Note: If you want an overview of the game mechanics and graphics you can read our review of Episode 1 here. There will also be some spoilers here for Episode 1 so proceed with caution.

Starting us off right after the first episode, Moira and Claire find themselves in an old abandoned village with a few other survivors that were teased at the end of episode 1. These new members are also TerraSave workers and, more importantly, their boss, which may or may not have an important role in later episodes.

Just as in the last episode, the new characters have some poorly written dialogue and aren’t fleshed out well enough to make you care about them, creating some cringe-worthy moments for Latinos. On the bright side, Moira becomes less of an annoyance, based on her dialogue that is. The haunting, creepily quiet village is also very much “been there, done that”. What shines the most in this episode, though, is the action.

The village is not very memorable aside from one scene where you will have to hold down a stronghold while monsters come from every side, trying to claw and bite their way into your location. It is a moment of total madness, and you will love every second of it. After this, you will move onto a broken down, dystopian-looking city with the giant tower that marks your goal. Some new enemies are introduced here and, of course, you will see the same ones throughout the rest of the episode. Of the new enemies, the creepiest by far are some diseased-looking dogs that will haunt your dreams. The puzzle element is the same as episode one, so if you know the drill there won’t be any surprises here.

Claire and Moira also meet Natalia, the young girl that we know from Barry’s side of the adventure. Bringing the two sides of the story a bit closer to each other. The end of the first half culminates into a terrifying boss fight, which turns out to be another of the episode’s high points.

The second half of episode two has us back in the shoes of Barry and Natalia. We now know that this is 6 months in the future and that Moira is supposedly dead, making Barry’s narrative that much less interesting. Once again we go back to the same locations that Claire and Moira previously visited albeit with some new aesthetics and puzzles. The new wrinkle introduced here is that there is someone in the distance watching the two, but who is it? Your guess is as good as ours.

This second half also focuses more on the action rather than narrative and, unfortunately, it just isn’t as interesting. The best part consists of a chainsaw-wielding boss forcing you into a tough corner. It is heart-pounding action for sure, but it’s not enough to sustain the episode’s second half. Overall, if Barry’s side of the story wasn’t included, nothing would really be different.

What made the first episode so enjoyable was the strong narrative. You wanted to know what this place was, what was going on, who all the characters were, and how much power the Overseer really had. For the most part, all of that was already answered. We know that our heroines are stuck on an island and they are part of some sick experiment that utilizes their fear levels to make them transform into T-Virus monsters, while everything around them is being manipulated by the “Overseer”. The wristbands allow the Overseer to listen and communicate with the test subjects, with the dual purpose of reading fear levels.

The driving narrative in the second episode is much less interesting since we know most of what is going on here. It felt, maybe appropriately so, like a bridge between our intro and the true story unfolding hopefully in the last two episodes. Considering there are only 4 episodes, it makes sense that the second one would dull down a bit. The cliffhanger at the end does a great job of bringing you back in though, leaving more interesting questions to be answered.

One major improvement of this episode was the co-op functionality, which introduced different ways in which your partner can help out and be a larger part of the game. The progression you have made in the skill trees will obviously carry over, so the action is a bit easier this time around.

If you are into action aspect of Resident Evil, this episode is for you; there are some high octane moments here that will drive up that blood pressure. Unfortunately, the first episode was more engrossing and well balanced between action and horror, whereas this episode had a less interesting narrative driving it. It appropriately feels like a second act. Here’s hoping that the final acts deliver on the game’s promise.

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Pros:

-Great action scenes will have your heart pumping and palms sweating.

– Cliffhanger!

– Moira is finally not annoying and the two sides of the story are coming crashing into each other.

Cons:

– Driving narrative not interesting.

– Aside from one scene, Barry’s side feels unnecessary.

– New characters, same poor dialogue.

Rating: 3 out of 5 burritos

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This review was completed using a PS4 copy of Resident Evil Revelations 2 provided by Capcom. The game hit PS3 and PS4 February 24, 2015 and Xbox One and Xbox 360 February 25, 2015.