IGN Hands-On with Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles + More Gameplay Footage

[Archelon]

IGN has posted its hands-on impressions of the E3 demo for Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, and they are, shall we say, less than stellar, to put it nicely. For all of the gory details, head on over to IGN.

IGN has also posted two off-screen gameplay videos of the E3 demo that show off some of the RE2 scenario.

Part 1

Part 2

Gametrailers has posted the two Capcom-released gameplay trailers for download that were previously posted via YouTube.

Streets of Raccoon City Gameplay Trailer

Welcome to Rockfort Island Gameplay Trailer

Finally, they have posted their own off-screen footage of the E3 demo, this time showing off the CODE: Veronica scenario.

Rockfort Island Co-Op Gameplay (Cam)

[kevstah2004]

Grenades ugh
That's one weird looking shotgun too.
Claire's sparkshot best be in.
lol at the guy who says this game is crap.

[Archelon]

That's one weird looking shotgun too.

It looks like a Franchi SPAS-12, the same shotgun that was in CODE: Veronica. And Dead Aim, if I recall correctly.

[kevstah2004]

It's really wide, looks like the PRL in re4 lol.
With the grenades I'm guessing that means no grenade launcher for Claire either

[CODE_umb87]

The ragdoll physics on the zombies look real nice.

[The Ekamp]

Why are all the zombies burping? =/

[TheSelfishGene]

similar to Umbrella Chronicles, but oddly… a little worse?

Oh dear... I didn't think that could be possible

[Bianca]

Nice to get a better quality version of the CODE: Veronica gameplay. Now that I was actually able to hear what Steve was saying, I couldn't help but smile, especially when Claire told him to stop fooling around. Glad to see Capcom is keeping that dynamic in Steve and Claire's relationship: Steve's inability to take the situation seriously, and Claire getting aggravated by his behavior. Perfect characterizations for them so far.

I'm also glad to see that dialogue, in general, seems slightly better than Umbrella Chronicles. While the characters seemed to talk about irrelevant, boring things in UC, it seems we'll get slightly more interesting conversations here.

[Jill's Boob]

Oh dear... I didn't think that could be possible

Seriously. This game looked nice from earlier screenshots, like it had some really fine graphics.

But seeing it in motion, and hearing the poor dialogue, makes me think this will suck worse than REUC.

I don't see how people are excited for this title any more...

[DarkMemories]

Seriously. This game looked nice from earlier screenshots, like it had some really fine graphics.

But seeing it in motion, and hearing the poor dialogue, makes me think this will suck worse than REUC.

I don't see how people are excited for this title any more...

Considering IGN are just about the only ones thinking negatively about the game, I'm hard-pressed to trust them. Everybody else seems to like it, erratic camera (which is the effing point) and all.

[Jill's Boob]

^Oh, shame on me. I guess I am supposed to only form an opinion on what the media tells me, instead of forming my own opinion on what I see with my own two eyes. Or on my experience with REUC.

[DarkMemories]

^Oh, shame on me. I guess I am supposed to only form an opinion on what the media tells me, instead of forming my own opinion on what I see with my own two eyes. Or on my experience with REUC.

Considering this post was made specifically in the IGN thread, I kind of just assumed. Still, you've heightened my curiosity; what exactly is your problem with this game? Nothing personal, just would like to know where you're coming from.

On topic: I think they're a little too high on Dead Space; I quite remember them (or at least one of the review teams) gushing over the original and claiming "RE5 could learn a few things" from it. RE5 wasn't a horror game, but Dead Space was no scarefest either.

Still, they have a few possibly legitimate complaints; most notably the framerate drop. I haven't seen it in personally in any of the videos I've watched, but if that's the case it is something that needs to be fixed for the final release.

[Jill's Boob]

I guess you're right about it being an IGN thread, but I missed that (d'oh) since I've seen numerous videos on DSC from various media sources (IGN, Gametrailers, etc).

The thing is, I played REUC and found it to be an average-at-best experience. I actually liked it more than most others, based on the majority of opinions I've read on this site being negative toward it.

Now, along comes DSC, and many of those same folks who denounced REUC are displaying excitement at this title. The initial media barrage looked promising for DSC, but now that even more media has been released, I believe it looks pretty bad.

I mean, it's basically the same thing as REUC, except "simplified" (dumbed down) control-wise, with graphics that aren't really any better than REUC (I think the coloring is less cartoony than REUC, perhaps due to it employing darker hues). My opinion on the graphics is based on seeing the game in motion now. Whereas in the still photos is looked pretty rocking (the CGI cut scenes still look solid), the game in motion looks very much like REUC.

The dialogue is just as cheesy, and there are remnants of poor gameplay (puking zombies).

On the positive side, it's nice to see some old settings in 3-D glory, but nostalgia aside, this looks to be another mediocre romp with the doldrums of on-rails. What else distinguishes this from REUC? Well, from what I've seen, only the fact that another person is onscreen, and that zombies have a few more "physics engine" animations. Otherwise the way they are killed in the videos so far seem as goofy as the death animations in REUC.

