game corner – Page 30 – Dr. K's Waiting Room

Game Corner: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Xbox 360)

21/07/201927/01/2024Dr. K7 Comments

One of the things I love about Xbox Game Pass is that it allows me to play videogames I’ve either always wanted to play, haven’t played in a long time and can just farm for Achievements, or games I’ve always wanted to play, like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, 1997). Now, I’m not an especially well-versed player of the Castlevania series (Konami, 1986 to present); I’ve only ever owned one game in the franchise, the abysmal Castlevania (Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe, 1999) for the Nintendo 64, and I’ve only ever completed one title in the franchise, Super Castlevania IV (Konami, 1991), courtesy of the Super SNES Classic Edition. This, as I may have mentioned a few times before, is mainly due to growing up without the income necessary to allow me to own both a Nintendo and a SEGA console; however, I have been a fan of the franchise regardless and have always wanted to play more games from the series. After having a great time with Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Inti Creates, 2018), a fantastically well-crafted homage to the Castlevania franchise, I jumped at the chance to give Symphony of the Night a spin.

CastlevaniaStory — *Alucard is on a mission to confront his father.*

As I understand it, Symphony of the Night is a direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (Konami, 1993) and the game opens with the final events of its predecessor, with acclaimed vampire hunter Richter Belmont taking on and defeating Count Dracula. Despite this supposedly forcing Dracula into a one-hundred-year slumber, the Count’s castle, Castlevania, reappears four years later and, with Richter missing, Dracula’s dhampir son, Alucard (who had previously battled his father in Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse (ibid, 1989), alongside Richter’s ancestor, Trevor Belmont), heads into the monster-infested castle to destroy his father. I remember Super Castlevania IV being a fun little romp; you explore a vibrant gothic landscape, upgrade your whip with easily-found power-ups, and battle enemies and bosses that naturally increase in difficulty. Symphony of the Night, however, is a steep learning curve to the uninitiated; it doesn’t take long to get a handle on the basics but you really need to be paying attention to your surroundings and what every weapon and skill does so you can proceed further and further into Castlevania. The voice acting is classic cheese but the music is atmospheric and fitting to the environment; more importantly, the gameplay and controls are tight and responsive. There are very few cheap deaths in this game; no bottomless pits or instant kill traps here. If you get killed, it’s probably your own damn fault as you waded in unprepared or took on a boss or swarm of enemies with low health or the wrong items equipped, making the game a test of your actual gaming skills rather than an exercise in frustration.

CastlevaniaForms — *Alucard can become a bat, wolf, or mist to reach new areas.*

Alucard begins the game fully powered up and ready to take on the forces of evil but quickly encounters Dracula’s chief underling, the Grim Reaper, who strips Alucard of all his items and reduces the player down to simple punches. Alucard breaks from the franchise’s tradition of featuring a whip-wielding protagonist and, instead, favours a sword and shield, which can be equipped to different hands (and buttons), though other weapons (including rods, which are similar to the whip) and items can be acquired and equipped as Alucard makes his way through Castlevania. Alucard can also pick up sub-weapons by breaking pots, vases, lamps, and other items; these range from throwing knives, to Holy Water, to protective Bibles, and even fancy lightning. Alucard can only hold one sub-weapon at a time, though, but, whenever he picks up a new sub-weapon, his existing sub-weapon drops to the floor for a short time so you can pick it back up if you don’t fancy trading out. Also similar to other Castlevania titles, Alucard can pick up money, hearts (which, in a move I’ve never understood, allow him to use his sub-weapon rather than replenish his health) and restore his health by picking up pot roasts and potions. Power-ups to increase Alucard’s health and heart count can also be found scattered throughout Castlevania, as can better weapons and equipment, though these are often protected by bosses or hidden away in areas that will require Alucard to obtain other abilities or transformations. Being a dhampir, Alucard has some nifty abilities that other series characters were probably lacking; he can dash away from enemies with a press of a button (but not forwards, which is a bit annoying), cast magic, double jump, breath underwater, and transform into a wolf, bat, or mist to reach new areas. However, most of these abilities will need to be found by use of copious amounts of back-tracking; for example, you may spot a new area up on the ceiling that you cannot reach with Alucard’s standard jump, so you’ll have to acquire the bat or mist transformation to get up there and explore new areas.

*Be prepared to face some messed-up enemies…*

Symphony of the Night features a lot of RPG elements to its action-orientated gameplay; defeating enemies and bosses gains Alucard experience points and, with enough points, he will level up and his stats (attack, defence, and so forth) will improve. In addition to equipping weapons and shields to do more damage or reduce enemy attacks, Alucard can also equip armour, jewellery, and other items to boost his stats or for other perks. Item management is key here as some weapons require two hands to wield, some deal or defend against specific element attacks and will thus be better suited to certain bosses, and some weapon and shield combinations confer Alucard with very helpful buffs (such as the shield delivering massive damage while simultaneously restoring Alucard’s health). Alongside saving (which can only be done in designated save rooms scattered through Castlevania), exploring Castlevania is a chore in itself; the castle is massive, stretching vertically and horizontally, and the game never holds your hand once in trying to navigate through its maze-like rooms. You can visit a librarian to purchase items and a map but you’ll still need to visit every room and squeeze through every nook and cranny if you want to find the best items, skills, and weapons. As Alucard explores Castlevania, he encounters many nightmarish foes, from zombies and skeletons to monstrous gargoyles, possessed books, and broom-riding witches, all of which can pose a significant threat as the player must equip a healing item in place of a weapon in order to use it and such items are scarce.

CastlevaniaBosses — Symphony of the Night *has some massive boss battles.*

Luckily, Alucard can also acquire familiars who will follow him around and provide assistance; the faerie will heal Alucard without the need to assign an item (though it can be easy to burn through your inventory this way) and the demon will attack enemies and press switches you cannot reach. These are extremely useful but also quite limited; it might be because I wasn’t quite sure how to use the familiars but it seemed like they wouldn’t attack every enemy or heal me as often as I would like, making them a little unreliable. Alucard also has to face some massive bosses, including a minotaur, a mummy, and a succubus, the gigantic, lightning-wielding Galamoth, and even evil doppelgängers of himself and characters from Castlevania III. Some of the bosses, like the Gaibon, Slogra, and Werewolf, even appear later in the game as regular enemies (though Alucard should be strong enough to wipe the floor with them by that point) and the majority of the boss battles require some level of strategy in order to get around their attack patterns.

*Richter’s turned to the dark side…or has he?*

While exploring Castlevania, Alucard comes across Maria Renard, who is searching the castle for Richter; however, when Alucard finds Richter, he is revealed to be plotting Dracula’s return in order to give his life meaning. The battle against Richter can quickly go sideways unless Alucard obtains the Holy Glasses from Maria (which can only be found by getting the Gold and Silver Rings from opposite ends of the castle and using a sub-weapon to activate a clock…because of course); the glasses allow the player to see a mysterious orb controlling Richter and destroying this will free him from the evil influence of the wizard Shaft. Shaft then taunts Alucard and goads him into following him further and it was at this point that I prepared myself for the final confrontation…only to be transported to an exact replica of Castlevania…only upside-down and filled with tougher enemies! The Reverse Castle caught me completely off-guard and added maybe another weekend to my playthrough; it seemed as though every time I seemed to be making progress and getting closer to the end, Symphony of the Night threw another curve ball at me that expanded the map and the narrative further and the Reverse Castle was no exception. It was simultaneously exhilarating and frustrating, especially as the Reverse Castle’s enemies often appear in large groups and strange combinations that force the player to flee more often than not.

*Play as Richter for a more traditional* Castlevania *experience.*

Alucard must battle five sub-bosses in the Reverse Castle to acquire Dracula’s body parts, which is the only way to unlock the final confrontation against both Shaft and the Count himself. However, the Reverse Castle is also home to some false sub-bosses, who instead drop power-ups for Alucard that you will need in order to succeed. If, like me, you missed a bunch of ability power-ups and transformations before entering the Reverse Castle, you’ll also have to backtrack to the standard castle in order to be able to swim in the upside-down water or damage enemies with your mist attack, two skills that are essential to safely navigating the Reverse Castle. In terms of replay value, Symphony of the Night features a huge map to explore and the chances are high that, even when you reach the final battle with Dracula, you won’t have explored all 200.6% of the game. If you’re playing the Xbox 360 version, there are obviously a few Achievements to get along the way (the 200.6% thing is one of them) and you can even play as Richter if you enter “RICHTER” as your player name, which makes the game both harder and more like Super Castlevania IV as you now control a whip-wielding vampire hunter. There’s also a bestiary to complete by encountering every enemy and boss in the game but the game favours extending its playtime considerably through the Reverse Castle, rather than any significant post-game features.

*Dracula presents a tough challenge…unless you know what you’re doing.*

In the end, I really enjoyed Symphony of the Night; it was tough but in a way that challenged me to be a better player. It’s annoying that Alucard’s shield doesn’t seem to block every enemy attack and that he can’t dash forwards but these are minor complaints (honestly, I hardly ever even used the shield so it’s a mute point, really). The music is great, the graphics, sprites, and backgrounds are all really well-drawn and heavily detailed, and the gameplay mechanics are solid. The RPG elements are just right for me; you don’t have to do a lot of arduous bullshit to upgrade specific stats or whatever. Alucard simply gets stronger and stronger as he levels-up and equipping the right items and equipment will buff him up further. As only the second Castlevania title I’ve ever played from start to finish, Symphony of the Night was a great experience and actually has me hungering for more from Konami’s franchise. Luckily, they have me covered as the Castlevania Anniversary Collection (ibid, 2019) is now available on Xbox One so I guess I know what I’ll be aiming to take on next…

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Game Corner: Resident Evil VII: Biohazard (Xbox One)

21/04/201924/03/2023Dr. K5 Comments

With Resident Evil VII: Biohazard (Capcom, 2017), I’ve finally reached the end of the big pile of Resident Evil ibid, 1996 to present) titles I got for Christmas. I was making decent progress in the game but kept getting distracted with life, work, and other games but, now that I’ve finally finished one of the most lauded Resident Evil titles ever made, the question is: does the game live up to the hype? After the absolute, balls-to-the-wall action-heavy approach they turned the franchise into in Resident Evil 6 (ibid, 2012), Capcom decided to answer their critics and bring the survival-horror aspects of Resident Evil back to the series but with a twist: this time, it’s in first-person!

