Episodic series proves itself to be infectiously good viewing
Too many zombies. It’s a finger you could poke into the decomposing ribs of games in general – do wash your hands after – but a specific problem for recent Resident Evils. It’s hard to be frightened of the familiar, but ten years of upping the action ante means putting so many undead on the screen that they each become about as terrifying as a mouldy teapot. Sure, you don’t want one to touch you, but nor would you hide behind the sofa every time you clapped eyes on the thing. That fear factor has completely worn away due to their sheer volume.
The episodic experiment that is Revelations 2 doesn’t exactly solve this problem, but it does inject a strange concoction of tensions old and new into the Resident Evil jugular. Treating the game like a four-episode-long miniseries was a smart notion, not only liposuctioning away much of the bloat around Resi 6, but allowing each two-to-three-hour slice of the game to build to its own climax before the cathartic resolution. What keeps you guessing most of all, however, is a sense that the script writers have finally realised that Resident Evil isn’t something to take too seriously, applying a wry eye to both the series itself and the entire horror genre.
It’s why unintentional Resi 1 comic relief merchant Barry Burton can, after breaking open a hilariously overfastened gate with a logging crane, spurt out “Now who’s the master of unlocking!?” and make you grin, not groan. It’s why he’s paired up with a young girl called Natalia, who is a dead ringer for the creepy adoptee from 2009’s Orphan, right down to the blue ribbons in her hair, and yet you wonder if it’s all a bluff. The writing quality is as deliciously cheesy and melodramatic as ever, but Revelations 2 is one of the most carefree, B-movie-esque romps in a long time. It’s popcorn entertainment, only for your trigger fingers instead of your greedy taste buds.
Fear itself
Those trigger fingers will find plenty to do, either as Claire Redfield or Burton Sr. The main arc is split across both, Barry arriving on the scene seeking answers and vengeance six months after Redfield and his rebellious daughter, Moira, are abducted from a work do. Claire and Moria find themselves part of a deadly experiment in fear, injected with a new virus and tracked via wristbands and CCTV by the sinister Overseer. In a haunting touch for PS4, her voice will echo from the DualShock’s tinny speaker as she leads you on her merry dance. Natalia, meanwhile, is another test subject, and the object of Barry’s gruff nurturing in lieu of his own missing child as he retraces the 20-something’s path
across the island.
While that could be an excuse to be lazy, especially given the budget sticker price of the series as a whole (£19.99 digitally), Capcom has outdone itself in environmental variety. Yes, Barry and Natalia will pass through places that you left behind as Claire and Moira an hour ago, but the in-game time difference will have transformed them in subtle ways, with new puzzles, enemy types and equipment springing up to reanimate spaces you had thought tapped out. There’s plenty of points where the paths diverge too, with the former couplet put through trials such as a filthy abattoir, burning warehouse and the Overseer’s spire, while Barry and his charge must face a misty forest, parched mining town and subterranean complex on their journey. It’s a muddy palette to be sure, though with some moments of beauty, both literally, as the sun breaks through the murk for a few precious seconds, and technically, thanks to Capcom’s high-detail character models.
Eventful afterlife
What both paths have in common, however, is a lot of hand cannon fodder. The dead haven’t just been having their day, but rather months of them, and while we’re not talking Dead Rising crowds, you’ll be seeing an awful lot of the ‘zombie in a beanie hat’ model. Which isn’t to say there’s no variation. Along with beanie hat and his fast and slow chums, Claire’s path is also beset by plough-masked specimens with cruel hammers and exploding, pustulecovered zombies who are beyond the reach of even industrial-strength emollient. Barry, meanwhile, has to deal with an outbreak of creatures put together from leftover parts by the Uroboros virus. Every encounter emphasises survival, too, by making you walk slowly while aiming, giving each character the ability to dodge and limiting ammo, at least comparatively, which forces you to cycle your four weapons regularly.
The most novel enemy roaming the isles are the vile, insect-like Glasps, who will snap your neck and vomit giant woodlice over your corpse if they so much as lay a segmented leg on you. Oh, and they’re invisible. On paper, they sound terrible, but clear visual and audio telegraphing, plus the fact that Natalia is no mere tagalong, turns them into a wonderfully tense foe.
Alma mate-r?
If she wasn’t Goosebumps material enough already, Natalia can sense the dead. And since supporting characters can be switched to with a quick button press, or controlled by a co-op partner, that means you can too. While it further dissolves the fear factor, this sets up some wonderfully sneaky play for Barry, as you use the child’s gift to locate enemies nearby and then slip behind them to trigger a canned stealth kill, conserving ammo for later. Glasps will be pointed out by her accusing finger, allowing you to trace the path your bullets should take to hit home even without switching.
Moira, meanwhile, has a more earthly moveset, but a more combative one. A traumatic episode has left her gun shy, but she’s more than happy to pitch in with her crowbar, or use her torch’s Alan Wake-alike high beam to temporarily blind your enemies and set Claire up to floor them with a melee attack. We’re less sold on the supporting characters’ ability to bring to light ‘hidden’ items, marked with the series’ signature glint, which adds only an extra layer of busywork to single-player, but each can also open specific chests, and brings inventory slots to hold crafting ingredients to make bombs and healing items, plus hold ammo and upgrade kits. The companion AI is only fair, but good enough that they’re not always under your feet, and the game’s sufficiently forgiving that you’ll rarely die because of them.
Given how much it gets right, Revelations 2 has some obvious weak spots, though. Headshots are a retrograde step even from the decade-old Resi 4, with none of the satisfying cranial splatter pattern that marks a job well done. And two lategame bosses not only overstay their welcome but then propose spending the night, so tiresomely overinflated are they.
Filler is unnecessary when the season has more than enough ideas for its arc, and even an unholy appetite for combat should be sated by the returning Raid mode, which pitches you in escalating challenges against progressively harder creatures. With around 15 characters to level, each with their own set of skills, five medals to grab in each round and a little under 200 missions to complete in total, it’s a substantial digestif.
While there are moments where your attention might waver, the savvy drama will keep you glued to your seat from the title cards until long after the credits have rolled. And who can ask more of popcorn entertainment than that?