Switch into survival horror.
The Switch has seen quite a rush of newer and mature titles hit the little portable that could over the course of the last month or so. From DOOM, Skyrim, and even L. A. Noire, it seems the Switch is slowly becoming a power house for games for all ages, even older players. Granted these are mostly in the form of ports, but it’s still great to see. Now we have Resident Evil Revelations 1 and 2 coming out, how did they do on the move to Switch, let’s find out.
Revelations
Both games have players taking control of various characters in the Resident Evil franchise. From Jill Valentine, to Clair Redfield and even the much loved Barry Burton, who we hadn’t truly seen since the original game. There are also an abundance of other characters new to the franchise as well, and the two completely standalone stories told in each game offer players familiar with the numbered entries some nods and winks to other events. My favorite moment in Resident Evil Revelations 2 is when Claire mentions “almost being a Claire Sandwich”, in which Moira (Barry’s Daughter) remarks how tired she is of hearing that same story told. Though for newcomers to the franchise, these stories told here are still interesting enough alone and feel self-contained and with resolution.
MSRP: $39.99
Price I’d Pay: $39.99
Multiplayer: Raid mode online or Split screen/Co-op
How long to beat: 30+ hours
As far as the Switch ports go, both offer motion control using the joy cons and from what I could tell it was only offered for aiming. That said, I didn’t seem to find anyway for gyro aiming to be implemented, which I usually find offers a more concise aiming style. Rev 1 seems to offer a more solid performance on the Switch in both handheld and docked modes.
Rev 2, which released later and seems to have more visual effects going on seemed to run fairly smooth but with hiccups or odd animation on certain objects, for example Barry’s backpack or Claire’s pony tail. There is this weird visual judder on it and I’m not sure what causes it. These performance issues and oddities are noticeable on both docked and handheld versions. Otherwise the problems never seemed to interfere most the time, but they are noticeable when they occur.
Having these two games on the go is a nice appeal and novelty, which seems par for the course for Switch players. Playing Raid mode in Rev 2, which features levels from Resident Evil 6, gives me hope and wonder if it, along with 4, 5, and Origins, will ever see a Switch release as well. I don’t see why not unless the Revelations games sell horribly. Which I hope they don’t, as while they offer the same experience players can get on PC or major consoles, this is the best handheld version of each of these games.
Rev 1 is better than it was on the 3DS, and REV 2, even with its issues is a huge jump in quality compared to the Vita release. I’d love to see more Resident Evil games on the Switch so this seems like a no brainer. It’s a bit disappointing they couldn’t put both games on the cartridge, requiring Rev 2 to be downloaded separately, but it is what it is, and more Resident Evil is never a bad thing in my eyes.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
