Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles Review

[Dillips]

http://uk.gamespot.com/wii/action/resid ... ?id=528338

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Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles

Is this the same as Gun Survivor? Thankfully not

It's a light gun game which explores the previous environments in the earlier Resident Evil series: Zero, Remake and Three plus an additional story based in the Umbrella Headquarters. Each section is divided into three chapters and your performance is based on: time, files found, monsters killed, critical hits and objects destroyed.

Higher ranks means more star points which can be used to upgrade your guns, its disappointing that the weapon customisation is very limited with only four upgrades on each and you don't get to choose what part to upgrade (unlike Resident Evil Four). High grades can unlock new scenarios and other additional "quest items" which adds to the nostalgia and will keep fans blasting through hordes of zombies again and again.

As with most light gun games it is on rails so don't expect to be able to go wherever you like, this also adds to the fear factor the feeling of not being able to control were you go or not being able to escape and having to fight the nearest monsters.

The new scenarios are enjoyable due to the brand new boss fights and explanations as to what happened to some of the other characters in the series. My only gripe is the rare amount of unique environments; you end up travelling through previous areas in a different order.

The achieve is organised based on the Resident Evil timeline, for example all files and quest items earned during the first scenario go at the beginning, plus if you haven't read a file it will say "new", so it does a good job of keeping the player informed which files have and haven't been read.

The remote is used to blast through a multitude of traditional Resident Evil creatures as well as destroying objects to uncover items such as weapons, grenades, herbs, first aid sprays and files. When you collect herbs most of your health is restored, but when you collect first aid sprays it is only used when you run out of life, this acts like an extra life and with the later levels you will need it! Your also able throw grenades by aiming and pressing A + B, ideal for hurting bosses or clearing out annoying monsters or destroying objects. Wave the Wii remote and hold A to use your knife to kill things that latch onto your screen such as leaches and spiders, this is just annoying and interrupts the pacing of the gameplay.

The bosses are fun and they tend to use a variety of attacks. Their health is displayed at the bottom of the screen so that makes it easier to tell where to shoot. When the boss attacks you are required to shoot a certain part of its body or input a action command, if done successfully will dodge the attack, in two player the command will come up on the left (player 1) or right (player 2) so its vital that both players are alert and requires an element of teamwork which enhances multiplayer experience.

If you don't like playing on your own you can bring a friend. The two player mode is very well implemented as it comes with various advantages and disadvantages in terms of difficulty, for example you share a lifebar and are both required to pass the interactive cutscenes (which thankfully are random each time), but you will also make killing enemies easier.

The music leaves a lot to be desired, poor remixes of classic tunes feel out of place. Resident Evil fans like me would have preferred the original songs from previous games of the series. The audio is loyal to the series plus the remote speaker makes the sound of gun shoots and reloading unique to each weapon.

Shadow flickering and clipping issues take a bite out the visuals, especially during counter attacks when you mysteriously pass through everything, its also odd how monsters sometimes pass through all the objects. Problems aside the quality is generally good although judging from Super Mario Galaxy the Wii is capable of so much more.

Fans of the series should buy the game as its great fun to go through the series previous environments in full 3D and answer some questions about the story; new files also add more depth to the story. People who like on rail shooters will like this game because of entertaining single and multi player. This should take around ten hours to complete and another ten to unlock everything. Everyone else should at least give this game a rental and then decide whether or not to buy it.

Strengths: Fun to play, two player co-op, loads of unlockables, faithful recreation of earlier environments, good boss fights

Weakness: Some graphical issues, bad music and limited weapon customisation

7.5 Good