Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, known as Biohazard: The Darkside Chronicles (バイオハザード / ダークサイド・クロニクルズ?) in Japan, is a on-rails shooting game for the Wii developed by cavia and Capcom.[1] The game was released on November 17, 2009 in North America.[2] It was released in Europe on November 27, 2009 bundled with the Wii Zapper accessory.[4]
Plot
The game's plot revolves around the personal stories and tragedies in the series.[6] Its main focus is retelling the events of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil Code: Veronica, and a new chapter is featured.[7] For the Resident Evil 2 segment, the player takes control of protagonists Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield,[1] with Ada Wong and Sherry Birkin acting as supporting characters.[8] The Code: Veronica chapter features Claire, accompanied by fellow Rockfort Island prisoner Steve Burnside.
Scenarios
Operation Javier
In 2002, somewhere in South America, Leon S. Kennedy and his partner Jack Krauser are searching for Javier Hidalgo, an ex-drug lord who had been reported to be approaching Umbrella Inc. However, when Leon and Krauser reach the nearby village, they discover that the people there have been turned into zombies. Some zombies have the Sacred Snakes indentation, meaning that they worked alongside Javier. Leon and Krauser find their guide dead, but before he dies and has his body taken away by a water-bound BOW, he says that the girl (Manuela) "brought devils to this village." Fighting their way past more BOWs and hungry piranhas, Leon and Krauser eventually find the girl, but have to face the creature that took their village guide. They successfully kill it, and Krauser asks Leon to tell him everything about how he first encountered the BOWs. The scenario resumes after the Resident Evil 2 section, where it is revealed that Javier is Manuela's father, and the creature they faced was her mother.
Memories of a Lost City
This scenario re-tells the events of Resident Evil 2, leading up to when Leon and Claire face G (a mutated William Birkin). Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy have just arrived in Raccoon City, when they learn that the city has been infested with zombies and other monsters. They then decide to go to the police station, hoping to find answers. Claire and Leon are together much of the time, only briefly splitting up. When they meet Ada Wong, Ada fights alongside Leon, Claire and Sherry.
Game of Oblivion
A re-imagining of Resident Evil Code: Veronica, where Claire Redfield and Steve Burnside remain together and attempt to escape Rockfort Island in a seaplane, while having to contend with the psychotic Alfred Ashford, and eventually, his sister Alexia. In this iteration of the story, their father Alexander Ashford appears in a video, which was recorded shortly before he became the monster known as Nosferatu.
Gameplay
The Darkside Chronicles is an on-rails shooter.[9] The player's partner is seen on screen during gameplay.[1] There is a new evade move to set The Darkside Chronicles apart from other on-rails shooters.[9] There were also changes to make the game more appealing to casual gamers. For example, head shots were made easier for players to perform[9] and a status screen was implemented.[10] The game automatically adjusts its difficulty, depending on the players' skill level.[1] Other new features include online leaderboards and a system to tell the players' reticules apart from each other in a co-op session.[10]
Development
The development of The Darkside Chronicles as an on-rails shooter was decided because Kawata considered it the best way to retell the scenarios that could not be included in the previous game.[10] With this title, he wanted to put a much bigger emphasis on horror, employing a camera system that will try to convey a sense of actually being in the game.[9][11] To research realistic camera shaking in hectic situations, one of the team members went out in town for a day to make motion tests with a camcorder.[12] Another important aspect to create the game's atmosphere was achieving high-quality graphics, which cavia used all their resources for.[10] Kawata was very satisfied with the result and went on to say that the only thing really setting the visuals apart from next-generation consoles is the lack of HD display.[10] He also mentioned that there is a plethora of attractive content to use for more games in the Chronicles series and the decision of their development would largely depend on cavia's future involvement.[10]
As the game's development began before the production of Degeneration and because of the different timeframe, Kawata ruled out connections to the CG film and Resident Evil 5, though he hinted at the appearance of new characters and the exploration of the Birkins' and the Ashfords' family ties.[10]
Soundtrack
