Resident Evil

Ready to guide Claire and Leon on another sojourn through zombie-infested Raccoon City? Then Capcom's got just the game for you—provided you own a Nintendo Wii.

The company showed off footage of its new Wii-exclusive, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles—an on-rails shooter sequel to Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. The game promises to take players back to some of Raccoon City's classic locales and allow them to shoot an endless parade of rotting zombies and other assorted beasties while doing it.

Here's the latest trailer for the game.

My wife bought me the PS3 collector's edition of Resident Evil 5 on the day it came out. She knew that I hadn't yet decided which system I wanted the game for, and that I might end up trading it out, but she figured it would be a nice surprise to bring it home on release day anyway. (And yes, it was a really great surprise.)

The crux of my indecision came down to deciding between better graphics on a crappier system or slightly worse graphics on a more reliable system. My wife warned me that I might regret getting the 360 version if the system died. But my 360 (my second console after my first died over a year ago) had been pretty stable for a while without any problems.

An outdated roller coaster that's still a good ride

HIGH Co-op is a great addition to the Resident Evil formula.

LOW The controls are way out of touch with current standards.

WTF A half-naked tribesman drops grenade rounds? Where were they hidden, exactly?

Is the game industry in a state of arrested development? We present our take on Heather Chaplin's incendiary GDC presentation. Plus, the proliferation of co-op, the viability of OnLive, and lessons learned from Leisure Suit Larry. With Chi Kong Lui, Mike Bracken, David Stone, and Tim Spaeth.

Download: Right click here and select "Save Target As..."
Subscribe: iTunes | RSS

Topic and Game References:

• Final Fantasy 11
• OnLive
• Resident Evil 5
• Heather Chaplin on "Burned by Friendly Fire: Game Critics Rant" GDC 2009 Panel
• Fable
• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
• Madworld
• Gears of War 2
• Leisure Suit Larry

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

Just found this in my inbox, courtesy of the good folks at Capcom.

We are happy to announce that the wait for new Resident Evil 5 content is almost over!  The new online multiplayer Versus mode will be available to download on Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, April 7, 2009.  For 400 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE, or $4.99 on the PlayStation Network, Resident Evil fans will be able to go up against each other for the most terrifying Versus mode to date.

Versus allows up to four players to match wits in online battles across two very different game types. Slayer’s Rule is a point-based game that challenges players to kill Majinis. In Survivor’s Rule, players hunt the most dangerous game, each other! Players can begin the hunt as Chris, Sheva or other secret characters, and choose from either one-on-one or two-versus-two team matches for either of the two gameplay styles.

Now, let the debate as to whether or not we should have to pay $5 for this content commence…

There aren't many video games that do a good job of bringing in significant others, at least not of the kinds of games that I like to play. Sure, there are the standbys like Guitar Hero and its ilk. Super Mario Galaxy did sort of okay in this respect, albeit in a limited fashion. Of course, there are many Wii games that appeal to spouses, such as Wii Sports, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, and countless other lesser titles. But those aren't the kinds of games I usually want to play. So what's a gaming-oriented guy to do? Enter Resident Evil 5.

I forgot to post this yesterday, but just in case you missed it, here's the trailer for Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.

This Wii-exclusive is a sequel to the on-rails shooter Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and promises to take players back to some classic Resident Evil environments and let them shoot hordes of flesh eating zombies while doing it.

Expect to waggle your Wii-mote at The Darkside Chronicles later this year.

Thumbs up.

Thumbs down.