Resident Evil: Revelations HD Review (PS3)

Story

Jill and Parker are on a mission to rescue Chris.

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This game takes place before Resident Evil 5 events. When Jill and Parker are on a mission on investigating corpses of unknown B.O.W.s, they found out that chris went missing on a mission. Both of them goes to the last location where he was missing, which is a ship. However, they are trapped, and they need to find out a way to get off from that ship, infested with dangerous B.O.W.s.

The story is pretty interesting, with episodic format like television series. At different episodes, you may control different characters in the game, giving you their own story perspectives and roles. Two characters return from the previous Resident Evil games, which are Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, whereas the rest of the cast are new characters. Some are likable, some are not.

Gameplay

i) Singleplayer Campaign

Fight through different types of B.O.W.s,

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This game plays like previous Resident Evil games, and you can now move while aiming as well as shooting. This game plays a bit like older Resident Evil games, where supplies must be found throughout the game, and enemies will not drop any ammo or herbs upon death.

A new feature in this game is the Genesis scanner. You can use it to discover hidden items, and you will occasionally need to use it to progress in the game. You can also use it to scan enemies in the game, to get an extra Green Herb. By scanning an enemy completely, you will gain a certain percentage. Once you have scanned multiple enemies and reached 100%, you will get a free Green Herb.

Use a variety of weapons with customised parts.​

The combat plays similar to previous third person shooter Resident Evil games. You can use a variety of weapons like a handgun, shotgun, a rifle, and other weapons. You may also use sub-weapons like grenades to kill a lot of enemies at the same time. However, supplies are limited, as enemies will not drop any items upon death, thus requiring you to search each room for ammo or herbs in every nook and cranny. This situation will usually occurs when you are playing the campaign in Infernal Mode, provided that you do not have good customisation parts.

As you play the game, you will come across with customisation parts. You can use these parts to upgrade your weapons, such as firing rate, firepower, capacity, and other stats. Some are easy to find, but powerful parts are rare and can only be found at certain situations, such as using Genesis scanner to scan in different places or killing a very persistent but dangerous enemy in the game.

Do not waste your ammo.​

Enemies come in a variety, such as regular humanoid B.O.W.s called Oozes, that moved slowly to you, or infected dogs called Fenrirs. Different enemies require a slightly different approach to kill them, such as shooting an Ooze's arms to stun them for a physical attack. You may also use your melee weapons to kill enemies when they are knocked on the ground, or use physical attacks when they are stunned. The dodge system works similarly to Resident Evil 3, where you need to press a
certain button manually without any button prompts on screen to dodge attacks. You will also fight some bosses in this game, but not all of them are terribly challenging except one special enemy in the game as well as the final boss.

The progression in this game is linear, as there is a marker on the minimap to tell players where to go next. However at certain parts in the game, there will be no markers on your minimap, and you need to do some searching in the area you are in for clues or key items to progress. There is also some puzzles in the game, but are underutilised. In different parts of an Episode in this game, you may have to play different characters than Jill in different locations. When you play these characters, you will have limited weaponry and you will not be able to use customised weapons like Jill. As Jill is the
main playable character in this game, the other characters in this game are only playable for one or two Episodes throughout the game.

ii) Raid Mode

Plays a bit like Mercenaries with a leveling system.​

Other than the singleplayer campaign, this game also features another game mode called Raid Mode. You can play a number of stages reused from the singleplayer campaign, with varying objectives like killing all enemies in a stage or reach to the objective marker. This mode also features a leveling system, where you gain experience points by killing enemies in a stage, completing a stage, or other conditions. You will also gain BP when completing a Raid mode stage or a singleplayer campaign Sub-Episode, which can be spent to buy new weapons, ammos, or upgrades from the store. You may play this mode offline, or online co-op.

In different stages, enemies have different levels, with higher levels mean that enemy has higher stats such as increased attacks. Some enemies in these stages may have special icons beside their health bar and level, signifying that they have a special bonus, such as super attack boost or super movement speed boost. These enemies are highly dangerous, and should be disposed as soon as possible.

Different characters have different special abilities.​

As you level up, you can use more powerful weapons, as well as having increased stats and unlock items in the Store. If you wish to play a previous stage, you can always adjust your level to gain a bonus in that stage. At the end of a stage, you will be graded accordingly to how many enemies you have killed, how fast you have completed the stage, and how much damage you have received. If you have obtained special bonuses like No Damage bonus and Genocide bonus, you will obtain extra BP.

