Was I simply starved of arcade shooters when I was a kid? Or am I just longing for games with a better sense of interactivity? Maybe both. I have a bit of a soft spot for them, there’s something so timeless about standing in front of a screen just blasting away while everything around you falls apart in spectacular fashion. The thing is, I’ve never exactly been a diehard Resident Evil fan. Sure, I like the games well enough and I’ve played a decent chunk of them over the years. The Resident Evil 2 Remake was one of my first reviews. But I definitely couldn’t tell you the names of most of Umbrella’s bizarre experiments from memory. Well, outside of the T-Virus. That might make Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles a strange fit for me. That being said, there’s a particular weirdness to the series that’s super hard to ignore. The voice acting is typically awful. The dialogue usually swings wildly between horror and accidental comedy. Though somehow, that combination of cheesy nonsense and genuine tension works perfectly in an arcade shooter. Taking the survival horror atmosphere the series is known for and forcibly shoving it into a fast paced on-rails shooter actually feels like a pretty smart move.
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles was released by Capcom and Cavia in 2007. It’s an on-rails arcade style shooter packed with classic Resident Evil survival horror elements. I guess it’s probably more accurate to say it’s an on-rails survival horror game because the atmosphere and tension are about on par with those sharp reaction shooter moments. The Umbrella Chronicles is split into four chapters, with the first three revisiting key moments from the Resident Evil series. The first chapter retells Resident Evil Zero from a slightly different perspective, before moving into the classic Spencer Mansion from the original Resident Evil. It then jumps ahead to the Raccoon City outbreak from Resident Evil 3 and wraps up with a brand new story, Umbrella’s End. This is set shortly after Resident Evil: Code Veronica, just before Resident Evil 4 and puts the spotlight on the downfall of the Umbrella Corporation. It’s basically a greatest hits run through the Resident Evil story up to Resident Evil 4 but condensed into a short, sharp on-rails arcade shooter.
To nobody’s surprise, Capcom nails the on-rails format. It’s paced well, sitting in a bit of a sweet spot where it’s fast enough for that arcade energy, but slow enough so the Resident Evil atmosphere creeps right in. Each level ranks you on various categories like kills and critical hits, which scratches that arcade itch without plonking a dramatic points counter front and center. It’s a smart way to handle it. You can still get that hit of dopamine chasing a better rank, they just don’t cheapen the Resident Evil experience with a visible points counter. Ammo management at times can feel a little tight. The pistol has unlimited ammo, as is tradition, but it can become a little rough to use as the game ramps up. You really have to weigh up whether a tougher enemy is worth burning all your ammo on. I found myself defaulting back to the pistol and conserving ammo for certain enemies and boss fights most of the time. Keep the stronger tools for when it matters. The boss fights are actually pretty great. We’ve got classic arcade structure here but it’s unmistakably Resident Evil in execution. There’s an obvious weak point for each boss and the game doesn’t do much to hide it from you. Actually hitting it consistently is a different story. Find the weak point, hammer it and try not to die. Classic arcade.
It’s actually pretty surprising how much this feels like Resident Evil rather than an arcade shooter masquerading as a Resident Evil game. I feel like genuine care went into parts of this one. The locations and character models appear to be ripped straight out of the HD versions of the games so if you’ve spent time with them at all, you’ll recognise them instantly. There’s a sense here that Capcom tried to respect the source material rather than just slapping a familiar wallpaper on a generic shooter. If you’re a diehard fan, you’ll likely find the storytelling a little too breezy. Each chapter and sub-chapter moves through the events of the original games at a pretty good clip and you’re quickly fed snippets of different perspectives rather than anything deep or exhaustive. They cover off the main events and they do it pretty well, but it is kinda rammed down your throat before quickly moving on. Overall, it’s a relatively short game for everything it’s trying to cover. You’ll also undoubtedly notice the voice acting. It stinks. It’s as rough as ever with a truly awful showing across the board. Participation awards all round. Wesker in particular sounds like he’d be more at home summoning a butler than narrating the downfall of an evil pharmaceutical corporation. I guess that’s always been Resident Evil’s thing… but this is a different stratosphere of terrible.
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles honestly lands in a better place than I expected. I went into this one blind with a Wiimote shoved into a revolver attachment and came out of it genuinely surprised. I’m not exactly a lore tragic and honestly it was a legitimately fun way to experience a condensed hit of the series without committing to a full playthrough of each game. The arcade shooter format absolutely works and it’s clear that Capcom didn’t treat it as an excuse to simply phone it in. There’s some real Resident Evil DNA in this one and you can feel it in just about every chapter. Is it perfect? Not even close. The storytelling is pretty brisk and the voice acting is genuinely some of the worst I’ve ever heard. But somehow that still helps it on its way to be uniquely Resident Evil. The Umbrella Chronicles is worth the time, even if you only have a passing interest in the series. It runs short enough that it doesn’t outstay its welcome and it’s entertaining enough that you might even dive back in to chase a better rank.
Verdict:
The Umbrella Chronicles is a surprisingly faithful on-rails trip through Resident Evil history and works better than you might expect. Storytelling is brisk and the voice acting stinks, but there’s fun to be had here.
Deck Compatibility: 10/10
Overall Game Rating: 7/10 – Umbrella’s Finest Chronicles
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