can only hold a certain amount of each ammo type and can increase that amount with Ammo Cases. You can cripple enemies, as well as melee stunned ones, and aiming will snap to the nearest enemy, but you have to track them manually afterwards (if you aim at your partner, they’ll simply move out of the way). Enemies won’t follow you between doors, as is tradition, but you can’t kick any doors open to enter and exit a room faster. Since the game is divided into sub-Episodes, you’re graded after each one based on weapon Accuracy, your number of Deaths and your Clear Time.

Ammo Cases are a life saver.

By far the biggest change, however, is that the game finally ditches the (in)famous tank controls that held the series back for three console generations, at last allowing players to move and shoot at the same time. You can even strafe left and right if you really want. In exchange, however, while the swimming controls are decent, you’re completely defenseless underwater outside of a single sub-weapon cleared for underwater use. While you can dodge while you’re aiming, it feels inconsistent and I for the life of me can’t tell you how it works besides “it just does”. By the game’s very design, levels may also require a lot of backtracking and you’ll end up going back and forth through the same levels over and over, which at some point borders on padding.

One other notable change is the introduction of the Weapon Box, which replaces the Item Box and is functionally similar, except you can only store any and all Weapons and Custom Parts you find. While interacting with the Weapon Box, you can freely swap out any Weapons in your inventory or customize them with Custom Parts, as well as the stronger Illegal Custom Parts, that boost certain stats like fire rate or damage output. As a balancing measure, when equipping Custom Parts, you cannot equip two of the same type (ex. you can’t increase ammo capacity or fire rate twice) and certain parts are only compatible with certain weapon types. Picking up a new weapon in the field will immediately make it accessible from the Weapon Box afterwards and, as a neat bonus, if you leave a weapon behind, even one you’ve customized, you can still pick it up again later at the next Weapon Box you come across (this saved me some frustration when I accidentally exchanged my customized AUG for a Rocket Launcher at the end of Episode 7-2). The final boss also has a Weapon Box you can access at any time during the fight, so you don’t have to worry if you had a suboptimal loadout beforehand. As a major downside, however, only Jill can access the Weapon Box, as Chris and Parker can’t interact with it even in sections where they would come across one.

The last mechanic introduced, and one that’s exclusive to Revelations, is the Genesis Scanner, which has its own dedicated button. With the Genesis, you can scan enemies to conduct research and fill up a bar in the corner. Once that bar reaches 100%, you’ll earn a free Herb; as a trade-off, you can’t scan enemies if you have a full bar and Herb inventory at the same time and you have to use the Genesis again if you use an Herb in this situation and want to claim the free one you’ve banked. In addition, you can scan the environment to reveal hidden items or Handprints, the latter of which will grant special rewards if you scan enough of them. While you can move while scanning, scanning the same enemy multiple times in a row will decrease the percentage the bar fills up. While I thought the Genesis Scanner worked fine on paper, I disliked it more as the game went on, as it slowed the pace of the game down in my efforts to scan every room I could or stop mid-combat just to try and get a percentage off of enemies, which resulted in me taking damage more times than I’d care to admit (it doesn’t help that there’s a rather slow scanning speed in the first place).

In another departure from series tradition, none of the characters face zombies and instead fight Ooze creatures that came about as a result of Il Veltro’s experimentation. Each variant of Ooze (Standard, Pincer, Chunk, Tricorn) each have their own unique abilities that provide their own challenge, especially while zooming through rooms during a countdown or while in desperate need of ammo, though certain sections will also have players attacking or evading Globsters and Sea Creepers, the latter of which can’t go on land while the small fish-like Ghiozzo can. The player does still fight swarms of both the traditional dog enemies in the form of the Fenrir and Black Fenrir enemies, as well as Hunters and their upgraded invisible Farfarello counterparts, though additional challenge comes from certain enemies that are effectively mini-bosses, specifically Scagdead, Scarmiglione, a transformed Rachael and the HD-exclusive Wall Blister.

Regardless of the variety of strategies and abilities from the different enemy types, however, that doesn’t change the fact that even when you know exactly how to fight them all, including the annoying Farfarello and Scarmiglione, they’re all bullet sponges. Even on the lowest difficulty setting and relatively high accuracy, it takes too many shots to down an enemy and I at times felt a constant need for more ammo. This even applies to bosses like the first Scagdead encounter and Draghignazzo, who felt like they took ages to defeat even after knowing how to counter them, not helped by the first Scagdead coming with its own supply of Ooze. Malacoda felt different at first because it was a turret section, but the next encounter with actual ammo felt excruciating, as arming and aiming rockets took too much time. Nothing really topped the final boss in terms of unfair mechanics, however, as while I beat it on the first try, his constant teleportation and more precise weak point really takes getting used to.

