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Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles Hands-On Preview for Nintendo Wii

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles Hands-On Preview for Nintendo Wii

A Beautiful Darkside

June 17, 2009 – Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles had a very solid idea. Take a well-known and beloved survival horror franchise and turn it into an on-rails shooter in order to cater to the strengths of the Wii. While this worked pretty well, there was clearly still room for improvements. Hopefully, this is what the sequel, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles will be able to provide when it sees its release later this winter. Although this may seem like a long time to wait, we were fortunate enough to get a chance to try out a demo of this highly anticipated title while at E3.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles screenshot

From the minute the gameplay started one thing became abundantly clear, this game was way more graphically impressive than The Umbrella Chronicles. The environments are extremely detailed and polished, the lighting effects add a great sense of realism and mood, and the zombies and main characters also look much more realistic. The lighting was especially striking as the glow from the random fires that littered Raccoon City’s streets in one of the levels bathed your path in a dim, flickering, and creepy fashion. There were even some nice touches such as blood splatter and water droplets that seemingly affix to the game’s camera to further immerse the player in the experience.

Zombies also move and react more believably this time due to the use of actual physics, so don’t expect the same canned animations every time you off one of the undead. For example, blasting a zombie in the chest with a shotgun will result in said zombie flying backwards accurately according to the shot’s placement. Shot location definitely still plays a vital role, as shooting a zombie in the lower leg will often make them take a knee, providing you with more time to finish off him and his friends. Headshots are also quite useful, as you will not only deal more damage with your shot but you may also blow the zombie’s head off, which is always a nice touch.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles screenshot

As you may already know, the backdrop for The Darkside Chronicles will incorporate reimagined segments from both Resident Evil 2 (RE2) and Resident Evil Code: Veronica (RECV). In this demo two levels were made available, one from each of these two titles. The first was from RE2 and was called Memory of a Lost City. This level had players controlling either Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield as they fought their way to the police station in a very accurate recreation of the opening of RE2. All the major things you’d remember are there such as the gun shop with a munched on owner and the zombies banging against the chain link fence that surrounds the back ally basketball court. It was a very eerie and welcomed trip down memory lane.

The second demo level was entitled Game of Oblivion and it was taken from RECV. This level took place on Rockfort Island when Claire Redfield and Steve Burnside first met and gave players their choice between controlling either of the two characters. While not as well versed in RECV, I still thought this level felt like a good on-rail shooter recreation of my vague memories of the title. I do have to say, though, I especially enjoyed the stormy weather that left rain droplets on the camera while combating the zombies that were pulling themselves out of their own graves.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles screenshot

Players will still need to move their reticules around the screen to find ammo and health items to pick up in order to help complete levels. The inventory system is another area that Darkside Chronicles has seen a major improvement. No longer will players be forced to toggle through their available weapons or use healing items as soon as they are picked up. At any point a player can pull up their inventory screen and assign either weapons or healing items to any of the directions on the D-pad. This made healing and switching between weapons during firefights much easier and seamless.

Another fairly large change from Darkside Chronicle’s predecessor comes in its camera. The camera in the game can’t be moved and is no longer static. Instead, the camera swings and moves around almost constantly, trying to make the action feel more frantic and the peril more realistic. Unfortunately, I hesitate to call this move an improvement. While it does make the game much more immersive than Umbrella Chronicles, it also makes it especially difficult to play. The camera’s motion is great for adding suspense and cinematic flair, but when you have zombies closing in on you from everywhere and the camera is spinning around wildly, getting an accurate shot off is more a test of luck, memorization, and/or your resistance to motion sickness than skill. Hopefully, the camera’s movement during the shooting portions of the game will be dialed down a bit before the title is released.

Despite the constant fear of losing my lunch, Darkside Chronicles was quite fun. Even the terrible kiosk setup, which had the sensor bar mounted on top of the monitor (roughly 8-9 feet in the air) with a short controller cord that inhibited you from moving away from it that resulted in the need to virtually aim straight into the air to hit onscreen enemies, couldn’t keep me from enjoying this one. The improvements are abundant and the visuals are certainly among the best I’ve seen on the Wii to date. I definitely look forward to this nostalgic yet new on-rails romp through perhaps my favorite (RE2) and most overlooked (RECV) Resident Evil titles from the past.

