Seeing as the overall reviews of this latest title are some of the lowest of recent memory, next to 6 which was vastly under appreciated, I was getting worried that this too would be a huge dissapointment.
But Revelations 2 is actually a very satisfying sequel that both old and newer fans of the franchise will very much enjoy, for an amount of reasons. As it takes place between 5 and 6, similar to the first Revelations, it will reveal a new dark location with terrible secrets.
Introducing the new T-Phobos virus, which alongside the Uroboros virus has taken it's residence at an unknown island originally inhabitated by Russian villagers somewhere on the Baltic Sea, the Afflicted run amok, of which the experimented victims transformed upon experienced fear as a huge conditionary and consequent effect.
Claire Redfield is alongside new colleague and friend Moira Burton imprisoned by unknown assailants on this isolated island, but soon they become aware of a little experiment that is taking place with them as contestants and the Overseer observing all of the guinea pigs.
Meanwhile, Barry Burton finally returns in the storyline in order to trace down and rescue his daughter after getting a debriefing back at the BSAA. Going on a lonesome mission or so he thought, he is accompanied by the mysterious young Natalia, who has the gift to sense danger nearby.
Moira is at first pretentious with her constant cursing and dislikable personality, and Natalia pretty much becomes a good girl with Barry acting as a temporary father and guide to her. It is Barry however which makes both of the girls seem very fond of in the end.
He also likes to joke around with his trademarks from the original Resident Evil, such as having called Claire a sandwich at some point, and at one point stating "who is the master of unlocking now!", another cute reference to the original.
Although I liked all of the four characters after the credits rolled, I do must report that in the beginning, the personalities of Claire and Barry seemed to have worsened, especially Claire who suddenly isn't good with kids(Sherry, hello?) anymore.
The same goes for the writing which was cringy at the beginning, such as Claire's unrealistic reaction towards horrific events, and her failing to mention that she was imprisoned before on Rockford Island(Code Veronica), or perhaps I missed that part of the dialogue.
Barry and Natalia's relationship also gave me The Last of Us vibes ironically, which is good. And I liked seeing diversity into playing these 4 characters one after another in each of the 4 episodes which at first got released separately.
The new enemies, the Afflicted in general, are pretty good and hideous looking, although they weren't as impressive as the Ooze did for me on the Queen Zenobia. What I also liked to see is that items can pretty much be only found and are not looted from enemies.
Gameplay wise, it is still the same third person shooter concept which Resident Evil 4 established for the franchise, yet perhaps it was never as fine tuned or as smoothly as Revelations 2 does here, with a conventional inventory screen, quick real time weapon changes and responsive combat in general.
Revelations 2 also continues to uphold the balance well between survival horror and action sequences, and it secretly might be the entry that alongside Revelations everyone was craving more of, leaving the over the top and chaotic scenarios of 5 and 6 behind.
The Divine Comedy is no longer referenced, instead, the works of Franz Kafka are mentioned during loading screens and some files found around as well, serving as symbolic themes for the events which are happening.
Raid Mode returns with more challenges for the most dedicated to keep busy, and it features quite a nice remix from the RE6 Mercenaries theme. There are also enough other extra's and unlockables to experience, such as costumes.
Alex Wesker's inclusion in the overall plot is a highlight because she was pretty much the only remaining main antagonist still alive and whom still had connections with the former Umbrella Corporation. Despite her intrigueness and final battle, I still feel that more character development was needed to truly make her remarkable like Albert or William.
In any case, the hardcore Resident Evil community should not have any worries at all with Revelations 2, as it brings back 2 beloved protagonists, brings out enough new content and it's just a very good mixture of suspenseful horror, immersion and action in general.
Rating: 8.7
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