Difficulty Settings Explained — Resident Evil: Revelations Guide

Difficulty Settings Explained

Resident Evil: Revelations offers a range of difficulty settings that significantly impact your gameplay experience, from enemy aggression and health to the availability of resources. Choosing the right difficulty is crucial for enjoying the game, whether you're a seasoned Resident Evil veteran or a newcomer to the series.

Campaign Difficulty Options

The main story campaign features three core difficulty settings, with an unlockable fourth for the truly masochistic.

• Casual:
• Enemy Behavior: Ooze and other creatures are less aggressive, move slower, and deal reduced damage. Boss encounters are more forgiving.
• Resource Availability: Ammunition drops are plentiful, often appearing after just a few enemy eliminations. Green Herbs and other healing items are common finds in crates, lockers, and defeated enemies.
• Player Resilience: Jill and Chris can withstand more damage before entering a critical state.
• Strategy: Ideal for players new to survival horror or those who want to focus purely on the narrative without significant combat challenge. You can often brute-force your way through encounters.
• Recommendation: If you're struggling with the initial Ooze encounters in the Promenade Deck or the Scagdead in the Dining Room, this setting will provide a much smoother experience.
• Normal:
• Enemy Behavior: Enemies are more alert and deal moderate damage. They will often employ basic tactics, such as flanking or charging.
• Resource Availability: Ammunition and healing items are balanced. You'll need to be more mindful of your shots and actively search for supplies using the Genesis Scanner.
• Player Resilience: Standard damage resistance. Mistakes can be costly, but not immediately fatal.
• Strategy: This is the recommended difficulty for most players seeking a classic Resident Evil experience. It requires careful resource management and strategic engagement with enemies. Utilize the Genesis Scanner frequently to find hidden Handgun Ammo, Shotgun Shells, and Green Herbs.
• Recommendation: Pay close attention to enemy weaknesses. For example, aiming for the head or the exposed core of an Ooze can save precious ammo.
• Survival:
• Enemy Behavior: Ooze, Fenrir, and other creatures are significantly more aggressive, faster, and deal heavy damage. They will actively pursue you and exploit openings. Bosses have increased health pools and more dangerous attack patterns.
• Resource Availability: Scarce. Ammunition is a luxury, and healing items are rare. Every shot counts, and you'll often need to decide whether to fight or flee.
• Player Resilience: Jill and Chris are much more vulnerable. Even a few hits can put you in critical condition.
• Strategy: This difficulty demands mastery of combat mechanics, evasion, and meticulous resource management. Prioritize headshots, use grenades strategically, and only engage when necessary. Running past enemies is often a viable and recommended tactic, especially in areas like the Grand Hall with multiple Ooze types.
• Recommendation: Before attempting Survival, ensure you're familiar with enemy attack patterns and optimal weapon choices for each encounter. Consider upgrading your preferred weapons with Custom Parts like "Damage" and "Fire Rate" for maximum efficiency.
• Infernal (Unlockable):
• Unlock Condition: Complete the game on Survival difficulty.
• Enemy Behavior: This is the ultimate challenge. Enemies are at their absolute strongest, fastest, and most numerous. New enemy placements and combinations appear, often in unexpected locations.
• Resource Availability: Extremely limited. You will constantly be on the verge of running out of everything.
• Player Resilience: One or two hits can be fatal.
• Strategy: Infernal is for completionists and hardcore fans. It requires perfect execution, deep knowledge of the game's layouts, and optimal weapon customization. Every decision, from which enemy to prioritize to when to use a Green Herb, is critical.
• Recommendation: Focus on evasion, precision aiming, and utilizing environmental hazards. The "Auto-Loader" custom part for your Shotgun or Machine Gun can be a lifesaver, allowing for continuous damage output against tough enemies like the Scagdead or Draghignazzo.

Changing Difficulty

You can select your desired difficulty at the start of a new game. Once a campaign has begun, the difficulty cannot be changed. If you find yourself struggling on a higher difficulty, your best option is to start a new game on an easier setting to familiarize yourself with the game's mechanics and level layouts.