ResiEv71stPerson — *Not gonna lie but I struggle with first-person perspective…*

This was a bit of a hurdle for me right off the bat as, traditionally, I don’t really get on too well with first-person videogames, primarily because I don’t like being attacked from behind and I find them to be uncomfortable to play at times. Like, I enjoy the dread and constant tension the perspective offers here and in other, similar games but, when you’re just trying to have a bit of a casual play, it can be draining to be constantly on edge and first-person perspective can hamper controls, combat, and camera angles at times.

*The charming Baker family invite you to dinner…*

However, Resident Evil VII: Biohazard utilises its new perspective to great effect as players take on the role of Ethan Winters; unlike other Resident Evil protagonists, Ethan’s just…a guy…nothing special. He’s been drawn to an abandoned house in search of his wife, Mia, who has apparently taken a bit of a turn for the worst. After he’s attacked and has his hand cut off, Ethan is left at the mercy of the mental Baker family, a bunch of messed up back-water hillbillies who make the Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s (Hooper, 1974) family look normal. With his hand reattached by staples (…just go with it) and forced to cobble together items to survive and find a way out of the booby-trapped house, Ethan is relentlessly pursued by Jack Baker, who smashes through walls and attacks without mercy, repeatedly coming back from severe trauma and injury to torment you again and again as he absorbs blows, shrugs off bullets, and your supplies dwindle away to nothing.

*The Molded are viscious buggers, far from your typical zombie fodder!*

As Ethan progresses, solving puzzles, battling the bullet-sponge monstrosities known as the “Molded”, and exploring the Baker’s estate, he comes across Zoe Baker, who offers to help cure Mia by developing a serum to combat the infection that has warped her family. The source of the infection turns out to be a young girl, Eveline, who can control the minds of others, and Ethan is eventually forced to battle her in her monstrous final form. Resident Evil VII: Biohazard is unlike every other Resident Evil title before it. Sure, some tropes remain (Item Boxes, herbs, having to manually save (though using a cassette player rather than a typewriter), limited supplies, and a claustrophobic atmosphere) but, aside from some brief last minute (literally the very last minute) references to the previous titles, this looks and plays like an entirely different game. It’s a shocking departure, even more so than when the series switched to an over-the-shoulder, slightly more action-orientated approach in Resident Evil 4 (Capcom Production Studio 4, 2005); it seems that, every time Capcom wants to spice up their survival-horror franchise, a dramatic shift into another genre generally does the trick as long as there’s some restraint placed on the player to emphasise the survival aspects.

*Things get very large and very ugly by* Resident Evil VII‘s end…

Resident Evil VII: Biohazard definitely emphasises this aspect as supplies are criminally low; it’s not really enough to have a herb anymore as it’s far more beneficial to also pick up some Chem Fluid to restore more health (as in other recent Resident Evil titles, this can be done with the touch of a button). This extends to ammo as well, as Ethan can combine different objects to create more, or new, ammo combinations. However, there’s never enough to truly feel comfortable in combat; the Molded take multiple shots (even from a good, old fashioned shotgun blast), forcing you to think strategically about when to fight, when to flee, and how to plan your route around enemies when a swarm turns up. Resident Evil VII: Biohazard’s bosses have quite a bit of variety; you start off desperately battling to survive as Jack Baker relentlessly attacks you with an axe or a chainsaw, progress to blasting a giant, slimy creature with the traditional giant red eyes, and end up blasting an enormous, pissed off woman right in the face. The first-person perspective makes these boss battles particularly intense as it doesn’t lend itself to the game’s limited combat; it’s tough to see where a boss is when its scurrying around you, even tougher to get a good shot off, and tricky to pull off sudden, quick-time event-like moments when you’re busy trying to get your vision lined up.

*Trust nothing when it comes to Lucas’ escape rooms…*

Once you’re made it through the main campaign, you can take on a variety of additional modes. Not A Hero follows series staple Chris Redfield (once again completely redesigned and working for the now-benevolent Umbrella Corporation) as he battles through the game’s last area to (what else!) a secret laboratory while End of Zoe follows Joe Baker, a slightly more hinged member of the Baker family who uses his apparently-superhuman strength to smash apart Molded and find a cure for Zoe. You can also race against the clock and blast the Molded to feed Jack in Jack’s 55^th Birthday, face death again and again in the impossibly-difficult Ethan Must Die, and take on a few other similar survival modes. Despite its dramatically new approach, Resident Evil VII: Biohazard feels a lot like the original Resident Evil in many ways, mainly in its atmosphere and aesthetics. Like the original title, doors are arbitrarily locked by themed keys, Ethan must solve puzzles to open new areas (or to escape death traps set-up by Lucas Baker that more than resemble the Saw (Various, 2004 to present) films), and combat is an intense, strategic action.

*You’re never short on horror in* Resident Evil VII.

It was an interesting experiment by Capcom to use the restrictive first-person perspective to enforce the survival-horror aspect in a new, exciting way; it’s not exactly unique, as there’s lots of first-person games that take a similar approach, but it definitely worked to shift the franchise back towards survival-horror. Having played this before and after Resident Evil 2 (Capcom R&D Division 1, 2019), it’s clear that Capcom took a lot of the lessons they learned in developing Resident Evil VII: Biohazard and applied them to their remake. While I doubt that Capcom would ever use them in a full game again, I actually wouldn’t be averse to seeing first-person sequences return in future Resident Evil titles (maybe as side quests similar to the videotape flashbacks seen in this game); however, the important thing here is that the tense, atmospheric horror is retained and, given how well Capcom did in applying this atmosphere to Resident Evil 2, we should hopefully be in for some gory, engaging, terrifying Resident Evil titles once more thanks, largely, to Resident Evil VII: Biohazard.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Game Corner: Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Xbox One)

08/04/201922/09/2022Dr. K6 Comments

I’m going to kick this off with a revelation: I’ve never actually played a Tomb Raider (Core Design/Eidos Interactive/Square Enix, 1996 to present) videogame from start to finish. As I’ve alluded to in the past, I didn’t have the luxury of being able to afford every videogame console as a kid so I picked the Nintendo 64 while others were playing PlayStation; I did play the original Tomb Raider (Core Design/Eidos Interactive, 1996) for about twenty minutes (and wasn’t massively impressed by its controls, sparse environments, or graphics) and I think I have either Tomb Raider: Legend (Crystal Dynamics/Eidos Interactive, 2006) or Tomb Raider: Underworld (ibid, 2008) downloaded on my PlayStation 3 but I instantly lost interest in it moments after first playing it. However, when my friend gifted me Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix, 2014) for the Xbox One, I was intrigued not just because I felt I had skipped an important franchise in videogame history but also because I had heard good things about it and that it played similar to the Batman: Arkham (Rocksteady Studios/WB Games Montréal/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, 2009 to 2015) franchise (I guess the Assassin’s’ Creed (Ubisoft, 2007 to 2018) series is a better comparison but I haven’t played them either…).

TombRaiderSurvive — *Lara’s lost and alone in the wilderness…*

Tomb Raider is, if you couldn’t guess from the title, a complete reboot of the franchise in which Lara Croft (and her fellow explorers) journeys to Yamatai, a lost island off the coast of Japan, to find evidence of the mythical Sun Queen, Himiko. Unfortunately, Yamatai is protected by violent supernatural storms, which sinks Lara’s ship and separates the survivors across the island. Isolated and hunted by the island natives, Lara is forced to adapt to her surroundings to find food, shelter, and warmth and then take up arms against the violent Solarii Brotherhood, who wish to make a sacrifice to the Sun Queen. Gameplay takes the form of a third-person perspective as players guide Lara throughout her diverse and varied environments; initially, Lara is relatively incapable and struggles to get through the jungles, cliffs, and shanty towns dotted around the island but, once she obtains a pickaxe and a make-shift bow, she soon becomes an accomplished rock climber, forager, and survivor.

TombRaiderKiller — *Lara overcomes her aversion to killing pretty quickly…*

Lara is forced to fashion a bow and arrows in order to hunt wildlife for food (though this is merely a plot mechanic; Lara’s health automatically regenerates when she finds cover or avoids damage) but a huge dramatic moment is made of the first time she picks up and fires a gun in self defence. Shaken by the ordeal of having to kill to survive, you’ll soon find yourself blasting fools in the face with a shotgun and stabbing guys through the neck with arrows without mercy. Lara is able to explore her environments to find various helpful items to improve her progress: salvage and weapon parts can be used to upgrade and enhance her weapons, completing various trials and performing certain objectives and actions will award Lara experience points that she can spend on upgrades to improve her hunting and survival skills, and she can find various treasures and documents scattered across the island to unlock Achievements.

TombRaiderTombs — *There are tombs to raid but they’re more of a distraction.*

There are also some hidden tombs to be found, which reap greater treasures and experience points; you’ll get a notification when one is near and they’re usually easily identified by nearby markings and drawings. Each tomb tests Lara’s abilities with a few simple puzzles, which involve lighting things, jumping across gaps, and manipulating the environment with her various tools. While they are a fun diversion they are just that, a diversion, and the game’s title is actually somewhat misleading as the actual raiding of tomb’s is not even secondary to the game’s plot; it’s a side-mission, one barely given any prominence or relevance at all. Instead, the game pushes the plot revolving around the Sun Queen; when one of Lara’s ship-mates is captured by the Solarii, Lara has to go and rescue her to stop her being possessed by Himiko’s spirit and bring and end to the storms that prevent anyone from leaving the island. She faces betrayal and further trials along the way but, by the time you reach the final area of the game, you’ll be more than levelled up and ready to face the waves of enemies that come at you.

