Resident Evil: Revelations 2

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is set between the events of Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6.[6] Claire Redfield is the main protagonist and Barry Burton's daughter, Moira, plays a supporting role.[7] In December 2014, a new trailer revealed Barry as another playable protagonist and he is joined by Natalia Korda, a little girl with supernatural abilities. The official cinematic trailer was released in December 2014.[8] Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is a survival horror game which supports cooperative gameplay on console platforms.[9][10] The game has stealth elements as only two of the four playable characters use guns. The other two are more vulnerable, preferring to use weapons such as crowbars and bricks, or be used to find hidden items with a flashlight or special senses.

The game features a Raid Mode, which returns from the first Revelations game with new features, more missions and new playable characters. About 200 missions and 15 characters are featured, which span the entire game series, and there are also new scenarios and enemies from Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6 and Resident Evil: Revelations. In this mode, players can customize their skills and weapons, as well as buy new ones. Some enemies in Raid Mode have special abilities like extra speed or strength. This mode can be played either online or through split-screen local co-op.[11]

Episode 1 - Penal Colony

Claire Redfield and Moira Burton, daughter of Barry Burton, work for biohazard prevention agency TerraSave. While attending an office party, they and several other TerraSave members are captured by armed mercenaries. Claire and Moira are taken to a facility on Sejm Island, where they are attacked by the "Afflicted". An unknown woman calling herself the "Overseer" watches via cameras and tells them the bracelets on their wrists record fear, as the pair try to find safety. Upon reaching a radio tower, they call for help. Once Barry reaches the island, he immediately meets Natalia, a strange little girl. Together, they head to the radio tower, encountering many dangerous situations along the way. Unfortunately, Barry arrives very late as the distress call was actually made six months ago. After suffering a severe headache, Natalia claims Moira is dead.

Episode 2 - Contemplation

Claire and Moira meet up with their co-workers from TerraSave, who have discovered a broken helicopter they intend to fix in order to flee the island. The Overseer explains that they have become her new test subjects for a virus that responds to fear, having previously injected each of them. They soon find themselves ambushed by a horde of Afflicted, separating Claire, Moira, and Pedro from Gabe and the helicopter; Pedro succumbs to fear and is transformed into a monster. Claire and Moira fight off both Pedro and the Afflicted until their boss, Neil Fisher, arrives to help them escape. They decide to make their way to the Overseer's tower, but are once again ambushed and Neil stays behind to lure the monsters away. Claire and Moira catch up with Natalia, who has been roaming the island alone, and they befriend her. Gabe fixes the helicopter and attempts to escape, but the Overseer remotely sabotages the controls, killing him. As Claire and Moira are distracted by the crash, Natalia is kidnapped and taken to the Overseer, who intends to transfer her consciousness into the little girl.

Six months later, Natalia takes Barry to the Overseer's tower, the last place she saw Moira alive. Along the way, Barry learns Natalia is an orphan as her parents died in the Terragrigia incident, the trauma having left her immune to fear. Inside the tower, they find a portrait depicting Albert Wesker and a woman; when Barry recognizes him by name, Natalia corrects him by stating the woman is named Wesker. They are then surprised by the Overseer, a grotesque hunchbacked figure who neutralizes Barry and reveals herself to be Alex Wesker.

Episode 3 - Judgment

Claire and Moira follow a note supposedly left by Neil to meet him at a factory nearby. However, they fail to locate him and end up walking into a series of traps, which they narrowly survive. After passing through the sewers, the pair gain access to the Overseer's tower, where they witness a meeting between Neil and Alex Wesker. It is revealed that Neil intends to release Uroboros to justify the FBC, having betrayed TerraSave. Wesker spitefully injects Neil with Uroboros instead, causing him to mutate into a hulking monstrosity. Claire and Moira have no choice but to kill him.

Six months later, Barry and Natalia escape from mutated Alex and work their way from the sewer back to the surface. As they go, Barry tells Natalia about a tragic event concerning his two daughters; Moira accidentally shot her younger sister Polly when they were playing with one of Barry’s guns. Although the fault was his, Barry blamed Moira for the accident, causing a huge strain on their relationship. Polly survived, but Moira developed a fear of guns as a result of the incident. Upon reaching the surface, Barry and Natalia travel through a derelict mine infested with monsters. Alex ambushes them on the other side and throws Barry into a ravine, but when she tries to kill Natalia, the little girl impassively stares back into her eyes, causing Alex to withdraw in terror.

Episode 4 - Metamorphosis

After Neil's demise, Claire and Moira make their way up to the Monument to confront Alex Wesker, and the duo learn of her intentions to conquer fear and escape death. She shoots herself in the head, triggering a self-destruct sequence that forces Claire and Moira to flee. Unbeknownst to them, Alex experiences fear in her last living moments and begins to mutate. As they rush to descend the crumbling tower, Moira sacrifices herself so that Claire can escape; she is rescued shortly afterward. She regretfully tells Barry that she could not save Moira, but Barry refuses to accept his daughter's death and continues to search for her.

Six months later, Barry and Natalia pass through several toxic mine tunnels before reaching Alex's research facility, disguised as a mansion. They make their way through as Alex taunts Natalia via her bracelet. When the duo confront her, she injects herself with Uroboros and mutates a second time to fight Barry and Natalia. After apparently killing her, Alex suddenly springs to life and incapacitates Barry. She grabs Natalia and once again attempts to kill her. At this point, the story proceeds to one of two endings.

