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 a large variety of archieve 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.

Operation: Javier 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 Manuela, 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 Manuela has become infected with. 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. The three journey to Javier's mansion where the learn the truth of his actions, he has been kidnapping girls to harvest their organs in an attempt to keep Manuela from succumbing to the virus. Ironically, Javier himself becomes taken over by the Veronica virus in an attempt to stop the Americans, who have a difficult time taking down the beast made worse by Krauser's arm being severely injured in a previous fight. Manuela in an attempt to help her friends uses the ability of the Veronica virus to turn her blood into fire and projects it toward her father. Though they defeat him and escape, Krauser becomes fascinated with Manuela's power and opts to seek out Albert Wesker to fix his arm and give him more power.

Memory of a Lost City, features Claire Redfield, and Leon S. Kennedy in 1998 recounting their first fight against the undead within Raccoon City. They make it to the police station and meet the corrupt Police Chief, Brian Irons. Along the way, the two team up with Ada Wong and Sherry Birkin as they attempt to escape the city. Ada is mysterious and Claire feels she is hiding something, yet Leon cannot see this because he has become infactuated with her. Things take a turn for the worse when Sherry is implanted with her father's G embryo. Sherry's mother, Annette Birkin informs the two of what has happened with the G-Virus. After she is mortally wounded by the mutated William Birkin, she tells Leon and Claire where to find an antidote for Sherry. The two then set out to find the vaccine for Sherry while attempting to shake off Mr.X and Birkin along the way. After finding the vaccine and narrowly escaping through an underground subway system with Sherry, 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, who puts them through a series of dangerous tests.Claire also tries to figure out the mystery of Alexia Ashford, who roams the island singing, even though she has been thought to be dead for the last 15 years. After a confrontation at the mansion, Claire and Steve realize that the singing Alexia was actually Alfred dressed as his sister, as he could not bear the fact that she was gone. After working their way around the island, the two find a plane and take off for freedom. They beleive all is well until they are re-routed to Antartica when Alfred hijacks the auto pilot on their plane from his jet. After another fight with Alfred, as well as Nosferatu(who is actually Alfred and Alexia's father Alexander Ashford), the two make it out to a snow mobile. When Alfred's sister Alexia is awakened from her 15 year slumber, she attacks Steve and Claire just as Chris arrives to save them. Alexia also kills her brother Alfred, as he was not worthy enough. Steve is infected by the Veronica Virus and though he is able to suppress it, he is killed by Alexia. Chris and Claire then confront and finally put an end to Alexia, after she transforms to a Queen Ant Monster. Chris and Claire then return to Steve only to discover that Wesker has taken his body. After a brief encounter with Wesker, the two take off in the jet, Claire looks down to see Wesker staring back at her in the flames of the exploding facility.

Characters
Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield are the main protagonists of the game, which is set between 1998 and 2002. Claire and Leon star in Memories of a Lost City (the Resident Evil 2 scenario) together, and are joined by supporting characters such as Ada Wong, the Birkin family, Chief Brian Irons, Marvin Branagh, Ben Bertolucci, Robert Kendo, and HUNK.

During Game of Oblivion (the Code: Veronica scenario), Steve Burnside fills in as Claire's partner, with Chris Redfield replacing him during the final chapter. The Ashford twins, Alexia and Alfred, serve as the primary antagonists and are a twisted foil to the sibling relationship of Chris and Claire. Albert Wesker also appears, although his role is quite minimal. In addition, Alexander Ashford appears via a video recording in a speaking role (he was not shown prior to his mutation in the original). Rodrigo Juan Raval does not make an appearance.

During Operation: Javier, Leon partners up with Jack Krauser to track down South American drug lord Javier Hidalgo. While investigating a village, the pair meets Manuela, a young girl who appears to have escaped from Javier's mansion. During two bonus chapters, the player is able to hear Krauser's thoughts. At the end of these chapters, Wesker makes an additional appearance.

Weapons
The names of the featured weapons are more basic than those featured in The Umbrella Chronicles.


 * Leon: VP-70
 * Claire: Browning HP
 * Chris: Glock 17
 * Steve: Luger
 * Krauser: H&K MK.23
 * Ada: Springfield XD
 * Shotgun
 * Sub Machine Gun
 * Magnum
 * Rocket Launcher
 * Grenades
 * Bowgun
 * Linear Launcher
 * Grenade Launcher

Unlockables
In addition to loads of archive items that can be found scattered around the various chapters, bonus content is also featured.


 * Operation: Javier Chapters 6 and 7 - If the player defeats the Javier boss in a short amount of time (estimated to be approximately 10 minutes) and receives the good ending, the message "the door to the darkside has been opened" will be displayed. This allows the player to play Operation: Javier chapters 4 and 5 while hearing Krauser's thoughts. Note: These additional chapters can only be played in single-player.
 * Tofu Mode - After the player finishes the game (on any difficulty), Tofu mode becomes available. The player takes the role of Claire Redfield as she travels from the R.P.D through the streets of Raccoon City. Instead of fighting zombies, players will shoot at zombie tofu blocks. This is a homage to the Tofu mini-game from Resident Evil 2.
 * Linear Launcher - Complete every chapter (excluding the bonus Operation: Javier chapters) on Hard mode to unlock the Linear Launcher for your arsenal.
 * Very Hard mode - Complete every chapter (excluding the bonus Operation: Javier chapters) on Hard mode to unlock Very Hard mode.
 * Very Easy mode - Die 10 times on easy during a stage to unlock Very Easy mode.

Videos

 * Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles E3 2009 Trailer


 * Captivate


 * Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles TGS 2009 Trailer

Interactive Trailer/Demo
On November 12, 2009, reputed trailer website GameTrailers posted the following video. This is different from the trailers listed above in that it utilizes Flash elements to manipulate the entire screen, as well as adding brief interactive portions.

Trivia

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