Video Juegos

Ever since Virtua Cop, I've had a thing for arcade-style lightgun shooters, so me reviewing Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles seems like a no brainer. The game is a follow-up to Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, a Wii-exclusive title that retold classic Resident Evil adventure scenarios as action-packed, gun shootin' experiences. Darkside Chronicles continues the legacy on Wii in a really impressive game that weaves players through scenarios from Resident Evil 2 as well as Resident Evil: Code Veronica and even makes a nod or two to Resident Evil 4. Even though it's not a true Resident Evil adventure, it's a very fun, frenetic action game that's really satisfying if you can get over one huge hurdle: the camera.

The game isn't much more than a rail shooter in a similar vein to the recently released Dead Space Extraction, which is, admittedly, not much more than a glorified version of Time Crisis or House of the Dead. You use the Wii remote to aim and shoot at a seemingly endless swarm of infected monsters. Undead humans, giant frogs, vicious piranhas, enormous moths, and super-intelligent plant life are just a sampling of what you'll be blasting away in this game.


The storyline's a little convoluted, but beyond that, Darkside Chronicles is a pretty straightforward experience. You can choose to play with the Wii Remote exclusively because all the necessary controls are mapped to all the buttons: four weapon slots are attached to the D-pad, and collected health herbs can be used with a single press of the plus button. But if you attach a Nunchuk to the controller, you can add the weapon functionality to the analog stick, leaving your other hand free to focus on the constant aiming and firing needed in this game.

Darkside Chronicles has the usual "headshots for maximum points" strategy as well as the "shoot anything that seems destructible for bonuses" strategy. Hidden locations usually dump coins that can be turned into weapon power-ups between levels, but there are also Umbrella icons to discover and pick up along the way. Even though the game is a meaty 12-hour experience from start to finish, the game definitely has a lot of replay value for a design with shallow aim-and-shoot gameplay. On the second playthrough, you can choose to see it through the eyes of the other character – the challenge doesn't change but at least you can experience the familiar area in a fresh way. And then there's the online leaderboards for those that want to see how their level scores and rankings stack up against the rest of the world.

Of course, there's also the welcome multiplayer option. Though you can't have a friend jump in or out on the fly like you can in Dead Space Extraction, you can choose to have him help out at the start of a mission. The added firepower definitely helps, but then you have to realize you're sharing the same pool of ammunition. You don't want to have a friend that likes to fire his or her gun off all willy-nilly.