Well, this game is great! 
I ended up picking up Darkside Chronicles HD and Umbrella Chronicles HD on PS3 in order to scratch my maddening itch for more Resident Evil.
I've only played Darkside Chronicles so far. I just completed the RE2 scenario, and I must say, I'm enjoying the hell out of it! I'm not normally a fan of light-gun games, but this feels a lot more involving than what I play in arcades like Dave & Buster's.
How I'm playing:
I'm playing with the DS3 since I don't have a Move. I'm happy to report the cursor flies across the screen with speed and precision. Very smooth to control! There's a bit of auto-aim (which I believe can be toggled off), which snaps to center mass of most targets. It works well and isn't overly clingy.
How it controls:
You aim with the right stick or left stick, shoot with R1, reload with Square, pick up items (such as ammo, herbs and emblems) with X, heal with L1, knife with R2 plus the stick, and toggle between weapons with the D-Pad. You assign the weapons yourself and upgrade them with the money you earn. To reassign weapons, you pause and go into the Status screen. If an enemy grabs you, you can twirl the sticks or shake the controller to kick them off.
There's no accuracy rating, so feel free to shoot everything. Your handgun has infinite ammo, and the environments have many destructible elements that reveal treasure. You can find hidden files, and there are unlockable figures in a model viewer as incentive to do well you're ranked based on enemies routed, time cleared, etc.
Setting and scenario:
The game opens up with Leon and Krauser on their first mission together in 2002. They're tracking down a drug lord in South America. This serves as a framing device where Leon tells Krauser about the events of RE2 and Code Veronica. If you're looking forward to the remake of RE2, this might help tide you over, since the settings and BOWs look great here (Chief Irons, Mr. X, the giant alligator, all five forms of William Birkin, etc).
The gameplay experience:
The game has great atmosphere, with ambient lighting and rich attention to detail in the environments. The first-person view has the cinematic "shaky cam" effect, which makes you feel like you're there. It might bother some, but I like it; it's not overdone like Cloverfield or anything.
Some scenes have a bit too much motion blur, but they're infrequent. Missions are briskly paced, but they don't throw too much at you at once. There are moments to breathe and take in the detail. You don't always have to kill everything; sometimes you'll push past the enemies. There are also branching paths here and there, which is another reason to revisit levels, in addition to earning more money to level up your weapons and stocking up on supplies. (I had to do this to beat Birkin's fourth form.)
Oh, and there's two-player. Looks like you just hit Start to drop in. I'd like to try this the next time I have a friend over. I wonder if it increases the number of enemies? Also, you choose between two characters for each scenario (Leon and Krauser, Leon and Claire, or Claire and Steve), but you see the other character as you move along, and you talk to them. I wonder if Player 2 is supposed to be controlling the other character?
In conclusion:
At any rate, this game is great. It's a well-paced, pick-up-and-play shooter with great feedback, pacing and variety, in destructive environments with great detail, and tons of cool creatures to kill. It's easy to replay your favorite chapters. There are three difficulty levels available from the start; I'm playing on the middle one, Normal, and I think it's just right so far. Hopefully there aren't any sudden difficulty spikes.
I'm interested to try Umbrella Chronicles afterward. I know that one came out first, so I'm playing them in reverse order, but that's OK. I hear it's a bit different in terms of pacing, and that it covers the events of RE0, RE1 and RE3, plus a new chapter where Chris and Jill take down Umbrella's last stronghold in Russia. Should be interesting!
I ended up picking up Darkside Chronicles HD and Umbrella Chronicles HD on PS3 in order to scratch my maddening itch for more Resident Evil.
I've only played Darkside Chronicles so far. I just completed the RE2 scenario, and I must say, I'm enjoying the hell out of it! I'm not normally a fan of light-gun games, but this feels a lot more involving than what I play in arcades like Dave & Buster's.
How I'm playing:
I'm playing with the DS3 since I don't have a Move. I'm happy to report the cursor flies across the screen with speed and precision. Very smooth to control! There's a bit of auto-aim (which I believe can be toggled off), which snaps to center mass of most targets. It works well and isn't overly clingy.
How it controls:
You aim with the right stick or left stick, shoot with R1, reload with Square, pick up items (such as ammo, herbs and emblems) with X, heal with L1, knife with R2 plus the stick, and toggle between weapons with the D-Pad. You assign the weapons yourself and upgrade them with the money you earn. To reassign weapons, you pause and go into the Status screen. If an enemy grabs you, you can twirl the sticks or shake the controller to kick them off.
There's no accuracy rating, so feel free to shoot everything. Your handgun has infinite ammo, and the environments have many destructible elements that reveal treasure. You can find hidden files, and there are unlockable figures in a model viewer as incentive to do well you're ranked based on enemies routed, time cleared, etc.
Setting and scenario:
The game opens up with Leon and Krauser on their first mission together in 2002. They're tracking down a drug lord in South America. This serves as a framing device where Leon tells Krauser about the events of RE2 and Code Veronica. If you're looking forward to the remake of RE2, this might help tide you over, since the settings and BOWs look great here (Chief Irons, Mr. X, the giant alligator, all five forms of William Birkin, etc).
The gameplay experience:
The game has great atmosphere, with ambient lighting and rich attention to detail in the environments. The first-person view has the cinematic "shaky cam" effect, which makes you feel like you're there. It might bother some, but I like it; it's not overdone like Cloverfield or anything.
Some scenes have a bit too much motion blur, but they're infrequent. Missions are briskly paced, but they don't throw too much at you at once. There are moments to breathe and take in the detail. You don't always have to kill everything; sometimes you'll push past the enemies. There are also branching paths here and there, which is another reason to revisit levels, in addition to earning more money to level up your weapons and stocking up on supplies. (I had to do this to beat Birkin's fourth form.)
Oh, and there's two-player. Looks like you just hit Start to drop in. I'd like to try this the next time I have a friend over. I wonder if it increases the number of enemies? Also, you choose between two characters for each scenario (Leon and Krauser, Leon and Claire, or Claire and Steve), but you see the other character as you move along, and you talk to them. I wonder if Player 2 is supposed to be controlling the other character?
In conclusion:
At any rate, this game is great. It's a well-paced, pick-up-and-play shooter with great feedback, pacing and variety, in destructive environments with great detail, and tons of cool creatures to kill. It's easy to replay your favorite chapters. There are three difficulty levels available from the start; I'm playing on the middle one, Normal, and I think it's just right so far. Hopefully there aren't any sudden difficulty spikes.
I'm interested to try Umbrella Chronicles afterward. I know that one came out first, so I'm playing them in reverse order, but that's OK. I hear it's a bit different in terms of pacing, and that it covers the events of RE0, RE1 and RE3, plus a new chapter where Chris and Jill take down Umbrella's last stronghold in Russia. Should be interesting!
