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Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
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January 20th, 2008 by Dynamo
Not much of an eye-candy
The Umbrella Chronicles certainly isn’t up to the same graphical standards seen in Resident Evil 4. However, there’s no denying that it’s better looking than a good deal of the other Wii games. In particular, the main character models are very well designed and the zombie models, for the most part, are diverse (at least in their clothing). There is a large variety of environments throughout the game, ranging from trains to mansions to suburban streets, all which are nice for the most part, without being great. There are also a lot of lights in the game, most of them destroyable. When you shoot a light fixture, the room becomes slightly darker; if you were to shoot all the lights in a room the lighting becomes very dim, making it hard to see around you. While this is a nice touch, it can get annoying as it becomes harder to see if there’s any destroyable objects around. Finally, the game supports 480p/widescreen and for the most part it runs smoothly without dips in the framerate.
The game features a large number of cut-scenes which are very well choreographed and interesting to watch. However, while the scripted character animations are good, the enemy animations are usually lacking, especially in the case of zombies. Each time you shoot a zombie, the model reacts to the hit in some way, depending on where you shot it. For example, shooting a zombie in the foot will cause it to drop to the floor momentarily, while shooting it in the chest will cause it to lean back. This leads to strange and jerky animations as a zombie can be on its knees one second, take a hit to the chest, and immediately be upright recoiling from the bullet. The lack of any transitional model animations shows a lack of polish; however it’s little more than a graphical quirk than anything that adversely affects the gameplay.
Setting the mood
The sound in the game is above average with some spooky, well-done tunes. That said, the background music from Resident Evil 4 was perfect for setting a spooky setting and added an enormous amount to the game; the same cannot be said about this title. On the other hand, the game is chockfull of voice acting that isn’t only limited to cut-scenes. Granted, there are some cheesy lines here and there, and Albert Wesker’s voice is just plain irritating, but it’s great to hear the characters converse to each other as they move around the levels. The developers cleverly use voice acting to point out weaknesses in enemy bosses although for the most part it’s obvious information such as “Aim for the head!”
Overall
The Umbrella Chronicles is a deviation in gameplay from other Resident Evil games, providing a fresh and above average gaming experience for fans of the series. The controls are well implemented, with a very limited amount of “wand waving”. The game certainly will provide a considerable challenge for most gamers and should be considered if you’re in the market for a multiplayer game to play with a friend. Given the nature of the game, it isn’t suitable for younger gamers, although it isn’t an overly frightening experience, certainly nothing as scary for a child as seeing Leon Kennedy’s head slowly cut off by a paper-bag wearing, chainsaw wielding Ganado (RE4). Fans of the series, however, should pick this up without hesitation and I’d certainly recommend it to mature Wii gamers in the market for a simple shooter video game.
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Graphics
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8 |
How hooked?
8
(not an average)
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Sound
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8 |
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Interface
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8 |
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Replay
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9 |
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Gameplay
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8 |
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Stability
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9 |
Total votes: 6 - give us yours!
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Developer:
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Capcom |
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Publisher:
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Capcom |
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Release:
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November 13th, 2007 |
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Genre:
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Shoot-'Em-Up |
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The Umbrella Chronicles offers an above average shooter for the Nintendo Wii. While it has a few quirks, it provides an enjoyable experience and features great co-op multiplayer. |
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