Game Features:

  • Play through reimagined segments from Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica.
  • Take on the zombie hordes alone or with a friend.
  • Discover new insights into the characters from previous Resident Evil games.


  • Resident Evil Reboot?

    May 15, 2009 – I’m not sure many people expected 2007’s Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles to be such a hit. The game was sharply criticized for its on-rails structure, rigid mechanics, and limited gameplay. Still, the game managed to strike a chord not only with longtime Resident Evil fans but also with those new to the series. Although Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles covered much of the history and lore of the franchise, it is now getting the sequel treatment with the similarly-titled Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.

    Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles screenshot

    Instead of covering all the memorable moments in Umbrella history, The Darkside Chronicles will instead focus on the events of Resident Evil 2, through the eyes of Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Although many of the scenarios will be very familiar to series veterans, there will be some new plot elements that will reveal more of what went down in Raccoon City during Resident Evil 2.

    Aside from the minor plot changes, however, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles will largely remain true to its predecessor in terms of gameplay. The on-rails style has worked well on the Wii, not just for the Resident Evil series, and has proven itself as a bankable format. But, there will be subtle changes. One thing that has been axed for this title is the “look around” mechanism that allowed you to find hidden items and take out more stealthy enemies in the first game. However, even though the camera is going to be fixed this time around, it will move around on its own more and be more intuitive during dramatic scenes. For instance, if you are walking into a dark room, the camera will naturally lean in so you can get a closer view of what is going on.

    One new aspect of the Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles that could divide fans is its difficulty setting. It has been stated that The Darkside Chronicles will be a lot easier to play and feature a smoother learning curve than The Umbrella chronicles. While Resident Evil fans may relish the impossible boss battles that punctuated the first title, this one is going for a more steady approach, which I think is good if they want to lure in more fans. In addition to evening out the overall difficulty, The Darkside chronicles will also be made a little bit easier by getting rid of the stipulation that all zombies must die in order to clear a room. Instead, you will have a certain amount of time in which you must shoot as many zombies as possible and, of course, stay alive before you will be transported to the next area.

    Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles screenshot

    Another aspect that is being upgraded this time around will be the inventory system. Instead of the muddled, slow-access inventory that was present in the first title, The Darkside Chronicles will have an inventory that is tied directly to the Wii-mote’s D-pad. You can equip things you pick up in The Darkside Chronicles much like in Resident Evil 5, and you will access them by simply pressing the corresponding button on the D-pad. Another new control aspect will be the evade system, which will allow you to escape from enemies using the Wii-mote instead of just shooting them as a deterrent.

    Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles screenshot

    Although making Resident Evil 2 for the Wii and then calling it The Darkside Chronicles may not convince the most devout of Resident Evil fans, I have to say that I am very interested. I really did enjoy The Umbrella Chronicles, and the improvements to the on-rails system may make The Darkside Chronicles worth the trip back down to Raccoon City. Oh, and if you’re worried about not being able to use your Wii Zapper with this game due to the Wii MotionPlus peripheral, don’t worry. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles doesn’t support it, so you can still zap those zombies to your heart’s content.

    Game Features:

  • As in the last installment, this is a first-person game with extreme shooting gameplay and interactive pathways.
  • Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles’s story is based on Resident Evil 2 and includes the popular characters, Leon S Kenney and Claire Redfield.
  • Filling in many of the missing pieces of storyline that were not covered in the original “Umbrella Chronicles”, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles will give hardcore fans the chance to re-live some of the most classic moments of the Resident Evil franchise, while allowing new players to take advantage of the intense action-horror experience only possible on the Wii.
  • Gamers can choose to take on their enemies with the help of an A.I.-controlled character or enlist the help of a friend to fight via two-player co-op.
  • Adding new dimension and strategy to the arcade-style gameplay in the “Chronicles” experience, the new Evade system will utilize the Wii Remote for a more intense experience when fighting enemies.

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