Resident Evil Revelations 2: Episode 4 – Metamorphosis

Resident Evil Revelations 2 - Episode 4 InfoNOTE: This is the final of four informal pieces which will detail my experiences with each individual episode of Resident Evil Revelations 2. A full more traditional review of the game has been posted, along with this final article, on Press Start. A score will not be assigned here, but if you wish to see how the whole experience fares be sure to check out our full review!

The fourth and final episode of Revelations 2 doesn’t waste any time jumping straight into the action. Claire and Moira previously have begun their ascent to meet the Overseer herself after an intense and climactic battle. Barry and Natalia are now separated, but Natalia exhibited a bizarre and strange ability before it all happened. What does it all mean? Are all the questions answered after so long? I’m not entirely sure, but the surprises don’t quite end here. Onwards to Episode 4 – Metamorphosis.

Metamorphosis is definitely a bit of a lopsided offering from Capcom. Claire’s scenario, which sees her confronting the main villain and escaping the facility. There’s a few weird revelations here and there and an absolutely killer cliffhanger, but as I said previously it feels classically Resident Evil. Claire’s story, in particular, feels pretty anticlimactic although it does leave things with an air of mystery too them.

Revelations 2 Episode 04 - Screen 01Previously in all the episodes of Revelations 2 that I’ve written about, the Claire and the Barry campaigns work towards solving their own individual mysteries rather than meeting up. At this point, we know Barry is exploring the same area Claire did six months prior. But it’s not until the end of Claire’s campaign that we realise how Barry came to find out about it. That is, the campaigns interconnect very well in Episode 4 and you’ll see how they relate to one another (mostly) by the time you begin Barry’s part of the campaign.

And it’s definitely the greater, more finale-like part of the episode. About 85% of your playtime in Episode 4 will be Barry’s campaign and that’s because it’s got a whole lot of fun and fascinating locales to trawl through with Natalia. I’ve used this word a lot now, but there’s really no other word to describe it. The first area Barry explores is a weird and dilapidated construction site that has been seemingly abandoned. Its home to a rather tedious co-operative designed puzzle that requires you to move an elevator between broken struts of a bridge. Following this, Barry descends into a mine which has been turned into a mass grave before finding the thing every Resident Evil fan loves to find – an underground facility.

Revelations 2 Episode 04 - Screen 02Before you head into the underground facility, there’s more to explore but I feel like it would be grave injustice to totally spoil the experience. It really is a fantastic moment in the game and one that will scratch the nostalgia nerve in any diehard fan of the series. The final moments leading up to the final battle are also unapologetically classic Resident Evil.

The game, once again, throws you into a wide open area and allows you to explore it at your own will. There’s a few enemies peppered throughout the corridors but you’re largely isolated and largely on your own. There’s some genuinely tense moments too – constant backtracking past stasis tanks filled with enemies is bound to get most players in a bit of a stressed state – not knowing when (or if) they’ll burst out of their confines makes for some pretty tense gameplay.

Revelations 2 Episode 04 - Screen 03Of course it’s worth clarifying at this point that while I mention that this game feels like a classic Resident Evil game, especially during the final moments of this episode, that it still falls short in some aspects. While I loved the puzzles you’d find in games like Resident Evil or even Silent Hill, most of the ones on offer in Revelations 2 never amount to anything more than fetch quests in open ended areas or backtracking to find doors that a newly acquired key will work on. Yes, these are classic elements of a Resident Evil game, but the idea of actual puzzles that require some thought are largely abandoned here. That’s not a bad thing mind you, but definitely something that is worth mentioning.

As you’d expect, there’s an incredibly flashy boss battle although it’s this aspect that I found ultimately quite disappointing in Revelations 2. Yes, some of the designs in Resident Evil have been ridiculous and over the top, but they’ve had a distinct and unique kind of “look” to them. The final battle in Revelations 2 looks like something Team Silent dreamt up for Silent Hill but scrapped for being too goofy. It’s a small issue I have but one where your mileage may vary – as I’ve not enjoyed the final boss design for both Revelations and Resident Evil 6 previously either. Once again, we could show it here but we won’t.

Revelations 2 Episode 04 - Screen 04So after defeating the final boss and viewing the ending I, once again, came away with an odd feeling. The ending was depressing. It wasn’t conclusive. I needed more. So you can imagine my surprise when I found that there were in fact two possible endings to unlock in the game – one considered to be good and another considered to be bad. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to work out just how the endings were triggered but we’re sure it’ll surface soon enough. But it’s still a nice touch and throwback to older Resident Evil games since the more recent ones have not had multiple endings for some time now.

There’s heaps of unlockables to get into once you’re done too. I’ll definitely be going over most of them in my full review of the game, which should be going live around the same time as this piece, but most players can expect to unlock new weapons, new modes, new costumes and even new characters to play as in the more action-orientated Raid Mode. If you’re into this kind of thing, there’s a boat load of concept art to unlock too, some of which is unlocked using the game’s skill system points and others just by completing certain tasks in game. So after the initial Revelations 2 experience ends, there’s still a lot more to do.

Revelations 2 Episode 04 - Screen 05So that wraps up Resident Evil Revelations 2, and my experiences and unfettered thoughts on the experience week by week. I’ve played each week and written my thoughts of each episode independently, without any foresight into what’s to come. But how does it compare as an entire experience? Be sure to read our full review to find out!