Resident Evil Revelations 3DS Review

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"RESIDENT EVIL REVELATIONS" Any true Resident Evil fan read that in the title screen voice over which has been part of every Resident Evil game (also for some reason is still terrifying). I have been a fan of the series for a long time and I am now at the stage where I buy any new Resident Evil game (not Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City, we all know that is not a real RE game). To be honest this series has been disappointing lately. I was nervous for this game, but Capcom finally made another good RE game.

I am reviewing the game for the 3DS (again played on a 2DS because that is what I have). This game did come out for Xbox 360 and PS3, but I have not played those versions. This is a straight up 3DS review.

There are two different modes in the game and I am going to review them separately, but will start with gameplay:

Gameplay:

I thought the controls for this game were great! It does not play like an action shooter like RE 5 and RE 6. To me it plays a lot like RE 4, but on a 3DS. In my mind RE 4 controls are the closest to perfection in gaming control, so having similar style is a great compliment. You either run from an enemy or you stop and you shoot it, that is survival horror, no run and gunning (or stupid slide moves, yes I am talking about you RE 6).

The weapons are good in this game as well. Multiple versions of handguns, shotguns, etc and there are special power ups so you can really customize your load out. I like this because you can fit your load out to your style. My go to was the rifle and handgun. This really becomes important in Raid mode.

Nothing really special to note about the enemies. Dog are terrible to deal with as usual. There was one part where I felt completely overwhelmed against enemies because not only was there multiple enemies in a tight spot, but a time limit as well, not ideal.

Again overall great controls, I am still going to complain about something. I hate the idea of the Genesis scanner. Switching to it was annoying. It was just used to make you scan everything, which slows down game progress. There really isn't anything like this in the series before this, so I am not sure why they added it. At no point did I say "Yes finally I can scan that goop on the floor! I have always wanted to do that!"

Story Mode:

Resident Evil plots are pretty standard: You are trapped in BLANK. This time the blank is a ship. One thing this game does that is not typical of RE games until this game (and RE 6) is that there are multiple playable characters and locations. So I lied above, the main area you are trapped in is a ship, but you are also trapped in a city/building and a secret snowy base. Surprise, surprise, one of these locations is much much better than the other two, hint hint it is the game's main location.

With the multiple locations are multiple characters. You have the classics of Chris and Jill (these two may need a survival horror intervention, just stop putting yourself in these situations), but you also have newcomers Parker, Jessica, Quint, and Keith. New playable characters are completely hit or miss in the RE series and these new players are no different. I completely didn't like two, one was fine, and I liked one and hope he would return in a future game (I may have pictured him below). 1 out of 4 is not great new player success rate.

Parker maybe you will STAR in a new RE game??? (pun intended)
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To be honest, I am not sure why they needed all these locations and characters. Seems like they built a elaborate story for the game, and made the gameplay fit in that story. It would have been very easy to adjust the story to just be on the ship with Jill and Parker. The story is completely B Horror film story too, which I am completely fine with and typical for RE series. Don't come for A+ story.

To help fit multiple locations and characters, this game plays out in chapters, which there are 12. RE has been doing this for a while now, started in RE 5, but chapters, even if your supplies carry over between chapters, make it seem less like a survival horror game. In RE 4, I was saving the game in some random shack, there was no end of chapter celebration. In games before RE 4, I was conserving ink ribbons to save the game. I believe I read they did this to make the game more mobile and not require long sessions to play, which in theory makes sense, I just don't agree with it.

I got about 10 hours of gameplay out of the Story Mode, which I think is good value for a 3DS game.

Raid Mode:

I thought this would be a pass over mode that I would try and really not play. Boy was I wrong! This mode is outstanding! I played this mode longer than the story mode and I only got through a third of it! Whoever came up with this mode at Capcom, needs to get promoted. So addictive.

This mode basically turns the game into a RPG game, where you replay the locations from the Story Mode, with different enemy layout and enemy difficulty. You decide what you want to bring in and how you want to tackle it. The better you do, the better the rewards, which prepare you for the next level. You play with whichever character you want to and each character has different abilities, like reload speed for certain weapons.

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One gameplay change in this mode is a health bar above the enemy, which you can see in the picture above. Love this addition. Saving ammo is key in this mode as well, so knowing how many bullets you will need to take down an enemy is super helpful. I felt that I could be more surgical with my handgun and rifle shots.

I think if they made a RE: Raid Mode game with all our favorite locations, make it highly playable online with friends, it would sell like crazy. So Capcom, if you are reading this, just do it.  This mode seems like the tip of an iceberg for a mode/game that could redefine RE forever.

Final Verdict: B+

Good Story mode + great controls + return to survival horror + excellent Raid mode = a must own for 3DS survival horror fans.

Bonus Rant

Resident Evil Revelations 2 came out this week for practically everything except 3DS. Sigh Capcom.... Really? I mean really? I know there was an article out there explaining that "the engine used was the same as the port from RE Revelations to PS3 and Xbox 360 and that engine does not work on 3DS." Fine, okay, whatever you say, but why on earth did you call it RE Revelations 2? You could have called it anything. RE 7 or RE Code Veronica 2 (since it does have a same main character as RE CV) or RE Episodes (that is a different rant). At least in all the trailers and articles I read, Chris, Jill, Parker, or anyone from the first game are not going to be in it. Personally, I think it is a dumb decision, but I guess whatever floats their boat.