Resident Evil Revelations 2 “Judgment” Impressions

I don?t have nearly as much to say about the third episode for Resident Evil Revelations 2 as I did for episode 2. But that doesn?t mean this isn?t a solid entry, it?s just a bit more straight-forward from a gameplay perspective, and I think the developers have fully established most of the game mechanics at this point. You don?t get any curveballs like the invisible enemies for Barry?s campaign introduced in the last episode, instead episode 3 is more focused on forcing teamwork between both pairs of characters, and providing notable boss encounters at the end of each chapter.

For Claire and Moira, you?ll get a decent story revelation, no pun intended. Their story elements are pretty brief outside of this one moment, which comes just before a monstrous boss battle that features the return of a particular virus Resident Evil fans will likely be happy to see. My only real complaint for their portion of the story is that the two major environments you?ll be exploring this time are pretty drab, consisting of a sewer and industrial style office/warehouse. That said, the sewer provides a tense atmosphere filled with waist-deep water and lurking enemies, and the warehouse gives a harrowing, timed event that capitalizes on the teamwork element found in Revelations 2.

For Barry and Natalia, who again had the bigger cliffhanger moment at the end of episode 2, you don?t get much payoff on the story side of things. I think most of us could guess at who the monstrous creature was that intercepted the duo at the end of episode 2, so I doubt anyone will be surprised by the reveal here. Unfortunately, we don?t get any real insight into Natalia this chapter either, but the ?next on? trailer for episode 4 at least hints that we?ll get a lot more insight into who or what Natalia is, along with Claire and Moira?s final fate.

Barry and Natalia also have a stand out teamwork sequence, navigating the aforementioned sewer area. It feels a bit scarier to separate Natalia from Barry than it does taking Moira from Claire, simply because Natalia has very little to offer in the offense department. And of course, she?ll be placed into danger a number of times during this section of the episode, forcing players to use Natalia as bait, while switching back to Barry to take down any threats.

Unfortunately Barry and Natalia also have the stand out low-point for this episode, which features a box carrying series of puzzles/switches at the exterior of a mine. It?s not a long section of the game, but it?s a bit slow and plodding compared to the faster pace of the rest of this episode, and it?s placed towards the tail end of this chapter, killing the flow of this episode just a bit.

Still, this is another chapter that continues to improve and impress me. The episodic formula is pretty well-handled so far, giving players ample reason to come back week after week. I?m surprised at how well Capcom has handled this set-up thus far, and I hope to see some serious payoff with the final chapter and the bonus episodes, which we?ll be able to talk about next week.