Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles Review

Sunny side up.

Version tested: Wii

As mindlessly enjoyable as The Umbrella Chronicles was, the absence of the Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica storylines was conspicuous. Capcom said there wasn't enough time to include the full story and has tried to make amends by releasing a follow-up to its successful on-rails take on the franchise.

Like so many Capcom titles, The Darkside Chronicles follows the formula of the preceding release almost entirely. Presented like an old-school lightgun shooter, it lets gamers relive memorable moments of key Resident Evil titles in an on-rails context with the focus entirely on filling zombies full of holes. With Resi 2 and CV in the frame, Claire Redfield is joined by rookie cop Leon Kennedy and escaped prisoner Steve Burnside. Together they must take down the mutated menace via the wonders of the unlimited ammo pistol.

To kick off proceedings the opening chapter skips forward to the previously unseen 'Operation Javier' scenario, set just prior to the events of Resident Evil 4 in 2003. Leon Kennedy and future troublemaker Jack Krauser (both playable from the start) are on a mission to find a girl named Manuela in the South American village of Amparo. It doesn't take long for them to figure out that the whole place is overrun by an infection that has gripped not only the locals, but the wildlife as well. Cue gunfire.

No sooner have you fought off the attentions of a gigantic aquatic beast than the game flits off on a tangent, offering up around two hours of Resident Evil 2-based fun. Complete with all the best bits that you may or may not remember from the late nineties classic, the formula is a joyous rollercoaster ride of almost non-stop blasting.

'Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles' Screenshot 1

Sadly, shooting Krauser in the head repeatedly yields only frustration.

The section is split into eight chapters and the premise couldn't be any simpler: shoot at anything that moves, shoot things even if they don't move, and then shoot everything again just to make sure. It's the same deal with the seven Code Veronica chapters (titled 'Memories of a Lost City') with all the highlights of the last-gen epic present and correct. Once the two 'old-school' Resident Evil tales are over the game switches its full focus to Operation Javier, and you explore the murky depths of a dam complex before everything spirals out of control.

As you'd expect, enemies come thick, fast and in many forms, from the standard shambling zombies to giant moths, dogs, bats, giant spiders, wall-running lickers and horrendous triffid-like aberrations. As for the bosses, well... If you've played the original games you know what you're in for, which is to say far too many tentacles.

Thanks to the inherent suitability of the Wii remote to lightgun-style gameplay no extra peripherals are required to play, though the game has Wii Zapper configs for those who prefer to wield extra plastic mouldings while they shoot. As before, you simply aim the reticule at the screen, shoot as fast as you can with the B button and collect loot with the A button. Aiming is precise and swift and you can now - rather uselessly - add a laser pointer if you wish.

Weapon-switching is make somewhat easier this time around. The somewhat superfluous ability to move your head slightly with the nunchuk stick which featured in The Umbrella Chronicles has been abandoned. Instead weapons are mapped to the four stick directions, and flicking between them during the game is as simple as pressing the required direction.

Hitting the minus button also enables you flick to an inventory screen and hot-swap weapons in and out of four slots during the game, meaning you now have the facility to call upon rarely used items (like grenades or a rocket launcher) when the opportunity arises. Reloading requires little more than a flick of the remote, leaving you able to focus almost entirely on unloading your clips into mutant brains.

Fortunately motion-based controls and Quick Time Events are kept to a minimum, excepting the occasional boss-based button combo and rare zombie grappling, where frantically wafting the Wii remote is generally deemed suitable punishment. Once again, you'll find yourself blasting idly at random scenery elements even during lulls, lest they harbour hidden loot such as extra cash or hidden files for you to read later.

As you might recall from last time around, weapon upgrades become more important as the game progresses. This gives you the opportunity to not only improve your mission performance but eventually tackle the game at higher difficulty and gain access to the numerous secret unlockable modes.

To add a modicum of replayability to the five-to-six hour-long game, each level is playable from two character's perspectives. Branching paths in certain stages ensure that you have to play them at least twice to stand a chance of unlocking all the secrets. But with the game positively begging to be played with a friend, chances are you'll want to play it again with someone else anyway. As before, each level is graded, giving you something to aim for in subsequent replays.

'Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles' Screenshot 2

"Hey! We're just auditioning for the Thriller remake."

But the best result of Capcom's decision to go back and revisit the old classics isn't the dumb fun of on-rails shooting - it's how lovingly they've been brought up to date. Although in our mind's eye the old Resi Evils still look great, firing them up can be a sobering experience when exposed to the harsh mistress that is the modern high-definition telly. If these on-rails affairs serve any purpose at all, it's to let us relive the hammy storylines, whizz around those locations we spent so long poring over and tackle the boss battles in a way that does justice to our treasured memories.

Technically, The Darkside Chronicles stands up alongside the best that the Wii has to offer - beautifully rendered environments are complimented by a procession of superbly recreated enemies. The boss sections are an absolute delight. With vast hordes of foes filling the screen, a quickfire re-imagining of some of gaming's most viciously memorable sequences is offered up for our delectation. Even if you missed out on certain portions of the sprawling Resident Evil timeline, it's hard not to be seduced by what is an undeniably first-class on-rails shooter.

