While waiting for Resident Evil 7, which must freak out the developers at least as much as the fans, the Japanese publisher is therefore making a living with its license, by completing its gray areas. Yes, as was the case with the first Revelations, this sequel does not offer any real revelations about the main plot of the series but rather completes it. This time, Resident Evil Revelations 2 takes place in 2011, after the African events of Resident Evil 5. It is during a convention of the anti-bioterrorism organization TerraSave that a mysterious militia arrives in venerable mode to capture some of its members, including Claire Redfield and Moira Burton, Barry's daughter. The two young women will wake up on a mysterious lost island in the middle of nowhere (probably a corner where Russian is spoken), with a strange electronic bracelet on their wrist. Quickly reunited, they will realize that they have been brought here to be the subject of a large-scale experiment. So much for the first part of each act. Because, as for the first Revelations of the name, again, Capcom has bet on a double story arc. And the second part of each episode will have you controlling Barry Burton, who has come to the rescue of his daughter on the island. Yes, solo, with his dick and his knife; it's not smart you say. But he will quickly find a "teammate" in the person of Natalia, a ten-year-old girl who seems to be the only normal being for miles around. The double narration does its job well: each point of view completes the other and allows the player, in addition to the information gathered here and there, to understand the story as a whole.
YOU + ME
If you have been paying attention, you will have noticed that another characteristic feature of the first Resident Evil Revelations is also making a return, namely the hero pairs. However, Capcom has taken its feature a step further this time. You can now switch between each of the two protagonists at any time, thus taking advantage of their gameplay specificities and solving puzzles involving the use of two pairs of small hands (nothing that blocks you for more than a few minutes, we reassures). Everyone now has their own bag and a fairly intuitive interface allows you to trade and manage the inventory of the two companions without straining too much. Each interval between missions allows you to spend points earned so far to improve everyone's abilities. Capcom therefore listened in part to the criticisms of the first opus. Indeed, if the partners are now easier to manage, this does not mean that they have become formidable warriors. It's even quite the opposite. As in the first Resident Evil Revelations, you must mostly do things yourself to be able to progress in the adventure: the partner controlled by the AI is relatively harmless, places itself anyhow and serves as bait the essential time (since he can't die). As Laurely said in her test at the time, "it's ugly". There remains the cooperation in split screen (long live the 55 inches) to be able to take full advantage of a second functional brain."EACH HIS ROAD, EACH HIS PATH"
Where was I? Ah yes, gameplay specifics. If Claire and Barry obviously play the role of big arms, Moira and Natalia bring a little more subtlety. The first can defend itself and open certain barricaded doors with its crowbar; but it's her flashlight that makes her really useful, since she can spot certain items and also destabilize enemies by pointing them with her light beam. In addition to being able to sneak through the narrowest passages, Natalia has a special ability that allows her to spot enemies through walls. This has the merit of bringing a flavor of renewal to the title and gives each adventure its own identity. If the course of Claire and Moira is closer (alas?) more to a Resident Evil 5, that of Barry and Natalia evokes another survival-horror which marked the genre with a red iron. A special little girl, a bearded and somewhat gruff quadra, infiltration, the ability to target enemies through walls: yes, the developers of Revelations 2 have played The Last of Us without a doubt. A little too much perhaps. Especially since if their version works roughly, we are very far from the mastery of Naughty Dog. Between the still very rigid movements of the characters, inherited from a game released more than ten years ago, we remind you, and the obligatory yo-yo between Natalia and Barry, we cannot honestly say that it is a great success. Consequence: these infiltration phases will often oppose only one enemy at a time.Yes, Revelations 2 is the story of a game that is average, that wants to part with a heavy legacy without really succeeding in doing so.
And since we're talking about inspirations, we can talk about the more than obvious visual links between Capcom's latest production and Shinji Mikami's latest title with Tango Gameworks, the very gore The Evil Within. And let's say it's a compliment: as long as you are sensitive to the bloody/dirty/unhealthy side of a place, this Resident Evil Revelations 2 should succeed in making you feel uncomfortable. Slaughterhouses saturated with hemoglobin, ruined buildings abandoned and oozing a disgusting liquid, fishing village in the mist: all is rust and rot, of course to echo the theme of the game. This tortured artistic direction is finally revealed fairly controlled and consistent if not truly innovative, except for a few key places in the game. The technical level displayed by this Resident Evil Revelations 2 is in the same spirit: quite uneven, sometimes weighed down by collision problems and pathfinding from yesteryear, sometimes enhanced by a DA that hits the mark and surprising visuals for a multiplatform title. Yes, Revelations 2 is the story of a game that is average, that wants to part with a heavy legacy without really succeeding in doing so.
