We got some time today with the soon to be released Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. It will be launching along side the Wii Zapper and if you want something a little more bloody than 'Link's Crossbow Training' then this is for you.
Umbrella Chronicles is an action based retelling of previous Resident Evil games, taking players through the events of the previous episodes and also giving them a peak at previously unseen locations in the Resident Evil world.
One of the biggest features that sets this aside from other rail shooters is that not only is it on Wii with it's point to kill Wii Remotes, it's also one of the first games to be designed around to soon to be released Wii Zapper.
During our 10 minutes or so with the game we had a pretty good time with it. The action is well paced in and manages to keep to Resident Evil's survival horror mechanics of limited ammo, unexpected action and frantic knife swipes to get zombies away from your grey matter.
We found our selves taking the time to hit zombies in the weak spot but when it all got to much, we resorted to the action hero stance of selecting the biggest gun we had and firing like crazy. Will this reckless gun play get you out of any situation? A few, but not all. Wise use of ammo and weapons is what saved the day, and is also what sells this is a real Resident Evil game. When the situation didn't call for the biggest gun we had, we switched down to the handgun to conserve ammo, the hand gun having unlimited ammo but slow firing speed and poor stopping power. We didn't see any files lying around but aside from that it pretty much played with a lot of the freak out panic of a more traditional Resident Evil game
Part of what makes a good Resident Evil game is the environments, believable locations with unbelievable things happening in them, and RE:UC pulls this off quite well. While it's not a bench mark title graphically, the train we worked out way through from Resident Evil Zero was very faithfully recreated in a true 3D world. Zombies were animated well (I wonder if it's hard to animate shuffling corpses) and the environment had a lot of atmospheric detail, wind and rain blowing in through the curtains, glass shattering, abandoned possessions of the former living, cluttered desks covered in items and so on
This is definitely a title to keep your eye on this year. While no doubt it's primary target is Resident Evil fans, even if you're not this is shaping up to be one hell of an addictive, nerve racking rail shooter. House of the Dead may have to vacate their property after Umbrella Chronicles hits shelves.
17/11/2007
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Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
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