TombRaiderInstincts — *Lara’s “instincts” give her the edge over her enemies.*

Like Batman, Lara is able to use her “instincts” to scan her environment for treasures, intractable objects, and locate enemies that she can combat in a variety of ways: the bow is good for stealth but Lara can also sneak up on enemies for stealth kills. She only has access to one gun throughout the game until the very end, when she acquires a second and ends up as the battle-hardened, experienced hunter/survivor we know as Lara Croft, but this can be upgraded into a rapid fire Magnum. She also obtains a shotgun and an assault rifle (which can somehow also be upgraded into a grenade launcher…) to mow down enemies and use her pickaxe for melee attacks and instant kills. Enemies are reasonably varied; some will attack with machetes and dynamite, others use assault rifles, while bigger enemies are shielded by Samurai armour, meaning Lara must dodge their attacks to strike from behind. This is facilitated via quick-time events, which also appear at various moments when Lara must run to escape flooding areas, collapsing areas, or her many (many) tumbles down hills and cliffs. It was a little difficult getting the timing right for a lot of these quick-time events as the button doesn’t appear onscreen right away but you soon get the hang of it and will be dodging enemies and blasting them with a clip full of bullets before long.

*Quick-time events help keep things engaging.*

Lara is also adept at jumping, climbing, and swinging; she can leap pretty far and climb up roped surfaces, jump from rock face to rock face with her pickaxe, and even end up shooting roped arrows to ride her pickaxe down to new areas. Jumping across rocks can be tricky due to the camera angle being just slightly off but, as long as you press X and time it right, you can make most jumps without any issues. You can bring up the map at any time to see what goodies you’re missing in each area; every area of the island has a bunch of stuff to find that will help you out and unlock Achievements. Lara can also make camp at various points; this will save the game, allows her to fast travel around the map (how, exactly, is never explained…). Upgrade her abilities and weapons, and write in her journal like a geek. You can also switch her outfit here, though none of them are that great to be honest and there’s no option for her classic green vest and hot pants outfit.

*Yeah…I won’t be unlocking her any time soon…*

Tomb Raider also comes with a multi-player component, though I’m not entirely sure why. In it, players can select one of the many characters featured in the story mode (though, ironically, Lara can only be unlocked after you level-up enough) and take part in deathmatches, rescuing survivors, or retrieving batteries whilst being hunted. As with all online modes, I found this to be chaotic and confusing; I was constantly picked off with frustrating ease, barely ever saw who was killing me, and contributed very little to the match but this is more due to me not really liking online deathmatches and I’m sure if you’re actually good at these modes then there’s enjoyment to be had here. The entire point of this game appears to be to bring Lara to rock bottom and build her up; some of this is dampened by a lot of her ship-mates constantly telling her that she “can do this” because she “is a Croft”, as though having that last name automatically means she can scale a cliff side and kill a God…but she can, and she does, after enduring some harsh trials and learning to do whatever it takes to survive. Along the way, she becomes comfortable with killing to stay alive and looting treasure for her own benefit and, by the end, is noted to have changed a lot and committed to the life of a scavenger and survivor rather than a simple naïve explorer.

*Lara’s experience shapes her into the character we all know.*

This makes Tomb Raider quite an engaging experience; you really feel like you are becoming this survivor as you learn new tactics and figure out the best ways of clearing out rooms of enemies and solving puzzles. Every area teaches you something new, introduces new elements, and asks you to adapt and, by the time you’re done and you’re back-tracking to other locations to find stuff you missed, no obstacle will be too great for your fully-upgraded weapons and abilities. Overall, I enjoyed Tomb Raider; it wasn’t necessarily difficult to play through and complete and getting all the upgrades was pretty easy, with only a bit of back-tracking required at the end of the game. There is some replayability in the multiplayer and in the challenges you’ll find in each area but no real post-game story or additional modes that require a further playthrough. Nevertheless, for the first Tomb Raider game I’ve ever played from start to finish, this was a great experience, though I suspect this is largely due to the tight, polished gameplay of this particular title compared t its predecessors.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Game Corner: Resident Evil 6 (Xbox One)

03/03/201924/03/2023Dr. K8 Comments

So there’s been a bit of a delay in my playing and completing of the Xbox One Resident Evil (Capcom, 1996 to present) titles due to life and the release of Resident Evil 2 (Capcom R&D Division 1, 2019) but I finally played through and completed Resident Evil 6 (Capcom, 2012). Resident Evil 6 is the culmination of the more action-orientated approach the series took from Resident Evil 4 (Capcom Production Studio 4, 2005); while Leon S. Kennedy went solo in that title and played babysitter to the otherwise-useless Ashley Graham, players were forced to constantly play in co-op, either with a friend or with a questionable AI, in Resident Evil 5 (Capcom, 2009), a title which also upped the action-centric focus of the franchise.

ResidentEvil6Stories — *Chris and Leon get into a bit of a dick-measuring contest…*

Resident Evil 6 continues down this route but expands upon it in numerous ways; the most obvious is the amount of playable characters available. Players can choose from four campaign modes, three of which follow the same mechanic of the Resident Evil: Revelations(ibid, 2012; 2015) games and lumber classic Resident Evil characters with a new companion. Players can pick between playing as Leon and Helena Harper of the Secret Service agent, Chris Redfield and BSAA grunt Piers Nivans, Albert Wesker’s son, Jake Muller, who teams up with the returning Sherry Birkin, now a member of the Division of Security Operations, or go it (mostly) alone as Ada Wong. Each character has their own narrative to follow and, as you play through each campaign, you will visit the same locations as other characters, though sometimes at different times, encounter some of the same enemies, and interact with the other character’s stories at various points. This results in perhaps the most complex and connected Resident Evil story ever; you’ll play a lot of the story events out of order so it’s only by playing through each campaign will you truly get a sense of what’s going down.

ResidentEvil6Outbreak — *Things go to hell when* another virus is unleashed…

Essentially, though, it’s the same Resident Evil storyline you’re familiar with only with everything ramped up to eleven and taken to the extreme; a terrorist group known as Neo-Umbrella, apparently under the direction of Ada, develops a brand new virus, the C-virus, and unleashes it at various locations across the globe, causing people to turn into zombies, grotesque mutations, or enter a chrysalis and become these weird, insect-like creatures. Each of the characters pursues different goals in service of ending this threat: Leon and Helena find themselves framed for the murder of the President (who had become a zombie) by Neo-Umbrella affiliate (and National Security Advisor) Derek Simmons and fight to reveal Simmons’ role in the whole conspiracy; Chris and Piers relentlessly pursue Ada after she wiped out their platoon; Jake finds himself recruited by Sherry to bring down Neo-Umbrella because he happens to be carrying the anti-virus to the C-Virus in his blood and they are pursed by Neo-Umbrella’s Usantank; and Ada sneaks around aiding the other characters at various points, obtaining data and information, and uncovering the origins of her imposter.

It’s quite the twisting narrative, to be sure. To differentiate each campaign, the characters all receive slightly different HUDs, weapons, and melee attacks; Leon can duel wield pistols, for example, while Jake can switch to an unarmed mode to pummel enemies. Every character can use melee attacks, however, to stun enemies and set them up for instant kill moves or knock downs but these all drain a stamina meter that can only be filled by standing still. Disappointingly, and somewhat strangely, Jake has this meter and I didn’t really notice it refilling faster than any other characters; I kind of expected Wesker’s son, who is portrayed as this tough, semi-superhuman badass, to have an unlimited stamina meter, especially as he has less weapons to begin with. Another slightly annoying aspect of the weaponry is that the knife is back to being an equippable weapon, so you can’t shoot enemies and then switch to slashing and stabbing with a simple shoulder button press like in Resident Evil 4 and 5, which seems like a step backwards to me.

ResidentEvil6HUD — *The HUDs look different but the gameplay is mostly identical.*

Also a step backwards is the inventory interface; while other Resident Evil titles favour a grid-like system that clearly displays all your items and weapons, Resident Evil 6 opts for a linear interface that makes selecting a weapon far more time consuming, switching to a sub-weapon (like a grenade) feel very rushed, and forces you to combine herbs into pills and then store them in a pill case. While this means you can recover health at the push of a button, the entire interface makes it very difficult to juggle your inventory; I was playing for most of Leon’s story before I realised that the inventory isn’t unlimited, which it appeared to be, so you have to be constantly reloading every weapon and combining those herbs, which gets especially complicated when your pill case can only hold so much. All this serves to slow the gameplay down quite a bit, at points, or make combat very stressful as you’ll be desperately scrolling through the inventory to select a different weapon or combine your herbs so you can heal. This is also quite complicated and time consuming as, when you press the button to eat a herb pill, your characters will enter into a short animation where they pop the pill out and swallow it and you’ll only regain health once this animation is complete; I was killed quite a few times during this animation, which was very frustrating. Also frustrating is that pressing the button only restores one block of health; you’ll need to press it multiple times to recover enough health to actually have an impact on your gameplay.

ResidentEvil6Partners — *Your partner is actually quite useful for taking out enemies.*

Luckily, your partner is always on hand to aid you in these times of crisis; while you can’t swap and change items like in Resident Evil 5, the partner AI will still come over and help you if you get knocked down and are near death and their ammo appears to be unlimited, which can be useful in tough battles. What isn’t useful, though, is how unbelievably weak all of the characters are; it’ll only take a few bites from a zombie to sap all of your health to one measly block; enemy gunfire and attacks also have a really annoying habit of knocking you to the floor, forcing you to crawl around on your back trying to unload a shot and get to safety. The enemies are quite varied, which is nice; you’ll get the usual zombies, of course, but some of the weirder mutations, similar to those seen in the Revelations games, have deadly weaponry merged into their anatomy, like a particularly nasty chainsaw-armed asshole. Similar to Revelations 2, though, a lot of the intermediate and advanced enemies have seemingly unblockable one-shot kill attacks (I say “seemingly” as it may depend on how much health you have; if you have more than one block, you might be able to fight back in a quick-time event), which is made more annoying by the unskippable and overly long death scenes that accompany these enemies.

