Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

Sure, it lacks the depth of something like Dead Space: Extraction, but if you're just looking to blast zombies with old friends, it's hard to do much better... on the Wii.

The Darkside Chronicles is a mindless blast-a-thon. It lacks the sophistication of the recent Dead Space: Extraction, but it more than makes up for it by bewitching you with nostalgia. It's just great fun.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles is a solid sequel to The Umbrella Chronicles, but it's not really much of an improvement

While the plot is condensed to the point where those unfamiliar with the series mythos can easily catch on, a lot of the details are lost—kind of like turning a 500-page Harry Potter book into a 2-hour movie.

Darkside Chronicles is a vast improvement on its predecessor and offers the dedicated RE follower an archive of unlockable memories, reading materials and fan service in an especially well-presented package.

Fun fan fodder, but hardly revelatory. [Christmas 2009, p.102]

The Darkside Chronicles, after all, is a product competent in its execution and an ode to the fans, but their mechanical clearly are nothing more than a refinement of its predecessor.

Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles isn’t the best light-gun shooter on Wii, and generally speaking, it feels like Capcom skimped a bit with respect to extras. Still, folks are getting quite a hefty story, and the pacing of most chapters makes for a fun, casual ride down memory lane.

Unfortunately this is not a new chapter in the main series, but it’s still a good effort for a on-rails shooter. It looks good, has lots of hidden items and the main story will last you close to nine hours. The Darkside Chronicles also has a fantastic multiplayer. Still, you can’t escape the feeling that it could’ve been so much more if it wasn’t on-rails.

As expected, the originals are better and more authentic Resident Evil experiences, and you'll get more enjoyment-- though not multiplayer-- out of them. Darkside Chronicles, on the other hand, is best for someone who absolutely loves light-gun games and has a buddy along for the ride.

Darkside Chronicles isn't a bad game; it's just a lazy one.

If you absolutely loved Umbrella Chronicles and know the Resident Evil series by heart, you might extract enough fun out of Darkside to make it worth your while. but otherwise, you can safely pass this one by.

The only thing scary about this light-gun game is the dreadful shaky camera.

For all its graphical weaknesses, RE:DC successfully accomplishes the most important thing: the gameplay itself.

If you don't come into Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles with an innate appreciation for the fiction of Resident Evil, all it really has to offer is a pretty by-the-numbers guided shooter experience. This doesn't make it a bad game, just an unambitious one, and one that has a hard limit on the audience for whom it will hold any significant appeal.

A fun nostalgia ride for fans but not a patch on the similarly pitched Dead Space: Extraction.