Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is quite a different experience than the first game, especially if you play co-op local with a friend. But the truth is, the “friend” is going to have to settle for being a helpless victim for the most part. See, Claire Redfield is back and she has another chick along with her…who immediately refuses to use a gun (which caused my gaming partner to groan with disappointment). This sidekick is essentially the flashlight specialist, using it to reveal items to pick up and clues for advancing in the game. She can also temporarily blind monsters so you can get the upper hand.
But wait, there’s more. The game also features two other characters because each chapter has two missions. Barry Burton returns, and he’s partnered with a little girl with psychic powers. So instead of a flashlight, she just points to find items for you and to reveal the locations of upcoming threats. A majority of their missions take place in predominantly the same location as the first Claire mission in each chapter, with just a few varying branching directions and differing tasks.
The good news is that the partner characters don’t seem to take the kind of damage that the main characters with the guns do (good news for the person playing the partner characters, at least). But truthfully, provided you play this one on wimp mode, and despite the bullshit modern autosave checkpoint shit, you very rarely have to replay sections. It’s quite a manageable game.
As this is a more action-oriented game than classic survival horror, you can upgrade weapons if you find spare parts. But you have to find workbenches, and there aren’t many of those. You also get BPs during missions that you can use to upgrade character skills between missions. There are also quick slots on the D-pad for your four favorite weapons, and a one-button hold feature for administering health so you don’t have to go into your inventory.
As for inventory, you actually have plenty of slots because your character gets the same amount you do, and you can pass items back and forth without even being near each other. And the main character has full access to the other player’s inventory to swap back and forth. However, playing with inventory is in real time—no pausing while you fiddle with your goodies. And considering the game has a whole bunch of “combination” options to create bombs and health, things can get tricky during crazy battles. However, the good news about playing with another person is that you can have the weaponless character run around and collect items, mix shit, and pass it to you during battles while you take on the enemies. That’s a huge advantage.
As for disadvantages, there are several. There are boxes that can be unlocked by the minor character that are so pointlessly frustrating and repetitive. There’s nothing fun about the hacking system. Also, there are plenty of times when your objectives are not clear so you end up in panic mode, running around trying to figure out what needs to be done. And the “map” system, which is just a small swirling compass in the upper right corner, is mostly useless. As for the environment, instead of being trapped on a ship as in the first game (blog here), you explore various expansive locations like the newer Resident Evil games.
“I seem to be lost. Do you know the way to Silent Hill?”
Revelations 2 is noticeably derivative of more than just newer Resident Evil games. The entire Barry Burton mission feels very much like The Last of Us, and there are plenty of moments that feel like they were stolen from Alan Wake. And you’d expect to see many of the hellish enemies from this game in Silent Hill rather than Resident Evil. However, it’s the final mission in the last chapter that takes a fresh turn—by going old school! You end up in a mansion, looking for an emblem key! The only odd thing about this is that while there aren’t tons of zombies in the game, the majority of them appear in the section right before you reach the mansion. The mansion is loaded with the newer monsters. Blah! The zombies absolutely should have been reserved for the final awesome throwback—which is making me itch for a Resident Evil 2 remake more than ever.
That feeling for a rehash of an old game was heightened when we moved on to the two extra episodes. Screw that. They’re not extra episodes—they’re completely different games.
“The Struggle” – The aptly named first game blows chunks. You start as the girl who didn’t like guns. She’s now forced to like them fast by a different male character. Next, you learn that you have to shoot animals, which is bad enough as it is, but they are crucial to staying alive, because each one you kill counts as a bonus “life.” See, there’s no saving or autosaving here. You die, you need to start the entire episode over.
Well, we got past collecting animals, which isn’t as easy as it sounds since you’re also attacked by fricking monsters while you’re hunting! We got past several timed segments. Yes, timed. Then, we almost got past an insane battle…which is when we ran out of lives. This was like halfway though the entire game. And this was the moment when we said, “Fuck this game.”
“Little Miss” – I’ll be honest. After the first bonus episode sucked, we looked up a review of this episode to see if it was more of the same crap. It’s equally as bad. It’s ALL STEALTH.
Is it supposed to be fun playing a weaponless character looking for her Teddy bear? I’ll never know, because we didn’t even ditch this bitch…we never bothered to start.
