Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Review (PS4)
Introduction
This is a third person shooter Resident Evil game, with episodic format like Resident Evil: Revelations. Like that game and Resident Evil 6, you are able to move while aiming and shooting, as well as dodge enemy attacks with a button.
The physical edition includes all campaign episodes, two additional DLC episodes, and Raid Mode. Trophy support is also included in this game, and you may also play the main game in either offline singleplayer mode or offline co-op mode, or Raid Mode in offline singleplayer mode or online co-op mode.
Story
This game takes place before the events of Resident Evil 6. Claire, Moira, and some other Terra Save members are kidnapped and brought into an unknown island. Claire, Moira and other Terra Save members must fight and escape the island. Barry, Moira's father also found the island and tried to find his daughter as well. Not only that, he encountered a mysterious girl named Natalia, who apparently knew about Moira.
This game's story is decently-structured with the episodic format. Despite the story ranged from mediocre to good, I find that this game's story is more interesting than Resident Evil: Revelations and Resident Evil 6's stories. The main villain in this game is pretty interesting too. Other characters are pretty good too, like Claire, Moira and Barry. However, I do have some story issues, such as timeline issues in some of the episodes in this game.
Gameplay
The gameplay is classic third-person shooter survival horror game like previous Resident Evil games, with the return of third person shooting, item mixing, strafing while shooting/aiming and puzzle sections. This game is a return to form compared to Resident Evil 6 and Resident Evil: Revelations, such as more interesting yet simple puzzle sections, less abundance of supplies and item mixing. Like the Resident Evil: Revelations, this game is designed in episodic format.
This game has four main story episodes, each episode divided to chapters between Claire Redfield and Barry Burton. Each character has their own loadout of weapons where they can find throughout the game, and they also have their own partner character assisting in each episode. Their partner characters also have their own unique capabilities, such as Moire is able to use crowbar to hit enemies and Natalia is able to see enemies behind obstacles.
This game features a character switching system, which was present in Resident Evil 0. In many occasions, you may need to switch between characters to get past certain obstacles or complete certain puzzles. You may choose to play the game in offline split co-op mode with another player to play this game. Please take note that whatever actions you have done in Claire's chapter may affect certain things in Barry's chapter, such as activating the flamethrower device in Claire's Episode 1 will require Barry to take a detour in his Episode 1.
In each episode, you must progress in this game by traversing different areas, and you may be required to complete certain objectives, such as survive against horde of enemies or complete puzzles. Depending on each episode, some puzzles may require cooperation between two characters to proceed. Once you have completed an episode, you will be graded accordingly to your accuracy, number of retries, and how fast you complete the episode. Higher rank will reward you more BP.
This game brings back the Skills system from Resident Evil 6, where you can spend your acquired BP to learn new skills, such as increased brick damage, a finisher attack, and etc. BP can be earned by picking up gems or by completing an Episode. Certain skills may have upgraded versions, which increases the effectiveness of that particular skill,
You may also choose to upgrade your weapons by equipping Parts. Parts can be obtained by finding Part Boxes, which may be hidden in certain locations, or locked inside lockboxes and puzzle boxes. Each part can grant different effects, such as increased firepower or increased firing rate. Weapons can also be found in different locations in each Episode, so it always worth to find those weapons.
The item mixing feature is back in this game as well, where you can combine different items to create sub weapons such as Firebombs or Explosive Bottles to be used against enemies. Not only that, you can mix materials with a Green Herb to create different healing items that may allow you to cure a character from a negative status, such as bleeding.
Combat system is the same as previous Resident Evil games, where you can shoot enemies with your equipped firearm, use physical attacks on enemies when they are weakened, use a knife to hit enemies, and etc. The dodge feature is the same as Resident Evil: Revelations 1, where timed dodges allow you to negate damage completely. You may also do other actions such as sprinting and switch between characters while fighting against enemies. Not only that, you may use stealth attacks to kill an enemy quietly.
