Resident Evil

2007/11/30

The nice thing about lightgun shooters is that anyone can play them and they spread a certain arcade feeling. Some of you may remember titles such as Time Crysis, The House of the Dead or even Resident Evil: Dead Aim. The scenery of Resident Evil offers the best premises for a lightgun shooter and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles does a few things better than the two older genre-brothers of the series.

Every fan of the series will feel right at home. Known characters of the different Resident Evil games are up for choice. Rebecca Chambers, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield or the nasty Albert Wesker, to name but a few, have their appearance. The game orients itself on the known titles of the series, such as the first Resident Evil or Resident Evil 3. In a quick rundown, you live through pieces of the story of earlier parts, which is underlined by impressively rendered sequences in between. Since mostly you only see your own crosshairs on the screen, the creepy effect is lost a bit.

Many familiar enemies from almost all versions run in front of your virtual gun. The ragged Doberman, Mister Zombie in various styles, the tyrants and heavy calibres such as the over proportioned Anaconda out of part one, or Nemesis out of part three stop by. There are heaps of different types of opponents, all with certain, vulnerable target zones. The point of the game is mainly to recognize and attack these weak points, which isn’t always easy. If the camera suddenly points in a certain direction and you see a mob of zombies, then fast reactions and precise aim is called for. The good old exploding barrels or mines help you to stop or to curb an onslaught.

Your character moves through the dark levels as if on rails. Sometimes a little slowly, you wander automatically through dark corridors and desolate cities and look around with the Nunchuck in a limited radius. Many sections bring up old feelings, you find yourself back in Racoon City or the old manor house. A few scenes are used again as well, and you can anticipate some events if you have meddled with earlier Resident Evil games. Have a little get together with the smacking Zombie looking over his shoulder or the dogs that like to break the windows. Medicinal herbs, arms and documents can be found and collected everywhere, whereby the weapons can be improved by the achieved stars (points).

On all your forays through the Resident Evil story, you can find breakable objects, such as lamps, vases or chandeliers that partly reveal objects when strafed. Often you shoot at everything that looks destructible, and are happy with this little 'treasure hunt' for documents, weapons and so on. Especially new and more powerful weapons are very convenient if the final adversary is waiting. Many shooters can be found and used, and offer a good alternative to the slightly slow standard pistols. You have infinite ammunition for the pistol; nevertheless, you constantly have to keep an eye on the ammunitions display of grenade launchers, machine guns or rifles. If you quickly want to change from the empty rocket launcher to the pistol with the direction controller or the C-button it can get hectic.

The Wii controller is of course also used. If a zombie wants to give you a hug and a 'love bite', you quickly have to shake the Wii-mote to start the counterattack. There are a few moments where a fast reaction is called for and you have to press the right buttons once or repeatedly, or to shake the Wii-mote to escape from a danger. Especially with final opponents, such quicktime-events often have to be used to ensure success and survival. The normal game may seem a bit monotonous over time; it is the boss fights that are exciting and loaded with action.

The design of the levels is implemented well and there are many nice elements despite weaknesses in some textures. Fires, explosions, wads of smoke and sparse lighting breathe life into the action. Especially one level in a subway practically screams Resident Evil feeling, just you run through dark tunnels with only a torch attached to your gun. The opponents partly seem static, but are well modelled and react under fire, even though not like in House of the Dead. The soundtrack conforms to the series, but does not often blend into the action. Quiet sounds accompany the fight with dozens of opponents, and in the heat of the fight, the protagonists calmly exchange a few words. A few sounds of the weapons are also feeble, the Wii-mote compensates for this with its own fight- and weapons-sounds.