The History of Resident Evil is and will always be very confusing, therefore Capcom releases has been releasing games that fill up the gap so that we can learn more and be satisfied with the game’s story. Krauser is indeed a mysterious character in the series, but what was he before the events of Resident Evil 4? In Darkside Chronicles, gamers who are a fan of Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica can look back and learn more about Krauser’s true identity. The game is a follow up to the rail shooter Umbrella Chronicles, but what can we expect from this second game for the Wii?
With Darkside Chronicles, can we expect better gameplay than Umbrella Chronicles? Will we learn more about Krauser and the T-Virus? Let’s take a look at the HOTs and the NOTs of the game:
HOT
New Story (Operation Javier)
As I stated before, Darkside Chronicles not only brings you back in the events of Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica, but it also brings you to a whole new story arc that will give you an idea on who Krauser is, and why he appeared in Resident Evil 4. Operation Javier is the new story that takes place in South America where Krauser and Leon teams up to find a terrorist named Javier who stole the T-Virus virus from Umbrella. Throughout their adventure together, Leon will tell Krauser his past which will lead on into playing the events of Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica.
Aside from Operation Javier, bringing you back to the events of Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica, it also unlocks extra scenes that will satisfy fans who played Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica years ago. Gamers will meet Cherry, Ada, Steve Burnside, and the Ashford family.
Quick Time Events
During boss fights, there will be a quick time event where you press buttons in sequence in order to dodge or deliver the finishing blow. It is random so make sure when you missed or die during that scene, remember to be alert and have a fast reflex.
Archives, Unlockables & More!
Darkside Chronicles offers many unlockable items and goodies that you can obtain as you progress through the story. The weapons that you pick up in a chapter will carry over to the next mission and the cut scenes that you watched will be available on the Archives section. During your bloody journey in solving the horror mystery of the game, you will be getting
gold that you can use to upgrade your weapons after the end of each chapter. The gold carries over to the next mission that you will play.
As soon as you complete the game, you can play it again and have the weapons and things that you’ve unlocked before. In each chapter there are archives that you have to collect and finding them in each level can be hard. Make sure you have time to yourself if you are planning to complete this game 100%.
Co-Op mode
Before beginning a story arc, you will be given a choice of two characters that you can use. It’s Krauser or Leon, Leon or Claire, and Claire or Steve. Depending on the character you choose, you will experience a few branching paths at some point in certain chapters. There is nothing unique on the co-op mode in this game since it’s pretty much the same as Umbrella Chronicles.
Action Packed
Even though Darkside Chronicles is a rail shooter, you can still see some action packed scenes that will give the scare. There are not many of them, but some parts are decent enough to be considered as action packed. Consider yourself to spend roughly 6-8 hours on this game depending on the difficulty you choose.
NOT
Graphics are meh…
I consider the graphics of Darkside Chronicles somewhat average. It is nothing breathe taking, but nothing that bad. Since this is a Wii title, the graphics aren’t in HD. One of the ugliest looking scenery in Darkside Chronicles is the very first mission of the game where Krauser and Leon are in the broad daylight. It is so bright that it will annoy the hell
out of you. Aside from that, the rest are pretty average and nothing to be excited about. How I wish this title is only available on the PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360.
Game can get you dizzy
In some parts of the game, I guarantee you that you will get dizzy due to the shaking of a camera whenever a character moves. Expect to see these moments throughout most of the game. You will at some point find yourself taking a break just to relieve a head ache.
Not feeling the Resident Evil scare
One of the things I noticed in every Resident Evil games that have recently been released is they don’t have the scare factor that we’ve been looking for since Resident Evil: Director’s Cut and Resident Evil 2. The franchise has moved from Zombies to a not-scary looking Uroboros. In Darkside Chronicles, even though majority of the enemies here are still Zombies, it will not give you the same feel as you felt before in the first two games that was released in the series.
VERDICT
Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles is a must get for anyone who loves the Resident Evil franchise. The game delivers slight improvement over the Umbrella Chronicles, but one of the things that got me disappointed is the feeling and the atmosphere that I’ve been looking for in past Resident Evil titles. The new story is interesting for people wanting to know about Krauser but it is nothing ground breaking. If you just finished playing Dead Space Extraction, you might consider Darkside Chronicles only IF, you love the Resident Evil story.