Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles

8.2
Good

Gameplay	8.5	"Unadulerated gory fun."
Graphics	8.0
Sound	8.5
Value	8.0

By Mayur Gandhi

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Just as George Romero's movie series represents the best use of zombies in film, so does Resident Evil in games. The franchise has grown remarkably from its PlayStation roots and has generally always impressed. With Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles Capcom has offered a true zombie hunting experience in the dark, gritty world of RE in the form of what is quite simply one of the best light gun games to hit the home consoles.

The story begins with the series villain, Albert Wesker, narrating in his cooler than ice accent the events surrounding the rise and fall of Umbrella Corporation (the mega-company who developed and released the zombie making virus). The narration has a nice blend of humour and foreboding that creates a consistent personality for the whole game. Without it, this game, which goes through the events of Resident Evil 0, 1, 3 and the new epilogue, would seem an incoherrant mess. There's a lot of inside information to be found throughout, most of which only veterans of previous games are going to really appreciate.

The Wii controller fits this type of game well; simply point and shoot - easy as. If you're itching to try the Wii Zapper this isn't the game for it. Most enemies have a very small spot that makes them vulnerable to a one-hit kill, but pinning the spot can be quite tricky when you're faced with several enemies at once. With the standard controller set up this is a fair challenge, but with the Zapper it's a severe handicap. Frankly, the Zapper doesn't provide enough accuracy to justify using it.

If you let a zombie get close enough to grab you, you can try shaking the remote to get rid of them, but the tougher bad guys won't fall for it. There's also a knife, which is great for taking out smaller enemies that are hard to hit with bullets - think leeches. And while we're talking about bullets, there simply are never enough, but if you're a Resident Evil vet then you were probably already expecting this. Fortunately, your handgun has unlimited ammo. Each weapon can be upgraded to hold more ammunition and do more damage, but the bottom line is the same as other games in the series - conservation and a good aim go a long way on the road to survival.

The game doesn't draw inspiration entirely from the classic RE's, though. Interactive cut scenes, like those in Resident Evil 4, are here too. As per what we've come to expect since RE4 there are occasional demands to press a button or shake the remote in a timely fashion to escape damage or death during a scene. These aren't entirely hard, but nevertheless can be quite frustrating if you're not paying attention while caught up in the action of the scene.

Umbrella Chronicles is easily most fun while played with someone else. I daresay that this is the perfect girlfriend game; in fact, most situations have you paired as a girl/guy duo which really sets the mood. Shooting zombies is great, but shooting them with friends is even better.

The latest Resident Evil is exactly what one would expect - a great zombie killing title set amongst a fantastic creepy atmosphere. Umbrella Chronicles remains true to the heart of the series while offering a new Resident Evil experience. It's the perfect title to tide you over until the release of Resident Evil 5 later next year.

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