Resident Evilis going pretty strong at the moment, but one aspect that’s a bit frustrating as a fan is its canon. TheResident Evilremakes, pastRE1, frankly wrecked the canon and contradicted many elements of games likeRE0or theOutbreaktitles. When the consensus of theREcommunity is that the actual events use aspects from both the original and remake, one knows Capcom messed up here.
On the other hand, projects like thestandoutResident Evilanimated movieshave done a great job expanding the story and filling in the gaps, but another one isthe twoResident Evilrail shooters:The Umbrella ChroniclesandDarkside Chronicles. These two games have sadly been forgotten, but they’re must-play titles in terms of understanding the full lore, and they’re solid rail shooters in their own right.
Umbrella Chronicles Is A Must-Play Resident Evil Game
The Origins Of Wesker
On the surface,Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chroniclesseems like aHouse of the Dead-style retelling ofRE0,RE1, andRE3, but that’s not the whole story. The actual meat of the game is the side stories told within the scenarios and the new Umbrella’s End campaign, which is one of the most important parts ofResident Evillore.This is Wesker’s game, as he’s the narrator and the primary focus, showing his origins and how he becomes this monstrous villain he ends up becoming inRE5.
Umbrella Chroniclesis one of the best rail shooters on the Wii
It’s a requiredResident Evilgame for that alone, but there are also cool bits, like showing how Ada Wong escaped the events ofRE2.Umbrella Chroniclesdoes receive some criticism for how it handles the classic game retellings, but keep in mind that those retellings aren’t canon. The sidestories and Umbrella’s End, however, are canon, andthey are vital to the overall story ofResident Evil. It’s a shame more haven’t played this title because it would help when discussingResident Evil’sstory with people who’ve only played the remakes.
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chroniclesis a great rail shooter on its own merits, with a ton of weapons to use and enemies coming around at every corner, like the sea of Crimson Heads in Beginnings 2. Like many great rail shooters,Umbrella Chroniclesprimarily focuses on headshots to score and rank high, rewarding accurate shooting, and it feels great. The soundtrack is also stellar, with many great tracks like Wesker’s theme.Umbrella Chroniclesis one of the best rail shooters on the Wii, and it was followed by a sequel two years later.
Darkside Chronicles Is A Solid Sequel
The Origins Of Krauser Explained
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chroniclesremains a solid rail shooter, with an important part ofRE’sstory, but it isn’t as good as its predecessor. There are no sidestories this time, only three scenarios. A retelling ofRE2, a retelling ofCode: Veronica, and a new scenario showing the backstory of Leon and Krauser’s relationship.This new scenario highlightsKrauser’s turn to the dark side, hence the title. The graphics are significantly improved, and the cutscenes look much better.
Capcom nailed the cutscenes here, no doubt about it, and while both titles remain forgotten, many remember the iconic scene with Claire Redfield and Steve in the computer room, with one clip of it gaining almost 8 million views on YouTube.Darkside Chronicleshas the look but not the same touch as last time. For some reason,Capcom thought it was a good ideato have shaky cam in this game, replicating a movie likeCloverfield. For a rail shooter that requires precise aiming, this is distracting and quite annoying at times.
While the new Krauser scenario is great, thelast two levels are exactly the same as the previous two, but with more inner narration from the character. It’s pretty lame despite the cool new ending. At least there’s a Tofu secret level, which is nice.Darkside Chroniclesoffers another key piece ofRElore, but it’s not as necessary to play asUmbrella Chronicles. However, they’re both worth playing.
These Resident Evil Games Need A Remaster
Beginners Must Know These Vital Story Details
The newestResident Eviltitles are some of thebest horror games to play right now, butbeginners jumping into these games will have a rough time understanding the full story, especially with the remake changes. TheResident Evil 2remake contradictsRE0, with the Umbrella Lab being different. EvenResident Evil 3didn’t live up to its potential, removing Barry Burton, andRE4changed Wesker’s role completely, being a present character instead of someone working in the background.
These two rail shooters, remastered for new consoles, would help beginners understand the full story because it’s frankly more confusing now than ever. The origins of Wesker and Krauser, Ada escaping, and Umbrella’s actual fall putso many puzzle pieces together in theREstory. Only true fans know this information because not many people have played these games. To be fair, there might be some difficulty in remastering these titles for current consoles, but it can be done.
PS5 still supports the PlayStation Move for true light gun shooting, and Nintendo Switch 2 has its gyro controls and mouse functionality. Rail shooters play great with a mouse, and theseResident Evilgames remastered on Nintendo Switch 2 would be a blast because of it. Fans of the series should defintiely consider checking them out, and hopefully remasters of them will come out soon.
