Post by tav7623 on Feb 25, 2015 20:36:12 GMT -5
As a long time gamer and fan of survival horror games I've played a lot of Resident Evil games (I've beaten every one I've played save for RE 4) over the years and while I am not a big fan of the "modern" RE games save for the first Revelations game (which I loved playing on the 3DS), but that dislike of the "modern" RE games hasn't dissuaded me from checking out the series latest entry, Resident Evil Revelations 2. The interesting thing about this newest entry right off the bat is the change in format, instead of the traditional format Capcom decided to go the TellTale games route and release the game episodically. So does this change in format work for the game? Is it the return to the glorious classic RE games? Is the game any good? find out below as I review the first episode of Resident Evil Revelations 2 entitled "The Penal Colony"
Story
The story of Resident Evil Revelations 2 takes place between the events of Resident Evil 5 & Resident Evil 6 and starts off with Claire and members of TerraSave (including Moira Burton, Barry Burton's daughter) being knocked out/kidnapped by a group of armed soldiers/mercenaries. When Claire awakes she finds herself in a dilapidated prison with a strange bracelet on her writs, upon finding Moira the two begin searching for a way out. Meanwhile Barry makes his way to Moira's location after receiving a distress message from her and upon arriving on the island Barry meets a peculiar little girl named Natalia who for some reason has the ability to not only detect enemies, but also point out their weakness. Together Barry & Natalia start searching the island trying to figure out what is going on and find/rescue Moira.
Gameplay
This is by far the hardest and easiest thing to talk about when it comes to this game, it's easy because the game controls pretty much like the first Revelations game so if you are familiar with that game then you should (for the most part) be at home, the hard part is talking about the game's gameplay without spoiling the game especially the partner system which is a big change in gameplay from previous RE games with co-op/partner systems. The game's partner system which if played solo allows you (for the most part) to switch between partners at will. Playing as the secondary partner character (Moira & Natalia) is a bit different than playing the primary partner (Claire & Barry) in that they don't have guns and only have a few skills/abilities that are primarily used to aid the primary partner(Moira has the flashlight & crowbar which allows her to open boarded up doors, find hidden items/collectibles, unlock locked chests, and blind enemies with the flashlight. Natalia has the ability to spot & point out hidden objects, sense enemies as well as their weak spots, pick up bricks to throw/hit enemies & padlocks with, unlock locked chests, and crawl into small spaces) which could lead to some frustration for players who are essentially forced into playing the partner role once online co-op finally goes live. Of the two partner characters Natalia is currently (imo) the better of the two partner characters as she is a lot more helpful and a lot less annoying than Moira. Now there are a few elephants in the room when it comes to the game especially given the game's episodic nature & price tag ($5.99 per episode/$25 for the Complete Season/$40 for the physical release), I's specifically talking about game length, replayability, and Raid mode. In terms of length the main campaign for episode one is approx 2 hours (there are 2 scenarios, each are about an hour long) the first time through (and that's if you take some time to explore from time to time finding one of the three sets of hidden collectables) though beating the main campaign does unlock a series of challenges & modes (Invisible Enemy mode & Time Trial mode) for each scenario which imo really makes the two scenarios very replayable. As for Raid mode it received a overall overhaul making it a bit different than the original Raid mode found in Revelations. Since this section is running a bit long in the tooth I won't go into great detail about the new Raid mode, but I will link to video posted by Capcom detailing the changes to Raid mode at the end of the review and say that this game's version of Raid mode is a nice improvement over the original.
Graphics
Graphically the game on the PS3 looks and runs pretty well with no noticeable slowdown, now I should warn you that I've hear from those who play this on a "next gen" system (PS4/Xbox One) the game suffers from noticeable slow down. Also graphics apparently looks noticeably worst evoking comments that the game looks like a HD remastered PS2 game.
Sound
Overall the sound of Resident Evil Revelations 2 Episode 1 is pretty solid though at time a bit too similar to the first Revelations game.
Scare Factor
Overall the scare factor isn't that high in this episode, but I will say that there were a few jump scares, some of which did get a genuine jump out of me. Also this episode does have a bit going on in terms of spooky/creepy atmosphere, though most of it seems to be more noticeable/apparent in Barry's scenario for the most part.
Pros - Revamped Raid mode is pretty good, solid controls, lots to do in terms of replayablity/ unlockable challenges, the game's Co-OP system (imo) is by far the best in an RE game to date
Cons - Some may find it annoying to be stuck playing as the partner character once online co-op goes live, speaking of which there is no online co-op for either the campaign or Raid mode at launch, there is some obvious usage of recycled elements taken from previous RE games.
Toss up - I'm gonna give this to straight the game's dialogue is something you'd come to expect from a Resident Evil game, we're talking cheesy B movie kinda dialogue with references to older games tossed in for good measure. Unfortunately some of the dialogue feels like it got lost in translation going from Japanese to English and it makes a (supposedly) semi likeable character annoying as hell. Now while I personally am fine with this I feel that others may not which is why I brought this up in the toss up category.
Overall Resident Evil Revelations 2 - Episode 1: The Penal Colony, while far from perfect, is a solid introduction to the game's story which imo tended to get better as it went on. Throw in the revamped Raid mode, plus a lot in the way of replaybility via challenges & collectables and you have a solid overall game despite it's flaws which is why I give episode 1 of Resident Evil Revelations 2 a 7 out of 10. If you are a fan of Resident Evil Revelations (or the series in general) you will more than likely enjoy Revelations 2.
