Game Review: "Umbrella Chronicles" strong addition to Resident Evil series

Umbrella Chronicles, for the Wii, is what is called a "Rail Shooter," in that you point and fire shots at enemies while your character moves automatically. This isn't the first rail shooter in the Resident Evil series, but it is the first I've played, and, remarkably, the first I've liked. You get to play through scenarios set during three of the previous games in the series, as well as one entirely new scenario, expanding on the Resident Evil setting as a whole.

Graphics: 8/10
Nice, they could be a tad bit better in some places. Namely, you can occasionally see an enemy spawn if you have a quick enough eye, but otherwise top notch and worthy of praise as you gun down the various zombies and mutant monsters of the series.

Sound: 9/10
The sounds all fit perfectly, from the various musics to the groans and roars of the monsters, as well as the voices and gun sounds produced by your characters. These are all very well done, and everything seems to fit.

Gameplay: 10/10
The game plays like a well oiled machine. Everything is well balanced, responsive, and pretty much intuitive, with an excellent pace, and it will keep you on your toes, ready to blast at a hair trigger notice. This is one of the few games that I've played that I would be willing to reccomend on gameplay alone. Pretty quickly you'll be aiming for enemies' weak points and fighting your way through hordes of zombies and monsters.

Plot: 9/10
For a Resident Evil fan, this game is pure fanservice, going down smooth and easy, the various files, items, and cutscenes expanding and adding details to the game that are just plain nice to have in a game type that isn't known for having good plots.

For a person not familiar with Resident Evil, the cutscenes and various files also fill out and give a pretty good primer on what exactly was going on in each game, and one could certainly do far worse for an introduction to the series' plot than this game.

Overall: 36/40
Overall, this is a great game, and well worth considering for buying or renting if you happen to have a Wii. If you don't have a Wii, it adds to the list of games to check out if you ever get one.