On the downside Capcom still hasn't figured out an online mode, citing lag as the key reason it wasn't included. To be fair, for a game that's tailor-made for living room co-op, that's not such a big deal. What you do get are online leaderboards which - assuming you can be bothered with Friend codes - provide a means of tracking your level performance across the entire game.

As a companion offering to The Umbrella Chronicles this game is a neat fit, presenting a beautifully concise context within which to enjoy the some of the Resident Evil series' most intense high points. It might not be too complex or demanding but once the zombie hordes descend and your trigger finger starts pummelling the hell out of the Wii remote, you won't care one bit. For fans of twitch-gaming this surely ranks up there with the best that this anachronistic sub-genre has to offer.

8 / 10

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Comments (24) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Tomo #1 2 years ago

    Bought the first one at launch pretty much and I think I've done about two levels, for shame :/

    This does look good as well.
  • originaljohn #2 2 years ago

    looking forward to this one
  • jimmyhill11 #3 2 years ago

    This is all well and good (Is it as good as Dead Space Extraction?) but what surely all Wii owning Resident Evil fans want is another game using the masterful Wii Resident Evil 4 engine. The game and in particular the control scheme were an absolute triumpth on Resident Evil 4 Wii edition (don't listen to the daft Eurogamer review) and what would be better than, for instance, a remake of Resident Evil 2 using that engine?

  • Alastair #4 2 years ago

    This is now on my Christmas list.
    I enjoyed UC and got a fair way through, but not all the way... I like the collection aspect of the game - it definitely added to the replayability for me. And gave me a bit of a shock when I tried shooting all the fixtures and fittings in HotD:overkill! :o)
  • electrolite #5 2 years ago

    Not the most obvious gaming claim to fame but does this now make the Wii the undisputed overlord console of the on-rails zombie shoot-em-up? Hotd 2+3, HOTD Overkill, RE : UC, Dead Space Extraction, this....(was Dead Rising CTYD on rails?)
  • Der_tolle_Emil #6 2 years ago

    Really enjoyed the first one (and generally the focus on a slower pace and accuracy rather than frantically shooting everything that moves) so I will definitely get this as well.
  • greenfanguy #7 2 years ago

    Did they fix the wii remote lag from UC in this one? Not that it really matters, since I'm sold on it anyway.
  • Incarta #8 2 years ago

  • Feanor #9 2 years ago

    Thi will be the second Wii game I've bought, after GH World Tour.

    Great review.
  • Tomo #10 2 years ago

    The 7/10 Resident Wiievil 4 engine?

    /runs
  • Der_tolle_Emil #11 2 years ago

    @Incarta: No use for WMP since it uses the pointer and not motion controls.
  • Alastair #12 2 years ago

    @Feanor - I picked up GH:World Tour purely for Love Spreads. There are some other good songs, but for me the song list isn't as good as GH3.

    Have all you other light guns fans picked up Dead Space - Extraction?
  • Feanor #13 2 years ago

    I got GHWT for the four Smashing Pumpkins songs (including DLC).
  • Tetragammatron #14 2 years ago

    I'm sure it'll rack up sales in the hundreds!
  • figaro7 #15 2 years ago

    Was still on the fence about this, ign complained about the constant camera movements, they obviously havent played enough wii games, will pick this up at the end of the month! Hopefully on a release day sale! Just looks all round better than the first!
  • stevetuck #16 2 years ago

    Too many games... too little money :(
  • elvenearth #17 2 years ago

    More fun on the Wii this Chrissy.
  • MORZTAN #18 2 years ago

    The Wii is actually showing promise this holiday season. The "hardcore"- draught is officially over!
  • swissorc #19 2 years ago

    Maybe when your done with this you guys who enjoy it will go out and support dead space. I hate light gun games but dead space is unique enough that I still enjoyed it. Infact I enjoyed it even more than dead space on 360.
  • MORZTAN #20 2 years ago

    swissorc

    I just bought that, and now I'm really looking forward to it
  • Nikanoru #21 2 years ago

    What you do get are online leaderboards which - assuming you can be bothered with Friend codes

    Wait... friend codes are required for leaderboards? How would that even work? Somehow I have my doubts about this.

    Unless it's just leaderboards between you and your friends... which is something I've never even heard of.
  • sublitterat #22 2 years ago

    I'm impressed (but not surprised) that Capcom have done a second lightgun remake of Code Veronica, after the Gun Survivor version. Not sure I want this - never finished Umbrella Chronicles, and I agree with jimmyhill11 that a new game using the Resi 4 engine would be much preferable.

    I still want that HD remake of Resis 2 and 3 for 360 and PS3, as well. I can dream.

    In the mean time, Kijuju Chronicles for next Christmas seems pretty inevitable at this stage, doesn't it?
  • robson_wii #23 2 years ago

    Just finished Dead Space Extraction and enjoyed that game so will pick this one up for x-mas
  • sepiag #24 2 years ago

    They won't remake the games,GT-R,
    simply because they were difficult (and games don't want something if it actually presents them with a CHALLENGE nowadays) and it would appeal only to the oldschool RE fans - which would displease all the people who just want cheesy action and muscles and not a proper survival horror game. And Capcom wants to please both crowds, which is nigh impossible.
    Oh, and God forbid an RE game not have an over-the-shoulder camera angle. Save Chronicles, that's taboo now. ;(
    Edited by 1 at 03/01/11 @ 05:32