ResidentEvil6QTE — Resident Evil 6 *loves a good quick-time event…*

There are some new enemy variations at work here, too; there’s one enemy that will burst from its chrysalis as a swarm of insects, which is one of the more annoying and tougher enemies as you have to either chuck an incendiary grenade at it or wait until the big bug appears and hope you can kill it before the smaller bugs swarm over you and drain all your health. Comparatively, the boss battles are much less of an annoyance; they are long and consist of multiple stages and elements, but they generally boil down to a simple tactic of keeping your distance, shooting at the big glowing eyes/boils/similar weak spots, and let your partner do a lot of the shooting. Unfortunately, the enemies all tend to be bullet sponges; in Resident Evil 5, I found I could blast away with reckless abandon and there would always be more than enough ammo to find to keep going but Resident Evil 6 really cuts down on the resources. While I appreciate this as a fan of the classic Resident Evil videogames, it does kind of run contrary to the game’s heavily action-orientated approach; how are you expected to blast through hoards of enemies when your ammo drains away like nothing and the drop-rate is so low? Resident Evil 6 tries to compensate for this not only with the aforementioned melee attacks, which can be useful for conserving your ammo, knocking down enemies, and landing an instant kill, but also in its overabundant use of quick-time events (QTEs). Literally anything could be a QTE in this game; while I don’t recall too many happening in cutscenes like in Resident Evil 4, there are plenty at work in the videogame proper here. Grabbed by an enemy? Waggle the control stick! Being chased by a boss on a mine cart? You better press X and A together to duck under those low-hanging planks of wood! Tackled by a bigger enemy or brought another boss to its knees? Better hit that A, X, or R-trigger and then mash away at X to pummel them! It’s kind of fun in some cases, like when Leon is desperately trying to pilot a helicopter through China, but it’s a lot more fun to do a similar mission with Ada, where she can fire the helicopter’s weaponry.

ResidentEvil6Cutscenes — *A story this big and complex needs a* lot of cutscenes…apparently…

Resident Evil 6 also really loves its cutscenes; you’ll sit and watch a cutscene filled with some suitably-dramatic tension or an impossible situation and then maybe take two steps forwards and another cutscene will happen. Similarly, you’ll be tasked with defeating a boss and struggling to take aim with the game’s janky sniper rifle controls and then suddenly a cutscene will interrupt you and you’ll realise that you wasted your ammo on the first couple of stages of the battle as all you really need to do is trigger the cutscene and survive to the final stage of the fight. Don’t get me wrong, I found the story interesting and complicated but it got very annoying to be constantly interrupted with the explosive arrival or return of a massive enemy or another twist in the tale. Also, call me crazy, but I don’t see the gameplay benefit of forcing me to walk sl-low-ly from one point to a door just to trigger another cutscene; just show Chris entering the building in the damn FMV! As in Resident Evil 4 and 5, Resident Evil 6 features numerous autosave points and adopts a chapter-based structure; each character’s story is split into five chapters and each chapter is maybe the length of two of Resident Evil 5’s, making casual play a bit more of a chore this time around. At the end of each chapter, you’ll get a medal based on how well you performed, maybe earn a dog tag (which can be customised and used as your gamer profile banner, I assume), and will be able to use the points you earn to buy new skills to equip. Again, though, this is a limited system; unlike previous Resident Evil titles, you can’t upgrade, improve, or buy new weapons between chapters and can only assign three skills at a time.

*There’s a lot of online modes in* Resident Evil 6.

There are bunch of skill slots available, though, and you can switch between them in-game, but being able to equip only three at a time does make the entire skill tree a bit pointless. I would have much preferred being able to upgrade certain things, like weapon accuracy or melee effectiveness, for each character rather than being forced to equip better ammo pick-ups or infinite ammo as a skill. Like many of the other Resident Evil titles of this era, there are some additional modes available; the “Mercenaries” mode returns, where players to survive as long as possible against waves of enemies across the game’s various maps. In “Onslaught” mode, two players battle against waves of enemies while “Predator” pits up to six players against the Ustanak and “Survivors” is more of a classic death match set-up. I’ve only really played a bit of the Mercenaries mode as I have no desire to be depressingly owned by twelve-year-olds over the internet but I can’t say any of these extra modes hold much appeal for me. Unlike other Resident Evil titles, there aren’t really many incentives for completing the single-player campaign. You’ll get an extra scene at the end of everyone’s credit rolls, unlock New Game+ to play with the weapons and items you’ve previously acquired, and eventually unlock the ability to equip infinite ammo for various weapons but there are no additional costumes to unlock except for in the online modes. There are Serpent tokens hidden throughout each location that you can shatter to unlock concept art and the like, and you can play through each campaign again as the partner character, if you really want to play as Sherry again, and there are obviously a lot of Achievements to unlock, but I really missed unlocking extra costumes and weapons after a playthrough. I heard a lot of crap about Resident Evil 6 but I didn’t really believe it; I figured I would be happy to be playing as Leon once again and returning to his Resident Evil 4 style of gameplay but, ironically, Leon plays very differently to how he did in that game. Instead, every character feels and plays like they’re from Resident Evil 5; much more tactile, combat-focused, and relying on a bunch of over-the-top, QTE-heavy melee attacks to dispatch enemies. I was a bit confused, to be honest, as I figured Resident Evil 6 was going to mash together the Resident Evil 4 and 5 playstyle, the more first-person-shooter approach taken by Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (Slant Six Games/Capcom, 2012), and an entirely new, melee-centric playstyle.

ResidentEvil6HAOS — *Don’t even get me started on this fucking thing!*

This seemed like the perfect time to mash together the older, more popular style of gameplay with Capcom’s newer, faster, FPS approach but…that’s not what has happened here. Instead, every character is essentially exactly the same, which doesn’t offer a lot in the way of variety; obviously, the Resident Evil characters were never that different in the original titles but that was more due to hardware limitations. Resident Evil 6 can’t really use that excuse, though, and really should have tried to make the characters more distinct in the way they play. In the end, I did enjoy Resident Evil 6 but it was much more of a slog to get through than any of the other titles; as annoying as I found the Revelations games, at least their chapters and missions were short and could be played in a casual burst. Here, everything is an annoyance; you’ll constantly be sent flying, knocked to the floor, run out of ammo and resources, wrestle with QTEs, die a lot, and probably get sick of seeing the same boss enemies crop up again and again and again. I found it much more enjoyable to focus on one campaign at a time and leave a little gap between starting the next campaign, which is a bit of a shame as I didn’t feel as fatigued playing through the campaigns in the previous games.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

Game Corner: Mortal Kombat 11 Guest Characters

05/02/201914/10/2025Dr. K3 Comments

I’m a bit late with this but NetherRealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat 11 will be coming later this year and, as with every Mortal Kombat, fans have immediately started asking several questions: What characters will be returning? What new characters will be included? What will the story be? What new, or returning, gameplay mechanics can we expect? Just how brutal will the Fatalities be? And, of course, the question of guest characters. After the inclusion of Freddy Krueger in Mortal Kombat (ibid, 2011), Mortal Kombat X (ibid, 2015) featured four guest characters from outside the franchise: Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, Alien, and Predator. This may have been a bit of overkill; I would argue that it would have been enough to just have Alien and Predator and that the other two DLC spots could have gone to some classic Mortal Kombat characters but it does set a tone for what we can potentially expect from Mortal Kombat 11.

The question of guest characters has been brought up to me in conversations about the videogame so I figured I would talk about a couple of characters I’d really like to see turn up as DLC in Mortal Kombat 11.

The first is Bob Gray, better known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, the eponymous “It” from Stephen King’s classic 1986 novel. Honestly, I would argue that it’s extremely likely that we could see Pennywise in Mortal Kombat 11 as NetherRealm Studios is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which is itself a subsidiary of Warner Bros., the studio behind It: Chapter One (Muschietti, 2017), It: Chapter Two (ibid, 2019), and Stephen King’s It (Wallace, 1990). As a result, the rights shouldn’t be any more of an issue than they were to get Freddy or Jason into the game. While it’d be nice to bring in Bill Skarsgård to voice the character, NetherRealm Studios would most likely do what they did with Freddy and simply have It chuckle, roar, and growl as It attacks. Given that Mortal Kombat 11 is set to bring back character variations, which allows each character to have three slightly different playstyles, each one associated with a different costume, I would hope to see NetherRealm Studios continue what they did with Leatherface when it comes to Pennywise’s variants.

MK11GuestItVariations — *Seeing It’s different looks would be an essential inclusion.*

Each of Leatherface’s variants was modelled on a different outfit from one of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (various, 1974-2017) movies. Since DLC characters tend not to have the same amount of additional costumes as regular fighters, I’d do the same for Pennywise; have one variation be modelled after Pennywise’s 2017 look, one after his 1990 look, and one more closer to his depiction in the books (a shiny, silver suit with big orange pompoms and a bow tie, as illustrated above by Mikael Quites).

*Make use of Pennywise’s warped sense of humour.*

Next, for Pennywise’s general moveset and depiction, I see Pennywise as a very grounded all-rounder. It would have an average jump height, speed, and recovery and could clash at opponents with claws, fangs, and tentacles. I would look back to what NetherRealm Studios did with Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat and the Joker in their Injustice titles (NetherRealm Studios, 2013; 2017), specifically in Injustice 2, where the Joker was depicted as a nightmarish clown. Just imagine seeing Pennywise morph through some different forms or holding a balloon (or a bunch of balloons) in front of Its face while taunting Its opponent, perhaps while munching on a child’s arm. Pennywise’s special moves could be as varied as you want; I remember being really disappointed with how limited, boring, and weak Freddy’s special moves were in Mortal Kombat and NetherRealm Studios really made up for this with Mortal Kombat X’s guest characters.

