3.5/5 ★ – MechaniChris's review of Resident Evil: Revelations 2.

An enormous improvement over the first entry. I largely prefer the Claire centric stories in this franchise, and it was nice to play her again after taking a back seat since Code: Veronica. The game itself plays so much better. Obviously this was not created for the 3DS so the general clunkiness was of the first game is no longer an issue. It’s combat is also so much more satisfying. Rather than each enemy being a bullet sponge, they all have areas to shoot that will kill them instantly, providing a great opportunity for skill, and making any confrontation feel all the more thrilling. Difficulty be damned, if I shoot a zombie in the head, I want it to die! I appreciate that this game had more of a horror vibe that most of the more recent entries. Even the first Revelations feels more military than survivor, and it’s nice to get back to the roots of the franchise a little. It also has maybe the best partner system of any of the games, allowing you to switch back and forth easily between characters as well as share items in a way that doesn’t feel annoying. Honestly this game should have worked better for me, and I’m not entirely sure why it’s not a higher rating from me. Without fail, I would start to get bored during every mission. I think it may have to do with the episodic nature, which had me constantly being expecting to advance to the next segment, and when I didn’t, the chapter I was currently playing suddenly felt SO LONG. Each segment far exceeds its welcome and I honestly think I’d prefer it as one unbroken experience. Of course, none of this is helped by the fact that in the Barry segments, they have you play through the exact same level as Claire’s but at a later date. So again, while Claire’s levels are a little novel each time, the Barry levels just feel like backtracking. Even playing games like RE2 in which you literally play the game a second time from the other characters’ perspective don’t feel as monotonous because the actual levels are so well designed and visually interesting. These levels are all extremely samey and pretty dull to look at. I got excited when I finally got to a clean lab level, but then it ended after like 10 minutes and it was back to the rusty decrepit level design. My other issue is the villain this time around. I honestly enjoyed most aspects of the plot and the new virus, and implementation of Oroborus after it’s use in RE5, but I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the villain reveal. I won’t get too into it for spoiler reasons, but chronologically coming off of RE5, this struck me as the laziest story choice they could have made. If these Revelations titles continue to improve as they have, I foresee these being able to rival the mainline entries one day, but as it stands, they still feel slight comparatively. That said, this one is absolutely worth playing for any fan of the series, hardcore or casual. For its few faults, it really is an impressive game.