Revelations 1 Play for the Story

[Ikawaru]

I just finished Revelations 1 for the 1st time ever and I gotta say, aside from the laughably bad action gameplay, the story is not 100% bad, and it does feature some backtracking and the Queen Zenobia is fairly well put together. While the main story urgency kind of kills the exploration factor a little bit, it's refreshing to see the returning of old areas with the proper keys to unlock them. Parker is about as interesting as a pack mule (without the actual benefits of a pack mule, his presence in this game is virtually pointless and he barely helps in combat) but playing as Jill is always a treat, even if there's really nothing of value added to her character arc here.

The action gameplay itself doesn't do the game any favors because it's not even GOOD mindless action, it's just bad action and whilst Raid mode is fun, it gets kind of repetitive after a while with toying with different upgrades the redeeming factor. Why oh why RE went full mindless action during that time period is head scratching because there WERE in fact some interesting tidbits of lore and some interesting characters added to the series here, but the action gameplay really drowns it out.

I believe they fixed a lot of this in Revelations 2 (It's been a while since I've played it but I don't remember the combat being so bad there), but it is a damn shame because this game did have some great potential that's ruined by the bad gameplay.

Bottom line: I would recommend going through it once and absorbing the lore especially in regards to the BSAA, FBC, and Veltro and the events preceding RE5, as well as exploring the Queen Zenobia which has far more depth than any map in RE5 but be expected to laugh at how silly the linear combat is. No depth there whatsoever.

 

[Turo602]

The game was very impressive for a handheld game, so I don't really hold it to the same standards as any of the console games. But the action is a little flat with it mostly amounting to repetitive horde like encounters with the same repeated enemy type like the Wolves or Hunters. It definitely doesn't come anywhere close to the action and level design of Resident Evil 4 and 5.

But again, this was running on a 3DS a year into its life cycle. The fact that an actual full fledged Resident Evil game was viable at all was really impressive at the time. Especially Jill's portion which was the closest thing to a "classic" Resident Evil experience at the time. It definitely wasn't perfect, but for the 3DS, it was an adequate experience.

It was also the first game in the series to introduce moving and shooting and the swimming mechanic was a really refreshing innovation for the series as well. The use of Rachel was very cool and felt quite reminiscent of Lisa Trevor. I also thought the Comms Officer was standout, especially in regards to action as it was the closest thing in the game to the urgency and tension you felt at the beginning of RE4 and RE5 when facing Salvador or the Executioner along with the horde of enemies.

I didn't really mind how useless Parker or any of the partners were in combat as it was done by design. Resident Evil 5 had a lot of criticism over being co-op and how Sheva is always part of the experience and doing things players didn't want her to. So while having partners was important to the story, they didn't want them overstepping their boundaries by giving them the illusion of attacking without making the game any easier for the player which I think was a great call.

 

[Ikawaru]

Ah, thank you very much for clarifying, I was not even aware it was a 3DS game originally. Makes sense, would have been a much better overall experience if they at least made the action on par with the 4-5-6 combat shenanigans instead of making it an even poorer version of that.

Missed opportunity, oh well, priorities, etc. Revelations 2 improved on these things but this is still not a bad experience if you can manage to ignore the weaker elements. Certainly not as bad as I thought originally.

 

[Jonipoon]

Personally I wasn't able to finish the game since I found it too repetitive and boring, as well as being a bit too action-heavy for my taste. I simply gave up around half-way through and couldn't help myself from laughing at how bad it was at some times. But then I again, I played it for the first time on the PS4 and had no idea that it was originally a handheld game for the 3DS. I can imagine it would've been a bit like playing Silent Hill: Origins (a PSP title) for the first time on the PS2.

I still appreciate the game in some way though, because without it we wouldn't have gotten Revelations 2 which is one of my favorite games in the entire series.

 

[Ridley Lockhart]

I worked at Walmart when this came out on 3DS so at it's midnight release when everybody went to GameStop to get their reserved copies i just waited by the electronics section where we just received all the stuff to be put on the shelves lol did that for Revelations, Operation Raccoon City, Mercs 3D and RE6.

I really liked Revelations, i can't hardly think of much to add or subtract from anybody else's thoughts about Rev. I do agree when they ported it to 360 and Ps3 they really should've added some stuff to make it worth while...anything. a cutscenes browser for instance like the Outbreak games, RE4(the later versions), RE5 and i believe RE6.

Parker and Jessica were meh. "My sweet ass is on the way!" -Jessica

Also wtf they didn't really do much with Rachel and Veltro like i thought. Specifically i was interested in seeing more of Jack Norman before that annoying ass fight ...

He had this look with the gas mask and voice changer/modulator thing he seemed like an interesting mysterious character in one of the early teaser trailers for Revelations same with Rachel.

Spoiler

Also doesn't Clive R. O'Brian remind anybody of a certain Colonel from Metal Gear Solid???

I literally had to search for who played O'Brian cause he sounded like Roy Campbell(voiced by Paul Eiding), but O'Brian is voiced by David Lodge..whom evidently also voices Simmons in RE6.

 

[pa-pappys8675309]

I've played it on PS3 & 4 but never as a handheld.

I recently beat it on PS4 in Infernal mode after a single playthrough with my alternate profile "UncleGrandpa2112" and it was a lot of fun. The airstrip is a mother on infernal mode, it was for me anyway. I agree about the glitchiness though. My reticle is directly on the monster but my bullets are somehow hitting nearby structure like a bedpost or a corner of the wall I'm sheltering behind. That is annoying to the point of anger and can really destroy a strategy in a tight spot. Really the charm of the Revelations games is Raid Mode and I'd go for a Revelations 3. They're run & gun games but with decent graphics and storylines and Rev 2 has good character mechanics, you can dodge at will like a real person could.

Another annoyance with Rev 1 is if you are actually lucky enough to score a "named" weapon it always has the drawback of slowing down your movement. The character is slow enough already lol. That's a Raid Mode pet peeve though.

Let me add, I liked Parker although he was slow and in the way as an AI partner, slow enough for me to call him "Porker" at times, but I liked his personality a lot and his Terragritia scenarios were pretty tough going, especially on Infernal. He's deserving of a re-appearence as a playable character in Rev 3 imho lol.