*Mesmerise a foe or just chew on their flesh!*

Pennywise could warp from one side of the screen to another in a cloud of orange smoke or a burst of orange light, stun or screw up an opponent’s controls with a Deadlight Gaze similar to Quan Chi’s Trance from MKX, and chomp away at the opponent’s face and neck with those big old vampire teeth like Mileena’s Pounce from MKX or Reptile’s Fatality from Mortal Kombat 4 (Midway Games, 1997). I’d also like to see Pennywise dart towards the opponent with spider legs like in the 2017 movie and similar to D’Vorah’s attacks, maybe summon a bunch of drowned dead kids to hold the opponent in place, and grab the opponent whilst spewing toxic bile over them in Its Leper form. I would avoid using balloons in any of Pennywise’s moves and save them for the intro and outro animations but I guess It could use them as explosive traps to propel the opponent into the air.

MK11GuestItFatality — *You can’t have Pennywise and not do the Spider…right?*

As for the X-Ray moves, I’d like to see Pennywise morph into a gruesome variant of the Frankenstein Monster and the Mummy and perform a move similar to Jason’s Back Breaker/Tight Squeeze and have It crush the ribcage of the opponent, and use those razor-sharp fangs to crush the opponent’s shoulder blade. For Pennywise’s Fatalities, you have to go back to the Spider-It; take inspiration from the 1990 version, yes, but I would also either incorporate anything used in It: Chapter Two (if this form even appears) and both the Alien’s Killer Queen Fatality and Scorpion’s transformation from Mortal Kombat 4. Have Pennywise contort and twist into a giant, crazed spider; have It impale the opponent through the chest/stomach, tear their upper body off, and then drop their still screaming form into its salivating jaws.

MK11GuestItFatality2 — *The Deadlights could melt foes to their bones!*

It’s other Fatality could be based on the depiction of the Deadlights in It: Chapter One; have Pennywise grab the opponent and Its head split open, mesmerising the opponent so they float up to the Deadlights that then melt the flesh off their bones similar to Nightwolf’s Ascension Fatality from Mortal Kombat. Brutalities are generally quite standard but you could have Pennywise rip the opponent’s head or limbs off and start gnawing away, slice the opponent’s legs off at the knees with Its spider legs, maybe toss a balloon at the opponent’s face that explodes in a burst of Deadlights and has the opponent’s head explode. As for Pennywise’s story and ending…well, these are never that strong or defined for Mortal Kombat’s DLC fighters; Pennywise’s status as a transdimensional being means that It could easily be sucked into the Mortal Kombat universe and want to compete for chance to dine on new fears and new flesh. Its ending would simply be to accumulate the power necessary to spread Itself over the multiverse and feast for all eternity, or perhaps even eat Itself to death, or, maybe, some kind of hint towards King’s interconnected multiverse.

*Spawn’s no stranger to being a guest fighter.*

The other guest character I think is perfectly suited to Mortal Kombat is, of course, Spawn. If he hadn’t already appeared in Injustice 2, I would have also suggested Hellboy but Spawn also has a high probability of appearing as Todd McFarlane, the character’s creator, has all-but-guaranteed that his violent anti-hero will make the cut later this year. While McFarlane is known for blowing a lot of smoke when it comes to his most popular creation, it cannot be denied that Spawn would be a great fit for Mortal Kombat; Spawn was also previously a guest fighter in the Xbox version of SoulCalibur II (Project Soul/Namco, 2002) so a lot of his moveset could be drawn from that title. His story would also be just as simple as him being transported across dimensions and fighting to get back home, though I’d have his ending be suitably dire and angst-ridden, like he ends up displacing Malebolgia and becoming an evil despot intent on conquering the multiverse.

*Spawn’s brute strength and magic could pummel foes.*

Spawn also has a few distinctive looks that could be used for his variations; the classic Spawn look is a must, as is his tattered-and-torn look, and maybe Medieval Spawn, Angel Spawn, the Redeemer, or some other look could be incorporated into his last variant. Spawn could emerge through a hellfire portal like Freddy, or simply teleport himself in a burst of Necroplasm, and you could even bring in the legendary Keith David to reprise his much-lauded role as the character’s voice artist. Spawn is a great opportunity to carry over some of the superhero-stylings of Injustice 2 thanks to his vast and varied moveset; Spawn could do variants of Superman’s Flying Punch, Lockdown Launch, and/or Rising Grab while teleporting in a manner similar to Scorpion, use his cape to float over the battlefield and launch himself down at opponents, and blast out energy bolts or beams (similar to Doctor Fate) that could set the opponent on fire.

*Go back to Kratos for an idea of Spawn’s moveset.*

Spawn also has the added bonus of being well-known for his cape and chains; he could incorporate a Cape Parry similar to Batman’s, or wrap his opponents up in it like Sindel used to with her hair, and whip his chains around in a flurry like Takeda in MKX, Kratos in Mortal Kombat, and Scarecrow in Injustice 2. Spawn is also known for using heavy-duty firearms so could bust out a machine gun or rocket launcher like Jax did in MKX, or these could possibly be saved for his grabs and throws.

*Spawn should definately send his foes to Hell!*

For his X-Rays, Spawn could grab his opponent’s head in both hands and crush their skull, or use his chains to draw them in close and snap their joints. I did have an idea for one Fatality that, similar to the Killer Queen, would see Spawn summon Malebolgia but, rather than repeat myself, I think it might be better to do something like the stage transition from Injustice: Gods Among Us and Cyborg’s Super Move from Injustice 2, which sees the opponent launched to Apokolips and assaulted by Darkseid and Parademons, respectively, only replace Apokolips with hell similar to that seen in Scorpion’s Fatalities/outros and Darkseid and the Parademons with Malebolgia, the Violator, and other Hellspawn.

*Spawn’s powers would allow for some gruesome Fatalities.*

As for his second Fatality, Spawn could wrap his cape around the opponent’s head and suffocate them, or crush it, but that’s a bit lame; perhaps something similar to Reptile’s Weight Loss Fatality from Mortal Kombat or Scorpion’s Super Move from Injustice: Gods Among Us would be better and a good way to reincorporate some brutal moves previously used by other characters in other games. I’d also look back to Kratos, Takeda, maybe even Kabal for inspiration for Spawn’s Brutalities, which could be anything from detonating a grenade or energy blast in an opponent’s mouth to tearing their limbs off with his chains. In the end, Mortal Kombat 11 is sure to have its fair share of guest characters; for me, drawing from horror movies and violent superheroes/comics is a great starting point as certain characters just fit the franchise. NetherRealm Studios might seek to incorporate faces more familiar to their franchise, which I wouldn’t be adverse to (I’m looking at you, Rain!), or to other franchises (perhaps Chucky or Michael Myers, maybe even someone really obscure like Pumpkinhead!) but, for me, using Pennywise makes sense as It is a natural inclusion, is basically owned by the studio already, and has a big movie coming out this year so it all ties together as a marketing move, and Spawn is as natural an inclusion as someone like Hellboy or Kratos. You’d be hard pressed to find a more violent anti-hero, who still retains a lot of the popularity he had in the mid-nineties, without alienating the kids who might force their parents to buy them this super-gory game just because Batman has been included.

Time will tell who will make the cut but let me know in the comments what you think of these picks, who you would like to see show up, and your opinion of guest characters and Mortal Kombat in general.

Game Corner: Resident Evil 2 (2019; Xbox One)

02/02/201924/03/2023Dr. K21 Comments

I had a plan. It was a simple plan. I would buy up all the videogames I hadn’t yet played for Xbox One at a rate of about one a month, complete them, maybe review them, and get as many Achievements as possible, all so that I could justify buying Resident Evil 2 (Capcom R&D Division 1, 2019) on release day. As you have gathered, that plan got a bit side-tracked as I ended up with every single Resident Evil title for Xbox One; though I managed to get through four of these (I didn’t actually do a review of Resident Evil 4 (Capcom Production Studio 4, 2005)…my bad), I’ve had to put the last two on the back-burner to play this highly anticipated game. And it really was highly anticipated, especially by me. Resident Evil 2 (Capcom/Rockstar San Diego/Factor 5, 1999) was my gateway into the franchise; an essential purchase during my Nintendo 64 days and I used to waste entire weekends blasting through the different story modes as quickly as possible thanks to the infinite health and ammo cheats made available in the N64 version. I had an equally enjoyable time with the GameCube remake of Resident Evil (Capcom, 2002) and segued into playing the titles without the aid of cheats but the question remained as to whether I would actually be any good at the Resident Evil 2 remake without infinite health, ammo, and factoring in the new graphics, layout, and over-the-shoulder perspective.

ResEv2LeonClaire — *Safe to say these two have had better days…*

Resident Evil 2’s story is largely unchanged from the original; rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy and college student Claire Redfield arrive in Racoon City just as the entire population is turned into zombies due to exposure to the Umbrella Corporation’s new G-Virus. Taking shelter in the police station, both characters are pursed by a hulking Tyrant variant (“Mr. X”), encounter a constantly mutating creature (“G”), and run into various other characters as they try to survive the horror and escape the city with their lives. First of all, as you may have heard, read, or seen, Resident Evil 2 is an incredibly gorgeous creation; graphically, the game has no equal right now and the characters, environments, and creatures of the franchise have never been more realistic and frightening. The game’s use of light is fantastic; there’s hardly any areas of the game fully lit, so Leon and Claire are dependant on their torch to scan their environment for resources and enemies.

