Published
by: Capcom
Developed by: Cavia, Inc.
Release
Date: November 17, 2009
Available only on: Nintendo Wii
INTRO: If you don’t remember, I
was the man responsible for reviewing the Wii’s first Resident Evil
light-gun game, The Umbrella Chronicles. If you want to revisit that
article because you love to read my awesome prose, just click here.
If not, you hurt my feelings and I will likely weep later.
But onto more cheesy
matters- I love the Resident Evil series, warts and all. The main
reason I love it is because Resident Evil 4 exists and its one of the
greatest horror games of all time. There are a lot of warts though, as
I mentioned before. There are a lot of games that have missed the mark
by quite a bit.
And so another year, another entry into the Wii Shoot’em up series
where you can grab a friend and blast some zombies. This one dials in
the plots of Resident Evil 2. Code: Veronica and a new prequel to RE4
called operation Javier. You’ll be taking control of Claire Redfield,
Leon Kennedy, Steve Burnside and Jack Krauser throughout these games,
and that shouldn’t shock anyone as these are all mainstays of the
series.
Let’s strap on our silly plastic controllers and use some infrared
lasers to kill sh*t!
GAMEPLAY:
Let
us get this out of the way quickly once again: this is not a beautiful
entry into the Resident Evil series that will make you gasp and
strategize and game for hours. This is a fun, silly shooting game that
immerses you into the Resident Evil world to blow the crap out of
zombies with a friend. If you’re going to play by yourself, you’re
likely going to get a little bored and won’t get the full experience.
Also, don’t go searching for a really meaningful plot- you won’t find
it here. It’s all really poorly acted stuff that serves as nothing but
meaningless fluff, in this reviewer’s opinion.
This is an on-rails game where you’ll get the standard hand cannons to
blow the crap out of stuff (although there are less than you’ll find in
the previous title). There’s a lot of ammo to go around,
which helps because there are a ton of bad guys to kill. You can
upgrade stuff as you go along, and revisit levels to kill stuff even
more once you do. The level design is decent, but the camera work is
just brutal (think shaky-cam), and it can take you out of the game at
times.
There really isn’t a lot you need to know- you shoot dudes, they die.
When it comes to later levels and bosses, you have to shoot them in the
weak spots before they die. Sometimes you have to wait for awhile for
bigger bosses to die (or write in pain after you shoot them before you
can shoot again) after you’ve killed them, which can sort of take you
out of the moment as you pump rounds into it and then watch a
pre-planned cinematic death animation. Oh well.
You’re also going to get pissed off because this game is pretty tough
at times, and it’s impossible not to take damage at certain points.
This is nothing new though. The Javier mission felt the blandest, which
is too bad because it’s the ‘new’ chapter. Control is easy
and fluid and there are a lot of options for you to pick your
preference. I liked playing without the zapper. Anyhoo, shoot
quickly, shoot accurately and you’ll get the best stuff. If you are a
completist, you’ll be playing this over and over again.
Gameplay:
6.5/10
GRAPHICS:
This game doesn’t look
exactly like its predecessor. It has some terrible shadows and putting
this game in the sun during certain levels was a bad choice (i’m
looking at YOU Operation: Javier). The zombies vary from great looking
to awful, and have some hokey animation. As long as this game stays in
the dark, it’s passable and that isn’t a compliment.
Graphics:
6/10
AUDIO:
The sound is pretty
typical; I wonder every year if they make the voice acting hokey on
purpose. It doesn’t bother me and it makes me laugh, but if it isn’t
intentional then what the hell are they thinking? The soundtrack is
pretty good though, with good groans and weapons effects and a decent
score to boot.
Audio:
7/10
FINAL VERDICT:
I like this game, and I
liked The Umbrella Chronicles too. It serves as some pretty decent
entertainment and is a good way to spend an afternoon with a friend.
This doesn’t feel like a truly worthy sequel though. Graphics are worse
in some areas, the levels aren’t quite as good as the last game. With
that said though, this game serves its purpose and I had fun with it.
If you’re looking for a serious game, look elsewhere. If you just want
to have some fun, you might want to pick this up.
Final
Score: 7/10