Resident Evil re-visited...again....
Basically RE: The Umbrella Chronicles re-tells RE0, RE1, and RE3 from a first person rails shooter stand point. Many of the locations will look close to their prior game relatives. The stories of each of the games have been "dumbed" down into 3 scenes for each game. Plus another 3 scenes are revealed at the end once you complete the RE3 cycle. As you progress through the game other levels will open up giving you an inside look as to what certain minor characters were doing at the time major events were happening. Also most of the time you will have a choice of what character you want to use and what your primary weapons are. You can also level up the effectivness of the weapons as the game progresses. You will always have your base level pistol which will become increasingly less effective as the game goes on.
As far as visuals are concerned RE:UC doesn't slack. Although it's not as pretty as RE4. It certainly is better the all the prior installments. The voice acting has been re-done, and most (accept for Wesker) are better. The music is what really kills the atmosphere. The music is really arcade like. While this is an arcade like game, it takes away from the creepiness of the game. The sounds aren't unusual, lots of moans and groans from the attackers.
The controls are pretty slick and are well suited to the Wiimote. You can tell that Capcom put a lot of thought into them. Granted it's nothing more then a point and shoot, but it flows well. If you hold down the A button and swing about you knife can be used to dislodge beings from your screen. The only complant I have is throwing gernades can be problematic. If you actually get the timing right and swing the Wiimote it'll probably go where you don't want it. Otherwise shooting Zombies hasn't been funner. The game keeps it's pace by keeping you creeping along rather then a blazing speed. Probably much like the first time you played the original games. You can mess with the control scheme a little here and there to make it to your liking. The best way to describe the game is intense.
There isn't too much replay value to the game. You can unlock little things here and there. It's almost like the readers digest verision of all three RE games. There is little added to they mythos of RE. It's too bad that RE2 wasn't mixed in as well. All the major playable characters are there. Rebecca, Jill, Chris, and so on are all playable. The only thing that sets them apart is their counter attack animation when a zombie attempts to bite you. Wesker is there as well and has his own levels. The game play is intense and expect the difficulty to climb as the game goes on. It helps that all the zombies pop up in the same places so you come to expect them. The best part is the boss battles. They are even more intense with the usual RE twists to defeat them.
All in all RE:UC is worth a play through or two. It may not spend an eternity in your collection. It's certainly harkens back to the old arcade days of Area 51 and such, but right in your own home. So if your a fan of RE or a retro fan of the old arcade game days, this is a worth while pick up. Plus with the re-re-release of RE4 and the upcoming RE5, you can get some back gruond.