122 Review

Game Title: Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles
Developer: Cavia and Capcom
ESRP Rating: M
Genre: Rail Shooter
System: Wii

Darkside Chronicles is a rail shooter for Resident Evil series. A chronicle series similar to Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles. . Starts out in South America with Leon Kennedy and Jack Krauser before going into flash back stages of the Raccoon city story line with Leon and Clair Redfield which recaps the plot of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil Code Veronica.

Controls are simple enough, as to be expected with a rail shooter, mostly point and shoot. You can use the nunchuck or the D pad to quickly change between weapons. I personally preferred the nunchuck for this, I kept hitting the middle of the D pad and switching to the wrong weapon.

The camera movements mimic the movements of the characters as if the game were played in first person. You don’t actually control the movement yourself and this can be a bit awkward for aiming but gives it a more realistic feel.

In game graphic are pretty good, consistent with no glitches in the in the background or game play that i have noticed so far. Response time with the controls is very accurate. The quality of the cut scenes were excellent as well, on par with many CG movies I have seen. Including Resident Evil Degeneration. I have always been a fan of the music and sounds of Resident evil games. The sounds fit the game well without drawing your attention away from the game play.

Darkside can be played one player or two player co-op. In the first 2 hours that I played you always had the option to choose between 2 characters at the start of each stage. With two players you play with both. Haven’t tried two players yet, I’ll need to find someone to play with for next time.

You can collect gold through out the game to power up your weapons. I started with powering the shot gun. The short gun is one your most useful tool against the undead and mutated….. once you power it enough that it not so damn slow. It is able to push back multiple attackers within range which is very useful if you are playing solo and don’t have backup. You can also shoot at random items in the background of the game play (recommend using handgun with unlimited ammo for this) to uncover more gold and hidden files with extra information about the characters and story line. But really its about the random destruction.

Probably about 90% of the time I was shooting at something. There are longer higher quality cut scenes are the start and end of every stage and usually a few short cut scenes during the stage, but they are blended well into the game pay as not to be distracting.

As much of a fan of the series as I am, this is a Chronicle game so I wouldn’t call it original. The resident evil series is great for pouring out side games to go along with the main story that re-introduces past story lines and story lines mentioned in other games. Resident Evil 4 mentions the Kennedy report which I believe is based on the South American mission that Darkside chronicles starts with. I personally like all the side story games, they easy to play and is a great refresher for the main story line.

If I wasn’t wasting my time shooting Zombies I would probably be wasting it with Smash Bros Brawl. Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles is what it is, a straight forward rail shooter. Not much decision making is needed you just point and shoot. Personally after work this is what I look forward to. I don’t have to worry about anything except getting that next head shot. I wish the realistic movement was toned down a bit, it’s frustrating to miss a shot because your character suddenly turned and ran the other way, otherwise this is a fun game to play if your are looking for something quick that does not require a big commitment. Given another 2 hours and 2 minutes I think I might be able to finish the game.

I would give this game a 4/5 as it is one I would play over again and would like to own.