Resident Evil Revelations

by Brian Riggsbee

How It All Started

My first exposure to the Resident Evil series was watching a neighbor play the original on PlayStation. It wasn’t until the GameCube remake of Resident Evil that I finally dove into a Resident Evil game. I was instantly hooked, and played it through multiple times. I was ready to consume all things RE.

Fast forward and, after wrapping up Resident Evil 4, I was caught up on all the series had to offer at the time. By the time I had the opportunity to play Resident Evil 5 I had heard enough about the frustrations of the AI partner and the mixed reviews, and I decided to skip it. Then RE6 came along and snippets of info was enough to scare me away from that one. It just felt like a strange deviation from what attracted me to the series.

Once RE7 was announced I had grown eager to return. This is a game that reminded me why Resident Evil is one of my favorite series. It looked and felt amazing. The environments were truly terrifying, and I actually jumped a few times. It defined what survival horror should always be.

Enter Revelations

Which brings me to Resident Evil Revelations. Purchased for the PlayStation 4, I figured I would give it a shot. Knowing nothing about it, I placed my order.

Sadly, the experience fell flat for me:

  • It’s far too linear, with extremely straight forward puzzles (if you can even call them that).
  • The episodic format is just plain annoying. Why does Capcom feel the need to interrupt action with an archaic grading system? Do we really need a “previously on...” after every short level? This isn't an arcade game.
  • The story frequently jumps around between characters, locations, and times haphazardly. Consequently, the story is slow and dry, and you never get to identify with any of the characters.
  • For survival horror, it’s missing the “horror.” Everyone is a silly Hollywood action caricature and the monsters are so casually tossed in from the start that there is zero suspense, zero fear, and zero sense of danger.
  • The dialogue is cringe worthy and speckled with blatant sexism. And the women are highly sexualized in a way that is absurd.
  • You are hit over the head with guidance, even in the most obvious of situations, in the form of map markers and NPC chatter. This kills the sense of discovery.
  • Having an NPC partner adds little to the game. Enemies mostly ignore them as they fire shots that seem to do little to no damage. And there is a formula that is reused throughout the game where the NPCs point you in the right direction, follow you, wait at a place you need an item to engage with, and repeat.
  • Ammo reappears in locations you have already been. It's an immersion killer.
  • The scanning mechanic is tedious. You kill an enemy and scan it, and then scan the entire room, over and over again.

This wouldn't be the first time that a Resident Evil title let me down. Zero and Outbreak, while promising concepts, didn't deliver to their full potential, just for different reasons.

There is a bright side to Revelations, however: the sequel.

A Bright Spot in the Sequel

I was gripped from the start. The team mechanics are sensible, the monsters more terrifying, and the environments are engrossing. While it still is more linear than I prefer my RE games, it gives off the illusion of being free roaming. 

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 shines in so many places the original failed to. Compared to the first entry, Revelations 2 has:

  • A greater sense of exploration
  • Some scary moments (more is better than none, right?)
  • Better music
  • Characters are much more specialized
  • Richer, deeper gameplay
  • Diversity of environments
  • There's no swimming mechanic anymore (thank the gods)

Overall it feels like a very different game. The biggest similarities are that you are always operating as a pair, although in the original the notion of having a teammate was a total farce. In Revelations 2 your teammate is highly valuable, and extremely specialized. I found myself rhythmically toggling between partners in order to search, fight, and solve puzzles. Although there’s still a bit of the tedious nature in this dynamic, such as relying on one particular half of the pair to properly search.

There are some areas where, despite being a great game, Revelations 2 fails to meet its full potential:

  • Inventory management is a constant chore. I found myself often going through a routine of passing ammo to the character that can use it, and freeing up space.
  • While this sequel doesn’t hit you over the head with instructions as much as the original, it still does more so than it needs to. For example, I came across a brick wall with a giant X on it. When I explored it I was informed I needed a drill. And when I say explore, I mean in the non-diegetic sense where text appeared on screen to slap me in the face. This type of spoiler ruins that aha moment you would have had when you found the drill. Allowing players to make connections is paramount to good design.
  • Scanning for items with your counterpart's ability, while still tedious like the scanning mechanic of this game's predecessor, at least fits better into the game world. For example, using a flashlight to seek out items is a nice touch. However, constantly toggling to the flashlight character hurts the cadence of the gameplay.
  • Grading, like the original, remains pointless. Unlike the original, Revelations 2 adds a “next time” spoiler that you need to quickly skip. This isn’t a TV show and I don’t see the benefit in pretending it is.

Revelations 2 seems to have been heavily influenced by games like The Last of Us, and mostly for the better. There’s the middle aged man and mysteriously important little girl dynamic. There’s the character that can essential wall hack. There’s stealth zombie kills. And you can sprint. Obviously TLOU didn’t invent any of these themes or mechanics, but the connection is clear.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, Revelations 2 was great fun. I was constantly engaged with the level design, characters, and themes. And it still holds up fairly well today. If you are thinking of checking it out, feel free to skip Revelations 1 (just read a quick synopsis).

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