Resident Evil Revelations 2

The tenth instalment in the survival horror series.

Capcom's Resident Evil franchise is often credited with starting the 'survival horror' genre and has enjoyed enormous commercial success, selling more than 60 million units worldwide. However, some of the more recent titles in the series have suffered from a lack of inspiration and have failed to fully recapture the glory days.

Revelations 2 is the tenth Resident Evil game, discounting re-releases and the so-called 'Gun Survivor' spin-offs. It can be considered a follow up to the 2012 release, Resident Evil: Revelations, as well as to Resident Evil 5, with the story taking place before the events of Resident Evil 6. So does it manage to breathe new life into the series?

Familiar Faces

The plot of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is essentially split into two separate stories: one focusing on Claire Redfield and Moira Burton, the other focusing on Barry Burton and a little girl named Natalia Korda. Both Claire and Barry will be familiar to those who have played other Resident Evil games, while Moira and Natalia are new faces.

Originally released in a weekly episodic format, the game is divided into four chapters, which offer a compelling story and two possible endings. The decision to pair off the four playable characters works extremely well, allowing for tactical switching in single player mode, as well as providing the option for multi-player cooperative play.

Gameplay

Anyone who has played a previous Resident Evil game will find the main gameplay familiar, with little in the way of major innovation. One major plus point is the decision to have underpowered characters in Moira and Natalia, as this adds to the fear factor and makes things feel more desperate.

Despite being underpowered, both characters are extremely useful - Natalia is small enough to access places Barry cannot reach, for example - and this adds a great tactical element. The plot is well-paced, albeit shorter than most of the previous Resident Evil instalments, and does a good job of keeping the player hooked until the end.

There are some negatives; the scenery is uninspired and most of the monsters will seem a bit generic. Yet, there is enough here to appeal to Resident Evil fans and maybe even some who have abandoned the series in recent years. While it may not completely rejuvenate the franchise, it certainly represents a step in the right direction.

Pros

• Compelling plot, which is divided nicely into chapters
• Co-operative gameplay is great fun and works well
• Mixture of classic and new characters strikes the right balance

Cons

• The main story is shorter than recent instalments
• Scenery and enemies feel a little bit uninspired