Previews

Mark moans like the undead...

Call me crazy, but I’m about the only person who found Resident Evil 4 disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing all-out action showcase, but as a fan of the saga since the PSone, to me it just didn’t feel like authentic Resi.

In story especially, Resi 4 seemed a cop-out. Umbrella Corp, Resident Evil’s over-arching big bad evil, was gone by the intro. Instead, we got an Hispanic shooter featuring familiar Resi characters, but a foreign setting and story, plus gameplay at odds with previous puzzle-driven progression. Granted, Resident Evil had gone a bit stale – but did the change in direction need to be quite so... complete?

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is the game to answer at least one of my bugbears with Resi 4. It’s the title Resident Evil fans have been waiting for; filling in the blanks about Umbrella’s downfall and chronicling a satisfying conclusion to the old-style Resident Evil saga; all before Resident Evil 5 takes the series forward on PS3 and 360 in 2008.

Umbrella's Collapse

In gameplay terms, however, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is far closer to Resident Evil: Dead Aim. Umbrella Chronicles is basically an on-rails (with movement done for you) lightgun shooter with levels from each of the old-style numbered Resi’s (0, 1, 2 and 3 – no place for the best of the old Evils, Code: Veronica, sadly), and, in a climactic finale, some all-new areas that should wrap up Umbrella’s collapse in style.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles uses the Wii remote for point-and-shoot lightgun style aiming, albeit with a crosshair on screen which changes colour to show the damage you can deal to different enemy body parts. The Nunchuk, meanwhile, is used for changing weapons, while the analogue stick lets you lean slightly – so, putting the two together, Umbrella Chronicles should be a stunning showcase for the soon-to-be-released Wii Zapper.

Like all lightgun shooters the view is first person, though the camera is not averse to giving a third-person perspective when a zombie gets too close and your character needs to resort to some last-gasp martial arts moves. Despite the fusion of styles, though, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles promises to feel like an authentic Resi game in a number of exciting ways.

As well as the familiar locations and characters (Chris, Jill, Rebecca, Billy and co. are all playable, while Wesker is a big player in the plot), Umbrella Chronicles presents typical Resi window dressing; zombies and other monstrosities galore to gun down; barrels to blow up; shotguns and similar Resi firepower to be unlocked, plus herbs, health sprays, ammo and unlockables to nab by shooting up things like pots and pictures, and generally causing carnage in well-known Resi locales.

That in itself is something of a technical marvel. Where old Resi’s had static, pre-rendered backgrounds, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles renders Racoon, the Spencer Mansion and co. in full 3D, letting you interact with and destroy the environment in a way we’ve not even seen in Resi 4.

Made for long-time Resi fans

And yet, despite this, Umbrella Chronicles’ characters look even better than in the GameCube’s spectacular Resi 1 remake, and arguably improve on the Wii version of Resi 4 itself. We’d go as far as to say that come the end of ‘07, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles will be the best looking Wii game going.

But will its gameplay measure up? That’s tricky to tell right now. If there’s a problem with Umbrella Chronicles’ similarity with Dead Aim, it’s that Dead Aim was, erm... well... not that good. And yet, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is made mostly for long-time Resi fans, mixing the best of old-style Resi environments, characters and story with the pure action outlook of Resident Evil 4. On paper at least, Umbrella Chronicles could be the title to sell the Wii Zapper, the definitive Resident Evil gun game, and a Wii release for long time Redfield followers like myself to cherish.

Preview by: Mark Scott
Preview Published: 07.11.07