Resident Evil Multiplayer Spin-Off Umbrella Corps Is Out
Pew pew
Umbrella Corps [official site] has arrived at a funny time for Resident Evil. Only last week, Capcom announced that they're going back to poking around a spooky house in Resident Evil 7, this time in a first-person view. But right now, today, Capcom released Umbrella Corps, a multiplayer shooter spin-off about mercenaries shooting each other to bits in a zombiezones. I've heard a few folks say Umbrella Corps is actual fairly fun, but I find the contrast kinda funny. Or maybe I'm being over-optimistic about Capcom reining in Resident Evil. Could be that.
So! Umbrella Corps is a third-person shooter about teams of mercs sent by biocorps to scrap in zombielands because science. It does have a clever idea with the zombies: players wear a magic doodad which stops the zombos from paying much attention to them, but if yours gets damaged then the zombies will be after you too. I quite like the idea of strange locational damage spots in a shooter - more weirdness like this please, thank you everyone. The game does have a little solo play through an arena wave survival mode, but multiplayer is certainly its focus.
Umbrella Corps is £24.99/29,99€/$29.99 on Steam. Capcom are also selling cosmetic customisation DLC ranging from new armour colour options to skins of RE characters like Leon and Bazza.
Capcom mention that they're planning free content updates including "maps based on the Mansion from the first RE and Lanshiang from RE6, as well as a free-for-all '4 Survivors' mode."
I'd still be a little wary after the way Capcom have treated their last Resident Evil multiplayer shooter spin-off, 2012's Operation Raccoon City. Several crashes are still unfixed, especially on Windows 8 and 10, requiring players to first find then fiddle with fixes and workarounds. Hmm.
Anyway! Resident Evil 7 and that 'Beginning Hour' demo they released on PlayStation 4, yeah? Like PT, the 'playable teaser' for the now-cancelled Silent Hills, it's not part of the full game. And like PT, it is a bit like PT. It's a moody first-person spook-o-horror in a decrepit little house with strange phonecalls and fleeting figures and secrets to probe, though it is a bit campy with murderhillbillies. The point is: it doesn't look like a game where someone will drone on about bioweapons or the Umbrella Corporation, perhaps downplaying the decades of dull backstory. If you don't have a PS4 around, here, I enjoyed seeing Shesellssheshells poke around and find different endings.