I’ll also mention that I ran into a glitch during Episode 11-2 where, for some reason, the game randomly decided I couldn’t interact with anything or use any of my weapons…while staring down a room filled to the brim with Hunters. On the upside, I also discovered that going through a door during a Chunk Ooze’s explosion animation negates any and all damage you would have taken.

Of course, I should mention that this time, the Partner system plays like a more stripped down RE5. Whether you’re playing as Jill, Parker, Chris or Keith, you almost always have an AI-controlled partner with you, but you don’t have to manage their inventory and they always have infinite ammo. This can come in handy during some firefights where you’re low on ammo and in a desperate search for more (if you’re not just running past the enemies, that is), though I found their fire rate a bit slow. Whether or not you find them useful will really depend on the player, but if you really need to lean on them, you’d better get good at running or dodging.

Gameplay aside, Revelations looks pretty good in HD, although you can tell it was originally made for the 3DS. This includes a constantly visible minimap originally on the second screen, a menu selection effect that seems to replicate tapping the stylus and the aiming reticle during the turret sections, as well as the level of environmental detail. I appreciate, however, that Chris and Jill still have different knife animations that are consistent with previous games. While a luxury cruise liner is an interesting environment for the series, it seems the series remains shackled to recreating the Spencer Mansion in some way, shape or form (Revelations even explains that the Queen Zenobia’s layout was based on designs by George Trevor, the architect of the Spencer Mansion). Additionally, the Queen Zenobia and Queen Semiramis sharing the exact same layout is a critical plot point, but I couldn’t help feeling it was also a way to save budget. Still, the Queen Zenobia at least looks nice, unlike the designs of the newer characters, with special mention to Raymond Vester resembling a custom character and Jessica insisting on wearing completely impractical outfits. Speaking of outfits, you can change them once you’ve beaten the game.

 

You can tell this was a 3DS game at times.

Although I don’t have much to say about this game’s audio, apart from the solid voice acting, I did notice that it reused sound effects from RE5, likely another cost-cutting measure, and even used other stock sound effects like that generic paper sound you might have heard in countless other games. On the flip side, I liked that some sounds came out of the controller speakers for added immersion and that while the music didn’t stand out much to me this time, I thought one track sounded like it could have come from Tron 2.0.

A review of Revelations would be incomplete, however, if I didn’t bring up the optional Raid Mode, a co-op mode where you fight enemies of varying difficulty. At the start, you can choose to play solo or with a friend, either randomly or in a private match. From there, you can take on twenty Stages and one Bonus Stage among two difficulty levels (Chasm or Trench) with any of twelve playable characters, though you have to unlock eight of them. Each Stage has a recommended Player Level, which increases as you play through Raid Mode, and you have the opportunity to buy Weapons, Parts, Consumables and other helpful modifications with BP, which you earn from both Raid Mode and the main campaign. Once you’re in a Stage, you’ll find a more arcade-like experience where you can’t pick anything up, but enemies will grant various bonuses on death, including additional ammo, or drop Keys that let you enter certain rooms. You’ll also not only see the enemy’s level and remaining health, but encounter different sizes that move with proportional speed. In addition, you can, in a move borrowed from RE5’s DLC, destroy or pick up special emblems for bonus BP. Once you interact with a large floating gold emblem at the end of the Stage, the Stage will end and you’ll be graded based on Accuracy, Enemies Routed, Damage and Clear Time.

Enemies operate a little differently in Raid Mode.

I didn’t play that much of Raid Mode myself, but from what I played, I can see how someone could potentially get addicted to repeat playthroughs and unlocking more stuff so they can access new Stages and make themselves powerful enough to take on the hardest ones. The only downside is that there’s no couch multiplayer option.

Resident Evil: Revelations is an interesting addition to the Resident Evil universe, but while certainly a technical achievement, its writing holds it back from achieving its true potential. I also can’t really say that it’s really a “main entry”, and thus it’s harder to recommend, but if you’re still itching for more Resident Evil content after playing all the numbered entries and Village, then you may still have at least a decent enough time with Revelations.