Each character has their own unique capabilities. For example, both Claire and Barry can use firearms to kill enemies, but Moira and Natalia can only attack enemies with a crowbar and bricks respectively. However, the latter two characters also have other capabilities as well, such as Moira can stun enemies sing her torchlight, and Natalia can see enemies behind obstacles or from a distance. Not only that, Claire and Barry episodes have their own unique enemies to be dealt with.
In some episodes, you might have to fight against a boss, who is more dangerous than regular enemies. Each enemy in this game also has their own weakpoints and different attack moves, such as Revenants have hidden weakpoints that can only be seen by Natalia.
This game has pretty good gameplay. Despite some stripped mechanics from Resident Evil 6 such as slightly stripped combat maneuvers such as sliding, this game has pretty good gameplay controls. The enemy variety is pretty good too despite the short completion length for this game, although later episodes do not feature many new enemies. The Skills system and weapon customisation system are pretty well-done too. The partner switching system is also more intuitive than Resident Evil 0, making this game my personal favourite when it comes to partner system. This game also has good pacing and interesting episodic format, as well as better survival gameplay experience. The cause-and-effect feature is pretty neat too, where an action from an earlier chapter will affect the next chapter of an episode.
However, not everything about this game are good. First of all, the lack of main episodes. I think this game could use two more additional episodes for Claire and Barry to make it a bit longer than usual. Plus, Claire's Episode 4 feels a bit too short for me. Secondly, the two combatant characters lack differences other than their weapons loadout. I wish both Claire and Barry are a bit more different than each other, such as Claire being a better knife user or something. Thirdly, the Raid Mode is not interesting to me. Personally, I do not like this game's Raid Mode, and I still prefer Resident Evil: Revelations 1's Raid Mode due to certain reasons. Fourthly, the lack of enemy variety. I wish this game has more enemy variety to make the game's episodes more interesting. Lastly, the horror atmosphere is not as strong as older Resident Evil games' horror atmosphere.
Regardless, this game's gameplay is a major improvement over Resident Evil: Revelations 1's gameplay, as well as having one of favourite third person shooter gameplay styles in a Resident Evil game.
Graphics
This game has good graphics. Good looking in-game character models and environments. However, it is also noticeable that this game doesn't look as good as Resident Evil 6 (especially on PS4), which is probably because of lower budget. The game has pretty steady performance as well, and I do not notice many framerate issues except one or two occasions in an early episode. No bugs and glitches encountered while playing this game so far. Some of the environments don't look particularly good, however.
It is notable that this game uses many pre-rendered cutscene videos in many story cutscenes. You may find some artifacts in dark-lit pre-rendered videos, and some of character's faces look less appealing in those videos, especially Claire.
Sound
The English voice acting is good, with all voice actors did a good job voicing their characters in this game. It is unfortunate that Alyson Court did not reprise her role as Claire Redfield in this game, who is perhaps one of the longest recurring voice actor in Resident Evil series. This game also supports multiple voiceovers, such as Japanese voiceovers.
The soundtrack is fitting in this game, although none of the tracks are memorable outside of the game. The main theme for the first Revelations game is rearranged in this game as well, which I think is the only memorable track in this game.
Replay Value
This game has good replay value. You can play the game's episodes with different difficulties such as Survivor Mode, Invisible Enemy Mode, or Countdown Mode. You may also choose to play Raid Mode, where you can play with online players and complete a stage. You may also play the campaign again with split-screen co-op mode if you want to.
Conclusion
I personally prefer this game over Resident Evil: Revelations 1 and Resident Evil 6. More interesting storyline, better survival gameplay experience, and better third person shooter gameplay balance. I always find that this game is underrated among all Resident Evil games.
It is also safe to make conclusion that this game is made with lower budget compared to main Resident Evil games, due to lesser amount of episodes, less appealing visuals, few variety of enemies, reuse of game assets in the Raid Mode, and etc. Regardless, I recommend players to try out this game if they like other third-person shooter Resident Evil games. An underrated entry.
Score
Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 8/10
Final Score; 8.0/10 or 32/40
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Claire and Barry are back.
- Great main villain.
- Interesting story.
