Resident Evil Revelations 2 is an episodic game so we are doing an episodic review. Stephen will be looking at all of the episodes of RE Revelations 2 and putting together a small review on each. You can check out Episode one here.
Resident Evil: Revelations 2 – Episode 2 – Review
Continuing to ramp up the action, the second episode of Resident Evil’s latest outing begins to offer up some of the titular revelations in regards to its story whilst mixing up the gameplay with new enemies, weapons and areas.
The finale of RE: Revelations 2’s initial episode revealed that Barry Burton and his monster-scouting sidekick Natalia, rather than being hot on the heels of his daughter Moira and series mainstay Claire Redfield, were in fact half a year late to the party. To top this off, during the throes of a seemingly psychic spell Natalia states that Moira died 6 months previously.
I don’t know that I appreciated this narrative twist at the time as much as I do having now completed the second entry in Revelations 2’s episodic tale, as it deepens the narrative of the game’s locations which are slightly altered and rehashed between chapters. It’s nice to get a glimpse of what is in store for Barry and Natalia to some degree then later reflecting on the impact Claire and Moira’s actions are having on the island. Episode 2, titled ‘Contemplation’, immediately introduces some fellow TerraSave survivors for Moira and Claire to interact with – being a Resident Evil game, it isn’t long before plot devices ensure that the ladies are once again on their own against ravenous hordes of ‘Afflicted’. As Claire & Moira’s chapter comes to a close, Natalia leads Barry to a distant tower from which the ramblings of the islands ‘Overseer’ are being broadcast, wrapping up in such a way as to not only set up the initial chapter of Episode 3 as a means of further connecting the dots between the differing timelines but also ensuring that the opening of Barry’s next chapter should be well and truly riveting.
The biggest difference I found between the first episode and this one is the size of the gameplay areas, which are much larger throughout and result in enemies attacking from multiple directions. This was a decidedly stressful alternative to the more predictable corridor sections that made the series famous. A new weapon each for the characters adds a bit more variety to the combat, but not as much as the inclusion of the Decoy grenade which attracts and then subsequently blows up any enemy foolish enough to go near it. I began to find Moira less useful here than in Episode One, as there were seemingly fewer hidden items to be found whereas Natalia proved invaluable thanks to the inclusion of new invisible enemies which she is able to pinpoint for Barry. While switching between characters didn’t detract from the gameplay in this episode, it certainly didn’t feel like it added too much, an issue I hope can be resolved in the final two episodes.
As I said in my review of Episode One, Raid Mode is a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a large amount of time with the combat mechanics of the game. My favourite moments so far have included the numerous times that, not managing my ammo particularly well, I’ve died attempting to knife a large Afflicted with little to no effect.
Make sure to return next week for my thoughts on Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Episode 3, ‘Judgement’.
Stephen del Prado
