Good, but not better than Umbrella Chronicles
Story
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The game is a re-telling of the events in Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil: Code Veronica. In RE2, Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield are trapped in Raccoon City, which is filled with monsters and they now have to work together to escape. Code Veronica takes place a few years after, where Claire's searching for her missing Brother Chris Redfield in Umbrella's HQ. She get's captured, and is sent to Rockford Island, where a viral outbreak occurs, turning people into zombies. She teams up with Steve Burnside to try and escape. But it's not all re-telling however. A completely new Scenario takes place in South America. You follow Leon & Jack Krauser, 2 years prior to RE4, where their searching for a ex-drug lord called Javier Hidalgo, however he infected the surrounding areas with the T-virus, unleashing zombies and monsters.
The story isn't particular good. The RE2 portion get's re-told well, dispite some slight changes for the worse, but the Code Veronica re-telling, isn't as good as it ignores important parts, and it becomes a bit stupid at the final boss fight for that part. The new part doesn't explain a whole lot either, so unlike Umbrella Chronicles, there's nothing important here that they'll miss, but it's still worth looking into. Just make sure you play the original RE2 and Code Veronica. Especially if your a newcomer, because the stories here doesn't explain a lot, so they'll generally be confused.
6.0
Gameplay
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Like it's predecessor, The Darkside Chronicles is straightly light-gun action, all you do is point, shoot, repeat. There's no freedom in the game, with the exception of a very few places, where your allowed to chose a route. The breakable environments return, with more items hidden in breakable objects, but free view of the camera has been removed, so it'll be harder to get some items. While it's good that the breakable environments return, the damages you do to them, appears to get restored automatically, for some weird reason, a few mins after you've shot them.
Unlike Umbrella Chronicles, which focused mainly on action, Darkside Chronicles focuses more on horror, by adding atmosphere and a shaky camera. It works for the RE2 & Code Veronica parts, as they actually successfully builds up a scary atmosphere, and while the characters may move slowly peeking around corners, the game isn't slow by any means, unlike Dead Space: Extraction. One issue though, is the shaky camera, which makes things seem more frantic and a lot harder to aim. It's really annoying.
After each mission, you're graded for your performance, as well as unlocking new levels and bonus content, like files, character models, and even titles (achievements), so there's plenty of replay value, after the 6-8 hour campaign is through. Another new addition is that you can now upload your scores to leader boards via Nintendo's Wi-fi connection. It brings some good replay value, but it's a shame that there aren't hidden levels included, just like Umbrella Chronicles.
7.5
Graphics
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The game's graphics actually looks good, with some nice character designs and good looking environments, but they are by no means perfect. The Frame rate drags down in a lot of places, and the lip syncing is almost constantly off. It's a pretty game sure, but it does have it's share of problems.
8.0
Sound
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The voice acting is typical Resident Evil, so you won't find any memorable dialogue or anything and while it could be worse, it could be a lot better. The dialogue isn't too good either, focusing more on one-liners for some characters, especially Steve Burnside.
6.5
Overall
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In someways, Darkside Chronicles is better than Umbrella Chronicles, but Darkside lacks most of the replay value, as well as a story that offers explanation, among other things. If your a Resident Evil fan, you'd probably like to play this, but if your not, then play the original RE games first.