Resident Evil 3DS Overload!

Today Capcom opened up the official Japanese sites for both Resident Evil 3DS games, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries and Resident Evil: Revelations. On the sites they posted some frankly awesome new screenshots and revealing information on the games (even though it's in Japanese). This news is pretty exciting because frankly, we haven't had a lot of 3DS-related news of late, and it's nice that Capcom have given us a little taster to get us ready for the real thing. The flood gates won't be opening until next year, after all. To celebrate this news I'm doing a blog post, and I'll be writing about my expectations for both games. Buckle up, because it's gonna be one horrifying thrill-ride (with zombies).

Resident Evil: Revelations
As made evident in my Top Ten Most Anticipated 3DS Games feature from a while back, Resident Evil Revelations is one of the games I'm most looking forward to on 3DS. Who couldn't be excited? It uses the same engine as one of the greatest games of all time (Resident Evil 4) and Capcom are aiming to make this the best Resi yet after learning from their mistakes with the most recent PS3 and 360 release. One of the main reasons I'm looking forward to what is essentially Resi 6 so much is not that it's going to be a full-scale Resident Evil game, but because it will be a game I'll be able to show to my mates and hopefully convert them into 3DS lovers. If one kid playing touch-hockey on his iPad can do that, surely a horrifyingly brilliant game in 3D surely can too.

Of course, it's not all about me showing off (it isn't about that at all really). It has recently been announced that Resident Evil: Revelations is only around 20% complete. This may seem like bad news for most gamers because it probably won't be released around the 3DS's launch, but it clearly shows that Capcom are aiming to make this a big game, and not another Resident Evil 5. They've even stuck in some little touches (such as being able to move while aiming) that will clearly improve the slightly iffy engine we had before. And did I mention that real zombies are back too?

You'll be playing as Resi favourite Jill Valentine in Revelations. She may not be as cool as Leon, but she's a welcome protagonist. Check out those facial expressions too!

In Resident Evil: Revelations you'll be exploring a haunted boat (a ghost ship, if you want) as Jill Valentine. She's teamed up with Chris Redfield too, but as made evident in the trailer we were shown all those months ago she's clearly pretty angry at the guy; Pointing a gun at her own partner! Obviously we don't know a hell of a lot about the story so far and it definitely wouldn't be a good idea for Capcom to spoil it all, but if Revelations' tale is half as good as Resi 4 it'll be pretty awesome indeed. Hopefully we'll be getting some extra modes after completion too like in every Resi game since Resi 3. While we'll have to wait quite a while for Revelations to be released, I'm definitely looking forward to it and it's iron-casted onto my 3DS wish list. If Capcom get this one spot-on it will be the best Resident Evil game yet.

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries
When the Mercenaries mode was introduced to the series, it changed Resident Evil forever. Part Zombie Survival mode, part race against the clock, this addictive mode was considered one of the best parts of Resident Evil 3, 4 and 5 due to its extremely addictive gameplay. Good news Mercenaries fans, Capcom are bringing the Mercenaries experience to the 3DS. This new game features all the stages and characters from Resident Evil 4 and 5, as well as a ton of new stuff wrapped up in one large package. Whether it'll have some kind of story mode is yet to be seen, but it's clear already the Resident Evil: The Mercenaries will be a standout hit for the 3DS's library. So, what's new for this full size Mercenaries game? Well, you'll be able to customise all the playable characters, which indicates there could be a shop of sorts included, as well as some kind of currency system. This would make the gameplay only more addictive, not that it needed to be in the first place. In other news, Capcom have revealed that the game is over 70% finished, so we could be looking at a launch title here. Aside from this, other news is scarce.

Despite the low amount of new information for this game in comparison to Revelations, we have got a lot more new screenshots. Capcom opened up the official Japanese webpage for this game too, and along with it plenty of images as well as confirmation of what we already knew: There's gonna be a co-op WiFi mode. Many gamers already guessed this as one early screenshot showed several of the playable characters in a scenario, but Capcom haven't confirmed it until now. This online mode is another feature that will definitely make the already addictive game even more so.

Krauser from Resident Evil 4 has always been skilled with the good old combat knife, but can he take on the power of the mighty shovel? Yeah, probably.

While Resident Evil: The Mercenaries isn't quite as high up on my 3DS anticipation list as Revelations, I'm certainly looking forward to it. You really can't say no to addictive, mutant-blasting, score racking gameplay, especially if it's in Mercenaries form. What's more, it's on a handheld so the Mercenaries experience is now fully portable, so you can kill zombies pretty much anywhere! (don't worry kids, they're already dead). It's clear that we'll be getting The Mercenaries before the series' next full-scale game, so this could be a great warm-up for what's to come.