Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

[Koby]

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, is a on-rails shooting game for the Wii developed by cavia and Capcom. The game was released on November 17, 2009 in North America. It was released in Europe on November 27, 2009 bundled with the Wii Zapper accessory.

Plot

The game's plot revolves around the personal stories and tragedies in the series. Its main focus is retelling the events of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil Code: Veronica, and a new chapter is featured. For the Resident Evil 2 segment, the player takes control of protagonists Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, with Ada Wong and Sherry Birkin acting as supporting characters. The Code: Veronica chapter features Claire, accompanied by fellow Rockfort Island prisoner Steve Burnside.

Gameplay

The Darkside Chronicles is an on-rails shooter. The player's partner is seen on screen during gameplay. There is a new evade move to set The Darkside Chronicles apart from other on-rails shooters. There were also changes to make the game more appealing to casual gamers. For example, head shots were made easier for players to perform and a status screen was implemented. The game automatically adjusts its difficulty, depending on the players' skill level. Other new features include online leaderboards and a system to tell the players' reticules apart from each other in a co-op session.

Development

The development of The Darkside Chronicles as an on-rails shooter was decided because Kawata considered it the best way to retell the scenarios that could not be included in the previous game. With this title, he wanted to put a much bigger emphasis on horror, employing a camera system that will try to convey a sense of actually being in the game. To research realistic camera shaking in hectic situations, one of the team members went out in town for a day to make motion tests with a camcorder. Another important aspect to create the game's atmosphere was achieving high-quality graphics, which cavia used all their resources for. Kawata was very satisfied with the result and went on to say that the only thing really setting the visuals apart from next-generation consoles is the lack of HD display. He also mentioned that there is a plethora of attractive content to use for more games in the Chronicles series and the decision of their development would largely depend on cavia's future involvement.

As the game's development began before the production of Degeneration and because of the different timeframe, Kawata ruled out connections to the CG film and Resident Evil 5, though he hinted at the appearance of new characters and the exploration of the Birkins' and the Ashfords' family ties.

Reception

IGN gave The Darkside Chronicles 8.1 out of 10. Compliments were given to the graphics, music, playability, and longevity of the title, but the camera was said to be mildly distracting and the story can be confusing for those unfamiliar with the Resident Evil franchise.

GameSpot gave the game a 6.0 out of 10. They stated "The only thing scary about this light-gun game is the dreadful shaky camera."

AceGamez scored the game 85%, praising its simplicity but criticising the erratic difficulty at higher levels, saying this made "the game insanely difficult on any setting above Easy. An awful lot of enemies appear so close to you that you have to land headshots just to avoid a nasty bite".

In November 2009 Capcom was forced to defend the game from the allegations saying that it glamorizes violence and promotes the occult, with spokesperson Leo Tan stating: "This is scaremongering and typical religious hysteria. You cannot blame society’s ills on video games. It’s just absurd."

I recently purchased this game, only to take it back the next day. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice game, but it just wasn't what I was looking for exactly at the time and I didn't feel it was worth the price the title was at. I don't really like the shaky camera that much, or the fact you have no control over your character. You only have a little reticule which displays where you are aiming and that is it. The camera turns a lot, sometimes there would be like 10 zombies coming at you from one direction and you'd be shooting them and next thing you know the camera turns you around to where your back is facing them and there may or may not be any zombies in the direction you are now facing and you have to wait till it turns back to the zombies who are attacking you.

I'll probably re-purchase this title when it hits the $15 mark. It's an alright game but the playability is not worth the current price tag of $40.