*Tension is high as you explore your envionment.*

This makes simply exploring rudimentary areas incredibly tense in a way that is so beyond the original game’s fixed camera angles; this tension is expanded further through the winding, claustrophobic nature of the environments. The police station has very few open areas and those it does have are either poorly lit or eventually become hazardous when Mr. X comes plodding along; the cell area, sewers, and laboratory are all equally closed in, meaning that you’re never quite sure what will be waiting around the next corner. Resident Evil 2 is a fantastic return to form when it comes to item management and conservation of resources; fresh off of three of the more modern titles, the sudden return to having very little in the way of ammo and health was jarring. Leon and Claire have a very limited inventory, so you’ll want to make use of the magic Item Boxes and multiple pouches to expand your inventory wherever possible. You should also take every opportunity to combine herbs and gunpowder for additional ammo as you’ll definitely need it in the game’s later stages. Because of this, you can’t just run around blasting zombies like fish in a barrel; the game actively discourages this as these zombies are built to last! A headshot may, if you’re very lucky, result in a one-hit kill but, nine times out of ten, you can empty an entire clip into a zombie’s head and it’ll still get up and keep coming for more. Discretion is definitely the better part of valour in Resident Evil 2 but you’ll be forced to make some tough choices when Mr. X starts chasing you through pitch-black corridors filled with zombies or Lickers!

*Don’t even try fighting this guy; just run, quickly!*

Fortunately, there are other methods at your disposal; you can board up windows to stop zombies breaking into the station and counterattack any enemy with a knife, flash grenade, or hand grenade. These can also be used as regular weapons but the knife won’t last forever, so you can’t just go stabbing away without a care in the world. None of these weapons have a hope of killing Mr. X, though; unlike in the original game, he can only be momentarily stunned and will pursue you, even through doors, until you manage to give him the run-around.

ResEv2G — *Use your wits to out-manuevure “G” and blast his weak spot!*

You’ll also encounter a few boss battles, mainly against different forms of “G”; in the more modern games, these may have included quick-time events or button mashing sequences but, here, you are forced to go old school, dodging his attacks and waiting for the right moment to shoot his massive eyeball. It’s an exhilarating return to form as you’ll only have yourself to blame for not conserving your ammo or stocking up on healing items. Other boss battles, such as the one against the giant alligator and when you face “G” in the sewer, require you to set traps to win the day to help mix things up, while disgusting G-Virus monsters take the place of the giant spiders and appear as tougher enemies in the sewers.

*A myriad of puzzles will test your skills.*

Also returning from the original game, but greatly expanded upon here, are the classic Resident Evil puzzles; as a former museum, the police station is full of weird shit, items, and mysteries that you’ll have to find, solve, and piece together in order to progress. One thing that is a bit odd is that, unlike every single Resident Evil title ever, you do not automatically discard items or keys once they’re no longer needed; instead, you have to do this manually, which is the only negative thing I have to say about the game and it’s purely because this has never been necessary in the past, but it’s an extremely minor complaint really. Navigation is pretty easy thanks to the map screen, which clearly shows you rooms you’ve been in, doors that are locked, and other points of interest, though it doesn’t hold your hand like some of the later titles and you’ll be required to use your brain and remember the layouts pretty well to get around obstacles or Mr. X and reach new areas. There’s a lot of variety at work in the game; at certain points, you’ll switch to playing as either the mysterious Ada or the adorable Sherry, both of whom play very differently to each other, not to mention Leon and Clear. Completing the game also unlocks variant costumes (including classic attires) and the “Second Run” mode, which tells the story from a different perspective, swaps around a lot of the item locations, and features different boss battles. Completing the game on each of these playthroughs is essential to battling the true final boss and seeing the game’s true ending; it’ll also unlock the “Fourth Survivor” mode, where you take an Umbrella commando through an infested police station, and the “Tofu Survivor” mode (…where you play as a piece of tofu) makes a welcome return.

*If you want the best, you’ll have to be* at your best!

You can also unlock in-game models, concept art, Achievements, and even infinite weapons if you dare take on some of the game’s more challenging options. Resident Evil 2 has three difficulty settings: Assisted (aim assist, weaker enemies, health recovers a little bit), Standard (no aim assist, no health regeneration, normal-strength enemies), and Hardcore (no aim assist, no health regeneration, tougher enemies, Ink Ribbons are needed to save at Typewriters, no auto-save points…basically the classic Resident Evil formula, meaning all of us old school gamers must be Hardcore by default!). To get the best weapons and reap the best rewards, you’ll be required to beat the game under a strict time limit on Hardcore mode but, with trial and error (or a handy online guide), you will find that the game can be beaten in under three hours. However, this doesn’t make Resident Evil 2 any less desirable to play; the tension and atmosphere alone are worth the price of admission as the game finally returns the franchise to its survival-horror roots. Newer gamers may struggle with this; enemies don’t drop gold or resources, you can’t punch boulders, and there’s very little hand-holding throughout the game. Either you stay sharp and be smart with your resources and pick your battles, or you get injured, waste your ammo, and die in short order, just like in classic Resident Evil tradition. Resident Evil 2 is nothing less than a masterpiece, from the graphical quality of the game to its gore, soundtrack, and the amazing job it does staying faithful to the original title, and the time period it was made, while still bringing everything a quantum leap forward using modern gameplay mechanics and capabilities. The game is a solid five-star effort and I can only hope that, going forward, Capcom leans more towards this formula for future Resident Evil titles and away from their more action-orientated approaches.

My Rating:

Fantastic

Game Corner: Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (Xbox One)

26/01/201924/03/2023Dr. K9 Comments

Continuing my ongoing slog through a backlog of Resident Evil titles, I recently played through, and completed the main campaign of, Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (Capcom, 2015) on Xbox One. After struggling a bit with some aspects of the first game, I had hoped to be more comfortable going into Revelations 2 but Capcom made a few changes that make this title almost unrecognisable from its predecessor. Firstly, unlike its predecessor, Revelations 2 was released for main consoles right from the start, rather than being a HD port of a Nintendo 3DS game. However, rather than being a complete package, this title was released in episodes, presumably to encourage players to become immersed in its storyline; whether this actually worked or not is beyond me as I played the Xbox One version, which contains the entire game on one disc.

resirev2skills — *Never has a skill tree been more unnecessary…*

Revelations 2 brings Barry Burton and Claire Redfield back to the franchise; like the first game, each is lumbered with a new character who acts as their partner as they fight to escape from an island that is crawling with infected monstrosities. Claire, partnered with Barry’s daughter Moira, attempts to find her way off the island while Barry, teaming up with Natalia, a young girl suffering from amnesia, arrives at the island some six months later in search of his daughter. Like many of the Resident Evil titles released around this time, Revelations 2 plays from a third-person, over-the-shoulder perspective; as in its predecessor, players have complete freedom of movement, can shoot and reload while moving, and can use healing items at the touch of a button. Well, not quite a touch; this time, players must hold down the R trigger to use these items rather than simply pressing one button. This mechanic is directly tied into the game’s unnecessary and largely pointless skill tree; completing each of the game’s chapters and meeting certain objectives earns the player with BP, which can be spent upgrading certain skills, such as how long it takes to use a herb, how effective they are, and other actions tied in to combat and the player’s partner.

*Natalia will point at enemies…it’s super useful…*

Unlike in Resident Evil: Revelations (ibid, 2012), players can switch between the two team-mates and even play the game with a friend in co-op mode. Unfortunately, whether you’re partnered with Moira or with Natalia, you’ll find the partners to be next to useless. Neither of them can use firearms; Moira can blind and stun enemies with a torch and bash them with a crowbar while Natalia can sneak around unnoticed and throw bricks at zombies. One of the things I disliked about the first game was the “Genesis” device that forced me to constantly scan enemies and the environment for resources. A similar function exists here, unfortunately, as players can only find hidden items with Moira’s torch or Natalia’s convenient “sixth sense”, which means that you’ll have to jump back and forth between your two characters to find everything in each area. While the first game featured some unique enemy designs tied directly to its water-based environment, Revelations 2 opts for the more traditional zombie-like enemies and mutated creatures favoured by the series after Resident Evil 4 (Capcom Production Studio 4, 2005). The major difference here, though, is that these creatures appear to be made of sponge; they will soak up your bullets and still keep coming and some of the larger and more violent enemies may require other tactics to get around.

Barry, for example, can sneak up on enemies and dispatch them in one move but the Glasp, for example, is invisible, requiring players to switch to Natalia and point out and target the creature so Barry can kill it, which is extremely frustrating when involved in combat. In fact, too many of the game’s enemies have instant kill moves; the reoccurring and extremely annoying bullet-sponge first encountered in the junkyard will have you tearing your hair out as you struggle to hit its weak point and avoid its insta-kill move. Once again, players can use Part Boxes to upgrade their weapons; the game’s extensive (and yet restrictive) crafting system also allows players to craft explosive bottles and helpful items to stop bleeding and wipe away gunk, two new status effects that really add to the game’s frustrations. Personally, I found myself loading tourniquets, wipes, and healing items on the partner character, who will automatically use them when you get stuck in a bind.

resirev2wesker — *This bitch has plans, man…lots of plans!*

The game’s narrative is pretty engaging; across four chapters, you’ll attempt to escape from a dire situation and uncover the fate of the characters. In true Resident Evil fashion, though, the plot is far from simple; while it doesn’t jump around as many different places and points in time as its predecessor, it can still be confusing trying to figure out what the mysterious Overseer is up to and uncover the mystery behind the island. On top of that, the game has two potential endings depending on how you deal with the now-traditional “huge tentacle mutating creature” boss battle. This (and the different medals available in each chapter, hidden emblems, and the Achievements) may entice players to revisit chapters from the story once again but, honestly, each chapter is so long that playing casually is not as easy as it was in the first game. Revelations 2 also features a couple of other game modes; Raid Mode returns, this time as a kind of virtual reality simulation that allows players to play as some classic Resident Evil characters in settings that closely resemble those of older games and battle swarms of enemies. Additional side stories also flesh out the main campaign; “Little Miss” sees players control Natalia and her dark doppelganger, sneaking past monsters in an effort to find her bear, while “The Struggle” sees Moira having to hunt animals to survive and clear previous areas of enemies to stay alive.

