When Capcom first announced that they were making an exclusive Resident Evil game for Nintendo’s new console, I was very happy. Everyone was speculating on what the game will be about, and how it would play. Most people thought that they were going to stick with the new formula created in Resident Evil 4 with the camera behind the character’s back, and aiming where ever you wanted to. Well, that didn’t quite happen. Capcom decided to go with a more ‘casual’ approach with Umbrella Chronicles, and decided to make it an on-rails shooter, ala House of the Dead. Every Resident Evil fan, and even Wii owners where sadly disappointed with this horrible news. Capcom could have went with an awesome idea, and made the game the best game for the Wii yet, but they went for the stupid ‘casual’ idea, and it didn’t turn out well... At all. In fact, Umbrella Chronicles is no doubt the worst Resident Evil game to date.
The Umbrella Chronicles tells the story of the whole Resident Evil franchise in 4 separate chapters. You start with Resident Evil 0 where a S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team member Rebecca Chambers, hunts down a murderer Billy Cowan, to take him to jail. As it turns out, they get into a sticky mess with Zombies and Leaches investing a train where they meet. The second chapter is from the original Resident Evil where you are Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine (both S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team members) trying to escape from the Mansion in the middle of the forest. The 3rd chapter is Jill and Carlos Oliveira, an Umbrella soldier trying to rescue civilians, trying to escape from the torment and destruction of Raccoon City. The 3rd chapter is stupidly messed up though. First of all, Jill and Carlos go places where Resident Evil 3 didn’t even take place. They meet somewhere totally different, and most of the places you go are from Resident Evil: Outbreak File # 1 & 2. The fourth chapter is Chris and Jill (again), but this time they go to Russia to try and uncover Umbrella’s secrets and to stop Wesker once and for all.
Sadly, there’s no Resident Evil 2, Code Veronica, or 4 scenarios, which is a damn shame. Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield aren’t even in the game to begin with. This is where the game tends to be, no very good. First of all, there’s only four chapters, which could have easily been seven. There are only 3 levels in each chapter, and they go by very quickly. But, there is a rating system in the game which can make you come back and redo old chapters. You get rated on your quickness, how many enemies you killed, how many critical hits you got, and on how many breakable items you destroy. You earn stars after you complete a level, and you can upgrade your weapons you collect with them. This also adds a little RPG elements to the game, but it’s nothing big at all, and you can upgrade your weaker weapons, then find a more powerful weapon in the next chapter. Just stupid.
The game is an on-rails shooter, just like in House of the Dead, just not as fun. You use the Wii Remote to aim your ridicule on the screen, and you use the Nunchuk’s analog stick to look around. Firing is used the B button and A is your action button. You can reload by shaking your Wii Remote, and you can use your knife by holding down the A button and swinging the remote. The knife is useful during some situations, but isn’t fun to use. In fact, it’s annoying. Shooting enemies is usually satisfying, but sometimes they have absolutely no response when they get shot, like nothing even hit them. Why this happens, I don’t know, but it’s irritating, and I don’t like it. Changing your weapons is as easy as pressing down or up on the Wii Remote’s D-Pad. You can pick things up in the level by aiming at them and pressing the A button. Picking up Herbs is ridiculous though because when you pick it up, you use it right away. Collecting a First-Aid spray is different though. When you collect, an image of it appears on the bottom of the screen. Then, when you die, it uses it and you recover.
You health metre is a bar across the top of the screen. And while playing 2 player co-op, you share the metre. Sharing the metre is also stupid, since one of you might not be good at the game and will make the other player die because you share the same health. It can be better in some situations, don’t get me wrong, but there should be at least another option. You can shoot almost everything in the levels you go to. Shooting certain things like lights and painting can sometimes reveal items like files and weapons. Shooting as much things as you can is really fun, because your pistol always has unlimited ammo, so you can never run out. The other weapons like the Shotgun, Machine Gun, and Rocket Launcher don’t have unlimited ammo though, but it makes perfect sense. The way you see how much ammo you have left is also an annoyance. Your ridicule has a bar around it, and when you use ammo, it decreases. The colour and the size of the bar is really difficult to see however, and can annoy the crap out of you. You can also use grenades by holding the A button, and pressing the B button. Grenades are really useful, but there are barely any of them to find.
