Is it time for another Jill Sandwich already?
Now I only played the demo for the original Resident Evil Revelations on 3DS, but ultimately was impressed with the look and feel of the game. It was genuinely scary for the first time in ages when it comes to the Resident Evil franchise and after the disappointment of past games, it was a nice change of pace to actually get an impressive one. Now it finally hits consoles, but does the atmosphere that the 3DS brought still intact in the HD era?
The story is set in-between Resident Evil 4 and 5 and stars Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield with their BSAA partners, Parker Luciani and Jessica Sherawat as they uncover the T-Abyss virus and is spread across the abandoned ship “Queen Zenobia” and the city of Terragrigia. In terms of story, Revelations feels more of a side-story and isn’t really that important to the Resident Evil canon and as with most games in the series, has some questionably cheesy dialogue to boot but it’s a nice story nonetheless and well worth investing in for those hardcore Resi fans.
The gameplay remains the same as before with low ammo, tight quarters, scanning enemies and an AI partner to help you…even if they aren’t all that helpful. Enemies are varied and will test you as well as give you the occasional scary jump, something that’s been seriously lacking from Resi over the years. The locations are nice and the ship does feel reminiscent of the Mansion from the original game, although of course not nearly as memorable, but still fun to explore.
Raid Mode has been improved with online play, new weapons and the ability to play as Hunk and other characters from the series, as well as DLC to unlock others. The transition from 3D handheld to HD consoles hasn’t been the best though, textures look incredibly dated at times and some look awful, while the character models are average at best and the cutscenes are a mixed bag, voice-acting is also pretty mixed while the music is good and atmospheric.
The Verdict
Resident Evil Revelations was well received when it came out on 3DS, it was a nice return to form for the series and while I’m glad it made it to consoles, I would have loved for it to have had a bit more shine and polish. Other than that, it’s a damn good game and no matter what format you play it on, Revelations does deserve your attention.