The Umbrella mansion and Raccoon City: two of gaming’s most revisited locales. If you’re a horror game fan you probably know both areas well, and chances are even if you’re aren’t the most devout Resident Evil follower it’s still likely they feel a little familiar.
So I’m not really sure who Resident Evil Chronicles HD is supposed to be marketed towards. (Between the select few unaware of the series’ history and whoever didn’t play these when they were Wii exclusives, I’d guess the latter.) Does it matter? Not really. Light-gun games are usually good fun, and Chronicles HD gives you two complete titles, packed with RE goodness.
Basically between Umbrella Chronicles and Darkside Chronicles, you get every major series entry up until Resident Evil 4 streamlined and repurposed as a co-op arcade shooter. The Move controls do a great job selling this package (though the high-def graphics don’t hurt), although it’s really the extra content that makes Chronicles HD fun fan service. Wesker and Rebecca Chambers both have unlockable missions in Umbrella, for example, while Leon investigates a case in South America with RE4’s Krauser between recounting the events of RE2 and Code: Veronica.
To up the replay, both games have leveling systems in place to upgrade your weapons, and Darkside adds a great cinematic shaky-cam that makes the game more challenging (and interesting) than your average shooting gallery. Darkside actually looks significantly better than the older, more straightforward Umbrella, but both games have received a nice facelift.
For as sparse on content as light gun games can be, Capcom should be commended for the extras included here, especially for the price. Chronicles HD is hardly revolutionary—if you had your choice of this or RE4 HD I would pick 4 every time—but if you want to dust off your Move, this is good zombie blasting fun.
