Resident Evil Revelations 2
Platform: Windows, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Author: K.D.
Resident Evil Revelations 2 picks up the mantle of horror survival, and unlike some of its predecessors, it’s a solid throwback to the original horror style Shinji Mikami with a few new twists! For those unfamiliar with the Resident Evil series, here’s a quick breakdown. Bad people are trying to play God and extend their lives indefinitely, throwing away countless numbers of lives trying to perfect their drug disguised as a pharmaceutical company called Umbrella, and later, Tricell. Typical, biohazard people doing weird stuff for the sake of doing weird stuff and self-interest.
The story for Resident Evil thus far is pretty complex and convoluted, so it’s hard to recap it in broad strokes so this one makes sense. Our main characters in Rev 2 are Claire Redfield, Moira Burton, Barry Burton (Moira’s dad), and Natalia, a mysterious little girl found on the Island. So Claire and Moira are working for a company called Terra Save in an attempt to save the world from the zombpocalypse threat and are at a soirée (‘cause they’re classy like that) commemorating their awesome. They get drugged and thrown onto a strange island where they are subject to a test: injected with a deadly, mutating disease, will they survive or not? Running in parallel, Barry reaches the island where Moira and Claire were reportedly taken to HALF A YEAR AGO. He meets Natalia and they travel as a pair in the search for Moira and Claire. As fate would have it, the player decides in a moment of pure panic whether or not Moira survives. Totally unfair. Everyone else survives, but in a twist of fate Natalia can become the very person who has imprisoned them. Convoluted.
‘Cause climate change is a real issue!
Buuuuuuuuuut, as odd and unbelieveable as this story is, the gameplay is pretty interesting! First of all, it’s split-screen or online co-op, and THAT’s really wicked. You see, only one character gets a weapon (until Moira upgrades her crowbar) in each pairing and the other serves as a lookout. Moira uses a flashlight that can momentarily discombobulate zombies allowing Claire the opportunity to knock them down and stab them in their icky, already-dead hearts. Barry is a walking arsenal of bullets and doom, and Natalia has the innate ability to sense nearby enemies, even through walls. Revelations 2, like the more recent Resident Evil games, is a 3rd person, over-the-shoulders shooter action/survival. Moira and Natalia can also find hidden items that shine bright like a diamond (Rihanna would be proud), which can be anything from extra ammo to points that go towards upgrading skills.
The Raid feature replaces the Mercenaries mode for some solo or co-op (splitscreen and online) fun! Players start off with Claire and Barry and progress through mini-missions where players either kill a certain amount of enemies while working towards an objective, or protect a target from being attacked by many waves of enemies. It IS an elimination mode though, you can’t progress until you kill the required enemies to receive a key to the next area or wipe out a certain number of enemies per wave. There are loads of new enemy types that show up in Raid mode that honestly suck to deal with, such as the Scagdead (or the floppity flip flop floopy), or elite enemies that get buffed up to either be super quick, shocking, burning, icy, coated in armor, coated in gold, equipped with poisonous farts, or to be giants. And these are just for the normal Raid mode missions. Every once in a while (every week, I believe), REnet comes out with an even that lasts all week. For example, “Land of the Giants” is a mission where EXTREMELY giant zombies are ever so slowly walking towards the players’ island and they have intensely high hp. The goal is to communally kill them, adding the damage from your session to other online players’ sessions. Or an all elite fight. Or a timed elite fight. Whatever REnet needs to do in order to have fun at the players’ expenses, really.
Thelonius, my man!
The graphics are pretty great, as per usual. Resident Evil cinematics are always intensely detailed and realistic in terms of what people look like and how they move, barring Chris Redfield from Resident Evil 4 where his arms were built like tree trunks and he punched a solid BOULDER blocking his path to oblivion and back. But I digress. Graphics in Revelations 2 keep up with current gen (especially seeing as it is also available for PS4 and Xbone), and from the creepy new monsters (like the invisible mosquitos of DOOOOOOOOOM*) to wading through pools of blood, this game is seriously messed up and the minds from which it spawned must be riddled with issues. Glorious, macabre issues.
There are tons of reasons why one may replay this game, or even just an individual chapter. Whether you’re trying to figure out the point where Moira could possibly survive because you accidentally got her killed (that’s right, I know you did—be ashamed); or you’re simply trying to find all of the BSAA emblems or whatever they are in this one; or the hidden Kafka messages; or those weird little bugs Natalia always seems to be killing; I promise that there are at least those many reasons to replay! I even replayed it to enjoy the deliciously disturbed storyline (and maybe I should see a psychologist about that). Raid mode is always fun, ESPECIALLY if you unlock the sword. I run around swinging it like a lightsaber, sounds et al., and have a blast!
Here’s a hint how to get it: get 90 medals to unlock cipher, then pour ALL of his skill points into the sword and then inherit it so your favourite character can, then, unlock and use it too.
Enjoy! I know I did/do.
My exact face when I realised how much money I would save with Geico.
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