Starring veteran zombie slayers Claire Redfield and Barry Burton alongside newcomers to the Resident Evil series, Moira and Natalia, it’s a fight for survival on a remote island teeming with terrifying mutations. Having escaped the detention facility, Claire and Moira join up with other Terra Save members, only to learn they are infected with a deadly virus. Can the group overcome desperation and fear to escape the island alive? Meanwhile, half a year later, Barry must rely on Natalia's memory to track down his missing daughter, and hope beyond hope that he is not too late...

Resident Evil: Revelations 2: Part 2 - Contemplation is the second game in this four-part Resident Evil game from Capcom. As with Part 1, Part 2 is split into two halves. The first sees you play as Claire Redfield and Moira Burton, whilst in the second half you must guide Barry Burton and Natalia Korda through the same environment, but six months later. As a consequence the scenery is a little different. The game shakes things up a little by not allowing you to go exactly the same way with Barry as you could with Claire. In addition, some areas that were riddled with beasties for Claire, are quiet by the time Barry gets to it and likewise, some areas Claire could run through unimpeded, Barry is tasked with a few monsters to take down.

This is pretty much the calm before the storm. The story line moves forward quite significantly, although it's Part 3 where the adventure really starts to ramp up the ante., so enjoy the fact that Part 2 doesn't really challenge your brain or your reflexes too much... the game's developers are leading you into a false sense of security. Believe me, Part 3 is a little harder, and certainly moves the storyline forward significantly. New monsters in Part 2 include mutated pigs and creatures that are invisible until you've shot them (thankfully Natalia can see them and will shout out helpful directions to Barry).

As with Part 1, Part 2 sees you having to switch between your two main characters in each segment, and this time around I found that it was the melee character I tended to use the most. Moira is great for blinding the monsters with her torch and then hitting them with her crowbar, and Natalia is essential in helping you spot where the monsters are before you can see them (not to mention the invisible beasts).

You'll need to have already bought Part 1 in order to play Part 2, and you can either buy all four episodes as they are released (one a week) or buy the box set with all episodes and some extras. Each episode isn't difficult, although you can change the difficulty settings if you want more of a challenge. I split this over two nights, but I could have easily completed it in a single sitting. I spent most of my time marveling at the environment and trying to wring every bit of creepiness out of it as possible.

And, when you've finished Part 2 (or the entire game if you've bought the box set) you might think there's not much replayability in it. And technically that's true (other than finding the hidden items that you must shoot, or trying to beat your friends scores), so Capcom have very kindly added a Raid mode which sees you tackling wave after wave of beasties as you walk through an environment collecting extras as you go.

What else can you get for £5 these days? This is like a gift from Capcom to the fans.

10

Darren Rea