Resident Evil: Revelations 2, Asylum

The announcement of Revelations 2 was perhaps one of the lesser well-kept secrets in the games industry, but that did little to suppress just how surprising it is that it even exists. Revelations wasn't the most compelling Resident Evil experience to grace our consoles, and its inception as a 3DS exclusive did little to rally excitement among jaded Resi veterans… yet the game managed to find a substantial audience (perhaps due to the 3DS’ scant offerings back in early 2012 on release), gaining more traction when the game was re-released in HD a year later for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Wii U. As the main series has become more and more underwhelming, Revelations proved Capcom still had its finger on the pulse and in light of the current triple-A horror renaissance the industry is living through, its timing couldn't be better. We played through the first few levels, extracting the five most pertinent points…

  “Each of the four episodes will feature hours of terrifying gameplay ending with dramatic cliff-hangers that will leave players fully engrossed and anticipating  the next twist in the gripping horror story”

IT’S ACTUALLY A GOOD CO-OP HORROR EXPERIENCE…
We'be Dubious About how well horror can handle co-op (see Dead Space 3): after all, a true horror experience is supposed to excite the senses enact a consistent feeling of dread. When you’ve got another person ready to step in and resurrect you or help you out, it takes away the feeling of consequence. Luckily for Revelations 2 then, playing as either returning Claire Redfield or newcomer Moira Burton isn’t really about survival per se it’s more arcade-y than that: a dynamic puzzle game tasking you with making the most of scant resources, with an emphasis on exploration and a little back-and-forth puzzle-solving perfect for picking away at with friends.

IT’S FULL OF THAT TRADEMARK RESIDENT EVIL ATMOSPHERE...
The Level We played through was a condemned mental asylum, and as Claire Redfield regains consciousness, there’s some scratchy voice quoting Franz Kafka at her (because why not?) and with the help of the foul mouthed Moira, you quickly discover you're playing apart in some kind of Saw like experiment (you’ve gota tracking device of sorts disturbingly attached to your wrist…) The game looks like its predecessor that is to say don’t expect any feats of graphical wonder here but we think it actually gains something from this vague presentation: it all ties into the eerie, threatening ambience the game thrives on.

WHEN YOU HAVE TO FIGHT, IT REALLY MAKES YOU FIGHT…
The Upside Of having two playable characters that you can flit between on a whim is that Revelations 2 can turn up the combat dial a little Claire, being a Redfield can inflict the most damage, arming herself with guns and some impressive melee moves. Moira issupport armed with a crowbar and a flashlight, she can stun enemy undead with her bulb(for some reason, the evil residents of the game are now afraid of light), execute downed enemies and jimmy open locked doors. The dodge mechanic has also been reconsidered Claire can now deftly move out the way at will, rather than waiting for a laggy and immersion breaking prompt. It all works for the best.

IT’S BEING RELEASED EPISODICALLY…
We Got To play the first of four planned chapters of Revelations 2, and we're eager to go back into it. While it remains spiritually in line with the splinter series’ first outing, the tweaks and improvements got us curious: where will Moira and Claire end up? How will the co-op mechanics (or character switching, if you’re playing alone) be used to greater effect? Will there be any more ridiculous bosses? Incremental releases are becoming more popular now, sometimes to the detriment of the games they're supposed to be prolonging. Resident Evil has a touch of horror TV to it, though, (think Hannibal, True Detective ) and we think it’s got the momentum to keep us interested.

IT’S NOT RESIDENT EVIL 6…
Many Believe That Resident Evil 6 is the worst in the series history if only for a few of the shoe-horned campaigns and lacklustre level designs. We can’t praise Capcom’s decision enough in breaking up the series to travel down two paths giving players that want that classic Resi gameplay Revelations, while being more experimental with the main series. It’s a shame we won’t see Revelations 2 on 3DS the original was one of the console’s stronger titles of its early life, and it would have been nice to see some co-op modes on the newer larger 3DS machines (the second stick would make all the difference).