Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Wii)

In preparation for the release of Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmares coming up, I took the time to play through Umbrella Chronicles properly. I purchased this game the day it came out, forever ago, and only played it for a few minutes. I wasn't impressed with it initially and ultimately gave up on it.

I'm a Resident Evil fan, always have been, always will be. They've rarely done wrong with the main series and have generally shat on the chest of their fans with their spin-offs like this. So, I didn't give it any credence.

A couple years pass and I'm gung-ho about Resident Evil in preparation of the release of RE5's DLC. So I track down my UC disc, pop it in the Wii and play through the game in it's entirety. Didn't take long. One night and one afternoon's worth of gameplay.

It was decent, but it definitely wasn't good. Here's the skinny. It's a light gun game that's on rails with a few forks you get to choose. All you do is shoot. I have to admit that the mindless shooting makes it accessible to people who are not that adept at playing videogames. My girlfriend caught up on Resident Evil via this game. While she only watched RE4, 5 and the first half of REmake. This caught her up on 0, the second half of REmake and 3: Nemesis. The extra bits and second scenario are what really drove it home.

While the gameplay was weak and lame (to me, at least), the story pertaining to the extra levels was amazing. There's an Ada storyline that takes place after 2 but before the end of 3. There's a Hunk storyline that takes place right after the events of the first day of 3: Nemesis. As well as a story relating to how Rebecca Chambers got in the position she was in during the first game. Not to mention the extensive Wesker story-arc. That is the specific reason this game exists. That and the last scenario in the game. The final scenario details the hunt for Umbrella that Jill and Chris vow during the main series. This is something that we never get to experience; outside of Claire's foray onto Rockfort island during Code Veronica. This final scenario in the game really helps me understand what Chris and Jill were doing during the flashbacks of Resident Evil 5 and the upcoming DLC Lost in Nightmares.

The graphics and camera in the game are pretty crappy. It looks like a lightgun game from the Xbox/Gamecube days. I guess that makes sense. It's built on the RE4 game engine and runs on the Wii. It doesn't look as cool as the Wii edition of Resident Evil 4. But, the weapons are a mix of guns from all the previous Resident Evil tites (including the venerable Handcannon. Which became the first and only gun I upgraded. Until I had infinite ammo!) which made this little Resident Evil fan/gun nut bust a nut. The camera is pretty shaky. It's like the Blair Witch at times. The camera shakes and wobbles with your character's movement and makes it hard to hit certain items.

The game, in classic Resident Evil fashion, the game ranks and rates how you play. It's based on how many times you hit the enemy, how many items you destroy (which is fun, since there's so much stuff to destroy!), how many files you collect and how many "critical hits" you score. Don't get me started on that last one. The common zombies in this game are actually some of the hardest enemies to kill. They take multiple head shots from most guns and I can't even count how many shots from the Samurai Edge they take to the body before they go down. The Hunters, Lickers, Chimeras and messed up monkey things generally take a couple of shot gun rounds to put down... but the zombies... they take more than a few shotgun rounds. And that's on easy. On hard or medium... it's like they're wearing armor. In order to score a one hit kill on the zombies, you have to hit a dime sized portion of their foreheads in order to cause them to explode. Fuck you, Capcom.

This game really primes the pump for Resident Evil 5. It sheds light on exactly what Krauser, Wesker, Ada and Umbrella are up to in 4 and 5. I can easily recomend this to Resident Evil fans. But a Wii gamer who is not an Resident Evil fan should stay the fuck away.

Pros: Awesome story line and story filler, helps explain why RE5 is what it is, we love our Wesker.
Cons: Blair Witch style camera work, sub-par graphics, zombies eat bullets like fat kids eat jelly beans, light gun games are so 1993.
Play this if you like: Resident Evil games, House of the Dead, Area 51, Time Crisis, etc... etc...
Overall: 6/10