- Good side characters such as Moira and Natalia.
- Interesting good ending.
- Great survival gameplay experience.
- Good third person shooter gameplay balance.
- Good cause-and-effect gameplay system.
- Great partner system,
- Interesting item mixing feature.
- Good puzzles.
- Interesting episodic feature.
- Good graphics.
- Solid performance.
- Good English voice acting.
- Good replay value.
Cons
- Some story issues.
- Minor out-of-character moments by Claire.
- Need more playable episodes with Claire and Barry.
- Lack of unique skills/abilities for Claire and Barry.
- Lack of enemy variety.
- Minor pre-rendered cutscenes issues.
**Images are from official PlayStation game page.
This is a third person shooter Resident Evil game, with episodic format like Resident Evil: Revelations. Like that game and Resident Evil 6, you are able to move while aiming and shooting, as well as dodge enemy attacks with a button.
The physical edition includes all campaign episodes, two additional DLC episodes, and Raid Mode. Trophy support is also included in this game, and you may also play the main game in either offline singleplayer mode or offline co-op mode, or Raid Mode in offline singleplayer mode or online co-op mode.
Story
Claire Redfield and Barry Burton are back in this game.
This game takes place before the events of Resident Evil 6. Claire, Moira, and some other Terra Save members are kidnapped and brought into an unknown island. Claire, Moira and other Terra Save members must fight and escape the island. Barry, Moira's father also found the island and tried to find his daughter as well. Not only that, he encountered a mysterious girl named Natalia, who apparently knew about Moira.
This game's story is decently-structured with the episodic format. Despite the story ranged from mediocre to good, I find that this game's story is more interesting than Resident Evil: Revelations and Resident Evil 6's stories. The main villain in this game is pretty interesting too. Other characters are pretty good too, like Claire, Moira and Barry. However, I do have some story issues, such as timeline issues in some of the episodes in this game.
Gameplay
Third person shooting game with episodic format.
This game has four main story episodes, each episode divided to chapters between Claire Redfield and Barry Burton. Each character has their own loadout of weapons where they can find throughout the game, and they also have their own partner character assisting in each episode. Their partner characters also have their own unique capabilities, such as Moire is able to use crowbar to hit enemies and Natalia is able to see enemies behind obstacles.
This game features a character switching system, which was present in Resident Evil 0. In many occasions, you may need to switch between characters to get past certain obstacles or complete certain puzzles. You may choose to play the game in offline split co-op mode with another player to play this game. Please take note that whatever actions you have done in Claire's chapter may affect certain things in Barry's chapter, such as activating the flamethrower device in Claire's Episode 1 will require Barry to take a detour in his Episode 1.
In each episode, you must progress in this game by traversing different areas, and you may be required to complete certain objectives, such as survive against horde of enemies or complete puzzles. Depending on each episode, some puzzles may require cooperation between two characters to proceed. Once you have completed an episode, you will be graded accordingly to your accuracy, number of retries, and how fast you complete the episode. Higher rank will reward you more BP.
This game brings back the Skills system from Resident Evil 6, where you can spend your acquired BP to learn new skills, such as increased brick damage, a finisher attack, and etc. BP can be earned by picking up gems or by completing an Episode. Certain skills may have upgraded versions, which increases the effectiveness of that particular skill,
You may also choose to upgrade your weapons by equipping Parts. Parts can be obtained by finding Part Boxes, which may be hidden in certain locations, or locked inside lockboxes and puzzle boxes. Each part can grant different effects, such as increased firepower or increased firing rate. Weapons can also be found in different locations in each Episode, so it always worth to find those weapons.
The item mixing feature is back in this game as well, where you can combine different items to create sub weapons such as Firebombs or Explosive Bottles to be used against enemies. Not only that, you can mix materials with a Green Herb to create different healing items that may allow you to cure a character from a negative status, such as bleeding.
Combat system is the same as previous Resident Evil games, where you can shoot enemies with your equipped firearm, use physical attacks on enemies when they are weakened, use a knife to hit enemies, and etc. The dodge feature is the same as Resident Evil: Revelations 1, where timed dodges allow you to negate damage completely. You may also do other actions such as sprinting and switch between characters while fighting against enemies. Not only that, you may use stealth attacks to kill an enemy quietly.