Franz Kafka was a great inspiration for many elements of the plot of Resident Evil Revelations 2.

Capcom announced that the team responsible for Resident Evil: Revelations would be responsible for the sequel and a playable version of the game would be seen at Capcom's 2014 Tokyo Game Show booth. It was stated not only would Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine not be part of Revelations 2, but the game would also not be tied to Revelations. However, the Revelations title would be used as its own series of games, existing to fill in gaps in the mythology of the Resident Evil series and expand upon lore for the main title series. During Tokyo Game Show, Michiteru Okabe explained further that the main Resident Evil series will remain more action-oriented, keeping it aimed at a wider audience to try and interest more people in the Resident Evil world. However, Revelations as a series will be fan-driven, intending to revel in the older horror style. With the side series, they hope to aim at their long-time fans and keep them supplied with something similar to the horror experience they fell in love with.[12] During Tokyo Game Show it was announced that Yūdai Yamaguchi, a director and writer known for his mix of horror and "goofy gore" with manga-based inspiration, was brought on to the Revelations 2 team as cutscene director.

Dai Satō, scene writer for Resident Evil: Revelations who is returning to do the same for the game, was said to be a huge Claire fan and was adamant about her returning for the new game, coming to Okabe and others with a number of ideas on how to include her. Alyson Court did not return to reprise her voice role as Claire Redfield in Resident Evil: Revelations 2, she was replaced by a woman credited under the pseudonym James Baker. Fans upset by the change began petitions demanding to have Court back.[13] According to the Okabe, the reason for replacing Court is because they felt that the old voice sounds too young for the older and mature Claire, also could cause a messy for the players between the voices of Claire and Moira, that is actually a young girl.[14]

The Czech novelist and story writer, Franz Kafka, was a major inspiration behind the game story, the idea came from the scenario writer, Dai Satō. Since the first Revelations used passages from Dante Alighieri, the team felt that would be a common element from the Revelations series. Also, that would give a deep meaning for the quotes and themes approach, like "The Transformation," to the story of the game. Furthermore, it would make the players feel more immersed, since a real writer became part of the setting.[15] The title of the four episodes of the game are allusions to his wsin; the first one, called Penal Colony, is based on a short story by the name: In the Penal Colony. The second one, named Contemplation, is based on a collection of short stories with the same name, Contemplation (short story collection), the third, The Judgment and lastly, The Metamorphosis

"Familiar Relationships" was a significant theme for the game, approaching more personal elements for the story. Barry's family has a great focus throughout the game's plot; Barry acts as a father figure for Natalia, who became an orphan due to the "Terragrigia Panic". On the other hand, Claire can be seen as a big sister for Moira.[16][17][18] The concept of sanity is also of great importance for the setting of the story, as exemplified by the wristbands the characters wear that display their level of fear, some song titles on the soundtrack (Insanity or Despair) or the name of the main enemies of the game, the Afflicted (humans driven crazy by torture and experiments).[19][20]

Songwriter Kota Suzuki returns as the game's composer after working on other titles of the franchise like Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6 and Resident Evil: Revelations. According to him, for this soundtrack, they decided to focus on “duality of sound”. Speaking about the concept of the sound design for Revelations 2 and his collaboration with Nima Fakhrara for this job, he explains: "His [Nima Fakhara] productions possessed that particular element of darkness that worked perfectly with our[s]. After many brainstorming sessions we decided to use ‘iron’ and ‘water’ as our concepts in creating new instruments. And, after recording, we edited and mixed the sound with other tracks to create a truly unique sound".[21]

Reviews for the game have been mixed to positive. There was praise for the setting, story, characters and the co-op gameplay, but the graphics and some technical issues were largely criticized. According to Kimberley Wallace of Game Informer, the game has crazy plot twists, laughable dialogue, and campy moments, all of which come together in a satisfying way. She also praised the characters, as well as their unique story arcs and development throughout the game. The chaotic moments and the boss battles were also well received. On the other hand, Wallace complained about the dated puzzles and backtracking in Barry's campaign, saying that "these places lose their mystery a second time around".[45]

Polygon commented that "Revelations 2 finds a focus that recent entries have sorely lacked", praised the game for including strong female characters, since three of the four main playable characters are female. Kollar was especially fond of newcomer Moira Burton, considering her a memorable and interesting character. However, he criticized the lack of horror, generic level design and the graphics.[46] Destructoid's reviewer, Chris Carter, described the atmosphere of the first episode as well done, praising the creepy bloody dungeons and the dark forests of the island, they also speak well about the action and the fun co-op gameplay.[47]

GamesRadar+ gave the game a score of 4 of 5 and spoke positively about the collaboration and teamwork, saying that both character teams are complementary and make the game a fantastic cooperative experience. However, they found the Claire/Moira campaign to have an unsatisfying ending.[48] IGN considered the game to lack the scares for which the series is famous for, while also criticizing the graphics and considering that the game provides an unmemorable experience. They nevertheless praised the elements of action-adventure, the co-op gameplay, the implementation of traditional puzzles and the interesting plot, which in the words of the reviewer, Lucy O'Brien, "kept me hooked right up until its finale". She also praised the bonus Raid mode.[49]

Many reviewers felt the third episode was the best one. Peter Brown from GameSpot considered the reason for this was the plot development and the presence of interesting puzzles, which were lacking in the first two episodes. IGN also had similar opinions, considering the balance between the action sequences and the puzzle solving to be exquisite.[50]

• Official website