A solid game for fans wanting to fill in some gaps in their Resident Evil lore.
The gameplay is pretty much what you would expect from an on-rails shooter. It plays out in first person perspective traveling along a set path with scripted enemy encounters. At the end of each mission your performance is scored giving ranks by totaling up different factors such as enemies killed, time taken, damage received and amount of head-shots dealt. This is a nightmare to actually receive a good rank however due to the camera. It continuously "shakes" and bobs from side to side to imitate Leon or Claire running to amp up the tension which makes accurate shooting a near impossibility at times. Couple this with only the very top of a zombies skull triggering head-shots as well as some cheap attacks by zombies that teleport behind an area you just cleared and you have an incredibly unbalanced ranking system.
During missions there is quite a bit of destructible scenery often hiding health sprays, ammo, grenades, gold as well as file archives adding to the Resident Evil universe. The gold can be spent between missions upgrading various weapons collected such as shotguns, machine guns, magnums and even rocket launchers. Each upgrade can increase one of each type of stat from ammo capacity, firepower, reload speed etc. Once unlocked or upgraded each weapon can then be used on any level including already finished areas allowing to ammo hunt or gold hunt on easier missions if the next is too tough.
The best way to get through a tough level though is in two player co-op, it's also the part at which the game is most fun as the computer AI partner when playing in single player is pretty much just for show and does nothing other wise. Playing co-op gives those moments where the other player is actually on screen being attacked and you have to save them a lot more meaning and makes finding files and getting ranks easier. There is no jump in and play available however in co-op though that is a minor complaint for the extra life it brings the game.
The presentation is somewhat of a mixed bag. Visually it actually looks worse than Umbrella Chronicles which was released two years before it. The textures are awful, especially those in the background with some really bland walls and grey areas. The characters also suffer with most of the models having a lot of jagged edges to them making the game a bit of an eye sore. There is some nice variety in scenery though including Raccoon city in ruins to desert villages. The audio fairs better though with some quality voice acting, many of which are returning cast members from previous titles like Leon and Krauser. The music is also suitably atmospheric raising the tempo when needed though none of it immensely stands out.
One of Darkside Chronicles best points though is how meaty with content it is for an on-rails shooter. The main scenarios take a good 10 hours to complete all of which have hidden files and ranks to go after should you choose. The game also has in game titles that can be unlocked for meeting certain requirements like killing 100 zombies or getting head-shots etc, so completionists will have plenty to keep them busy. The best unlockable extra by far is "tofu mode", you have to play it to believe it.
Darkside Chronicles is really a game for fans using a fairly gritty atmosphere taken from some of the more memorable sections of Resident Evil gaming history make it a great nostalgia trip. While still a fun game to play for new comers, more so in co-op, Darkside Chronicles unfortunately has surprisingly sub par visuals and a few issues that hurt the gameplay preventing it from being as good as it's predecessor.
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+ Gritty atmosphere.
+ Plenty of content with lots to unlock.
+ Great for newcomers to the series to catch up.
- Camera makes accurate shooting a fantasy.
- Visuals aren't that great.