Each character has their own unique capabilities. For example, both Claire and Barry can use firearms to kill enemies, but Moira and Natalia can only attack enemies with a crowbar and bricks respectively. However, the latter two characters also have other capabilities as well, such as Moira can stun enemies sing her torchlight, and Natalia can see enemies behind obstacles or from a distance. Not only that, Claire and Barry episodes have their own unique enemies to be dealt with.
In some episodes, you might have to fight against a boss, who is more dangerous than regular enemies. Each enemy in this game also has their own weakpoints and different attack moves, such as Revenants have hidden weakpoints that can only be seen by Natalia.
This game has pretty good gameplay. Despite some stripped mechanics from Resident Evil 6 such as slightly stripped combat maneuvers such as sliding, this game has pretty good gameplay controls. The enemy variety is pretty good too despite the short completion length for this game, although later episodes do not feature many new enemies. The Skills system and weapon customisation system are pretty well-done too. The partner switching system is also more intuitive than Resident Evil 0, making this game my personal favourite when it comes to partner system. This game also has good pacing and interesting episodic format, as well as better survival gameplay experience. The cause-and-effect feature is pretty neat too, where an action from an earlier chapter will affect the next chapter of an episode.
However, not everything about this game are good. First of all, the lack of main episodes. I think this game could use two more additional episodes for Claire and Barry to make it a bit longer than usual. Plus, Claire's Episode 4 feels a bit too short for me. Secondly, the two combatant characters lack differences other than their weapons loadout. I wish both Claire and Barry are a bit more different than each other, such as Claire being a better knife user or something. Thirdly, the Raid Mode is not interesting to me. Personally, I do not like this game's Raid Mode, and I still prefer Resident Evil: Revelations 1's Raid Mode due to certain reasons. Fourthly, the lack of enemy variety. I wish this game has more enemy variety to make the game's episodes more interesting. Lastly, the horror atmosphere is not as strong as older Resident Evil games' horror atmosphere.
Regardless, this game's gameplay is a major improvement over Resident Evil: Revelations 1's gameplay, as well as having one of favourite third person shooter gameplay styles in a Resident Evil game.
Graphics
Good in-game graphics and performance.
It is notable that this game uses many pre-rendered cutscene videos in many story cutscenes. You may find some artifacts in dark-lit pre-rendered videos, and some of character's faces look less appealing in those videos, especially Claire.
Sound
Good English voice acting and fitting soundtrack.
The soundtrack is fitting in this game, although none of the tracks are memorable outside of the game. The main theme for the first Revelations game is rearranged in this game as well, which I think is the only memorable track in this game.
Replay Value
Good replay value.
Conclusion
Improvement over Resident Evil: Revelations and Resident Evil 6.
It is also safe to make conclusion that this game is made with lower budget compared to main Resident Evil games, due to lesser amount of episodes, less appealing visuals, few variety of enemies, reuse of game assets in the Raid Mode, and etc. Regardless, I recommend players to try out this game if they like other third-person shooter Resident Evil games. An underrated entry.
Score
Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 8/10
Final Score; 8.0/10 or 32/40
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Claire and Barry are back.
- Great main villain.
- Interesting story.
- Good side characters such as Moira and Natalia.
- Interesting good ending.
- Great survival gameplay experience.
- Good third person shooter gameplay balance.
- Good cause-and-effect gameplay system.
- Great partner system,
- Interesting item mixing feature.
- Good puzzles.
- Interesting episodic feature.
- Good graphics.
- Solid performance.
- Good English voice acting.
- Good replay value.
Cons
- Some story issues.
- Minor out-of-character moments by Claire.
- Need more playable episodes with Claire and Barry.
- Lack of unique skills/abilities for Claire and Barry.
- Lack of enemy variety.
- Minor pre-rendered cutscenes issues.
**Images are from official PlayStation game page.
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