It's been available for a short while actually, since yesterday. But anywhoo I tried out the 360 version least (currently downloading the PS3 version now) and, well... it's sorta weird.

I guess it shouldn't shock most people these days given the state Resident Evil is in, but the two problems that quickly stood out to me were the controls and the camera... Make no mistake, it doesn't reach the same muddy mess that is controlling RE6, but it definitely still feels a bit awkward. There's two control schemes, ''shooter'' and ''classic'', and both didn't feel quite right for me.

Being the old-school RE aficionado that I be, naturally I went for the classic RE4 style controls first, which was how I exclusively played RE5 at that. However, while you can now still direct the camera with the right analog stick, it tends to actually stick in place and doesn't waver about like it did in RE4 and RE5. That wouldn't matter so much perhaps, if the camera wasn't also so zoomed up against the character like it is. Furthermore, to both shoot and move you have to hold in the LT/R2 (also the same for strafing), but that only allows you to move and shoot, not aim and move, which is also a little cumbersome.

The shooter controls function a little better as they allow you a lot of the movement mobility you'd expect from a modern shooter, though the way you can strafe around corners looks super strange and this control scheme removes your ability to move the camera around too. Neither control scheme feels quite perfect for me in any case, or at least I'd be totally fine with classic if the camera was better positioned and the camera movement controls felt like RE4/RE5's. I know that plenty of people played Revelations on the 3DS sans circle-pad pro anyway, so playing it while still being glued to the floor looks like it'll be perfectly viable all the same. For a company like Capcom that is known (almost to a fault) for their detailed animations, it was definitely a little surprising for Revelation's to look a bit weak.

Also, you run automatically in this game and to walk you have to push on the stick a little lighter. Now that I'm really not a fan of.

OK, so while I've started off a little negative here, I otherwise liked most of what else I saw in this roughly 15 minute long demo and wanted to get the problems I have outta the way. I think they actually nailed a pretty decent style of atmosphere, with the gloomy hallways and quiet, ambient soundtrack, if there is any music at all. The little map up top makes it easy to navigate the many corridors too. The enemies certainly don't function like the prior ganados/majini/j'avo either. From my experience at least, it isn't all about shooting a fellow in the head and then falcon punching him afterwards. The enemies don't appear to react to bullets at all actually, though they're still far from invincible mind you. The idea that you don't collect ammunition from enemies and must instead seek it out with your scanner device seems pretty neat as well.

While I'm a little disappointed with stuff like the camera and the whole running automatically thing, I'm otherwise still looking forward to playing the whole game. Graphically it looks... a little washed-out, and obviously doesn't quite reach the prowess of RE6 nor even RE5 I'd say. Lip syncing could be better, too. But again, it at least has some actual atmosphere in here, so that I'm happy about.

I mentioned this already, but I also want to reiterate that this demo is damned short as well. The file size will have certainly given that away anywhoo, only at around 500 something MBs. Even on the PS3 it's only taken about 5 minutes to download at that.

So they're my impressions least. I'm really curious to hear from the people who've already played through the 3DS version, to see if they can note any particular changes. I would have liked if they gave you like a single map of RAID mode to try out, just to get a feel for a more hectic, combat-focussed environment, but ah well. I feel like I'll probably want to switch between the two control schemes per mode in any case.

It holds up pretty well visually. And it plays better with dual sticks (never tried the pro add on on 3DS). I played the PC demo and the mouse is very sensitive in 3rd person and very inacurate when aiming for some reason. But it works perfectly with a controller.

I also have a fairly old PC ( Q6600 @2.4 Ghz, GTX 286 and 2 GB RAM) but the game runs in 1080 with everything maxed out and keeps a rock solid 60 fps (with the highest level of FXAA too). It's a 3DS port though so it's not too surprising I guess.

You aren't really supposed to move and shoot with the classic controls man! At times you may find yourself walking into a dude while unloading a machine gun but that's about it.

I didn't notice any problems with the camera but I also didn't even think to move it around with the right stick. I agree with the auto-running, not a fan. I also don't care for the aiming controls. I'm not certain exactly what I dislike about it yet, just that it feels bad. Going for headshots in the 3DS version wasn't particularity easy and the aiming was messy because I had to adjust to the circle pad but it just feels all kinds of awkward to shoot an enemy in the head on the PS3 demo. On top of that there is not a laser pointer which makes me real sad. I'm not feeling the reticule.

I agree about the graphics and the character models look rather bad. I know they probably didn't do much to them for this re release (they probably already had HD assets) but they just look ugly.

As for changes I noticed only the lack of laser sight and some UI changes. The scanner looks way over designed in this compared to the 3DS and I wouldn't really care if it weren't for all that green. Also when you pick up items the UI for that looks a lot more stylish in this one. The UI is a lot more stylish in general, really.

