Resident Evil Revelations – Nautical Zombies

As with many games being ported from a hand-held gaming device, Resident Evil Revelations feels and looks a bit under-cooked for a PC release. That doesn’t mean the game is bad, but it means it comes with certain quirks, much like the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker release for Xbox 360. The maps are confined, and fairly linear with a minimum of exploration, on top of the dreaded episodic nature of the levels (to be played on the go). Despite this, I had some fun with this title, as I find the CAPCOM zombie survival campiness entertaining, especially with their proven third-person controls. 

Mutation madness
Living in the world of Resident Evil can’t be fun, seeing as the city you are living in can at any moment be turned into a mutant/zombie filled hellscape. Earth in this world has an incredibly high terrorist per capita ratio, with maniacs ready to end themselves and the world for whatever reason. Store out of milk? Bio-terror time! Usually, the events end in the most extravagant way possible, involving grotesque body horror in all forms. Not the most secure fictional place to live, and wouldn’t you know it, it happened again!

This time, the floating metropolis of Terragrigia was up for slaughter. The evil bioterrorists Veltro decided that this marvel of a city needed to go, and released a new form of virus into the population. The paradise city soon became pure chaos, and it was quickly decided to nuke it from orbit, quite literally. A giant satellite had its steel-melting eye turned to the city, and promptly sunk it to the bottom of the sea like Atlantis. This was done to contain the outbreak, and secure the mainland from the mutated monsters.

The fate of Terragrigia has the BSAA scrambling to track the terrorists, putting you in control of all kinds of agents working under them. The main character is the good looking Jill Valentine, with the main setting being the cruise ship Zenobia. The game switches around the protagonists and backgrounds, depending on where in the story you are, since a big part of it is flashbacks that explain the plot and character motivations. This setup felt confusing in the beginning, but eventually it will all make sense. I promise. However, I have never liked having multiple protagonists in a game, as it dilutes the gameplay a tad, and the player connection to the lead. Especially so, since only Jill will find and use upgrades. Other characters will use whatever weapon they have been given.

Regardless, the story was entertaining, seeing as it contains everything crazy (aka Japanese) that CAPCOM is known for when it comes to this franchise. There is even an agent going by the callsign “Jackass”, that probably tells everything about that guy. The story suffers for the same reason as the gameplay: it’s way too fragmented thanks to the episodic nature of the game. All in all, though, it’s an entertaining spin-off story that doesn’t disappoint, but it does not contain any overly cool surprises either.

Dodge to live
If you have played any Resident Evil games since Resident Evil 4, you know what you get here. The third-person action and camera work are top-notch. And it’s just damn fun shooting & kicking the weird sea-based mutations. In the beginning of the game, there is a pretty brutal segment that teaches you to dodge by force. The game leaves you without any weapon, and the only way to make it out alive is to quickly learn to dodge and run fast. It took me a while to make it through this part of the game, and frankly, the dodge button is probably the only complaint I have, since it never felt natural to me.

You see, it’s not mapped to a button on the gamepad, it’s mapped to the movement stick. You need to press up just at the right moment to dodge, and sure, I got the hang of it somewhat, but it felt awkward to use from the introduction to the end. I really wish they would have mapped it to a regular button instead.

There’s a scanner involved in the gameplay, which I totally forgot about after taking a break from the game. With this scanner, you can scan creatures and the environment. When you have scanned enough weird mutations, you are granted a green health herb. And when scanning the environments, you come across extra ammo and grenades. Like I said, I forgot this aspect, so about half the game, I struggled with ammunition, as I couldn’t find enough. But as soon as I remembered this mechanic, things became a lot easier. So, make sure to scan! The scanner is also used in a few puzzles, which was how I was reminded of it. Big facepalm moment at the time for me.

Team of two
Just like Resident Evil 5 and 6, the mission will be a two-man operation. You don’t have to think or even acknowledge your partner, since he or she has infinite ammo, and can’t die. They are mostly there for a narrative reason, and to provide some comfort in the spookier parts. You feel it when you are left to fend for yourself, which is cool. “Are you really letting me do this alone, partner?” – kind of vibes when that happens. It feels like a missed opportunity, however. Since there is no co-op from what I know (for the campaign), and your AI partner is never required for anything. No puzzles, and as he or she can’t die, there is never any stress game related to your partner.

Resident Evil Revelations also comes with a “Raid” mode that has online functions, but I never touched it, so I can’t say what it involves. My only reason for playing was the campaign!

The zombie look
The game looks passable at best, but it’s hard to deny that the low texture and the cramped environment don’t have its own charm. It certainly feels like some kind of long-lost survival horror title from the PS2 era, yet with modern third-person controls. The graphics didn’t bother me too much though, the biggest annoyance is the limited spaces of the maps. As mentioned, they are tiny, with levels being completed far before they start for real. Just when you are getting into the groove, it’s suddenly over.

There’s one thing I have to point out that’s both weird and hilarious simultaneously. The scale is off, not by much, but it’s there. So all the furniture looks like it was made for incredibly large people. The environment comes off as amusingly oversized when searching for loot, seeing as the tables almost reach up to Jill’s chin. Either the BSAA only hires tiny people, or the ship was constructed for giants. 

Music, sounds, and voice acting are good. I enjoyed the sound of the sea, and the creaking of a ship taking one too many hits over the years. Its setting has a nice atmosphere. However, the new voice actor for Chris felt odd. He sounded way too much like Ezio from Assassin’s Creed 2, which is a role he also did.

Conclusion
While being entertaining in a classic Resident Evil kind-of-way, the faults entirely lie with the short episodic structure of the game. It drags down the game, unfortunately. The levels are over too quick, and the character jumping does not help. The story was fun, though, and the setting was cool – being an old creepy cruiser. But I felt the engine limitations kinda wasted the potential of the narrative, and the gameplay, for that matter. By it being a spin-off, most of the issues can be excused that way, and in general I had fun, but I wouldn’t recommend getting it for full price. If you can find it cheap, like I did, it is definitely worth a playthrough if you like the series.

Thanks for reading.

/Thomas