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"[GAME] Resident Evil Revelations - 3DS/360/PS3"

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This thread has been linked to the game 'Resident Evil: Revelations'.
Thu 23/02/12 at 11:08
Regular
"Braaains"
Posts: 439
Resident Evil Revelations for the 3DS is here! And from that title we can assume that it's A) Resident Evil and B) contains revelations. Right? Sort of. It is a Resident Evil game, but it doesn't really shed any light on events in the Resident Evil series. Thought that might be a good thing since it means you can jump into this game without having played any of the previous games in the series. It's also a heck of a lot better than Resident Evil: Mercenaries - a game which Nintendo saw to charge full price for despite it being just the bonus mode from Resident Evil 4.

Revelations mostly takes place aboard an abandoned ocean liner, and is the third Resident Evil game to do so, Resident Evil Gaiden and Resident Evil Dead Aim both having featured similar locations. You do occasionally get to explore other locales, although the main characters don't really leave the ship. Confused? You might well be, since Revelations uses an episodic gaming approach. What this means is that the game is divided into several chapters, a bit like a TV mini series. These chapters quite often start with you playing as peripheral characters then given you control of Jill Valentine and Parker Whatshisface, the game's main characters, usually resolving the cliffhanger from the previous episode. This approach worked surprisingly well in Siren: Blood Curse and it works well here too, although the 'previously on Resident Evil Revelations' bit at the beginning of each episode - thankfully skippable - could do with being a bit shorter. I know what happened - I was playing it yesterday!

Resident Evil has more in common with the first three Resident Evil games that it does with recent outings such as Resident Evil 4 and 5. Fortunately that doesn't mean that it's back to the bad old days of traipsing around collecting parts of a key to open a door or having to wander halfway across the level because you can't fit anything else in your inventory. What it does mean is that whereas Resident Evil 4 and 5 had you roaming around relatively open areas, Resident Evil's levels are largely corridor based. And there are still plenty of monsters to kill - there aren't any zombies this time around, and instead you're fighting off some strange fish based mutants that look like something out of H.P. Lovecraft's nightmares.

Combat in Resident Evil Revelations is, however, something of a hit and miss affair. While Revelations does let you move backwards while shooting, this is so slow that the monsters catch up to you pretty quickly. So combat quite often involves standing still and shooting, running away, turning around, and shooting some more. At least that's the way it works if you've got a long enough corridor to do that. If you run into a door, combat becomes even more stilted. Doors shut behind you automatically, so you can't open a door, go through and shoot through the open doorway. But as soon as you open the door you'll more often than not find the enemy standing right there. And since the game automatically shut the door you just came though, you'll probably take a couple of good hits just trying to get over to a place where you can fire back. The game does have a dodge feature but it's so random that combat as a whole seems to be really hit and miss.

Resident Evil: Revelations does manage to be reasonably scary - it's a gloomier affair than Resident Evil 3 and 4, and the story's pretty good. Although you can probably spot who the bad guy is going to be a mile off. The controls are also okay, considering there's only one joystick - you can buy an add-on circle pad, but you don't necessarily need to. The graphics are great as well - they look easily as good as the likes of Code Veronica on the Playstation, and the 3D effect is put to good use. It's a great game for showing off the 3DS's graphics, and Metal Gear Solid looks to be just as good. Raid mode will also let you play alongside another player - the gameplay in that mode's similar to the Mercenaries game that Nintendo charged full price for. Yes, I know I've mentioned it twice, but I can't get over the cheek of Nintendo/Capcom for doing that.

Resident Evil: Revelations is a reasonably entertaining stand-alone title and it did pull me in enough to see me through to the end. However, unless you're planning on tackling the co-op mode then there's not much point coming back to it. And you're likely to turn your 3DS off quite a few times due to the frustration factor of the game's shooting system. I know I did. Resident Evil Revelations is a good way to show what the 3DS can do, but it's one to rent rather than buy.

Graphics: Excellent. 8 out of 10.
Gameplay: 7 out 10. Okay, but the shooting mechanic is unwieldy.

(review by me, shortly to be posted on Dooyoo.co.uk as well)
Thu 06/06/13 at 14:06
Regular
"Monochromatic"
Posts: 18,487
Hannard wrote:
Resident Evil has more in common with the first three Resident Evil games that it does with recent outings such as Resident Evil 4 and 5. Fortunately that doesn't mean that it's back to the bad old days of traipsing around collecting parts of a key to open a door or having to wander halfway across the level because you can't fit anything else in your inventory.

* Chokes *
Some of us much preferred that to the all-out action nonsense of Res 4.
Tue 04/06/13 at 11:43
Regular
"Braaains"
Posts: 439
Oddly enough, this game has now been released on PS3/360. This isn't a practice that happens a lot, and the last time I remember a handheld game being released on an ordinary console was when Rockstar put out Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories/Vice City Stories. The overall sentiment with those games seemed to be .. 'Hey, people have enjoyed this on the PSP. Why not give PS2 owners a chance to play?' With Resident Evil: Revelations, on the other hand, I suspect that Capcom realised RE6 was mediocre and wasn't selling well, and saw Revelations as a chance to at least half redeem the brand.