*This bastard alone is enough to convince me to put this game down.*

I wasn’t massively blown away by Resident Evil: Revelations; it was a bit awkward in places, the story was all over the place, and the enemies were way too aggressive and annoying. A lot of this is the same here; for everything Revelations 2 does better (graphically the game is superior and the locations are a lot easier to navigate; the story is arguably more engaging as well, if a lot more confusing), it also suffers from some of the same drawbacks as well as some all new ones. Forcing players to switch to their partner, who is as good as dead against many of the game’s monstrous enemies, just to solve puzzles, find items, and get through areas is tedious and annoying; the chapters are also too long, making repeated playthroughs a bit of a slog, and any game that makes a regular mid-level boss more difficult than the final boss is one that irks me, especially when this enemy constantly keeps showing back up and can easily one-shot you no matter how well you’re playing.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

Game Corner: Resident Evil 5 (Xbox One)

20/01/201924/03/2023Dr. K16 Comments

For me, the Console Wars extended well past the 16-bit era of videogaming. Unlike a lot of my friends, I did not have the income to justify doubling down so, while they were all off playing PlayStation and PlayStation 2 while alsoa playing Nintendo 64, I stuck with the Nintendo 64 and GameCube since SEGA were no longer in the business of making consoles. As previously detailed, this means that I didn’t have much exposure to Resident Evil (Capcom, 1996 to present) apart from the Nintendo 64 port of Resident Evil 2 (ibid/Rockstar San Diego/Factor 5, 1999). Although I enjoyed the GameCube remake (Capcom, 2002) and Resident Evil Zero (ibid), I yearned for the chance to take up arms as Leon S. Kennedy once again. Resident Evil 4 (Capcom Production Studio 4, 2005) changed that while simultaneously changing the franchise significantly. Slowly, as Capcom released more and more titles with newer control schemes and gameplay mechanics, Resident Evil shifted away from being a survival-horror series, where supplies were limited and caution was the preferred choice, and became far more action-orientated. Resident Evil 4 laid the groundwork for this, moving the camera behind Leon’s shoulder and allowing full 360-degree movement, and changed the franchise’s focus away from zombies and the machinations of Umbrella and more towards parasites and mutations.

*Gone are the days of collecting medieval-themed keys.*

Staying the course, Resident Evil 5 (Capcom, 2009) took these aspects and ramped them up to eleven. Returning Chris Redfield to the series, Resident Evil 5 dropped players into a complex plot revolving around Albert Wesker’s attempts to destroy the human race with the Oroburos virus. Teamed with Sheva Alomar, Chris finds himself on a path towards not just saving the human race but also of vengeance; prior to the game’s events, Redfield’s partner, Jill Valentine, was presumed dead at Wesker’s hands and Chris, having bulked up to stand a better chance against Wesker’s superhuman abilities, is determined to have his revenge.

Unlike Leon, who was lumbered with protecting and rescuing Ashley Graham in Resident Evil 4, Chris and Sheva operate as a unit. Two players (or one with the CPU) can progress side-by-side throughout the main campaign; Chris and Sheva each have their own limited inventory slots meaning that, with no Item Boxes present in the game, trading and combining items is essential to survival, similar to the partner system of Resident Evil Zero. Ideally, you’ll want to play Resident Evil 5 with a friend as the CPU is extremely basic; your partner will shoot at enemies, pass you ammo, and heal or resuscitate you when necessary but is just as likely to be found stuck behind objects or running against a wall. They also seem incapable of using any weapon other than the one assigned to the top of their inventory, meaning you’ll probably end up using them as a walking, talking storage system.

*Use your hard-earned gold to buy and upgrade weapons.*

Supplies are plentiful, however, even more so than in Resident Evil 4; dispatched enemies will often drop herbs, ammo, gold, or other trinkets while breakable pots, chests, and other objects will yield similar provisions. Other treasures can also be located throughout the story and can be sold at the end of each chapter to purchase new weapons; while it is sad to see the Merchant absent from the title, this does make inventory management a lot simpler and easier. In terms of gameplay, the control scheme of Resident Evil 4 remains intact here, with some additions; at certain points, the player must command their partner to pull levers, open doors, or otherwise assist with various, simple puzzles. Quick-time events still pepper certain cutscenes, meaning you have to remain on your toes the entire time whilst playing, which adds a nice level of spice and interaction to otherwise passive gameplay moments.

*It’s safe to say that Wesker’s lacking calm in this entry.*

The enemies in Resident Evil 5 are many, varied, and plentiful; the first mission alone sees Chris and Sheva swarmed with a seemingly endless horde of Majini and the number of enemies onscreen at any one time is easily double that seen in its predecessor. Beyond the regular zombie-like enemies, players will also face the hulking Executioner, spear and shield wielding foes, the return of the Lickers and chainsaw Majinis, and even a gigantic troll-like creature. The ultimate confrontation comes against Wesker, who faces the player at first largely unarmed except for his superhuman abilities and, ultimately, in a mutated form that closely resembles that of a Tyrant. Beyond the main campaign, players can also take part in the Mercenaries mode (where they must eliminate as many enemies as possible within a strict time limit) and a Versus mode (where players take part in online battles as part of one of two factions) . The story is further fleshed out in two DLC campaigns, ‘Lost in Nightmares’ and ‘Desperate Escape’, which sees players once again back in control of Jill Valentine.

Resident Evil 5 is very enjoyable when playing with a friend.

When I first played Resident Evil 5, I remember being quite underwhelmed and disappointed; I had enjoyed Resident Evil 4 quite a lot, despite the hindrance of Ashley’s dead-weight, and it felt as though something had been lost in trying to do more and more. I don’t really mind the added emphasis on action or co-op as it makes the game a breeze to play; checkpoints and autosave locations are plentiful, meaning you can get a good feel of how to progress past more difficult sections and the freedom of movement is unparalleled. Since playing the HD remake on Xbox One, though, I have found that the title is a lot more fun and interesting than I previously believed. Admittedly, a great deal of my enjoyment has come from playing online co-op with a friend of mine but, even when playing alone, I have found myself returning to the game’s campaign, earning Achievements, stocking up my inventory, and earning more BP to spend on costumes, figurines, and upgrades for my weapons.

resi5revenge — *Relish the opportunity to wipe that smug smirk off Wesker’s face.*

All-in-all, Resident Evil 5 is a great action-horror title; it is not the classic Resident Evil formula but, should you wish to play a game that is, there are plenty of previous titles that are readily accessible. I think the game may have gotten a bad reputation back in the day for straying so far from the survival-horror genre but, now, with the benefit of hindsight and subsequent titles, I can appreciate the faster pace of the title and Capcom’s attempts to keep the franchise relevant in a difficult market.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Game Corner: Yooka-Laylee (Xbox One)

12/01/201908/07/2025Dr. K4 Comments

How powerful is nostalgia? That is the question Yooka-Laylee (Playtonic Games/Team17, 2017) poses. The spiritual successor to one of the greatest 3D platrformers/collect-a-thons ever, and one of my personal favourite videogames, Banjo-Kazooie (Rare, 1998), Yooka-Laylee once again throws players into a vibrant world full of colourful, squawking characters but, released some twenty years after Banjo’s heyday, is it enough to satisfy modern gamers? Obviously, this is a question many have debated and answered long before I got around to playing Yooka-Laylee and, if you listen to those opinions, you’ll largely hear a sense of apathy, disappointment, and frustrating with some of Yooka-Laylee’s design choices and gameplay mechanics. It amuses me, however, to imagine the same people who criticised Yooka-Laylee’s gameplay are probably some of the same people who were disappointed that Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (ibid, 2008) was just a kart-constructor and not a fully-fledged 3D platformer. But then, as I’ve always said, you can’t please everyone. Luckily, my needs are far simpler: all I wanted was a throwback to all the things I loved about the Banjo games on modern consoles and, in that sense, Yooka-Laylee delivered.

*Yooka and Laylee must search high and low for their missing Pagies.*

Rather than the classic bird and bird duo of yesteryear, Yooka-Laylee sees players taking control of the titular Yooka (a green lizard capable of rolling, attacking with his tail, and spitting fire, ice, and grenades) and Laylee (a purple bat who allows a degree of flight and whose sonar highlights secrets and acts as a protective shield) who must fight against the minions of the nefarious Capital B, who plans to use a magical book to take control of the world. Yooka and Laylee happen to be in possession of the book and, when its pages are scattered across various worlds, they take it upon themselves to journey far and wide to collect the missing Pagies and put an end to Capital B’s plans. The world of Yooka-Laylee is both familiar and new; boosted by the power of modern consoles, Yooka and Laylee are able to traverse diverse worlds that are tall, deep, and wide, with numerous side quests, hidden treasures, and additional content that keeps them busy. Worlds are accessed from the game’s central hub, Hivory Towers: Yooka and Laylee can jump into Grand Tomes and enter any of the game’s five worlds, each with a familiar theme (ice, space, casino, etc).

Yooka-Laylee‘s worlds have many hidden secrets.

Once they have collected a certain number of Pagies, players have the option of using some of their Pagies to expand each world, opening up new areas and, in some cases, adding entirely new sections to existing worlds where more collectables can be found. In order to reach Capital B, players have to collect a set number of Pagies but, in order to complete the game fully, players must find all 145 Pagies, each of which is protected by either a boss battle, a puzzle of some sorts, mandatory on-rails kart sections, races, and retro-style arcade games. Players can also find and collect various other objects; Quills can be collected to purchase new moves from Trowzer, a shady sales-snake (and finding all 1010 is necessary to obtaining every Pagie), Power Extenders extend your power meter and allow you to use the duos abilities for longer, butterflies can be eaten to restore health and your power meter and there are Health Extenders to get an extra hit point, and five hidden pieces of pirate treasure are also hidden within each world.

yookapowers — *You can purchase new moves and abilities.*

To assist with their exploring and collecting, players can access a wide variety of moves upon their purchase. Eventually, players will be able to fly, turn invisible, absorb the properties of beehives to access new areas (eating fire-flies to light dark areas, for example), and even encase themselves in a bubble to walk underwater. Completing certain objective will also allow players to assign one of Vendi’s tonics, which all grant the duo certain buffs (such as an extra hit point, a faster regenerating power meter, or removing damage from falls).

