The game that I'm going to be reviewing today comes from a series which is near and dear to my heart, though it definitely isn't quite the same as the classic Resident Evil games, it's called Resident Evil: Revelatons. RE: Revelations is a survival/horror game which was originally released for the 3DS back on February 7th of 2012, which I found a bit surprising as I never thought at the time that I'd see a Resident Evil game out on a portable console. It also ended up getting a port for the PS4 and Xbox One just a few months ago back in August, which seems more in line with the typical releases. (Though I have heard mixed things about said port being good.) The game was developed by Capcom in cooperation with Tose, and also saw its publishing through Capcom as well.
Resident Evil Revelations takes place in between the events that occurred in Resident Evil 4 and 5. I'd definitely have to say that it shows as well, as the game honestly doesn't try to make a comeback to its horror roots exactly. However, there at least was an attempt of some kind, as the game leans closer to what Resident Evil 4 was rather than just being an outright action game like Resident Evil 5 was. Honestly, I don't think I would have been able to play this game had it not tried to bridge the gap between the modern and the old, as I can't say I was much of a fan of the modern Resident Evil titles. Well, at least until 7 was released that is.
The story of the game has us playing as Jill Valentine for the most part, with certain sections of the game letting us play as other characters to get their perspectives, including Chris Redfield. It opens up with Jill and her partner Parker Luciani heading towards a cruise ship known as the Queen Zenobia as they search for the missing BSAA agents Chris Redfield and Jessica Sherawat, who'm were investigating the possible resurgence of a bio-terrorist organization known as Veltro who were last seen a year before the events of this game.
After boarding onto the ship, they move towards a room believing that Chris is being held captive within. Upon entering, however, they quickly realize that it was all a trap set up by a Veltro operative. With little to no time to react to the trap, Jill and Parker end up getting trapped aboard the ship with no easy way to escape. And, very quickly they find themselves besieged by some of the gooiest, slime filled BOW's in the Resident Evil universe. The point of view switched after this, showing that Chris and Jessica who have just found a base of operations belonging to Veltro. They're informed by a colleague that Jill and Parker missing in action, and get redeployed to their last known location aboard the ship.
The campaign is hard to really delve into without spoiling too much, so I'll not talk too much more about the narrative of it. I will say that it has a fairly dark and bleak atmosphere throughout, which fits in well with the series. It's definitely a story that fits in quite well within the Resident Evil universe, and is pretty entertaining throughout. The only big downside to the campaign for this game is that it's fairly short lived, and you can expect to run through it within 7-8 hours.
The gameplay of this game is definitely similar to both Resident Evil 4 and 5 with combat having the same type of style to it. The difference here with this game is that they tried to make it a bit more survival oriented than 4 and 5 were, with ammo being more scarce and the enemies within the game being able to endure much more firepower than your typical zombie or parasitic host. A fair amount of the time, it ends up being a smarter move to find a way to escape the creatures rather than shoot them, which is pretty different from the recent Resident Evil games (Excluding 7).
Of course, there are times where you'll obviously have to fight to survive. And since combat is part of the game, so is getting used to the somewhat wonky controls that the 3DS has, at least compared to what you would get with a console controller. You'll have to hold down the R button to switch your camera angle from 3rd to first person so you can aim and shoot by pressing the Y button at the same time. After your gun is empty, you reload it similarly by holding down the R button along with the B button. However, don't expect to be able to run around in the first person view, as you're only capable of moving very slowly by using the L button pressed as well. There's also a dodge system in place for when you're in a bad situation, which you activate via the analog stick/nub. The combat has the same pace as most Resident Evil games, where you stop, shoot, retreat, and repeat.
You can of course upgrade your firearms with custom parts which are hidden throughout the levels, increasing things like damage, ammo capacity, and other features which you would expect with upgrading firearms. (With a few oddball ones thrown in there to boot.) Another part of the gameplay that is tech related is the Genesis system that the player carries along with them. This little handy piece of technology is something that you'll find yourself using quite a bit through your gameplay, as it allows you to scan your environment to find hidden items and scan the remains of your enemies at times to get free herbs. It gives you a small break from the tense combat, and will also help keep your consumables stocked up. You operate it much like how you do a firearm in game, but obviously you can't do any damage with it. (But, hey, who doesn't love pointing a scanner gun and going "Pew, Pew".)
Besides the single player campaign mode, there's also a co-op mode which is called Raid mode. This mode allows you to play through certain scenario's from the main games storyline, and can be used to play with someone online or locally. Of course, playing this on the switch you can only expect very limited communication since there is no voice chat option, and not really a texting option. If you're going to play online with a friend, I'd definitely recommend you to hop on discord or skype with your buddy to keep communication up.
The mode honestly makes combat a decent amount easier to get through, as you have a teammate to watch your back. The Raid mode is quite fast paced, and just generally entertaining overall for a more lighthearted experience compared to the bleak campaign. You can level your character up as you play, unlock other characters to play, as well as special weapons and a few other neat little features. So, there's a fair amount of content to be played within this mode, which is a nice addition.
And, between the Raid mode and single player campaign I can say I was fairly impressed with the quality of the game. Capcom didn't try to skirt the edges with production in anyway that I can tell, and for this being a 3DS title I'm fairly impressed. The game features some solid voice acting, (something that most of the Resident Evil series has been able to keep up with) as well as having some solid sound design for the sound effects and dark, grimy soundtrack. There aren't many other games which I have played on the 3DS that had such a good sound design in addition to having a game with some pretty good graphics, all things considered.
While the game definitely leans in the direction of the modern resident evil games before 7, which were far more action oriented than anything even close to being horror, it still has some shadows from its previous self present within the game. It's certainly a far better game than what we got with Resident Evil 6, and I'd probably compare it to being a bit more fun to play than Resident Evil 5. It's probably in my top 10 3DS games, and for anyone who is a fan of the series or in need of a good handheld game to play I'd certainly recommend it.
Thanks for checking out my review! Hope you've enjoyed it!