You can also use different characters in the game, as each character has different special abilities that will set them apart than the rest. For example, Jill's first outfit excels in handling machine guns and handguns, whereas Chris's first outfit excels in using shotguns and rifles. Depending on your playstyle, you may choose different characters in different stages to suit your own strategy and playstyle.

You can also get customisation parts by defeating certain enemies in the stages or by finding them. Like their counterpart in the singleplayer campaign, these parts have different special effects that will make the weapons more useful, such as increased damage and decreased reloading time.

iii) Gameplay Conclusion

Solid gameplay with some nuances.​

I like the gameplay a lot, except some problems. There is too many backtracking in the game, as you will be circling in the same area more than once in the game. Secondly, the partner A.I in this game is practically useless, as they will not help you much when you are being attacked by enemy or serves a distraction on the enemies. I prefer if there is no partner in the singleplayer campaign, as it will even intensify the creepy environment in the game much better (Jill's episodes only). The puzzles are a bit lacking, and the controls can take time to get used to. The singleplayer mode also feels a bit too short. Other than those issues, the game still has good singleplayer campaign mode, addicting Raid Mode, and interesting gameplay features that resembles older Resident Evil games.

Graphics

Good graphics.​

This game has good graphics, with good HD remastering that upscales the game screen from the original 3DS version to the console versions to fit a HDTV screen. There is lack of jagginess, proper lighting, lack of technical issues, and etc. This is a considerable improvement than previous HD remasters by Capcom.

Sound

Suitable voice acting and soundtrack.​

Overall, the voice acting is good. However, like Resident Evil 6, I dislike the recasting of iconic characters, particularly Jill Valentine in this game. I prefer Patricia Ja Lee's voice performance as Jill Valentine in Resident Evil 5, as she sounds more confident and more natural. Her replacement, Michelle Ruff is a suitable replacement, but I do not feel that her voice sounds natural as Jill Valentine. Other than that, the overall voice acting is good. You may switch the voiceovers to the Japanese version if you dislike the English version.

The soundtrack is suitable to the moments in the game. Creepy music played when fighting B.O.W.s, tense music played at different scenes, and etc.

Replay Value

Varying degrees of replay value.

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Depending on whether you will play the Raid Mode and harder difficulty modes in the singleplayer campaign, the replay value will range from low to high. First campaign playthrough will last at least 4 to 6 hours depending on player skills, and subsequent playthroughs on New Game Plus mode will take another several hours. Provided you want to play the hardest difficulty mode called Infernal, expect some extra hours as it is more difficult than Normal mode.

Conclusion

A solid Resident Evil game.​

It is hard to say whether this game is much better than Resident Evil 6, because both games have qualities that I both like and dislike. Resident Evil 6 has better controls than Resident Evil: Revelations, but Resident Evil: Revelations has a slightly better-realised survival horror features that resemble classic Resident Evil games than Resident Evil 6, such as enemies do not drop supplies. In many ways however, I felt that both games would complement each other in many ways if the game is developed as a true, single-player game with survival horror features that resemble previous Resident Evil games, with updated controls.

What I really miss in current Resident Evil games is the good old scares out of nowhere, which do not happen much in recent Resident Evil games. Resident Evil 4 is still the best third-person shooter and survival horror game that I have played, Resident Evil: Revelations as the second place, Resident Evil 6 as the third place and Resident Evil 5 as the last place. If Resident Evil: Revelations was developed on the consoles instead as well as having big budget like Resident Evil 6, things might have been different. However, I digress. Regardless, this game is still a solid Resident Evil game that any third person shooter fans should try out, but do not expect extremely great looking graphics like Resident Evil 6 since this is originally from the 3DS version.

Score

Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 8/10

Final Score: 8.0/10 or 32/40

Pros and Cons

Pros

- Interesting storyline.
- Jill Valentine is back as the main playable character.
- Good gameplay.
- Good pacing.
- Great customisation feature.
- Tense atmosphere.
- Can be challenging.
- A variety of enemies to be fought.
- Addicting Raid Mode.
- Good overall voice acting.
- Moderate to high replay value.
- A good HD remaster work.

Cons

- Controls take time to get used to.
- Frequent backtracking.
- Jill's new voice actress did not do a convincing performance as Jill.
- Useless and unnecessary partner A.I.
- Lack of puzzles.
- Singleplayer campaign length feels too short.
- Some of the new characters may or may not be likable.