A fun light gun shooter wrapped in the world of Resident Evil
My biggest praise for this game is that I would absolutely recommend it to any and all fans of the Resident Evil series. With the exception of Resident Evil 4, I have found it difficult in recent years to replay any of the older games in the franchise. Despite fond memories and countless hours playing all of the old games, I found it increasingly difficult to put up with the games puzzles, inventory system, tank controls, and shooting mechanics (or lack thereof). I actually found Darkside Chronicles and the on-rails shooter format to be the preferred way to play through the world of Resident Evil. I cuts out all of the boring stuff while maintaining the atmosphere and tension that makes Resident Evil such a fun franchise. For fans of Resident Evil 4's shooting mechanics, the first person/light gun style of this game feels surprisingly close to the over the shoulder aiming of RE 4. I had a lot of fun revisiting the world of Resident Evil through a more palatable gameplay style.
Despite the fun, I do wish the developer's went a little bit further with the gameplay. The weapons are boring and don't really feel that much different from each other. The power and rate of fire may be different, but there isn't anything that really differentiates the weapons to the point where you want to use them all. Ultimately, I found myself upgrading the pistol, which has unlimited ammo, and largely ignoring the other guns. This was clearly a missed opportunity and something that would have made the upgrade system and mission replays much more appealing. I also was baffled by the head shot system in the game. The rating for each level is partially dependent on the number of head shots. I think the developers chose to make it more complicated than they needed to to get a head-shot, as I can't seem to consistently get the head shot score even after unloading a clip into a zombie's brain. This ended up being a mistake as I found myself aiming for the body more as I progressed through the game due to the lack of consistent head shot rewards.
I had a good time playing through this game, but will readily admit that it does very little new compared to other light gun shooters. I think the Wii remote has really made this genre viable, but I wish someone would push things forward a little. Even in 2010, I feel like I'm going back in time with this game and playing Time Crisis or House of the Dead. In short, Resident Evil fans will love reliving the old games while light gun shooter fans will just have fun shooting zombes.
