Xbox One, in evolving from the 360, produced a specific flavor of video game that is on full display here in Revelations. Action-oriented, cinematic cutscenes, heavy sexualization, and hyper masculinity. I want to be clear that I’m making an observation here, and neither endorsing nor condemning these design choices. I’m a “sexy game avatar” enjoyer: I would much rather gaze at a beautiful digital character than an ugly one. Whether or not that makes me a creep is up to you. But it’s here in full force, and much to the detriment of what’s supposed to be a Resident Evil title.
CAPCOM got rid of the weird puzzles that were, up to this point, a hallmark of the franchise. They traded the slow, survival-based game play of previous entries for a run-and-gun interactive movie approach. I didn’t hate it, but it’s my least favorite in the series as of this writing—which may be saying a lot, given that I’m playing Darkside Chronicles on controller through the PlayStation 5’s streaming service, and that’s been as fun as pushing my thumbs into my eyes—but it was compelling enough to beat it.
The narrative shift is also jarring. I’m not going to spoil anything, but we zoom out from the tight stories of Racoon City and Rockfort Island and the writers go global. It’s semi-gonzo but the writers wrestled it into a contemporary “terrorists versus special forces” frame and then hung it crooked on the wall. To me, it was only just okay, and as someone who’s playing this series for the LORE it was disappointing.
2024.10.31 – 2024.11.03
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