Review: Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

Zombies are something our society takes to quite well. For some reason, we tend to tire easily of vampires and werewolves. But you could serve up three zombie video games or even movies back-to-back, and there wouldn’t be a peep out of us. We’re a society that just loves huntin’ us some zombies, and we always want more. Whether it be from a long-running respected franchise, like Resident Evil, or a fairly new franchise like Left 4 Dead, zombie video games just seem to hit that soft spot. So, does the latest Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles keep the adrenaline pumping when heads start rolling?

Unlike Umbrella Chronicles, The Darkside Chronicles actually dedicates effort into telling the stories of the games it seeks to let players re-live or experience for the first time. The first Wii Resident Evil on-rails shooter, Umbrella Chronicles, set out to summarize quite a number of Resident Evil games in a rather short amount of time. Though it was an enjoyable co-op experience on its own, it constructed an insulting rendition of some of fans’ most loved video games, dedicating anywhere from 5-15 minutes per game it sought out to summarize (which was Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and the addition of all-new background experience through the eyes of Albert Wesker).

The Darkside Chronicles takes you through Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil: Code Veronica, which took place after RE3. With this new sequel, there are complete, 7-8 chapter scenarios whipped together for each game, which do a fairly decent storytelling job, though Resident Evil purists will be able to point out the missteps and altered plot points in a snap. That for me was a bit of a drawback, because Leon never kissed –this person– in the original story! But I will let it slide, because the tales are weaved very well. There is also a whole new full scenario added called Operation Javier which seeks to bridge the background story of how Leon and Krauser knew each other before the events of Resident Evil 4.

The storytelling feature has definitely seen great improvement over the predecessor, but there is one major aspect during gameplay that should never occur in games these days. This mechanic is actually a step down from the previous game, Umbrella Chronicles. For some reason unbeknownst to me, the developers decided to revamp the camera system into a shaky, nausea-inducing madhouse. This is probably the game’s largest flaw. About halfway through the game, it becomes slightly more tame, but still extremely out of control. The camera heaves left to right in and out of focus of the screen at every point, making it extremely frustrating and difficult to get some of your shots to register as a headshot, let alone shooting out tiny little targets like lightbulbs to unearth hidden items and gold.

The graphics have not really been improved much, though they look great on the Wii. There has been a noticeably larger upgrade to the amount of cutscenes in The Darkside Chronicles. This is something I welcomed wholeheartedly, as seeing Claire and Leon in the Resident Evil 2 scenario in CG so often because it felt like a treat since RE2 never received a remake and smooth CG was not quite rampant in the original game. The only thing negative worth mentioning is that in the sunny outdoor levels (which are rather few), the graphics appear jagged and scratchy and do not flatter the visuals. Luckily most of the game is spent indoors or in dark corridors, in which the graphics look smooth.

For the Wii, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles is a great game to add to your co-op arsenal. The co-op functions great and it’s a lot of fun. One minor drawback is that now your ammo is shared with your partner, so either lay down the law about your anti-trigger happy allowances before you play, or you’re just going to have to hold tryouts for new friends. The single player experience is still fun and worthwhile, but the real fun to be had is with the multiplayer. I played through 50% of the game with a partner and the other 50% alone to compare the differences. The difficulty is definitely a bit skewed to be easier for the co-op experience because whether playing solo-style or with a friend, the same amount of zombies and other enemies that you’ll encounter on-screen will be remain the same.

Lastly, when you complete the entire main story, you will unlock a bonus Tofu mode. Tofu? Well, if you played Resident Evil 2 and unlocked it, back then it was a parody of the character HUNK’s (which is also a bonus stage) level, in which you played as a… block of tofu and were timed and ranked in your zombie huntin’ skills. This is surely a homage to that minigame, except now you play as Claire and the zombies are replaced with vicious, giant hog-wild tofu cubes that you must clip your way through. It’s minor and it’s funny the first time through, but I won’t be making any more runs, as it tires quickly.

There are many improved elements and features, through a couple of small downgrades from the previous Umbrella Chronicles, but overall, this is truly a worthwhile experience that you can expect over 10 hours of re-experiencing your favorite games or enjoying them for the first time. I logged a solid 22 hours after completing the main scenarios, unlocking the secret chapters (there are 20 chapters throughout the game, and two bonus ones if you can unlock them!) and searching for special items, and improving my score. If you are a zombie fanatic (and who isn’t?) and a Wii owner, how could you say no?

Doin It RIGHT: - Exciting two-player experience. - An increase in the amount of CG scenes. - 20 (Plus 2 if you can unlock them!) chapters available, with definite replay value for Resident Evil fans.	Doin It RONG: - Nausea-inducing, shaky camera. - Same amount of enemies when playing either alone or with a friend makes the single player experience unbalanced and more difficult. - Minor plot occurrences are added to the old games’ lore. Leon would never kiss—!
FINAL SCORE: 8 / 10