Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles Review

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is Capcom's attempt to catch up fans that only started playing RE with part 4. It is a game designed to celebrate the series' detailed, interesting and often convoluted storyline. Though it may be intended as a primer for series' neophytes, it is the veterans that are likely to enjoy this game most, because we find out how Richard Aiken came to be wounded, how Ada Wong escaped from Raccoon City, and the final destruction of Umbrella and the continuing menace of one Albert Wesker. Strangely, Resident Evil 2 is absent from their proceedings; as if Capcom felt that the story was pretty self-contained, save for the explanation of Ada's escape. Oh maybe, when they tried to expound the plot with Wesker's Report, it didn't quite work out. Perhaps something about Wesker following Leon and Claire in the shadows the whole time did something to detract from the foreboding atmosphere of that game?

Umbrella Chronicles was released on the Wii in November 2007. Shortly before the game's release, the Wii Zapper was released with Link's Crossbow Training. Many thought that this questionable new peripheral's worth would best be tested by Chronicles' rail shooter gameplay. Does Umbrella Chronicles make the Wii Zapper a must-buy accessory? This answer is no, and I must say this right now. The Zapper actually makes the game harder to play, mostly because the way in which the Wiimote fits into the hunk of plastic serves to block some of the buttons being accessible. You basically have to press buttons differently if you are using the Zapper, and as in the case of grenades, it is more cumbersome. If you don't already have a Zapper, Umbrella Chronicles doesn't make buying one worth it.

As mentioned above, Umbrella Chronicles takes us through several of the main games of Resident Evil, up to part 3 along with an added chapter set in 2003. The story is not sufficient to substitute for the plot of the individual games, but it is a quick refresher for those who may not have played Resident Evil in a while.

UC was advertised by promising to reveal the final fate of Umbrella that was only hinted at in the prologue of Resident Evil 4. In this, it does a great job, it is especially fun to see where familiar series characters have come and gone. The side scenarios starring ancillary characters are some of the best fanservice in the game.

The graphics in this game are great and look quite a bit better than Resident Evil 4, if a comparison must be made. We haven't see Chris or Jill since 2002's RE Rebirth and they look pretty much the same, with a clear graphical sheen to them, as if they are more sharply defined. Graphics are always hard to gauge for me, and because the Wii is known to be in the middle of 2 different generations graphically, it can be hard to define what truly looks good on the Wii. Umbrella Chronicles looks good.

The music suffers the familiar downgrade present since Rebirth. It is especially galling as this game takes place in familiar musical territory. Instead of fans getting remixes of the superlative scores present in Resident Evil 1, 2, or 3, we instead get mostly generic action pieces that do little to convey action or dread. Resident Evil has been balancing precariously between these two directions in the last few years, and UC's score does nothing to help clear up the confusion that fans may have over this. The score is ultimately generic and does not do justice to the presence that Masami Ueda and others bought to the original PSX series.

The sound effects of Umbrella Chronicles help to compensate for the poor showing of the score, with all the familiar monster sounds being present. Players are treated to the screeching of Hunters, the heavy breathing of Lickers and the unsettling moaning of the typical zombie. All classic sounds, well presented in this game.

Gameplay is in the vein of House of the Dead, a light gun on rails shooter. Or if you are even older, Lethal Enforcers! The gameplay works by moving the player automatically, "on rails", as you move, the camera pans quickly to reveal enemies that you must quickly eliminate or suffer damage. Get hurt too many times and you die. Definitely classic arcade action! Besides the traditional shooting, you can also employ counterattacks by swinging the Wiimote just as you are about to be attacked. Grenades are used to clear large hordes of enemies and first aid sprays serve as extra lives. Quicktime events are present, but feel pretty unnecessary, especially as they usually just result in you taking damage, no biggie.

In addition to survival, each stage has a ranking system that is based on damage taken, enemies killed, objects destroyed and files found. Weak spots are crucial against bosses and determine your rank. The last two are a bit tricky. In order to get the highest ranks, the player must destroy a lot of background objects, from lights to chandeliers to bookshelves. I guess RE characters are just not that fond of background decoration. The fact that weapons and herbs are oddly hidden within helps... Files work pretty much the same, but they serve as a primer on the past games in the RE series, remember though these stages are from the games, you can't get the same experience as playing through the full game.

When it comes to challenge, Ben Croshaw said it best via this loose transcription. When designing this game's difficulty, it seems Capcom forgot that there were not making an arcade game designed solely to take as many quarters from you as possible. The stages are very unforgiving, with only one checkpoint per stage, which is right before a boss fight. These boss fights are also needlessly difficult, as it is not so much a matter of hitting the boss, as it is exploiting their attack animations. Especially on the higher difficulties, bosses can kill you pretty quickly, so it is really just a matter of finding the right time to shoot them (often right in the middle of their attack) to stun and damage them. This is all well and good, but because bosses can take a lot of punishment, these battles quickly degenerate into tedium. Certainly not game breaking, but also not the way it should have been designed.

A high replay value is pretty much a certainty in these games due to the often too brief length. Even though Umbrella Chronicles is broken up into different chapters, most of them can be completed within an hour. Because of this, it is necessary to have extras and other reasons to play through the stages again. Different ranks are given based on several factors. Through this, you earn stars that can be used to unlock several modifications, including new weapons and infinite ammo. Some pretty cool stuff indeed.

In summation, Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles is an interesting revival that succeeds rather well at making a console rail shooter that is worth playing. Resident Evil fans will obviously have the most fun with it, the game's efforts to tie in the missing parts of the Resident Evil storyline are mostly contrived, but it is nice that Capcom was thinking of the series' fans. Anyone looking for some good action in the vein of arcade classics, like Lethal Enforcers and House of the Dead, will find a lot to like here.

- Ugly Bob

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