Umbrella Chronicles Is A Well Put Together Rail Shooter
I am actually not a huge fan of the Resident Evil series, I've played bits and pieces of the games but never finished one and while I intend to get around to it at some point this was the first title in the franchise I played to end. I am vaguely aware about the Resi mythos but as a rule some of the characters and events in this game which takes scenarios from Resi 0,1,3 and it's own unique content were foreign to me. Yet to it's credit i still had fun playing the game. From what I understand the game recreates the games it highlights events from well and the story while mostly simple narration is well explained to the degree you can jump in and enjoy without being a fan.
The game basically throws you into scenarios from the aforementioned games in a first person mode where you move around automatically and use the Wii-mote to aim and shoot. You have a generic pistol with infinite ammo you can use to blast the undead /mutants you encounter with ease but other weapons such as grenades, sub machine guns, shotguns and various means of slaying can be found to add to your arsenal. The weapons can also be upgraded by points you gain from completing levels with varying degrees of success (S,A,B,C ranks) and once you find a weapon you can opt to bring it with you along with the trusty pistol at the start of the level. The shooting works well, with head shots registering easily with impressive sprays of gore, and satisfyingly meaty shotgun and machine gun blasts to mutants a common occourance. Health items are found throughout the levels and shooting them heals you, items are sometimes hidden in furniture around levels so it's imperative to destroy everything you can although what's destructible isn't always apparent. The levels also feature multiple paths adding some replay value when returning to the levels to obtain better ranks.
Obtaining successful ranks is based on several aspects of the game and doing so not only lets you gets points to upgrade your weapons but unlock new levels on occasion as well as other features. Unfortunately the game doesn't specifiy on what levels you NEED to get a good rank on in order to unlock other levels making things rather frustrating if like me you'd like to play every level but don't care about perfection when it isn't required. The game is frustrating in that getting the ranks can at times be nigh on impossible and purely down to trial and error (you need to find files hidden in the levels to improve your rank which are hidden in bits of destructible furniture and hard to find) , the games difficulty is relatively high as it is and getting that elusive S rank at times seems a challenge only for those who are extremely hardcore fans.
The games boss fights are one of it's strongest aspects they are epic, challenging and genuinally exciting as you take on some truly monstrous enemies from the giant snake, to a new type of tyrant to Nemesis himself. Boss fights require consummate skill and timing in order to beat them and while a few will take a long time to beat once you beat them the feeling of achievement is fantastic.
Visually the game is fine, it looks like the games it is trying to recreate all wonderfully re-textured and lit, and the enemies and convincingly scary and disturbing. The games sound is strong too with some appropriately cheesy voice acting from Jill and Chris's B movie style one liners to Wesker's despicably British sneers which makes him sound like he should be driving a car in Wacky Races. It all comes together wonderfully to faithfully follow what to many people are the staples of the franchise.
Overall Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles is a well put together rail shooter with solid shooting, a steep challenge all encompassed in a game that is faithful to the series. The challenge and trail and error nature of the games especially when it comes to getting the high ranks may frustrate some, but for what it is the game delivers a satisfyingly large slice of Bio-hazard horror.
