Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection Review

Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection is a dream come true for rail-shooter fans, even more so if you are a Resident Evil junky. The HD Collection on the PS3 offers two full games with Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles which were previously only available on the Wii. Both Wii versions currently have a metacritic score of 75 and if you are a fan of either rail-shooters or Resident Evil I would say it’s safe to raise that score at least 5 points. As for this HD Collection don’t expect much in the way of new features, aside from the upgrade to a higher resolution and trophy support there really isn’t much to set this version apart from the Wii counterparts.

If you haven’t played either game in this collection then you need to know that the game absolutely requires the Move in order to get the most out of it. I would also recommend that you have a Move Navigation controller to pair it up with. After all, the games were originally developed with the Wii-Mote and Nunchuck in mind, so pairing the Playstation equivalent is a natural fit. Both games in this collection play almost exactly the same and the Move controller does a nice job of replicating the arcade light gun experience. I occasionally had calibration issues, but I think this is a general Move issue and not the game’s fault.

The actually gameplay is modeled after the on-rails light gun genre, but with some differences. Resident Evil Chronicles applies a slower more deliberate pace to the light gun genre. Ammo is limited and the zombies and baddies are a bit harder to take down than in other games in the genre. Enemies are susceptible to location damage, so it’s always a good idea to shoot the zombies in the legs to slow them down, then line up a head shot. Keeping with the Resident Evil tradition there are plenty of boss battles to shake things up. You also gain weapon upgrade points throughout the game and replaying each area for hidden collectibles will add to the replayability.

Story wise this collection offers a ton of insight into the main cannon of the Resident Evil universe. Each game follows several different characters and chapters in the Resident Evil series, including parts from Resident Evil 0, 1,  2, 3, and Code Veronica. The collection also has several chapters exclusive to the Chronicles series that show off what side characters were doing during the main games, as well as completely new chapters for characters like Leon and Krauser.

Graphically the Wii versions of the games really pushwhat the Wii is capable of, so it’s no surprise to me that the upgraded PS3 versions also look good. Granted they don’t look as good as a game built from the ground up for the PS3, but for the most part you won’t be staring at out of date textures and bland environments.

If you’re a fan of Resident Evil or rail-shooters and you own a Move controller then Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection is a no brainer. For just $30 you can download both games via the PSN. If you want to get just one of the games in the collection then there is that option as well, but I really recommend both. The Move controller is well suited to light-gun style gameplay and that holds true here. Upgraded graphics, trophy support, a ton of Resident Evil story, and a reason to dust off your Move controller all for the price of just $30, sign me up.