RESIDENT EVIL: REVELATIONS HD – DEMO IMPRESSIONS

Resident Evil: Revelations for the home consoles and PC is an HD update to the once exclusive 3DS version. Here are a few of our impressions from its recently released demo.

The game begins with Jill Valentine and Parker Luciani aboard the luxurious cruiser, Queen Zenobia, trying to find Chris Redfield. Players will take the role of Jill.

The atmosphere on the ship is appropriately tense, with butchered bodies coming out of walls in messed up halls and quarters, alongside monsters’ remainings. The storm outside also plays an important factor, not only for creating a more frightful atmosphere, but also for directly affecting the gameplay.

After a few minutes of taking in the “view,” players will encounter their first enemy. The fact that the ship is constantly moving because of the storm makes the fights more intense, since, even if you’re not moving your mouse/joystick, the crosshair will still go a bit off; couple that with the fact that the monsters’ moves are a bit unpredictable, and you’ll have a hard time getting those headshots. Ammunition is also scarce, so trying to get the perfect shot for maximum damage is challenging, but also rewarding.

Because of this, if you do have a choice, I would suggest going for the PC version. The controller works well, indeed, but I obviously found the mouse to be more precise.

The game also introduces a brand-new item called the Genesis, with which you can scan the environment for additional information, or hidden items.

Regenerative health isn’t featured here, so going off the main path to find medicinal herbs (and ammo) is easily recommended.

There were a few instances where the AI would act strangely, in that the monsters would simply stare at me without taking any action unless I would fire at them.

I may be nit-picking here, but I do not like the fact that when you’re observing certain situations, a text pops up on the screen, but there isn’t anyone voicing it. I know this is kind of a staple of the franchise, but still…

Regarding the graphics, I must say that they’re not something to write home about. It’s obvious that this is the 3DS version, only with better textures and a higher resolution (as far as the visuals go), though these better textures are still a little rough.

All in all, I did enjoy my time with the demo. Too bad it only took about 30 minutes to complete it. You can download the demo and try it for yourself on Xbox Live, PSN, Wii U eShop, and Steam.

Resident Evil: Revelations is set to be released on May 21st in North America, May 23rd in Japan and Australia, and May 24th across Europe, all for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and PC.