Review for Resident Evil Revelations HD. Game for PC, PlayStation 3, Wii U and Xbox 360, the video game was released on 21/05/2013
Resident Evil is one of those brands that, despite everything, always manages to take the limelight at every exit, defending itself from fierce competition. In spite of everything, we have said, since with the passing of the years Capcom has definitely distorted the KING of the beginning, with that survival horror soul that, since the days of Alone in the Dark, has helped to redefine the horror genre in the modern videogame world . Today Resident Evil is a third person action shooter that - you will forgive us the strong expression, certain that you will agree with what we are about to say - has denied its glorious past. Despite everything, let's go back to saying, Resident Evil is a flagship brand of Capcom, always ready to churn out new episodes on a regular basis: here then, after peeping on Nintendo's latest 3DS, this Resident Evil: Revelations is converted also for the living room consoles, in a high definition version that will be the subject of this review.
Jill, one of RE's most beloved protagonists, returns in Revelations
It is not so much the what you tell, but the how
With the title of this paragraph we tried to summarize what is certainly one of the strengths of this Revelations: the plot. Dense of twists and strong of a prominent character design, which draws heavily from the universe of Resident Evil, this is told in the form of interconnected episodes, in a continuous coming and going between past and present. In addition to the situations presented, the characters also change: from the events of Jill and Parker on the ship Queen Zenobia - a name, a program - in search of Chris Redfield, passing through the past of the latter in the company of his new partner Jessika and, dulcis in the end, arriving at the investigations of agents Keith and Quint, the plot unfolds in a parallel and credible way as the ten hours necessary to complete the game pass, keeping glued to the screen and leaving that irrepressible desire to devour a chapter after another only to find out how the various subplots will intertwine with each other as the adventure continues. A point in favor of this Revelations, therefore, is certainly the plot and the way in which it is presented: as interesting for new players as it is full of meaning for the old guards, who will certainly be delighted to see Chris and Jill again.
The alternation of scenes and characters makes the plot always interesting
Nice but… where are the zombies?
As we said at the beginning, one of the main problems of Resident Evil was its departure clearly from the beginning, becoming more and more action with the passing of the years and the episodes. Let's say that in Resident Evil: Revelations there is still a timid attempt to turn around, since the management of the camera and the movements of the characters closely resembles Resident Evil 4, a true watershed between the old and the new version of the brand, but all in all still full of horror moments and survival situations. In Revelation, the psychological pressure is given above all by the lack of ammunition: compared to RE 5 and 6, where the player found himself in the shoes of a new commando overloaded with bullets and with a firepower capable of spreading even the largest abomination created from Umbrella, in Revelations we often find ourselves sipping the ammunition collected to defend ourselves from the attacks of the most dangerous monsters, trying rather to dodge the slowest or the most harmless. However, what we have just said presents a certain amount of risk, since dodging is not an easy movement to learn, and must be performed in a workmanlike manner so as not to be hit by nearby enemies. The supply of green plants is also quite small, which as all long-time fans know well are one of the few sources of energy in the Resident Evil universe. From our point of view, however, those just touched are anything but negative characteristics, since they are the only gimmicks capable of raising the tension during the game, giving the world of RE back that patina of survival horror that in the last chapters the main saga, on the other hand, seemed lost forever. In the case among the readers there were firm supporters of the action change of RE, however, we point out the presence of the Raid mode which allows, once a level of the main adventure is completed, to face it again in a sort of time attack with increasingly powerful enemies.
Moving on to the paraphernalia and its management, we find ourselves faced with the usual slots in which to cram weapons, objects and ammunition. In Revelations it will be possible to carry a maximum of 3 weapons at a time, all of which can be upgraded by collecting special kits scattered throughout the levels. The extra weapons and objects will be crammed into the spacious trunks, as per tradition, to retrieve them if necessary at any point in the game world. As in the last few episodes, there are no typewriters in this one as well, as the system automatically saves game progress at pre-established checkpoints. Finally, an object in the inventory that will surely be able to simplify the adventure is the Genesis: it is an environmental scanner, to be used everywhere to analyze the corpses of killed enemies and the surrounding environment, in search information and, above all, useful items such as upgrades and bullets for your weapons.
