Resident Evil Revelations hands on impression
Resident Evil: Revelations is the latest installment in the Resident Evil series and it is one of the first exclusive third party titles for the Nintendo 3DS developed for the core gamer. Resident Evil: Revelations has a bundle including the Circle Pad Pro. Circle Pad Pro is a handy option to add the camera to move with the second analog stick. However, it is much more than 'useful' because the original controls in Resident Evil: Revelations is more than fine to immensely enjoy the game. The Circle Pad Pro is the 3DS much heavier and less manageable controls, making Resident Evil: Revelations for now not the major reason for the accessory you should buy.
Resident Evil: Revelations looks a lot like Resident Evil 4 and 5 and it has been deliberately chosen. The title takes place between defeating Saddler (Resident Evil 4) and the emergence of TriCell (Resident Evil 5). After Umbrella getting cleared, Capcom has a cult called "Veltro' that was created to act as a rival for Jill and Chris. Veltro kidnaps Chris in the hope that Jill is looking for him and the sneaky tactic seems to work. Jill Parker and her new assistant enter in an apparently deserted cruise ship bobbing in the ocean. After several introductory scenes you step into the shoes of Jill Valentine and that feels familiar to the Resident Evil veteran.
The Circle Pad navigates the BSAA agent by leaving ship and the R button allows you to keep your weapon make ready to fire. The third-person action seems lifted directly from Resident Evil 4. Unlike Resident Evil 4 and 5 it is possible in this part to strafen and walk while you shoot. After opening two creaking doors you stand directly face to face with the first copies of a new type of zombie. In Resident Evil: Revelations you fight against a virus that mutates people into the most horrible forms.
At certain moments in the game you get the opportunity to play with other characters. If for example, Jill Parker temporarily separated from each other, Parker experiences a flashback to an earlier mission. The game gives you that way for up to four different playable duos and each has its own task to fulfill the fight against Veltro. With the new team of Keith and Quint you will have to examine a plane crash in a snowy field. One can therefore enjoy the number of horror, puzzle and action elements which significantly increases permission to prevent the game from boring.
The story of Resident Evil: Revelations is reflected in the gameplay. Many dark rooms of the ship are provided with documents and computers that are a few things needed to clear about the plot. The characters often respond with discussions found on evidence and other material. The members of the BSAA also contribute a scanning device with them to collect extra hints. This allows you to scan every enemy and every time a scan is 100% completed, you get an extra item to your health to recover. The scanner is also able to hide ammunition and other items to discover.
The graphical side of the game is superb and Resident Evil: Revelations is without doubt the most impressive 3DS game to date. Capcom has succeeded in the MT Framework engine that we used for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and transfer them to the 3DS and the result is amazing. Jill wears a shiny leather suit with lots of accessories and any material which made her outfit clearly recognizable. The pistols have the iconic laser light and for each action in the game there are different animations available. Whether it comes to light through a broken window or a red flashing light at the time of danger: each light is dynamic and involves shading effects. The game has some sore frame drops, but apart from that the performance is perfect. In particular, the realistic movement of the character provides a convincing experience.
The game even has an option to the 3D effect in more intense level than the built-in 3D Volume Slider on the 3DS normally allowed. We mentioned earlier a puzzle element, for example, but you can also reload your gun by tapping on the icon, control the camera or target with your stylus, etc. You also get an extra gyro sensor in the 3DS that is used to aim.
The sound in the game is remarkably good and remarkably bad. First there is music that manages to hit the right chord for tension to build. It mainly makes use of long tones and sad piano notes to strengthen the horror. In addition, there is a nice beat to be found in the more action-packed moments from the game. The voice acting is also well developed and the groans of the zombies pass the test. However, the pistol, shotgun shells and machine guns sounded unconvincing. The gun-sounds seem, judging by the quality, recorded in a tin, because there is very little volume.
The game is so much shorter than Resident Evil 4 and 5, but quite long compared to other handheld titles. You also get a few extra modes to play out the game. So you can use to obtain medals to unlock additional weapon upgrades. The single player mode, along with casual and normal-mode is also supplemented by a so-called Hell Mode for even more challenge.
The greatest reward for completing the game is on the Raid Mode. Raid Mode puts you in the different stages of the game again entered with a character of your choice to an arcade-like way to deal with the zombies. You earn points by killing the zombies and other monsters and thus increase in level. The rise in level is important to unlock various things such as extras weapons. There are small and fast enemies but also enemies twice as large as normal or an extra shield. It is a nice variation on the main game such as Resident Evil: The Mercenaries that was for earlier parts of the series. Finally Resident Evil: Revelations also uses the Street Pass: the game counts the number of Pass Street exchanges and converts them to credits which you can use to buy weapon upgrades.
Resident Evil: Revelations is a true revelation of the genre with an outstanding visual and a good dose of innovation for the Resident Evil franchise. The game is divided into episodes and making multiple playable characters was a good move to provide more variety. The game is taking the classic horror and puzzles elements. After 10 hours of single player mode you can also play the game on Raid Mode and play the game again with a higher level. Capcom proves with Resident Evil: Revelations that one is still able to excel on Nintendo platforms.