Raid Mode Rundown video
Raid Mode Rundown article
Raid Mode Rundown 2 article
Raid Mode Epissode 1 Characters article
Story
The story of Resident Evil Revelations 2 takes place between the events of Resident Evil 5 & Resident Evil 6 and starts off with Claire and members of TerraSave (including Moira Burton, Barry Burton's daughter) being knocked out/kidnapped by a group of armed soldiers/mercenaries. When Claire awakes she finds herself in a dilapidated prison with a strange bracelet on her writs, upon finding Moira the two begin searching for a way out. Meanwhile Barry makes his way to Moira's location after receiving a distress message from her and upon arriving on the island Barry meets a peculiar little girl named Natalia who for some reason has the ability to not only detect enemies, but also point out their weakness. Together Barry & Natalia start searching the island trying to figure out what is going on and find/rescue Moira.
Gameplay
This is by far the hardest and easiest thing to talk about when it comes to this game, it's easy because the game controls pretty much like the first Revelations game so if you are familiar with that game then you should (for the most part) be at home, the hard part is talking about the game's gameplay without spoiling the game especially the partner system which is a big change in gameplay from previous RE games with co-op/partner systems. The game's partner system which if played solo allows you (for the most part) to switch between partners at will. Playing as the secondary partner character (Moira & Natalia) is a bit different than playing the primary partner (Claire & Barry) in that they don't have guns and only have a few skills/abilities that are primarily used to aid the primary partner(Moira has the flashlight & crowbar which allows her to open boarded up doors, find hidden items/collectibles, unlock locked chests, and blind enemies with the flashlight. Natalia has the ability to spot & point out hidden objects, sense enemies as well as their weak spots, pick up bricks to throw/hit enemies & padlocks with, unlock locked chests, and crawl into small spaces) which could lead to some frustration for players who are essentially forced into playing the partner role once online co-op finally goes live. Of the two partner characters Natalia is currently (imo) the better of the two partner characters as she is a lot more helpful and a lot less annoying than Moira. Now there are a few elephants in the room when it comes to the game especially given the game's episodic nature & price tag ($5.99 per episode/$25 for the Complete Season/$40 for the physical release), I's specifically talking about game length, replayability, and Raid mode. In terms of length the main campaign for episode one is approx 2 hours (there are 2 scenarios, each are about an hour long) the first time through (and that's if you take some time to explore from time to time finding one of the three sets of hidden collectables) though beating the main campaign does unlock a series of challenges & modes (Invisible Enemy mode & Time Trial mode) for each scenario which imo really makes the two scenarios very replayable. As for Raid mode it received a overall overhaul making it a bit different than the original Raid mode found in Revelations. Since this section is running a bit long in the tooth I won't go into great detail about the new Raid mode, but I will link to video posted by Capcom detailing the changes to Raid mode at the end of the review and say that this game's version of Raid mode is a nice improvement over the original.
Graphics
Graphically the game on the PS3 looks and runs pretty well with no noticeable slowdown, now I should warn you that I've hear from those who play this on a "next gen" system (PS4/Xbox One) the game suffers from noticeable slow down. Also graphics apparently looks noticeably worst evoking comments that the game looks like a HD remastered PS2 game.
Sound
Overall the sound of Resident Evil Revelations 2 Episode 1 is pretty solid though at time a bit too similar to the first Revelations game.
Scare Factor
Overall the scare factor isn't that high in this episode, but I will say that there were a few jump scares, some of which did get a genuine jump out of me. Also this episode does have a bit going on in terms of spooky/creepy atmosphere, though most of it seems to be more noticeable/apparent in Barry's scenario for the most part.
Pros - Revamped Raid mode is pretty good, solid controls, lots to do in terms of replayablity/ unlockable challenges, the game's Co-OP system (imo) is by far the best in an RE game to date
Cons - Some may find it annoying to be stuck playing as the partner character once online co-op goes live, speaking of which there is no online co-op for either the campaign or Raid mode at launch, there is some obvious usage of recycled elements taken from previous RE games.
Toss up - I'm gonna give this to straight the game's dialogue is something you'd come to expect from a Resident Evil game, we're talking cheesy B movie kinda dialogue with references to older games tossed in for good measure. Unfortunately some of the dialogue feels like it got lost in translation going from Japanese to English and it makes a (supposedly) semi likeable character annoying as hell. Now while I personally am fine with this I feel that others may not which is why I brought this up in the toss up category.
Overall Resident Evil Revelations 2 - Episode 1: The Penal Colony, while far from perfect, is a solid introduction to the game's story which imo tended to get better as it went on. Throw in the revamped Raid mode, plus a lot in the way of replaybility via challenges & collectables and you have a solid overall game despite it's flaws which is why I give episode 1 of Resident Evil Revelations 2 a 7 out of 10. If you are a fan of Resident Evil Revelations (or the series in general) you will more than likely enjoy Revelations 2.
Raid Mode Rundown video
Raid Mode Rundown article
Raid Mode Rundown 2 article
Raid Mode Epissode 1 Characters article