*A variety of wacky transformations are at your disposal.*

Furthermore, Dr. Puzz can be found in each world and will transform Yooka and Laylee into a variety of other forms, similar to Mumbo-Jumbo in Banjo-Kazooie. Players can become a plant, a snowplough, a helicopter, a swarm of piranha, and an adorable little pirate ship; each transformation allows players to solve puzzles and earn new Pagies as well as access other areas of their respective world. Yooka and Laylee also have to contend with a boss battle in each world, each more ridiculous than the last (they range from a giant ice block and a lovesick, anthropomorphic asteroid). While most of these aren’t particularly difficult and can be bested with a combination of skill, memorisation, and having enough health and power, some can be quite tricky and frustrating, with the final boss battle in particular proving quite the headache. Similar to the final confrontations with Gruntilda in the Banjo games, Capital B takes numerous forms and requires the uses of all of Yooka and Laylee’s skills to win the day.

*Even Shovel Knight shows up. How indy is* that!?

One of the criticisms I heard about this game long before finally getting it was that the worlds are perhaps too large and too sparsely populated and, in truth, it feels like there could have been ten very distinct worlds instead of five that are extended further and basically force the player to remain in each one for extended periods of time with little reprieve. However, each world is alive with gorgeous, colourful characters and locations; they stretch far up, deep down, and right across and each one has so much to see, do, and explore. The downside to this is that there is so much ground to cover and so many areas and sub areas in each world that it can be difficult to know where to go, where things are, and how to proceed. This is a good thing, in that the game doesn’t hand-hold the player, but it does make finding the game’s many collectables (especially those damn Quills) very difficult and frustrating, especially when you have searched every square inch numerous times. However, each world has a lot packed into it and their own unique theme; players will find themselves completing a variety of mini games in capital Cashino, for instance, in exchange for coins that can be further exchanged for Pagies but, in Moodymaze Marsh, have to traverse a murky swamp filled with spiked plants.

*Seriously, screw this guy and his damn kart sections!*

Playing Yooka-Laylee is, mostly, a breeze; Pagies can be found and collected without too much difficulty but, if you want to get everything in the game, you’re going to have to endure some frustrating sections. Kartos, the anthropomorphic kart, can be found in each world and beating one of his increasingly-difficult on-rails kart sections is mandatory for earning all Pagies. Similarly, Rextro the Dinosaur’s arcade-style mini games must be beaten twice to earn two Pagies; these are nice, fun distractions but can be annoying to have to play due to the controls, janky hit boxes, and equally-janky controls. It’s nothing you can’t get through with time and patience, though, and adds some variety, if nothing else.

*There’s lots to see, do, and collect. What more could you want?*

Honestly, it annoys me that Yooka-Laylee wasn’t more praised upon its release. Sure, there could be a lot more available in the game, but for a crowd-funded, independently-produced title, it has a lot going for it and is more than a worthy successor to Banjo-Kazooie. I would love to see the Platronics guys get folded back in to Rare and a true Banjo-Kazooie sequel be produced but, until then, Yooka-Laylee scratches that particular itch quite nicely with its large worlds, gorgeous visuals, fun gameplay, biting wit, and some brilliant new tunes from Grant Kirkhope. In the end, nostalgia was powerful indeed, certainly enough for me to have a great time with this fun little throwback to an era sadly neglected in modern day videogames.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Game Corner: Resident Evil: Revelations (Xbox One)

05/01/201924/03/2023Dr. K4 Comments

Despite my affinity for the Resident Evil (Capcom, 1996 to present) franchise, my love for the series actually began with the Nintendo 64 port of Resident Evil 2 (ibid/Rockstar San Diego/Factor 5, 1999) because, as a kid, I was too poor to ever own a PlayStation and hedged my bets on the N64 instead. While this means I had to retroactively catch up with the original title and was forced to play catch-up ever since with each subsequent release, I have attempted to keep the series at the forefront of my videogame library. However, considering I prefer to stick to the main series titles, Resident Evil: Revelations (Capcom, 2012) passed me by. Originally released for the Nintendo 3DS, a HD port of the title was released for Xbox One in 2013 and, fresh off of Christmas, a copy of this version recently landed in my lap. Set between Resident Evil 4 (Capcom Production Studio 4, 2005) and Resident Evil 5 (Capcom, 2009), Revelations took main series stars Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, saddled them with new partners, and dropped them in the deepest of shits on two cruise ships.

resirevplot2 — Revelations jumps back and forth between many characters.

The story, in true Resident Evil fashion, is both complex and simple: a viral outbreak has occurred on the Queen Zenobia and Jill and Parker Luciani have been sent in to investigate and find Chris and his partner, Jessica Sherawat. Things quickly become far more complicated when the terrorist organisation Veltro seemingly re-emerges, monsters and mutations stalk the corridors and extravagant interiors of the Zenobia, and twists, turns, and betrayals start to take shape. Additionally, the story jumps between three teams of two characters (the two already mentioned and a couple of BSAA hot-heads conducting a further investigation) and various different time points; players will take Jill through the Zenobia at one moment, before flashing back to events prior to the game’s story and taking control of Parker, before jumping into Chris’s shoes at another end of the ship. It all gets very confusing and annoying, especially when you’re trying to put the narrative in some kind of order, but I appreciated the variety in characters, who all play slightly different and have different missions, weapons, and enemies to encounter. Revelations adopts the over-the-shoulder, action-orientated approach popularised by Resident Evil 4 and yet still returns the series to its claustrophobic, atmospheric roots through the effective use of narrow hallways and the isolation offered by the ships being adrift in the middle of the ocean. Therefore, weapons, ammo, and health are in plentiful supply (especially by Resident Evil standards) but you still can’t go in all guns blazing.

resirevcombat — Revelations’ *enemies are as unique as they are dangerous.*

The Queen Zenobia is swarming with monsters the likes of which have never been seen before in Resident Evil; as with all titles after Resident Evil 4, Revelations moves away from the traditional shambling zombies and more towards mutations and monstrosities. Given the naval setting of the videogame, Revelations sees players battling against weird aquatic creatures that sprout tentacles at a moment’s notice or throw spear-like claws at you, bulbous atrocities with fuckin’ buzzsaws for hands, and even a gigantic, mutated octopus.

resirevgenesis — *The scanning mechanic was quite obtrusive.*

The enemy design is very unique and makes for far more formidable monsters to fight to the point where even bog-standard enemies will soak up your bullets like a sponge. Luckily, players are equipped with a device called the “Genesis” which allows them to scan enemies and the environment to locate hidden items and build up a percentage score; once this hits 100%, you are awarded with a health item. Unfortunately, this device is cumbersome and you cannot attack while using it; I assume it worked a lot better with the 3DS’ touch-pad capabilities but, on the Xbox One, it reminded me of the scanning mechanics that I remember dragging down Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Terminal Reality, 2009). On the plus side, though, player control has never been better or more fluid; in Revelations, players can move and shoot (or reload) at the same time and healing items can be used at the push of a button without equipping them from a menu screen (in fact, I hardly ever had a need for the menu at all!), making combat much faster, easier, and fluid. The map is pretty poor, especially compared to the one in Resident Evil 5, and it’s pretty easy to get lost on the ship’s many floors and increasingly grandiose locations but, to be fair, that is part of the charm of a Resident Evil title.

resirevswimming — *Whoever designed these swimming sections needs to be shot!*

There are also a couple of fun on-rails sections where players use Gatling Guns to blast at giant tentacles and even bigger bosses. One new feature I did not enjoy, however, were the sections that force you to endure the game’s terrible swimming mechanics. I can only assume that this was originally something players controlled with the 3DS’ gyroscopic feature, which would have made it even more nauseating and difficult to control. Revelations’ single player campaign is broken down into numerous chapters and acts, making the game very easy to pick up and play in short bursts; I often find Resident Evil titles very intense and absorbing and have to play them in long sessions but Revelations was a lot less stressful in this regard and you can play as much or as little as you like. The better you do in each chapter, the more points and rewards you will receive; these can be used in the game’s Raid Mode, which is a pretty nifty little feature similar to the Mercenaries mode of previous Resident Evil videogames.

*Raid Mode offers a variety of bite-sized challenges.*

In Raid Mode, players can pick a character (usually one of the main story protagonists), assign them weapons, buffs, and items, and take on a series of short missions based on the single player levels. Although these missions will be much shorter, they can be quite tough; players encounter enemies of varying levels (the higher the level, the tougher the enemies are), far less items (and no access to the Genesis device as far as I have seen), and are also encouraged to finish each mission in a decent time while also shooting at tokens for bonus points.

The sea provides some gigantic bosses to battle!

Overall, Revelations was a pretty good time; it was a blast to see some classic Resident Evil characters and enemies recreated and the story, while over-the-top even by Resident Evil standards, was tolerable and entertaining. It’s fun to blast through the main story mode and take on these new, unique enemies even if a lot of them are frustrating and annoying, especially when you’re low on ammo and can’t be bothered to waste time scanning with the Genesis to get more health. While I found myself getting lost quite a lot due to the poor map and would rather bite a limb off than ever take Jill swimming again, I otherwise really enjoyed the more action-orientated combat and the tense, claustrophobic atmosphere afforded by the game’s narrative and setting.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

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My Rating:

Great Stuff

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My Rating:

Pretty Good

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My Rating:

Could Be Better

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My Rating:

Fantastic

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My Rating:

Could Be Better

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My Rating:

Great Stuff

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My Rating:

Great Stuff

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My Rating:

Pretty Good

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