Resident Evil: Revelations 2 has done a fine job in its first two episodes of recreating the same beats that the series has long been known for – terrifying zombie encounters, a frustrating lack of ammunition, and fairly cheesy dialog. Yet it took until the third of its four episodes for the game to finally try out a few new tricks of its own. As such, episode three stands out as easily the best in the game so far. The central gimmick to the game has been its two duos of characters with different abilities – Claire and Barry are more adept at combat while Moira and Natalya are better at exploring their surroundings, allowing the player to freely switch between characters at any time. Until now, little has been done to take full advantage of this mechanic. Episode three features two separate instances where the duos must split up for significant lengths of time and fend for themselves, while struggling to help each other from far away. This is especially well done in Claire and Moira’s first half of the chapter, in which the two of them must separately navigate through a burning factory on the verge of exploding. The landscape in episode three is also filled with puzzles and hidden items, rewarding players who are willing to take the time to fully explore their surroundings. Finally, each half of the chapter is capped by a boss fight more memorable than any in previous chapters. There’s a feeling that the action is ramping up just in time for the home stretch. For the penultimate episode, it’s hard to ask for much more.

4.5 Chicks out of 5