3/5 ★ – MechaniChris's review of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.

I unwisely decided to play this after Darkside Chronicles because the later missions TECHNICALLY happen later in the timeline, but this so clearly should be played first, both because the other one links better to RE4, and because the quality of the game is leaps and bounds better. This is still fine. I do LIKE the rail shooter aspect, and it was nice that this one didn’t have shaky cam throughout, but on top of being a pretty ugly looking game, the difficulty ramp is insanely higher. Unless you’re playing with some kind of aim assist, I don’t understand how anyone using a wiimote could possibly hit the necessary critical hit points required to get an A or S rating on most of these levels. And it’s required to unlock the bonus levels!!! That’s a terrible mechanic! It took me 4 hours to finally sufficiently complete the last level I needed to unlock the others. It stopped being fun and just become a PROJECT I had to complete. Again, it’s hard to praise this when Darkside Chronicles elevates it in every way. It even retreads the better games in the series. When running through it without worrying about collectibles, it’s a pretty fun experience, but beating this game is kind of a chore.