But let's get to the key point of the gameplay, already underlined in the title of this paragraph: where are the zombies? Another trademark of the early Resident Evil, the walking dead is one of the characters who most of all contributed to the success of Capcom's videogame product. Well, fans of the first few chapters will be disappointed again this time, since the genetic mutations and monstrosities of Resident Evil: Revelation are certainly horror-themed, but do not remember - if not with a lot of imagination - the character design of the antagonists Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2, perhaps among all the scariest of the entire saga. However, the fact remains that even these monsters are scary, especially the bosses, made with care and definitely a level above the other genetic aberrations that you will encounter during the exploration of the levels.
They may not be zombies, but Revelations' creatures are definitely horror
HD collection not quite HD
Now we come to the most interesting part of this review: if on the one hand everything we have written so far had already been said at the time of the release of the game on 3DS, the real novelty in this port is its having been redesigned for the console in high definition. Let's start by saying that the cutscenes are the part of the game that has benefited most from the transition to HD, presenting itself with a look where the lighting effects and animations in general are perfectly able to do justice to the work done by Capcom, always very attentive to these cinematographic sections within its products. A little less convincing were characters and settings: despite the general polishing and smoothing work of the entire technical sector, it is still evident that the original code was written with all the limits of the Nintendo portable console for which the game was intended. . Some settings, especially the brighter and more effective ones - we refer above all to the main room of the Queen Zenobia - are certainly a feast for the eyes. Alongside these graphic gems, however, there are also sections that are much poorer in detail in which, absurdly, the passage in high definition showed more the defects than the merits of the level design.
Same goes for the physics engine: having not been rewritten, even in the living room version of Revelation we will not find any interaction with the surrounding environment by the characters. On the Queen Zenobia, then, we happened to kill an enemy on the stairs who, once liquefied, remained as if to float in the air, while he should have been at least tilted on the stairs, while his blood was there suspended in the air between the first and second step. These details, coupled with a not-so-top-notch non-player character AI, may be acceptable on the low computing power of handheld consoles, but when it comes to flexing your muscles on living room consoles it's all kinks coming to a head. and they are quite annoying.
In conclusion, we are not saying that RE: Revelations is a technically bad game, but only warning you that it is still a port from a less powerful console, and that demanding gamers will not be able to expect the quality level of the latest Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6, already born on the current generation of home machines.
Revelations HD is graphically interesting, but suffers from some limitations related to porting
Final verdict
Resident Evi: Revelations HD has the merit of belonging to the Resident Evil saga more than the last two official chapters were: that patina of horror and survival horror that made us love the first chapters returns here in some - albeit short - sessions, reminding us once again why, despite everything, even the detractors of the brand are intrigued at every release by trying to reject themselves in the Resident Evil universe. If you have already had the opportunity to play and to Revelations on 3DS it makes no sense to buy this version too but, if you missed it for portable consoles, as a Resident Evil fan we still recommend the purchase. You will only have to keep in mind the limits on a graphic and physical level that you will find in front of you, not attributable to a lack of developers but rather to the lack of power available at the time of design on 3DS: surely a rewrite of some codes for high definition consoles would have helped and re-launched Revelations in a big way, even though such a choice would probably have been too costly for Capcom. That said, if you let yourself be carried away by the good plot and manage to turn a blind eye to the gaps listed in the course of the review, you will surely have fun with what, all in all, is yet another good chapter in the now multi-year series of Resident Evil hits. .
► Resident Evil Revelations HD is an Adventure-Shooter game developed and published by Capcom for PC, PlayStation 3, Wii U and Xbox 360, the video game was released on 21/05/2013
