Shaun Munro reviews Resident Evil: Revelations Collection on Nintendo Switch…
It was just a matter of time before the Resident Evil franchise made some sort of an appearance on the Nintendo Switch, and these new ports of the two Revelations titles, initially released in 2012 and 2015 respectively, feel like a totally natural fit for the platform.
Though not all aspects of the two games have aged particularly well, and the simple act of playing them may feel pretty jarring following the release of Resident Evil 7 earlier this year, for the most part Capcom has done a bang-up job of bringing the titles to the console-handheld hybrid. The appeal for the hardcore crowd, of course, will speak for itself.
To speak generally, both games are a joy to play on the Switch, in large part thanks to how snugly they feel on this hardware. The controls, especially in handheld mode, are such a natural fit, ensuring players are never left fumbling or wrestling against an awkward button layout, as is always a bit of a worry with Switch ports.
The episodic format of both games is also superbly suited to the bite-sized nature of Switch gameplay, and as such it’s safe to say that if you enjoyed these games, warts and all, on any other platform, you’re probably going to enjoy them even more this way. Including all the DLC right out of the gate and a ton of new accessibility options sure doesn’t hurt, either.
The most impressive new Switch-exclusive features are the nifty HD rumble, which with its thunderous responsiveness can massively enhance intense battles, the ability to swipe the touch screen in order to swap weapons, and using the Joy-Con’s IR camera to reload your weapon.
Many of the new motion control accouterments, though, ultimately feel like more trouble than they’re worth; slashing the knife is only intermittently responsive and decidedly less precise than just doing it the old-fashioned way, and gyro aiming is novel for a time but, as ever, will certainly prove divisive among players. Ultimately, I played the majority of both games with motion controls turned off, because they never graduated beyond feeling like a fairly ineffective gimmick, and were more frustrating than fun during busy enemy bottlenecks. Some, no doubt, will love them regardless.
It’s also worth mentioning that with the two games getting no physical release in Europe, players will need to deal with some beastly install sizes that demand upgraded storage. Revelations is around 13GB, while Revelations 2 sizes in at a colossal 26GB, and even North American players buying a boxed version aren’t safe, because Revelations 2 must be downloaded in every region. Save yourself some stress and make sure you’ve got a microSD card ready to go before picking the games up.
To speak of the games individually. Revelations was originally released on the Nintendo 3DS back in 2012, and though some of its specialness is undeniably lost without that dual-screen set-up, it’s nevertheless a fun romp that originally arrived just as the franchise began to founder with the release of the disappointing Resident Evil 6 a year prior. Though the game is incredibly action-packed, the claustrophobic environments of the Queen Zenobia, the inability to run and scarcity of ammo throughout keep things on the right side of tense, even though the repetitive enemies quickly become fairly routine.
If you can get past the eye-rollingly goofy dialogue and cringe-worthy over-sexualisation of protagonist Jill Valentine – complete with lingering cleavage shots and a camera that seems to gravitate towards her ass – the core gameplay is tight and, if played at night with some quality earbuds, legitimately nerve-wracking.
It might feel a little too arcadey at times for some, the shooting controls can feel rather floaty on the Switch and there’s little consistency to how enjoyable the game’s 12 episodes are, many of which require too much backtracking. However, as an overall package, it’s well-paced and doesn’t stay in any one spot for too long. A sharp checkpoint system also means you generally won’t want to hurl the controller too much when you inevitably die.
That’s to say nothing of the game’s multiplayer Raid mode, allowing players to fight their way through variations on the campaign’s survival scenarios with a pal online. At the time of press the servers weren’t populated for multiplayer, though a play-test of the single-player Raid seemed to deliver the breezy, arcadey mayhem fans should expect, with a progression loop that makes it fun to pick up and play whenever you’ve got a spare 15 minutes to burn.
Though it doesn’t exactly feel like it’s pushing the Switch to its limit, Revelations looks pretty fab despite its age, with this version running close to the recent ports released for PS4 and Xbox One. In docked mode, the game runs at a silky smooth 60 FPS in 1080p, while in handheld mode it maintains 60 FPS albeit at 720p resolution. During my playthrough, the framerate held up consistently across play modes, even during the game’s more populous action sequences.
Revelations 2, meanwhile, revolves around fan favourites Claire Redfield and Barry Burton, and smartly tones the fan servicey sexualisation down, even if like its predecessor it’s packed with cheese and a total lack of cohesion across its episodes. The partner dynamic feels much richer than in the first game, though, in large part because Claire’s partner Moira Burton, that’s Barry’s daughter, is a companion both likeable and useful. The sequel’s added ability to switch between partners at the press of a button is also very much welcome.
On release day, the game is sadly plagued by some brutal loading times; dying takes approximately 40 seconds to return to play, and loading screens between segments and cut-scenes can take upwards of 60 seconds. Whether it can be patched in the near future or not, it’s unacceptable for games that aren’t exactly new.
Visually, Revelations 2 has the same resolution trade-off across docked and handheld modes as the first game, though the framerate is only 30 FPS across the board, which might prove a little jarring if you’re frequently swapping between the two games. It’s a little underwhelming for a two-year-old game, perhaps, but bear in mind the modesty of the Switch’s hardware, which even had trouble making Rocket League look up to snuff.
A big selling point of Revelations 2 over its predecessor is the more comprehensive co-op suite, not only allowing local co-op for Raid mode, but also the game’s campaign (though only one player gets to do the shooting), even allowing you to swap to it on-the-fly. It’s worth knowing that playing co-op with a Joy-Con each is a little awkward – you need to press the SR button to rotate the camera due to having just one analog stick per Joy-Con – so it’s recommended that you use Pro controllers if you have them at your disposal. Under ideal control conditions, though, local co-op clearly adds a ton of value to the game.
On Nintendo Switch, the Resident Evil: Revelations Collection very much preaches to the converted; it won’t win the two games many new acolytes, but the Switch is a fantastic way to play through them. As individual titles they have their undeniable share of flaws, but as a package, this serves up a ton of content and should tide franchise fans over until a fully new Resident Evil game lands on the Switch in the future.
Pros:
+ It’s a well-presented port.
+ Entertaining mix of new and old Resident Evil.
+ Bite-sized gameplay fits the Switch like a glove.
+ A wealth of content.
Cons:
– Gameplay quality is inconsistent between episodes.
– Motion controls are a mixed bag.
– Some cringe-worthy moments haven’t aged well.
– Revelations 2’s obscenely long loading times.
Rating: 7.5/10
Reviewed for Nintendo Switch
Shaun Munro – Follow me on Twitter for more video game rambling.
