Capcom doesn’t seem to know what to do with the Resident Evil series. The storyline keeps getting more and more convoluted, the games themselves equally so, as evidenced by Resident Evil 6, a game that tried to be everything at once and became master of none.
But there is always hope for the series. Resident Evil Revelations was a surprise critical hit for the 3DS (and later, on consoles in glorious 2D HD), a welcome return to horror for a series that had dipped its toes into action before just jumping straight in. It was spooky in a way the series hadn’t been in years, mostly because for a good portion of the game you were alone on an abandoned cruise ship.
It worked wonderfully and was easily the best entry since the venerated Resident Evil 4, which is why it’s sad to see that Revelations 2 decides to saddle you with a partner once again.
See- co-op does not a good horror game make. It will be a wonderful day when some developer figures out how to do it, but no one has yet. F.E.A.R. 3, Dead Space 3- any previous attempt to share horror with a friend has failed, mostly because it’s easy to feel more secure with someone beside you, especially some dumb friend of yours you’ll be joking with the whole time.
Resident Evil Revelations 2 falls into that trap, but of course you can just play the game solo, switching between the two playable characters. It’s actually the preferred way to play it, as the characters are completely lopsided. There are two main storylines that weave together- one featuring Claire Redfield (of Resident Evil 2 fame) along with Moira Burton (daughter of Barry, from the first game), who have been kidnapped and wake up on some mysterious island with bracelets placed on their wrists by someone who’s seen Battle Royale one too many times.
While they’re trying to escape, Barry is in full-on Dad mode, hunting down his missing daughter. On the island he runs into a creepy little girl named Natalia, who seems to be a test subject of her own. He decides to bring her along, because there’s no way that her weird powers could be a bad thing.
Ultimately, that's all we're left with- a middling, forgettable main campaign and a far superior Raid mode that contains all the excitement we haven’t had in the series’ last two installments. It’s just a shame the horror couldn’t make it, too.
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Resident Evil Revelations 2 was reviewed from a PS4 code provided by Capcom. It's currently available as a retail disc version, which includes the most important content- playable Hunk for Raid mode. Buy it here.
