Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles Hands-on Preview

Resident Evil 2, for many, is the best game in the famed zombie series. It was pure ‘sit on the edge of your seat and prepare to crap yourself silly’ stuff. Its huge popularity (Resident Evil 2 is the second highest-selling Capcom game of all time, behind Street Fighter II) guaranteed rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy, college student Claire Redfield, Raccoon City and that police station a place in the hearts and minds of a generation of PlayStation owners. It was an epic game in the truest sense, and Capcom’s decision to use it as the setting for Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, the Wii-exclusive on-rails shooter sequel to last year’s fun Umbrella Chronicles, comes as no surprise.

“RE2 + on rail shooter = best game in the world.” That, in a nutshell, sums up The Darkside Chronicles. It’s from the comments on our own preview from Capcom’s annual event Captivate, earlier this year. And I’d have to say it’s hard to disagree with it. Looking back at our 7/10 review for Umbrella Chronicles, however, one sentence stands out: “…while UC is decent fun and one of the better-looking titles on the Wii it feels as if it could have been a whole lot better.” Having had the opportunity to go hands-on with the game at Capcom’s UK offices in Hammersmith recently, it’s clear that Capcom, and developer cavia, agrees.

My hands-on begins as Resident Evil 2 did, with Leon and Claire thrust into the nightmarish, zombie-filled Raccoon City streets, surrounded by burning cars, broken glass and overturned rubbish bins. It’s September 29, 1998, and the devastating T-Virus is in full effect. Immediately the camera fixes itself into the first-person mode typical of all on-rails shooters. I’m pointing the Wii Remote at the screen, moving the target cursor about the scene, keeping an eye out for encroaching undead. Leon and Claire banter – this is the rekindling of a hazy memory – so much is the same, but from a new perspective.

For some Wii owners, the very fact that so much of the game will be familiar is exactly the reason The Darkside Chronicle’s is on their wish list, apart from, you know, the game being an absolute blast. Oh yeah! I remember that! I remember those crows, those dogs, that bit outside the Raccoon City Police Department, that room inside Raccoon City Police Department, the gun store, the gun store owner, the zombie chewing up the gun store owner. “You must be the new guy… sorry, but it looks like your party’s been… cancelled…”

For others though, for the Resident Evil obsessed, the big draw will be what’s new. Capcom’s promised that while the game walks the path laid out in Resident Evil 2, it’s not a slave to it. We’re going to get to see events from the superb Dreamcast (and later PlayStation 2 and GameCube) game Resident Evil: Code Veronica, and new, unannounced areas. And where the game does tow the Resident Evil 2 party line, it’ll show events from a different perspective, in new, closer detail. We’ll get more on character histories – a darker, more horror-filled tone. Fans will be delighted to know that Ada Wong will make an appearance – in RE2 Ada only turned up in Leon’s episodes, but here she’ll appear alongside Claire. Sexy.

And then there are those who are just in it for the fun, for the promise that the game’s going to be one of the best released on Wii this year. This is where cavia’s gameplay improvements come in. What’s immediately noticeable is that the graphics are a significant step up from Umbrella Chronicles, which only impressed in parts. In fact, The Darkside Chronicles may well be the best-looking Wii game released this year, with Havoc physics powering realistic effects under the hood. I spent much of my time testing the physics out – shooting glass out of street lamps and knocking bins over with hand-gun fire. It’s not Killzone 2, but it’s still hugely impressive.

After the graphics, you notice the changes made to the camera. It simply never stays still – it’s always on the move, shaking in a similar style to monster horror movie Cloverfield. It’s quite disorienting at first – explosions rock Leon to the floor and the camera has a fit. He looks desperately for escape routes as zombies surround him and the camera shifts frantically. It’s hard to know when you’re “in play” and when you’re not, and as a result you sometimes try and shoot when the game’s technically in a cut scene, but it’s not a problem, really.

Then you notice Claire on screen – unlike in Umbrella Chronicles you’ll be able to see your partner, but only in single-player. In co-op you won’t, which isn’t all that bad. Talking of co-op, cavia’s sorted out the cursor issues that caused confusion when two players were shooting the same screen. We couldn’t see how for ourselves, since the game was only playable single-player in our hands-on demo, but it’s been sorted all the same. It’s still a disappointment that online co-op play won’t be supported, but given that both players can play on the same television, it’s not a huge blow.

Also new is the ability to switch weapons without having to pause the game. Weapons, like the shotgun and the uzi, can be mapped to the Wii Remote d-pad – it’s a much-needed improvement. Being able to quickly switch from the infinite ammo handgun to the devastating shotgun, or the brrraping uzi when the proverbial poop hits the fan keeps you in the thick of the action and, most important of all, alive.

You can also map herbs, too, for quick heals – sprays will automatically kick in when your life bar nears zilch. It all makes for a much more fluid on-rails shooter – given the criticism Resident Evil 5 suffered for not allowing players to run and shoot, The Darkside Chronicles shows Capcom is capable of sacrificing tradition for fun.

The game’s great fun, really. There’s a wonderful satisfaction when you headshot a zombie (it feels easier to achieve than in Umbrella Chronicles), the pop of its head and spray of blood ample reward for your careful Wii Remote aiming. The on-rails genre is one some simply don’t like, but for me, when it’s done well, it’s fun gaming in a pure form we hardly ever see any more. In many ways, it’s a genre perfectly suited to the Wii – a better fit on Nintendo’s console than any other. With Visceral Games’ decision to take Dead Space in a similar direction, on-rails fans are in for a cracking 2009. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles is my most anticipated Wii game of the year.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles is due out for the Wii this winter.