Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles - Wii Previews


	Platform Wii Genre Shooter / Action Publisher Capcom Developer Capcom ETA November 11, 2007
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Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles

Ever since the console launched nine months ago, I thought Sega's House of the Dead should be brought to Wii. It looks like Capcom has beaten Sega to the punch.

Unlike most other Resident Evil titles, Umbrella Chronicles is an on-rails shooter that seems to rely solely on a quick trigger finger as the player is taken through a "virtual tour" of past Resident Evil titles. It seems like it will be a history lesson of sorts for the newcomer to the series, which includes a trip to the mansion and blasting decaying canines.

Though Umbrella Chronicles can be played with an unadorned Wiimote and nunchuk, the real way to play is with the Wii zapper mod, which positions the two

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parts of the Wii controls in a fashion to simulate a two-handed gun. To reload, the zapper is shifted to a vertical position and pumped up and down once, like the way most people who have never fired a shotgun think that's how they're reloaded. Though it felt just slightly off during my time with it, I can't help but think that had more to do with the setup of

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the kiosk than the game. (The TV was about eight inches too high and at least eighteen inches too close to my face.) In the demo, the nunchuk stick used to move the first-person view slightly.

As became so addictive in Resident Evil 4, the headshot it king. The demo showcased a machine gun, shotgun and infinite-ammo pistol and scoring a clean headshot with any of them almost guaranteed the shambling zombie would crumple. If pumping zombies full of holes wasn't enough, much of the environment has some level of interaction, even if it's just a conveniently positioned barrel of explosive something.

If a zombie manages to get too close there's the opportunity to activate a melee attack, which temporarily slips the game into a cinematic third-person view to showcase a killing blow.

Sticking to the mythos of the Resident Evil universe, green "herb" restores the life meter, there is extra ammo and weapons littering the dark corners of the game world. The difference here is that one simply has to shoot the item such as the ammo to be picked-up. During the demo these periods to shoot the extra ammo or green herb are very short. It means gamers will have to be on constant alert because one missed pick-up looks like it could mean the difference between survival and "You are dead."

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles is scheduled to ship this October.

- Omni

(July 25, 2007)