Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Biohazard: The Darkside Chronicles in Japan, バイオハザード / ダークサイド・クロニクルズ) is a sequel to Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and is currently being developed by Cavio. The game was released November 17th in the US, and will be released on November 27th in Europe and January 14th in Japan. European consumers may choose to purchase a bundle pack featuring the wii-zapper along with the game, and Japanese players can choose to buy a collectors pack including booklet, soundtrack and a dvd featuring promos.

Gameplay
Producer Masachika Kawata at Capcom and producer Kentaro Noguchi at Cavia explained that replay ability is one of the focuses. However, they're also aiming to make the game more accessible as far as difficulty is concerned. Expert shooters needn't worry, though, as plans call for the dynamic difficulty system of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 to be implemented here, meaning better players will end up with a tougher experience. The overall game play is largely unchanged, with the only true changes being the control of the camera view and the weapon sharing. Though Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica, featured the characters traversing solo their stories have been combined to allow co-op and thus allowing new interactions between characters.

The two producers stressed that the feel will be like that of a new game. One point of note is the "feeling of being there" that the game promises to offer, thanks to skilled camera work, some nice visual effects, and the fact that you can see your partner character on the screen in front of you. The game will also make use of the Havok engine for realistic physics.

Having your partner character visible on screen will be a key to playing the game. However, you will only see the partner character on the screen during single player mode. Two player mode will leave nothing between you and your undead foes except in predetermined scenes in which one of the players will step out to interact with NPC's or become attacked by zombies, in these cases the player whose character had emerged will no longer have the ability to shoot.

Collectibles are once again featured, hidden in plain view or behind destructible objects. These include various archive files and gold which can be used to customize your weapons.

In addition the main game several other modes and features are included such as 'The Tofu Survivor' which has the player battling off hordes of giant blocks of Tofu, a model viewer and alternate costumes for each character.

Plot
Unlike The Umbrella Chronicles, the main focus will not be the Umbrella Corporation, but instead the 'darkside' of a person and what causes a person to do evil things. The story begins in 2002, in a scenario titled 'Operation: Javier' and revolves around Leon Kennedy and Jack Krauser on their first mission together to stop a ruthless drug lord named Javier Hidalgo, who has taken control of the jungle region, called Amparo, through unecessarily cruel means. However, upon their arrival they find that an outbreak of the Umbrella made virus has leaked through out the town causing it to become filled with dangerous B.O.W's. After encountering a young girl named Manuella, Leon finds himself recounting the events of Raccoon City, and Rockfort Island to educate his partner on B.O.W's and the Veronica virus Manuella has become infected with.

Memory of a Lost City, features Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, in 1998 recounting their first fight against the undead within Raccoon City. Along the way, the two team up with Ada Wong and Sherry Birkin as they attempt to escape the city. Things take a turn for the worse when Sherry is infected by her fathers G-virus forcing the two to seek out an antidote while attempting to shake off Mr.X and the mutated William Birkin, Sherry's father, along the way. After narrowly escaping through an underground subway system, Claire heads to Paris to seek out her brother while Leon and Sherry are taken in by Government officials, who blackmail Leon into working for them.

Game of Oblivion, takes place several months after the Raccoon City incident with Claire continuing her search for her brother, Chris Redfield. She is captured and held captive on Rockfort Island when another outbreak of the T-virus occurs. Along with Steve Burnside, a fellow prisoner, Claire must escape the twisted mind of Alfred Ashford, long enough for Chris to come to their rescue. When Alfred's sister Alexia, is awakened from her 15 year slumber, she attacks Steve and Claire just as Chris arrives to save them. Steve is infected by the Veronica Virus and though he is able to supress it he is killed by Alexia. After putting an end to Alexia, Chris and Claire return to Steve only to discover that Wesker had abducted his body.

With Krauser caught up on the events, Leon reveals he is on special orders from the President to wipe the virus from the face of the Earth. Krauser agrees to help Leon in his fight, secretly harboring a deep jealousy over Leon's special treatment which escalates and causes his mind to become further infatuated with fighting and in turn, to the 'darkside' itself.

Characters
Leon S. Kennedy and Jack Krauser are the protagonists of the main story, which is set in 2002 during which Umbrella is dealing with severe reprocutions from the efforts of the Anti-Umbrella movement. They are joined by Manuela Hidalgo, the daughter of Javier Hidalgo, whom they are on a mission to take down due to his usage of the Umbrella developed Veronica virus.

During the recounted story of the Raccoon City incident; Claire Redfield appears as a main character, with Ada Wong, Annette Birkin and her daughter,Sherry appearing as key characters to the overall plot. William Birkin and Mr. X take on the primary antoganist role stalking the leads, though Mr.X's goal is not as clear as it was in the original. All NPC's from Resident Evil 2 appear in some form, though in most cases in a condensed form than originally protrayed.

During Leon's recollection of Claire's experiences on Rockfort Island, and later, Antartica, Claire once again serves as a main character with Steve Burnside filling in as her partner and Chris Redfield replacing him in the final chapter. The Ashford twins, Alexia and Alfred, serve as primary antagonists and serve as a twisted foil to the sibling relationship of Chris and Claire. Wesker also appears but his role is quite minimal.

Weapons
Though a complete list of playable weapons has not been released, the trailers confirm that both the VP-70 and the Ingram M-11, two of Resident Evil 2's signature weapons, will be making a reappearance. Steve's signature Gold Lugers have also been confirmed.

There has also been some changes to their arsenal as Claire can be seen using a Samurai Edge, though how she obtained this weapon has not yet been revealed. Canonically, Claire has never used one of these weapons. Screenshots also show Leon using a Samurai Edge in addition to the VP-70.Also in TGS '09 trailer,a SPAS-12 shotgun can clearly be seen.

Videos

 * Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles E3 2009 Trailer


 * Captivate


 * Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles TGS 2009 Trailer

Interactive Trailer/Demo
On the 12th of November, reputed trailer website, GameTrailers, posted the following video. This is different to the above trailers, in that it utilizes Flash elements to manipulate the entire screen, and some parts are interactive. Think of this as a demo.

Trivia

 * Just like the Umbrella Chronicles, some of the plot and locations have been changed to fit the rail shooter format.