Revelations gameplay is pretty much the same as recent RE games. Depending on how you put it, it could either be good or bad. But putting it on the 3ds is a nice prospect. If your looking for an excuse to cap the infected in your 3ds then this might be worth the try. Although the game has lost its roots as a "survival-horror" game, it is still a decent shooter.
It's not as much as great as it was before but nonetheless Revelations provides satisfaction. Story mode is divided into episodes. It's as if your playing a tv series as progressing through the next episode will treat you with a recap of the previous episode. You'll get to play not only as the main character but also supporting characters. Most of which are newcomers to the series. You'll play through flashbacks and with other various locales which is tied to the main story. This makes for a good solid story. There's a little bit of humor added to the mix too.
Revelation's atmosphere is what you expect from various zombie-themed shooters. In terms of scare factor, there's scarcely anything at all. On a personal experience, I could only name 3 scary moments. Revelations has a great setting though. You'll mostly play through a luxury cruise ship and it's plainly wonderful.
Revelations has good content aside from the story mode. Raid mode is mostly like any Mercenaries mini-game attached to RE games. It's a perfect excuse to blast monsters to smithereens. There's a handful of stages to play from. You could choose to play solo or multi(through local or online) with characters from the main story. And there's enough features that makes it fun. It's a refreshing break from the story.
Then there's mission. Missions are achievements only with a different name. Achieve something and you could unlock things like weapons, new outfits, weapon parts you could exclusively use on story mode or raid mode. It adds a little bit of replay value to the game.
The controls are slightly cumbersome. There's three layouts to choose from and another with the addition of a circle pad pro. Type A is much like RE4. Aiming is precise with the circle pad but sacrifices movement while aiming. Type B is a variant of A which is not better. Type C is almost ideal. The downside is if you want to reload, heal, or simply use a knife you have to press the d-pad which is conveniently located just below your move pad. It never really takes away the fun of the game but it's a slight bump to an otherwise smooth gameplay.
Graphics are impressive for a handheld platform. The 3ds can push so much although there's a slowdown when using elevators. Sound effects are ok. Generally, the game's presentation is pleasing.
Resident Evil: Revelations doesn't offer anything new to the series but if you crave for recent RE-esque goodness then this one is a good addition to your 3ds gaming library.