There are a couple of ways to make yourself go back to some levels, like the rating system mentioned above, but there are also some parts where you can choose a certain path. Example, in the Russia area, there is a part where you can either go into the sewers, or up the stairs. Each part have something different then the other part. But you’re totally just guessing on where the best place to go, and sometimes it can be the wrong choice. There are also tons of enemies in the game ranging from Zombies, to Licker, to Bees, and to Hunters. There’s also a boss at the end of each chapter, and some of them are really quite difficult. All of the bosses are bosses you know, except the final boss in the Russian area, which is a giant disappointment.
The two player co-op is probably the best part of the game though, because you work together instead of by yourself. It can get irritating though when your friend or your brother starts using the shotgun on Zombies but you saved the ammo for a while for the boss of each level. It’s also annoying when you can’t see what the item is and your friend takes it, but you need it instead. Example, your friend has 5 grenades, and you have 0. Your friend sees an item flashing and takes it, and it so happens to be a grenade, which you desperately need. Before each level you can pick which gun you want, and the difficulty you want to play on. The easiest difficulty is pretty hard, and the harder difficulties put you through hell. Mix the difficulty in with some annoying puking Zombies, and no reaction when shooting them, you’ll have a frustrating time.
The visual presentation of the Umbrella Chronicles isn’t that special either, especially when it looks worse than Resident Evil 4, and Resident Evil 0 for the Gamecube. Capcom probably spent way too much time making all of the destructible items in each level, that they didn’t have enough time to smooth the graphics out. It’s not to say that it’s the worst looking Wii game yet, because it’s not. It’s actually one of the best looking, which is a shame, really. The audio isn’t very special either. There’s always a tune in the background while playing, but can sometimes, no, always take away from the atmosphere Resident Evil games are supposed to have. The sounds are impressive though with the guns sounding realistic, and Zombies sounding like... Well, the ways they’re supposed to sound. The voice acting is absolutely abysmal though. If you can compare it to the original Resident Evil, then it has to be pretty bad. Carlos for instance is supposed to sound like a Mexican, but sounds like a true American... Stupid.
Overall, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is fun, but nothing special. The best way to play it is with a friend with co-op, but even that isn’t very fun. The graphics are pretty average, the music is bad, and whole game is just a total disappointment. Capcom could have made a great game, one that could be remembered for generations, like Resident Evil 4. Instead they made an average on-rails shooter than could have been so much more. Umbrella Chronicles is no doubt the worst Resident Evil game to date. Bring on Resident Evil 5 already.
The Umbrella Chronicles tells the story of the whole Resident Evil franchise in 4 separate chapters. You start with Resident Evil 0 where a S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team member Rebecca Chambers, hunts down a murderer Billy Cowan, to take him to jail. As it turns out, they get into a sticky mess with Zombies and Leaches investing a train where they meet. The second chapter is from the original Resident Evil where you are Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine (both S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team members) trying to escape from the Mansion in the middle of the forest. The 3rd chapter is Jill and Carlos Oliveira, an Umbrella soldier trying to rescue civilians, trying to escape from the torment and destruction of Raccoon City. The 3rd chapter is stupidly messed up though. First of all, Jill and Carlos go places where Resident Evil 3 didn’t even take place. They meet somewhere totally different, and most of the places you go are from Resident Evil: Outbreak File # 1 & 2. The fourth chapter is Chris and Jill (again), but this time they go to Russia to try and uncover Umbrella’s secrets and to stop Wesker once and for all.
Sadly, there’s no Resident Evil 2, Code Veronica, or 4 scenarios, which is a damn shame. Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield aren’t even in the game to begin with. This is where the game tends to be, no very good. First of all, there’s only four chapters, which could have easily been seven. There are only 3 levels in each chapter, and they go by very quickly. But, there is a rating system in the game which can make you come back and redo old chapters. You get rated on your quickness, how many enemies you killed, how many critical hits you got, and on how many breakable items you destroy. You earn stars after you complete a level, and you can upgrade your weapons you collect with them. This also adds a little RPG elements to the game, but it’s nothing big at all, and you can upgrade your weaker weapons, then find a more powerful weapon in the next chapter. Just stupid.
