Resident Evil comes to the Wii U in a fun and creepy step in the right direction.
The Resident Evil storyline has been getting more and more confusing. Revelations takes place before Resident Evil 5 but doesn't really connect with anything. Once upon a time, humanity created a completely solar-powered city called Terragrigia that was attacked by a bio-terrorist cell known as Veltro. The Federal Bioterrorism Commission are at the head of Terragrigia's defense and they aren't doing so well. The leader, Morgan Lansdale, orders that the city be wiped out, much like in Resident Evil 2 and 3. Their weapon of choice, a giant satellite that harnesses the power of the sun. It wipes the city off the face of the earth, along with Veltro.
A few years later, strange corpses have been washing up on the coast closest to Terragrigia. The BSAA send Jill and her current partner, Parker, to investigate. They then find that the source is from a ship adrift in the ocean, The Queen Zenobia. Jill and Parker infiltrate the ship and find that things are very wrong on board. Meanwhile, Chris and his current partner, Jessica, are on their own adventure and they find something of their own.
The story is incredibly confusing and strange and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. There are random twists and turns that, even though they are random, are still enjoyable to experience thanks to it's episodic nature. This form of story telling has been showing up more often in the industry and it works really well here. So even if you won't know what's going on, you'll still find yourself hooked.
The game plays a lot like a mix between Resident Evil 5 and 6. It has the same controls as in Resident Evil 5, except you can move and shoot. You can also dodge an enemy's attack with the push of a button at the right time, but I could never do it on command, it was always by accident. The aiming feels a little slow, but sensitive. Other than shooting, you'll find yourself running around looking for items. The gameplay is great, but the knife is still very useless, except for breaking containers to find hidden items. You also have this scanner called the Genesis. It allows you to find scan points in the environment that can reveal items.
If you scan an enemy, it'll fill up your progress bar and, when it's full, you'll get a health item. The Genesis is a neat item, but you'll find yourself forgetting it in battles due to how intense they can get. That brings me to the combat, it can get quite intense and difficult. If you thought the other Resident Evil games are too easy, you'll find this one to be on a totally different level. The boss battles are some of the hardest I have ever experienced in the franchise. The episodic nature helps to break up some monotony with levels and characters as well. As for scares, Revelations isn't overly scary, but it's a step in the right direction.
The audio is excellent. The music is epic and dark and the voice work is great. You can also play this game in Japanese, which is weird for Resident Evil. I, personally, found the Japanese suited it a little more due to the presence of goofy scenes that don't fit in with Resident Evil. Overall, the audio is excellent.
The visuals are very good for an enhanced port of a 3DS game. The models are great, the enemies look great, and the environments look awesome. It still looks below average for the platform, but it still looks great as a whole. There are some issues, the enemy designs are bland, you'll be seeing the interior of a ship more than you'd like and most areas are corridors, but other than those tiny issues, this Resident Evil looks great even if it was a 3DS game.
PROs:
- Addicting story set-up
- Fun, intense gameplay
- Move and shoot
- More of a return to horror
- Music and voice work are great
- Japanese voice track
- Visuals look good for a 3DS port
- Can get quite challenging
CONs:
- Story is very confusing
- Tight-corridors lead to some cheap injuries
- Enemy designs are bland
- You'll be seeing the inside of a ship a lot
- Gameplay has little variety
- Dialogue can get a little strange
Overall, if you liked the previous Resident Evil games and would like to play more like them, then you'll like Resident Evil: Revelations. If you want to see Resident Evil go back to it's horror roots, then you'll also want to give Revelations a try. It might not be the glorious return to form people were all hoping for, but it's a fun, challenging game all the same.
Story: 7.5/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Audio: 8.0/10
Presentation: 7.0/10