Resident Evil Revelations 2 microtransactions limited to Raid mode
Life Crystals let you continue from where you've died.
Capcom's episodic spin-off Resident Evil Revelations 2 has microtransactions, it's been revealed.
Users on video game forum NeoGAF caught wind of the microtransactions following a round of preview events held by publisher Capcom.
Here's how they work: the microtransactions are for an item called Life Crystals, which, Capcom told Eurogamer, are only for Raid Mode.
Raid Mode is Resident Evil's action-focused points-based side mode in which you select from a raft of famous characters from the series and kill enemies in various missions.
Life Crystals let players continue if you die during a Raid mission rather than starting that mission from the beginning, Capcom explained. So, essentially, Revelations 2 lets players pay to continue, as if Raid Mode were a traditional arcade game.
However, Capcom pointed out that you can earn Life Crystals for free in Daily Missions.
"Players can enjoy all that Raid mode has to offer without any purchase of Life Crystals," a Capcom rep said.
"They are absolutely not an essential item players must invest in in order to complete the mode."
Eurogamer video producer Aoife Wilson has played the first six missions of Resident Evil Revelations 2's Raid mode, and told me she only died once, right at the end of the sixth mission. Obviously the mode gets tougher later on.
Here's Aoife's thoughts:
"I imagine for the players who were keen to invest in Raid mode, this pay to continue addition kind of takes the fear, and thus the fun, out of playing - it would for me.
"If anyone who really wants to can just throw money at it and plug away at the missions and gradually soak up the rewards, what incentive is there for someone to try and beat it the old-fashioned, no-continues way? Personally I'll be thinking twice before putting a lot of time into it now."