The game is an on-rails shooter, just like in House of the Dead, just not as fun. You use the Wii Remote to aim your ridicule on the screen, and you use the Nunchuk’s analog stick to look around. Firing is used the B button and A is your action button. You can reload by shaking your Wii Remote, and you can use your knife by holding down the A button and swinging the remote. The knife is useful during some situations, but isn’t fun to use. In fact, it’s annoying. Shooting enemies is usually satisfying, but sometimes they have absolutely no response when they get shot, like nothing even hit them. Why this happens, I don’t know, but it’s irritating, and I don’t like it. Changing your weapons is as easy as pressing down or up on the Wii Remote’s D-Pad. You can pick things up in the level by aiming at them and pressing the A button. Picking up Herbs is ridiculous though because when you pick it up, you use it right away. Collecting a First-Aid spray is different though. When you collect, an image of it appears on the bottom of the screen. Then, when you die, it uses it and you recover.
You health metre is a bar across the top of the screen. And while playing 2 player co-op, you share the metre. Sharing the metre is also stupid, since one of you might not be good at the game and will make the other player die because you share the same health. It can be better in some situations, don’t get me wrong, but there should be at least another option. You can shoot almost everything in the levels you go to. Shooting certain things like lights and painting can sometimes reveal items like files and weapons. Shooting as much things as you can is really fun, because your pistol always has unlimited ammo, so you can never run out. The other weapons like the Shotgun, Machine Gun, and Rocket Launcher don’t have unlimited ammo though, but it makes perfect sense. The way you see how much ammo you have left is also an annoyance. Your ridicule has a bar around it, and when you use ammo, it decreases. The colour and the size of the bar is really difficult to see however, and can annoy the crap out of you. You can also use grenades by holding the A button, and pressing the B button. Grenades are really useful, but there are barely any of them to find.
There are a couple of ways to make yourself go back to some levels, like the rating system mentioned above, but there are also some parts where you can choose a certain path. Example, in the Russia area, there is a part where you can either go into the sewers, or up the stairs. Each part have something different then the other part. But you’re totally just guessing on where the best place to go, and sometimes it can be the wrong choice. There are also tons of enemies in the game ranging from Zombies, to Licker, to Bees, and to Hunters. There’s also a boss at the end of each chapter, and some of them are really quite difficult. All of the bosses are bosses you know, except the final boss in the Russian area, which is a giant disappointment.
The two player co-op is probably the best part of the game though, because you work together instead of by yourself. It can get irritating though when your friend or your brother starts using the shotgun on Zombies but you saved the ammo for a while for the boss of each level. It’s also annoying when you can’t see what the item is and your friend takes it, but you need it instead. Example, your friend has 5 grenades, and you have 0. Your friend sees an item flashing and takes it, and it so happens to be a grenade, which you desperately need. Before each level you can pick which gun you want, and the difficulty you want to play on. The easiest difficulty is pretty hard, and the harder difficulties put you through hell. Mix the difficulty in with some annoying puking Zombies, and no reaction when shooting them, you’ll have a frustrating time.
The visual presentation of the Umbrella Chronicles isn’t that special either, especially when it looks worse than Resident Evil 4, and Resident Evil 0 for the Gamecube. Capcom probably spent way too much time making all of the destructible items in each level, that they didn’t have enough time to smooth the graphics out. It’s not to say that it’s the worst looking Wii game yet, because it’s not. It’s actually one of the best looking, which is a shame, really. The audio isn’t very special either. There’s always a tune in the background while playing, but can sometimes, no, always take away from the atmosphere Resident Evil games are supposed to have. The sounds are impressive though with the guns sounding realistic, and Zombies sounding like... Well, the ways they’re supposed to sound. The voice acting is absolutely abysmal though. If you can compare it to the original Resident Evil, then it has to be pretty bad. Carlos for instance is supposed to sound like a Mexican, but sounds like a true American... Stupid.
Overall, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is fun, but nothing special. The best way to play it is with a friend with co-op, but even that isn’t very fun. The graphics are pretty average, the music is bad, and whole game is just a total disappointment. Capcom could have made a great game, one that could be remembered for generations, like Resident Evil 4. Instead they made an average on-rails shooter than could have been so much more. Umbrella Chronicles is no doubt the worst Resident Evil game to date. Bring on Resident Evil 5 already.