Maintains the spirit of the series and has tons of extras that keep you wanting to play.
I just spent all day playing this game. Let's take a second to reflect on that statement. I sat down in front of my Wii at about 10:00 AM, took a break for lunch around 1:00 PM, and finished up at about 5:30 PM. My save game timer is clocking in at just under seven hours. I haven't replayed a single level and there are even two more bonus missions I haven't unlocked yet. This is longer than most other action games and completely unheard of from a rail shooter. Nearly every other game like this is an arcade port that can be completed in under an hour. In most console games, an experienced player will be starting on medium difficulty, but most people will want to start this one on easy. This gives the game a full three levels of difficulty to master since you won't be skipping one, providing you with that much more play time. Replay value is extended by a rating system for each level that gives you a letter grade based on your performance. Add in the insane amount of hidden items and there is plenty to keep you entertained for a long time to come. You can bring a friend along for some co-op action, but for some reason that isn't an option for the bonus missions until you complete every one of the main missions and the last two bonus missions in single player.
The game plays just as you would expect. The character moves around the level for you. You do have limited control over where the camera looks, but even that is almost unnecessary. The bulk of your job is aiming and shooting at the various enemies. There were a couple of things about the game that weren't quite perfect. The targeting reticule is so large that it made it hard to see exactly where I was aiming at an enemy in the distance. The automatic motion of the camera isn't always convenient, either. It is always moving and sometimes can make it difficult to target. Occasionally, it will decide to turn away from a group of enemies that you are shooting at to look at a random door or wall. Sometimes you will come across an enemy that will hit you before you have a chance to react unless you have played the level a few times and know they are there. Also, the critical hit zone on the zombies' forehead is a little small and is more difficult to hit than I think it needs to be. Basically, if it is not dead center, it doesn't count as a critical. The on screen target moves a split second slower than other Wii games, which can be annoying when trying to take down a large group of enemies quickly or aiming for several critical hits in a row, though many people may not even notice. These things did bug me a little, but didn't detract from the experience too much. The rest of the game has a lot to like. There are a ton of weapons to use, including several different shotguns, machine guns, grenade launchers and the ever trusty unlimited ammo pistol. Weapons are hidden in each level (some are concealed better than others) and ammo is carried over from one mission to the next. If you horde your ammo until the end of the game, the final levels can be a little easy, but that didn't make them any less enjoyable. All of the bosses are fun, challenging, and memorable. The Nemesis battle is one of the game's greatest moments. It will be a long time before I get the sound out of my mind of him roaring "STARS!" while stalking me through the level. For those of you that don't know, STARS is the name of several of the characters' squad. It stand for Special Tactics And Rescue Service.
The story covers most of the Resident Evil timeline, although it leaves out Resident Evil 2 and 4. I understand leaving out 4 because the full version of that game is available on the Wii. Unless there are plans to also port 2 to this console, I don't really know why they skipped it. Bonus missions give you insight into what other character were doing during the original storyline. Not only is this a fun way for seasoned RE vets to reminisce over the highlights of the series, it is also a great way for newcomers to get caught up on the history. Many of the rooms are recognizable from the original versions and the cutscenes, while graphically improved, remain basically the same. Anyone who played the first Resident Evil will recall the cutscene that introduces the first zombie. It was awesome to see that scene so faithfully recreated. The main story arc just covers the basics of what happened in each game, but files hidden around each level fill in the gaps. If you manage to find all of the files, you will know just about anything you ever wanted to know about the series.
The graphics are quite impressive for the Wii. They are better than some Xbox 360 or PS3 titles I have seen recently (Soldier of Fortune: Payback comes to mind). The levels look great and really keep the atmosphere creepy and foreboding. The game doesn't really contain any scenes or events that make you jump. Personally, I preferred this, but horror fans may feel like the game wasn't truly scary without these moments. Enemies react realistically to bullet hits. Shots to the face will fling their head back. Hits to the shoulder or arms will push that side of their body back. Zombies can be knocked to the ground and slowed down by getting shot in the legs. They flinch at shots to the chest, though these shots are basically absorbed, but that is exactly what to expect from an undead enemy. No matter where you hit them, their reactions are impressive. There is a somewhat low number of character models for the zombies. So much so that in a large group, you will see several of the same ones on screen at once. Aside from zombies, there are other monsters that attack you to help change things up, but not a large number. Even those enemies may start to seem repetitive.
Aside from the mentioned problems, this game does everything right to be a great rail shooter. Long time fans will enjoy the trip down memory lane and newcomers will appreciate the background story. This is the type of game that continues giving you goals to aim for even after every mission is completed. As long as the game keeps throwing zombies at me, I am perfectly content to keep dropping them.