‘Resident Evil: Revelations 2’ Review: A Solid Episodic Adventure That Returns to Its Series Roots

Game: Resident Evil: Revelations 2 – Episode 2
Consoles: PC, Xbox One (Reviewed), PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom

The arrival of Episode 2 for this new adventure through the new horrors of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 thankfully improves things. The sense of fear absent in the the 1st episode is readily apparent here, thanks to the more interesting main campaign half featuring Claire and Moira. This time around, both women discover a new locale by the open sea. They also come into contact with more members of their bio-terrorism task force. These new characters provide more personalities to care about and engage with during your newest mission – attempt to fix a potential ride off the island. Of course, things go south real fast and you’ll have to stay alive during some supremely intense moments.

Claire and Moira’s newest harrowing situation showcases the improvements seen in this episode. Frightening bosses invade your space, packs of wild Infected baddies increase your paranoia and the last-minute saves you experience will make you feel like a badass. The new range of disgusting baddies and entertaining skirmishes with waves of enemies makes this portion of the game a fun ride. The only thing that sours this 1st half is the unreliable new characters who can’t seem to handle any enemies coming your way. Once you move Claire and Moira along with a familiar little lady, you’re transported months ahead to her time with Barry. For this 2nd half of Episode 2, you trek through the same location but under the guise of a foggy forecast. This seems to be the path you should come to expect in every episode being released.

Moving through this section is a little less enjoyable than their last outing. The more stealthy section that take place within the forest area and abandoned building are a nice change of pace. But the newly added invisible enemies are a chore to deal with. These floating bugs can only be spotted by Natalia, so it’s a must that you have an live player nearby to help you deal with them. Listening to Natalia scream out these invisible baddies’ location and wasting valuable ammo on them is pretty frustrating. But Barry’s mission picks up once you get to the finish line. The boss fight that caps off this episode is a tough encounter, but the accomplished feeling from besting him is an incredible feeling. It harkens back to the fun boss fights of Resident Evil lore.

Raid Mode is still as fun as ever. New maps and a throwback stage pop up, as well as two new playable characters with supremely useful special abilities. The addictive stage playthroughs, character/weapon upgrades and Daily Mission structure will bring you back into the fold once again.

Bottom Line

The 2nd episode of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 ups the ante and quality of this episodic foray into the series. Claire and Moira’s plot plays out in a much scarier and nail biting affair than before, thanks to a more interesting location and a huge boss to deal with. Barry and Natalia’s portion of the campaign may be hampered by the use of invisible enemies, but the final boss encounter and engaging cliffhanger for Episode 3 makes it all worth the frustration.

Score: 8.25/10

Pros:

• Tough but immensely tense and fun boss encounters
• Claire and Moira’s portion of the campaign is much improved over the last one
• Awesome cliffhanger for Episode 3

Cons:

• Annoying addition of invisible enemies
• New characters aren’t very reliable A.I. partners

Buy Resident Evil: Revelations 2 here.

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Head to the next page for our review of Episode 3.