Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles Details

April 29th, 2009 No Comments   Posted in Action, News, Shooter, Wii

Rail shooters aren’t anything new, but despite their general lack of originality they’re still very popular. The Wii made them possible as a home console title. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles was a big success, melding the simple action gameplay with the horror and intrigue of the franchise. Unfortunately one of the biggest issues people had was the sheer difficulty of the game.

This is one of the biggest issues that will be addressed Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles. More details have just emerged regarding the game, with several new features added in to ensure that the game won’t be as frustrating to the less experienced gamer. The most obvious is the simple choice of difficulty settings, with settings for seasoned veterans and newbies alike. As with Umbrella Chronicles players will be able to customize their weapon choices for each mission. The problem oftentimes with these games though is you’re forced to choose without any knowledge of what lies ahead, meaning you can end up with a completely inappropriate arsenal.

Not in Darkside Chronicles however, as they’re adding in a sub-screen that will allow players to change their weapon options mid-level as well as administer healing items. Each playable character can also be customized to take advantage of several different combat styles. Currently the only officially announced characters are Leon Kennedy and Clare Redfield. Though both eventually become seasoned zombie battling veterans, the game will start them off as civilians unaware of the horrors in their future. There will be more characters as yet unrevealed.

There will also be new evade commands, so you’ll be waggling your wiimote to do more than just shake off attacking zombies. You’ll use it to outflank and outmaneuver your enemies, hopefully creating a wider range of strategic options.  Two player co-op will of course still feature heavily with character interactions having been deepened to create a more immersive experience and now both players will share the same screen.

Famitsu Reveals Wii Biohazard Title

March 11th, 2009 No Comments   Posted in Action, News, Shooter, Wii

Thus far Capcom has been dodging any specifics on a Wii port of Resident Evil 5 and when recently asked about it they said that soon Wii owners would be ‘very happy’. An advertisement in Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has shown a new title for the Wii in the Resident Evil series. The title is Biohazard (the Japanese name for the Resident Evil series) The Darkside Chronicles.

There’s not much information to go on from the screenshots in the advertisement, but it looks like Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield will be the main characters, which hints that it might be set in the timeline of Resident Evil 2, with players fighting hordes of zombies in Raccoon City. One of the pictures shows some shambling zombies, which is no surprise, but closer inspection reveals a red crosshair in the shot, suggesting that this could be another on-rails shooter in the same vein as Umbrella Chronicles especially since both titles have the word ‘chronicles’ in the title.

Is this really the announcement that’s going to make Wii owners happy? Maybe, but I doubt it’s going to please hardcore fans of the survival horror series.

Resident Evil 5 coming to Wii?

March 6th, 2009 9 Comments   Posted in Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360

Considering the game’s graphics, probably not. However, when asked why there is no Wii version of Resident Evil 5, Capcom’s Associate Product Marketing Manager, Matt Dahlgren, responded with the following: “It was made for the Xbox 360 and PS3. That being said, Nintendo Wii fans will be very happy very soon.”

Happy very soon, huh? Well, Mr. Dahlgren what ever does that mean?

Since he said that Resident Evil 5 was made for the PS3 and Xbox 360, that pretty effectively squashes the chance of the Wii seeing it. Therefore, we can only be led to believe that the Wii will be getting it’s own exclusive Resident Evil title.

We’ll keep you posted.

Read (HellDescent)

Resident Evil 6 To Reboot Series

February 24th, 2009 27 Comments   Posted in Action, Adventure, News, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

It’s still classified as a ’survival horror’ series, but the last few games in the Resident Evil series have strayed far from their roots. The first few games forced you to flee more often than anything else with limited ammo and hordes of enemies. Resident Evil 4 was a big departure, taking the series in a far more action-heavy direction by providing you with a wide range of weapons and truckloads of ammunition. The demo of Resident Evil 5 shows that with the exception of the including co-op it’s more or less the same.

Survival is still a big must and there are some definite chills to be found but the true horror aspect came largely due to your relative weakness as a soft, squishy human being with limited firepower. Zombies are much more horrific if you’ve got no real way of dealing with them. While I admit to being much more interested in blasting zombies than escaping them, fans of the originals will be glad to hear that Resident Evil 6 is planned to be a reboot of the IP, bringing it back to its original style of game play. This comes from producer Jun Takeuchi in response to reviewers who have complained at the ‘glaring similarities’ between this game and its predecessor.