I very much enjoyed this on the 3DS, but it's now easy to see the game's flaws now that it's under the HD microscope. I gave the simplistic combat a pass on the 3DS because it was just cool to play a full-fledged RE game on a handheld. On the 360, however, the combat just comes across as clunkly and weightless, especially when compared to RE5 and (*gasp*) RE6.

@superwristbands:

Oh God, you're right! No laser sight ='( Weirdly enough, though, it gives you the option to change the colour of your crosshair or something, but it doesn't appear to work in the demo least. Did you need to hold in a button to run for the 3DS version btw? And given your disappointment, I assume that you had a laser sight for the 3DS version as well?..

I think the shooting is... fine. It definitely doesn't have the same punch as in RE4/RE5, especially after testing out the shotgun they give you for Infernal mode, but I have no reason for any serious complaints concerning the combat as of yet.

I put the brightness down a little and changed the aiming speed to 'fast' with my PS3 demo run and I definitely found that to be an improvement least. But as I expected, like @gunnerjensen mentions, I wonder if Revelations was only so beloved by many because of it being a portable RE game. It may be like how, least imo, Peace Walker isn't an especially good game, but I could certainly understand why from a portable perspective a lot of people would be into it.

I don't want to piss all over Revelations, though, because I certainly like what they've tried to do with it. Plus after disasters like Operation Raccoon City and RE6, I think Revelations is a damned Godsend by comparison. Standards have certainly lowered for RE as of late, so I imagine I'll find Revelations to be, at worst, OK.

I also just want to add that I really like the main menu theme; definitely evokes a classic RE sort of tone, like the theme of a save room or something. Plus the way they open it up with Jill and Parker looking over a corpse covered in blood was a cute nod to the ''hope-this-is-not-CHRIS'-blood'' scene from the original.

Felt like there were a lot of deadzones until I set aiming to "very slow", then it seemed pretty good. The graphics were better than I expected for a 3DS port, I was pleased with it overall.

@yummylee: Colour of crosshair appears when you place your crosshiar over an enemy. 3DS did not have a run button, it was full run as far as I remember and that is just one of those "RE-isms" that I came to love and not having it feels strange. Also the 3DS version did have a laser sight.

I was having difficulty lining up head shots and changed the aim speed to slow. It helped a little but it still feels off when attempting to aim at a smaller part of the enemy.

As for the games quality, from the 3DS version I see this game as being quite alright. It's got some problems (mostly the backtracking) but it blows RE6 out of the water (not like that is hard to do mind you). On the other hand it doesn't really come close to either RE4 or 5 imo.

My computer can run it with all of the settings maxed out, and even then it's not much of a looker. Other than that though I wasn't a huge fan of the controls, which don't feel nearly as tight as 4 and 5 even with the strafing. Also, I was entirely unsure of where to shoot the enemy to stagger it, because the head didn't seem to work, which is how I ran out of ammo when I tried inferno mode.

It's hard to get a real impression from a demo this short, but it seemed...ok? It'll be interesting comparing this to 6 once I inevitably get my hands on that game.

I just finished playing the PC demo. I don't have as much of a problem with the controls on there, they feel mostly fine. Except for the mouse, which feels really sensitive and weird. However, they don't feel as snappy or easy to use as RE4 and 5, which is funny because those games should be really clunky when you think about it. I also played the demo of the 3DS version, though, and this one seems infinitely preferable in the controls. And in every other way.

As for looks, I think they did a good job of bringing a 3DS game to HD consoles and PC. No, it's not going to blow your mind, but it looks all right considering its origins. Here's some screenshots, if Giantbomb doesn't fuck them up like they have a habit of doing:

Outside looks all right.

Inside looks all right, and that Jill booty still has a distracting mind and light source of its own.

Settings page 1

Settings page 2

This is going to be great for anyone with carpal tunnel.

And this just plain reminded me of something you would see in the PS1 era. Finally...

Here's what shooting something looks like.

I have a big problem with the Resident Evil series re using the same characters over and over. There comes a point where all I can imagine is that scene in Die Hard 2. HOW CAN THE SAME SHIT HAPPEN TO THE SAME GUY TWICE

EDIT: Mmm. 1000 posts. Was it good for you too?

Im going to wait until this inevitably ends up being $20 which somehow I don't think will take long at all to get too.

@artemesia: For me, half of the appeal of RE are the established characters. I was pretty sad that Jill didn't appear in RE6 (but it had Leon so it made up for it)

I will as well but that is because I already have the 3DS version and mostly only care about playing the RAID Mode with people who don't own a 3DS.

The thing is they do keep introducing new characters per game, it's just they seem to disappear for the rest of the series from then on. I definitely agree that they've been pulling Chris, Leon and Jill along for far too long now; even Claire Redfield of all characters has kinda just disappeared. They don't even put the characters to good use, either. Leon and Chris together at last! Only they're not, and they only barely interact with one another. Also, let's bring back Sherry Birkin! But not Claire Redfield!..