For the music of The Darkside Chronicles, series veterans Shusaku Uchiyama and Takeshi Miura have been brought back to compose and arrange tracks for the retellings of the games they originally worked on, with Uchiyama being responsible for Resident Evil 2 and Miura in charge of Code: Veronica.[13][14] Part of the soundtrack has been recorded with a group of over 40 musicians known as the Tokyo Chamber Music Association and a chorus of 30 singers.[13] The orchestral arrangements were done by game and anime composer Yoshihisa Hirano who is also highly experienced with classical music.[13]
Reception
IGN gave The Darkside Chronicles 8.1 out of 10. Compliments were given to the graphics, music, playability, and longevity of the title, but the camera was said to be mildly distracting and the story can be confusing for those unfamiliar with the Resident Evil franchise.[15]
GameSpot gave the game a 6.0 out of 10. They stated "The only thing scary about this light-gun game is the dreadful shaky camera."[16]
AceGamez scored the game 85%, praising its simplicity but criticising the erratic difficulty at higher levels, saying this made "the game insanely difficult on any setting above Easy. An awful lot of enemies appear so close to you that you have to land headshots just to avoid a nasty bite".[17]
In November 2009 Capcom was forced to defend the game from the allegations saying that it glamorizes violence and promotes the occult, with spokesperson Leo Tan stating: "This is scaremongering and typical religious hysteria. You cannot blame society’s ills on video games. It’s just absurd."[18]
References
- ^ a b c d e IGN staff (March 11, 2009). "Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles Detailed". IGN. http://wii.ign.com/articles/961/961342p1.html. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
- ^ a b Dahlgren, Matt (August 25, 2009). "Capcom Announces Ship Date for Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles". Capcom Unity. http://www.capcom-unity.com/mattd/blog/2009/08/25/capcom_announces_ship_date_for_resident_evil_the_darkside_chronicles. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- ^ GAME.com.au pre-orders up for Darkside Chronicles
- ^ a b Spencer (August 26, 2009). "Zombies On Other Continents Keep Wii Zapper Alive". Siliconera.com. http://www.siliconera.com/2009/08/26/zombies-on-other-continents-keep-wii-zapper-alive/. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- ^ Capcom Japan. "CAPCOM｜バイオハザード / ダークサイド・クロニクルズ". Capcom. http://www.capcom.co.jp/bio_dc/main1.html. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
- ^ Resident Evil / The Darkside Chronicles: Talking Evil, The Meaning of "Darkside"
- ^ GoNintendo, Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles - Leon ventures to South America
- ^ IGN staff (April 22, 2009). "Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles Update". IGN. http://wii.ign.com/articles/975/975204p1.html. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
- ^ a b c d Hatfield, Daemon. "Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles Preview". IGN. http://wii.ign.com/articles/962/962316p1.html. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
- ^ a b c d e f g Capcom Europe, RE The Darkside Chronicles Q&A
- ^ Resident Evil / The Darkside Chronicles: Talking Evil, The Presence of Horror
- ^ VideoGamer, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles Interview
- ^ a b c Resident Evil / The Darkside Chronicles: Talking Evil, The Importance of the Orchestra
- ^ Resident Evil / The Darkside Chronicles: Talking Evil, Veronica's Darkness
- ^ http://wii.ign.com/articles/104/1045110p1.html
- ^ http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/biohazardthedarksidechronicles/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review
- ^ http://acegamez.com/112009/featured/resident-evil-the-darkside-chronicles-wii-review.html
- ^ "Capcom responds to clergy criticism". MCV. 2009-11-24. http://www.mcvuk.com/news/36639/Capcom-responds-to-clergy-criticism. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
External links
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Resident Evil series |
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| Main series |
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| Survivor series |
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| Outbreak series |
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| Chronicles series |
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| Mobile and handheld games |
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| Novels |
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| Anderson films |
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| Capcom films |
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| Characters and creatures |
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| Soundtracks |
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| Universe |
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