In our last look at Nintendo World 2011, we take a look at some impressions from Danny of an early build of Resident Evil: Revelations on the Nintendo 3DS. At the time, the game was reportedly 20% complete. We all know how it turned out, but how was it at the event? Nintendo World 2011 ran during a three day weekend in Japan from January 8 to January 10.
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Not too terribly much is known about the upcoming Resident Evil games for the Nintendo 3DS. We do know that there are two of them - Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D and Resident Evil: Revelations. The games take two very different directions, with Mercenaries mainly focusing solely on gameplay and Revelations featuring a rich story that is supposed to be taking gamers back to the root of the Resident Evil series - survival horror.
Capcom and Resident Evil were in full force at Nintendo World 2011. There were two large booths, each of which featuring over somewhere between 15-20 3DS units (roughly 30-40 units). I was honestly surprised to hear that Capcom was showing off Revelations, when according to Famitsu (via IGN), the game is only slightly over 20% completed, where on the other hand, Mercenaries is somewhere over 70%. Nonetheless, it was still something I was looking forward to. And not only did I have a chance to play the demo of the game, as a "thank you for playing" gesture of kindness, Capcom offered some limited edition Resident Evil card that features artwork for both the Mercenaries and Revelations. There was apparently no limit to how many of the cards you can pick up, either, as I ended up picking up two after playing the demo two times.
As mentioned above, Capcom has went on record saying that Resident Evil: Revelations is going to take the series back to the survival horror roots. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely adored Resident Evil 4, and I even enjoyed playing Resident Evil 5. With those games, obviously, there was a lot more focus on action and also just surprising the gamer, not necessarily trying to scare them, or creep them out in the way that past Resident Evil games may have done. After playing the Revelations demo at Nintendo World, Capcom is definitely on the right track.The level that Capcom chose to show off was set on a grimy cruise ship crashing through a merciless storm at sea. The demo puts you in control of Jill Valentine as you explore a small portion of the ship.
Like I said above, there are many elements that are just taking the series back to the survival horror genre. The atmosphere is just downright spooky and had me going as slowly as I could around every corner. There were little things that just leaped out at me as I was exploring. For example, rats bursting out of an air duct and some bats crashing through a window. These things did not hurt you, but it definitely added to the tension that something bad was definitely definitely coming up. The demo was a bit linear, but honestly, how the hell else can you make a demo? Some areas of the ship were blocked off, so it required you to find another way around. The first encounter with an enemy is just downright creepy. This white-ish tinted creature emerges from a bathroom stall as you are trying to make your way through. The creature reminded me a lot of the "gray alien" type of monster that you fought in the later parts of Resident Evil 4. Similarly, these creatures slowly make their way towards you and take quite a few shots to bring down. Not long after you defeat the first one, you are on your way deeper into the ship when you suddenly hear a blood curdling scream, and see one of the creatures attacking and destroying somebody on the other side of a pane of glass. When you walk into the room, the door you entered will no longer open, and as soon as you shoot at the creature, he, and the recently "transformed" man make their way to you. After you unload on them and take them out, the demo is finished.
In terms of controls, the game feels very similar to Resident Evil 4 and 5. All of the movement is controlled with the slide pad. To run, you simply hold the B button. You can do the quick turn by hold B and pushing down on the slide pad. You take out your gun and aim with R, and shoot with the Y button. It is interesting to note that when you go into the "aiming mode," the game switches to a first person view. I have read previously that you would possibly be able to move while in this view, but for the life of me, I could not get it to work in the demo. You can use the slide pad in one way to aim (and allegedly, you can use the stylus to aim as well, but I didn't try it). With the touch screen, you are able to move the camera slightly to potentially peak around corners to check for upcoming enemies. I think it works out just fine, especially given how the buttons are set up on the 3DS. There is almost no way to emulate a "dual analog" set up, nor would I like to see this tried without another physical analog stick.
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| Wait times at the event. |
Visually, the game is very impressive. It looks very similar to how RE5 did on the PS3 and 360. The small screen can hide the imperfections of the engine, but obviously, if this were blown up onto a bigger screen, it would more than likely not look so crisp and nice. The 3D with the game isn't bad. It's definitely not the best use of the 3D technology that I've seen at the show, but it's still pretty impressive.
With my two visits to the booth, I had a chance to actually play through the entire demo four times, once on my first play through, and three times on my second. The game is a lot of fun and really shows what the 3DS can do visually. I am excited at the prospect of Resident Evil returning to its survival horror roots and hope that this game stays the course and delivers.
Danny Bivens
- January 11, 2011
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