Jeez, you're going to get me starting again about RE6 so I'll stop there. Also, for as annoying as it is that RE apparently revolves around a handful of characters, it's not nearly as bad as something like MGS.

At least in Metal Gear Solid it kinda makes sense to go to those guys for a sneaking mission of that type or for the enemy to have ridiculous technology, especially in 2-4. But I see what you are saying. In Resident Evil it's always "heres chris and jill having a wacky adventure OH MAN ANOTHER BIO WEAPON OUTBREAK monsterrrrssss" Like, how many times can there be a biological weapon outbreak/test using bioweapons from the same evil corporation involving the exact same people? It's just kinda offputting to my brain.

I actually went from playing the 3DS version to playing the HD version on the PS3, and after playing the demo, it looks like the game made a pretty good transition to the consoles. The game looks okay; it's an up-res of a 3DS game, so it's not going to be on the level of most contemporary games. Having not played the HD version of RE4, I figure that it's probably on par with that, but I could be wrong.

I also haven't played the Campaign in a while (most of my time has been spent playing Raid Mode), but if I remember correctly, the in-game cutscenes that were not pre-rendered didn't have any facial animation when the characters talked, so that's a nice change, even if the lip-syncing seemed a little wonky. They also didn't have any the big loading doors in the demo, so I couldn't tell if the in-level loading was better in the console than it was in the 3DS version, in which the framerate would get really choppy when the game would load before opening a door to a new area. On a positive note, the mini-map in the HD version seems to be at least slightly improved in that they eliminated the strange lag between the character movement and the icon in the map that was present in the 3DS version.

I never played with the Circle Pad Pro, so I'm used to playing with what is labeled as the "Classic" controls in the HD version. The 3DS game, by default, controls like RE4 on the Gamecube (and also like the original version of Deadly Premonition), and I don't have any problems with the controls on the handheld. That said, I found that the "Shooter" controls felt a lot more natural on the console, probably because I felt like "Classic" doesn't really utilize all the buttons on the controller, as well as that I'm more accustomed to playing with traditional shooter controls when I use a console controller.

There are a couple notable changes to the UI options in the HD version. The 3DS version offered both third-person and first-person views while aiming (it defaults to first-person, but I didn't particularly like that so I quickly switched to the third-person view). However, I didn't see the first-person option in the HD version. I can understand that, though; I figured they put the first-person aiming in there so as to not obscure part of the 3DS's small screen with the character's torso, so they don't really need it with the HD version.

The other UI change is one that I noticed and don't particularly agree with is the omission of the option of a laser-sight instead of crosshairs as an aiming reticle. This also kind of makes sense; I mainly used the laser-sight in the 3DS version because I thought the crosshairs obscured too much of what I was looking at and made it harder to aim, so that problem is a lot less prominent on a larger screen. However, I also feel like the laser-sight is a Resident Evil thing, so I miss having that option.

I agree that the demo was a little short and that it probably could have benefited from a playable mission in Raid Mode. Like I said, I spent most of my time with the 3DS version in Raid Mode, and I think that it's the main draw of the game. The leveling and the acquiring of level-based weapons are pretty rewarding, and though I've only played it Solo, I think it'd be a good bit of fun when played with multiple people, so it would've been nice to be able to try that out on the console.

So there are a couple different quirks, but it looks like the HD version is a pretty good port of the 3DS version, albeit one that doesn't seem to have much in terms of new content exclusive to the console. Because of that, I'm not sure that it's worth picking up if you already have the 3DS version (and if you have a 3DS, you can pick it up for about $20 at this point), but if you haven't played it, it's a pretty fun experience. The story doesn't really make any sort of sense, especially in the context of the rest of the series (how does this story of a ruined giant floating island colony take place prior to RE5 and 6 and yet never come up in either of those games?), so the Campaign is a bit ridiculous in that regard, but the Raid Mode is a lot of fun. For what it's worth, despite being strangely detached from the rest of the series other than the fact that it has Chris and Jill in the BSAA battling BOWs, I think it's a better Resident Evil experience than RE6. And I liked RE6, so... yeah.

The thing I liked most about this version is that you don't have to switch to the scanner like a weapon to use it, makes it a lot less fiddly to use, but yep that sure is RE Revelations. It actually looks better than I thought it would. After playing through the HDified Peace Walker which looks kinda shitty over the last week I expected it to be more in line with that, but was pleasantly surprised. Hopefully the laser pointer is just missing from the demo and is actually in the full game... bizarre decision to remove it.

I adored this game on the 3DS and I'm sure this is going to be a better way to play the game. (minus a couple of cool touchscreen puzzles) I'm really tempted to get it, but at full price just for the excellent raid mode (plus having to burn through the story to unlock all the stages) I'm finding it hard to want to buy the game again when it is clearly so similar to what I already own.