And does it do that? Sort of, yes. It's a lot better than RE6 and a good game in its own right, although despite the title there are no real revelations to be found in the game. You can read the main review below, since most of what I've said about the 3DS version applies equally here. The main big change is that you can use both joysticks to control the characters by default, whereas on the 3DS you had to buy a circle pad to do this.

The graphics, on the other hand, aren't quite up to scratch. Granted, this is to be expected since the 3DS is far less powerful than the PS3 or 360. They don't look terrible and they have been tweaked, but you'll notice things like slightly low res textures compared to normal PS3/360 games. Another problem is that this is being sold as a full price release, and Capcom must be raking it in given the minimal work they've done on converting it.

So is it worth buying on PS3/360? It's worth renting, certainly, and the co-op mode is kind of fun, but there are better survival horror and better co-op games out there, whereas on the 3DS you didn't have a great deal of choice. Left 4 Dead, for example, is a great 360 zombie hunting title that can be played co-op. This is worth a rental, and maybe a purchase when it gets to the sub £15 mark.
Thu 23/02/12 at 12:00
Moderator
"possibly impossible"
Posts: 24,985
Good review. Much as I love the idea of the games, Resi games have never gelled with me.
Thu 23/02/12 at 11:08
Regular
"Braaains"
Posts: 439
Resident Evil Revelations for the 3DS is here! And from that title we can assume that it's A) Resident Evil and B) contains revelations. Right? Sort of. It is a Resident Evil game, but it doesn't really shed any light on events in the Resident Evil series. Thought that might be a good thing since it means you can jump into this game without having played any of the previous games in the series. It's also a heck of a lot better than Resident Evil: Mercenaries - a game which Nintendo saw to charge full price for despite it being just the bonus mode from Resident Evil 4.

Revelations mostly takes place aboard an abandoned ocean liner, and is the third Resident Evil game to do so, Resident Evil Gaiden and Resident Evil Dead Aim both having featured similar locations. You do occasionally get to explore other locales, although the main characters don't really leave the ship. Confused? You might well be, since Revelations uses an episodic gaming approach. What this means is that the game is divided into several chapters, a bit like a TV mini series. These chapters quite often start with you playing as peripheral characters then given you control of Jill Valentine and Parker Whatshisface, the game's main characters, usually resolving the cliffhanger from the previous episode. This approach worked surprisingly well in Siren: Blood Curse and it works well here too, although the 'previously on Resident Evil Revelations' bit at the beginning of each episode - thankfully skippable - could do with being a bit shorter. I know what happened - I was playing it yesterday!

Resident Evil has more in common with the first three Resident Evil games that it does with recent outings such as Resident Evil 4 and 5. Fortunately that doesn't mean that it's back to the bad old days of traipsing around collecting parts of a key to open a door or having to wander halfway across the level because you can't fit anything else in your inventory. What it does mean is that whereas Resident Evil 4 and 5 had you roaming around relatively open areas, Resident Evil's levels are largely corridor based. And there are still plenty of monsters to kill - there aren't any zombies this time around, and instead you're fighting off some strange fish based mutants that look like something out of H.P. Lovecraft's nightmares.

Combat in Resident Evil Revelations is, however, something of a hit and miss affair. While Revelations does let you move backwards while shooting, this is so slow that the monsters catch up to you pretty quickly. So combat quite often involves standing still and shooting, running away, turning around, and shooting some more. At least that's the way it works if you've got a long enough corridor to do that. If you run into a door, combat becomes even more stilted. Doors shut behind you automatically, so you can't open a door, go through and shoot through the open doorway. But as soon as you open the door you'll more often than not find the enemy standing right there. And since the game automatically shut the door you just came though, you'll probably take a couple of good hits just trying to get over to a place where you can fire back. The game does have a dodge feature but it's so random that combat as a whole seems to be really hit and miss.

Resident Evil: Revelations does manage to be reasonably scary - it's a gloomier affair than Resident Evil 3 and 4, and the story's pretty good. Although you can probably spot who the bad guy is going to be a mile off. The controls are also okay, considering there's only one joystick - you can buy an add-on circle pad, but you don't necessarily need to. The graphics are great as well - they look easily as good as the likes of Code Veronica on the Playstation, and the 3D effect is put to good use. It's a great game for showing off the 3DS's graphics, and Metal Gear Solid looks to be just as good. Raid mode will also let you play alongside another player - the gameplay in that mode's similar to the Mercenaries game that Nintendo charged full price for. Yes, I know I've mentioned it twice, but I can't get over the cheek of Nintendo/Capcom for doing that.

Resident Evil: Revelations is a reasonably entertaining stand-alone title and it did pull me in enough to see me through to the end. However, unless you're planning on tackling the co-op mode then there's not much point coming back to it. And you're likely to turn your 3DS off quite a few times due to the frustration factor of the game's shooting system. I know I did. Resident Evil Revelations is a good way to show what the 3DS can do, but it's one to rent rather than buy.

Graphics: Excellent. 8 out of 10.
Gameplay: 7 out 10. Okay, but the shooting mechanic is unwieldy.

(review by me, shortly to be posted on Dooyoo.co.uk as well)

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