And yes, I know it is still too early to be passing judgment, since the title is a few months from release, but given that it is a "Winter release," I don't see there being a lot of time left for grand improvements.

It's notably damning that the IGN "hands on" preview (by a noted RE fan), the only written assessment I have seen from a media outlet, is pretty harsh on the gameplay. And gameplay is pretty much all this title has, since on rails games are not exactly powerful storytelling mediums.

Also seeing Kendo's demise handled the way it was, especially, leads me to believe that this game will do more damage to the nostalgia factor, than good.

If REUC is bashed as "butchering the old games for the casual gamer," just think about what is in store for RE2 and RECV.

Again, these are all my own opinions, but I think it is a fair assessment so far. And I say one more time, that I actually somewhat liked REUC.

[DarkMemories]

I guess you're right about it being an IGN thread, but I missed that (d'oh) since I've seen numerous videos on DSC from various media sources (IGN, Gametrailers, etc).

The thing is, I played REUC and found it to be an average-at-best experience. I actually liked it more than most others, based on the majority of opinions I've read on this site being negative toward it.

Now, along comes DSC, and many of those same folks who denounced REUC are displaying excitement at this title. The initial media barrage looked promising for DSC, but now that even more media has been released, I believe it looks pretty bad.

I mean, it's basically the same thing as REUC, except "simplified" (dumbed down) control-wise, with graphics that aren't really any better than REUC (I think the coloring is less cartoony than REUC, perhaps due to it employing darker hues). My opinion on the graphics is based on seeing the game in motion now. Whereas in the still photos is looked pretty rocking (the CGI cut scenes still look solid), the game in motion looks very much like REUC.

The dialogue is just as cheesy, and there are remnants of poor gameplay (puking zombies).

On the positive side, it's nice to see some old settings in 3-D glory, but nostalgia aside, this looks to be another mediocre romp with the doldrums of on-rails. What else distinguishes this from REUC? Well, from what I've seen, only the fact that another person is onscreen, and that zombies have a few more "physics engine" animations. Otherwise the way they are killed in the videos so far seem as goofy as the death animations in REUC.

And yes, I know it is still too early to be passing judgment, since the title is a few months from release, but given that it is a "Winter release," I don't see there being a lot of time left for grand improvements.

It's notably damning that the IGN "hands on" preview (by a noted RE fan), the only written assessment I have seen from a media outlet, is pretty harsh on the gameplay. And gameplay is pretty much all this title has, since on rails games are not exactly powerful storytelling mediums.

Also seeing Kendo's demise handled the way it was, especially, leads me to believe that this game will do more damage to the nostalgia factor, than good.

If REUC is bashed as "butchering the old games for the casual gamer," just think about what is in store for RE2 and RECV.

Again, these are all my own opinions, but I think it is a fair assessment so far. And I say one more time, that I actually somewhat liked REUC.

First of all, thank you for taking the time to write all that out; it helped loads.

Second, I'd just like to say that I really liked UC; moreso than 5, as a matter of fact. I took UC for what it was; a fast-paced trip through memory lane that took a few liberties (the entire RE3 section, no Barry) and managed to weave an entirely new storyline into the arc. It was fun to play and enjoyable to watch. It did what it set out to do quite well.

Third, on Darkside itself: honestly, the controls aren't that different; the nunchuk was used for little more than moving around the camera, correct? That pretty much had to be removed for this concept to work as well. The graphics are quite better than UC, really; they're not just ripped straight from Outbreak or altered REmake/Zero. The character models look great, especially.

Admittedly, I could live without puking zombies (at least preserve them only doing that on staircases), but the dialogue doesn't seem all that cheesy to me. IMO, it seems to be one thing they've actually nailed this time. If you're talking about Steve's in the CV gameplay, listen to his tone; he sounds notably nervous, like he's trying not to let it get to him. 10,000 times better than "I'm soooorry Claire." All the characters actually seem concerned about where they are and what's going on.

But as I said, other written previews seem to push it as a pretty decent game. I'll find the links and edit them into this post when I can.

EDIT: Here's a link (it's got other links inside if you read the comments:

http://planetresidentevil.gamespy.com/articles/news/1096/More-Darkside-Chronicles-E3-previews

[Jill's Boob]

Well, be that as it may, the nunchuk also provides another button for a context move, and I find that to be important, since the Wii-mote's already swamped with the directional pad being mapped to weapons. And though it may be on-rails, I find the ability to look around via a camera (however limited it was) to be somewhat important. Being completely at the mercy of the game controlled camera is something I find negative.

As for the graphics...sure, the character models look better, but the in game animations still look poor to me. Besides, the budget was better for this title due to the success of REUC.

My opinion on the dialogue is based on listening to Claire and Steve in the RECV level demo. It sounds as stiff and unnatural as some of the laughable banter between characters in REUC. And there's no excuse for dialogue written in 2009 to NOT sound better than dialogue written in 1999.

I personally hated the puking zombies in REUC - they were cheap & stupid.

If you find those other articles, I'll give them a read.

As for your thinking REUC is a better experience than 5...well, that is something I can 100% NOT agree with. Yikes.