Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Wii)

First, and let me point out, that i may be a little bias being a huge fan of the resident evil series, thus is getting a 5* review from myself. But, i do believe that the game is worth these stars, here is why:

Like its younger sister (Umbrella Chronicles), it re-tells the stories of the Orignial Resident evils (in this case RE2 and Code Veronica) in a much quicker, smoother format that generally involves the hero's being outnumbered, lost and looking awfully like dinner for the oncoming masses!

Being armed with a trusty pistol (to start with) and aquiring a small, yet considerably diverse and powerful armoury. You are thrown into first person shooter / survival horror through three chapters each containing 8 sub chapters.

Many experienced fans will be aware of the general foes that they come against though Capcom have cleverly reworked these foes and of course, implemented a few new ones. Each foe (no matter how tough) has weak points that must be aimed for in order to defeat them and avoid being mauled in the process - as anyone know's shooting a zombie in the chest is utterly useless when a single round to the skull will do the job much more appropriately.

After reading the low star reviews this game has got, i was appalled to see the reasons. "The Screen Moving" is one of the most frequent. True, the screen does move in the game, at times gently to represent your breathing, at other times more so than a drunken pirate on a sinking ship, this normally occuring after your have been stood next to an exploding fire truck or fallen down four flights of stairs!

This only add's to the fun of the game. You could train a monkey to stare at a screen and shoot at moving things. War, conflict and other such extremities are not clean cut affairs where every one stands up right and faces each other! Dust, grit smoke and the like will obsqure your vision, explosions of collopsing walkways will make it a little difficult to aim your pistol!

If you have real trouble with these things, swtich it to easy mode where ammo is in abundance (as long as you decide not to use heavy ordance for a slightly enlarged cockroach!), health is plentiful and the foe, while being relatively tough still, will not give you much trouble. Giving a game a negative review due to the fact you are not very good at it, does not do the game justice.

On top of all this ("more?" i hear you cry). The CGI scene's are beautiful (with the exception of Leon having very thin and wierd looking fingers) and the game uses the latest physics technology: meaning that if you shoot a zombie backwards against a rail, it will fall over it, not just do the magical slump/slide that is so common.

Overall, it is a game with immense replayability factor (esp for people who like to really complete games and unlock everything in them: hidden files, items, video's etc), and when combined with a Wii zapper is right up there amongst the first person shooters!

This is the MUST HAVE game for anyone with a slight interest in resident evil.

Regards

P.S. If i was going to pick a flaw, it would be that construction hard hats can miracously stop bullets now, meaning you have to shoot the hat off first, before killing them. An interesting way to make zombies harder though!

I own most of the other Resident Evil games for the Playstation and even though I prefer them I don't think this game should be overlooked.

First of all the game gives a nice overview of Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica even if not completely accurate for anyone who hasn't played these game for whatever reason (too young when they first came out or because don't like the controls).
I have only played it on the co-op mode but this is what makes it fun as it's like being in an arcade but in the comfort of your own home and even though you're working together it scores you at the end of each section so you can compete with your partner.
The graphics are visually stunning and even though the voice acting can be a bit classic resident evil at times it does give it a bit of charm.

However I must say that the game controls where you go and face and can at time be really annoying especially when you trying to pick up an item. I'd also wish it was a bit longer but it is defiatly replayable. I do also recommend that you have a Wii controller gun add on as it gives you that arcade like feeling.

To sum up I would recommend this game as just entertaining and a bit of fun which is really what gaming is all about.

Having enjoyed the Umbrella Chronicles, we decided to get the sequel as soon as it came out. As with the first game in the series, it is an excellent game with amazing graphics for the wii. I can't understand the haters, as I have played RE1 up to RE4 and this is equally well placed in my stack of games. If you don't like on rail games, then this is not for you! Why mark something down because it is not your cup of tea? Strange people...

Anyway, having completed the game on normal difficulty, I can give a fair review. Presentation is tops, with great orchestral music, and some from the earlier games in the series. Both action and graphics are up a notch or two over the original. The weapons system is slightly different, but I actually prefer it to the first. There are three chapters in all, with many stages in each one. Two player co-op is present and is a lot of fun.

This time around, the camera has changed. You no longer can look slightly around the edges of the screen. When I heard about this in previews, I was slightly put off. But to be honest, after completing the game, I never once missed it. So that is all good. And of course, the motion of the camera is more dynamic and fast paced. We found it to add tension to the game and acts to make the game more action packed. Some say it is impossible to play the game because of this. But none of us have had problems getting headshots and best ranks for each mission. I can see how some people may find it disorientating, but I guess it depends on how many light gun games you have played and how good you are.

I would recommend this game wholeheartedly, and it gave us a lot enjoyment - which is what it is all about. Hope there are more games like this on the way!!