Umbrella Corps. AGE Review

Developed and published by Capcom and with very little hype material leading up to its release we see the arrival of Umbrella Corps. (UC). When we hear the words Umbrella Corps. we instantly associate it with the Resident Evil brand. With this notion in place we are instantly enthused with the ideas that are so synonymous within this said world. This being said we can be forgiven for anticipating some of the innate qualities that have turned this brand into a legacy. I never pictured how wrong this assumption could have been.

It is hard to single out any single aspect of UC that could definitively outline the reason for such a lacklustre release. Sure there are a few positives within its unpolished exterior but all these can be swept to the side after one to two substantial play sessions. Granted UC has a release price that is 50% that of a typical new release title, it only boasts about 20% of the content you come to expect from any title in its price range. The fact there is more customizable options for your generic character than actual gameplay features is definitely something that is made obvious very early on.

UC comes across completely underwhelming with the amount of gameplay modes that are available at release. I don’t think the “promise” of more content “coming soon” is enough to entice an initial purchase but for those of us in the boat of already owning it we just do not have a choice but to wait. Why are games these days being released partially complete with the intention that additional content is coming soon? It is with my experience that if there is a bad taste left in your mouth after your first few gaming sessions, the game has been deleted and you have moved on and no additional content will really sway you to come back. Granted I think this is a poor business model there are exceptions to this rule of thumb but there needs to be a hook in the form of some quality to sustain interest. Unfortunately UC falls short in every aspect.

UC falls under the category of a competitive tactical shooter, now let’s break that down. Competitive? No, not really with no dedicated servers I have constantly been playing with a single red bar of connection. This delay in responsiveness couple with the general lack of controller responsiveness equates to what can only be described as a steaming pile of multiplayer mess. I win gunfights I shouldn’t and lose gunfights I should and these sorts of experiences will never really lead to a progression in player quality and renders the tactical aspect redundant, due to a “flip of a coin” outcome to each engagement. Unless in a party of friends, the teamwork aspect is also out the window. The extent of teamwork with random players starts and finishes with the ability to signify your intentions at the beginning of the round by choosing a symbol on a weapon wheel looking heads up display. Success in this game will come to those who party up, thus costing in the vicinity of $150 (for 3 copies) to be successful. This success can often be obtained post a team mate's death because after you die you get a bird's eye view of the battlefield and can help direct your teammates due to fact that everything and everyone are visible.

Without really going into great detail about the “story” mode, and I say this very, very lightly due to fact it is just 24 timed missions played over the same 6 maps with the very same objective every time. Well looks like I did go into detail in relation to the single player experience. The only real Resident Evil feel to this title is the zombies presence within the multiplayer experience. This is probably the best aspect and gameplay mechanic UC has to offer. Each player starts every round with an intact zombie jammer, this renders the player safe against the roaming zombies, zombie dogs and zombie crows. There are two ways in which you can attract the attention of these overly docile NPCs and that is by hitting them with a stray bullet which results in the single zombie being interested in your demise and the other is to destroy the zombie jammer on your opponent's back. Once the zombie jammer is destroyed, then and only then does it feel like a resident evil game, you are literally hunted by all the undead in your near vicinity. It becomes intense, it becomes fun and just as you start to feel that notion of excitement the round is over, no more excitement.

There are a range of different weapons that can be unlocked with sufficient experience gains and customizable options for each weapon after using them often enough. I am not sure whether it was the lousy connection I had to contend with constantly or just the lack of development but the only real difference that was really evident was whether I was using an automatic weapon or a shotgun. The guns were fairly boring but the Brainer was fun. For a while. I have to admit the concept of the Brainer was much cooler than the longevity of its effectiveness. Firstly the Brainer is a melee weapon that is accessible with the L1 (PS4) button and can be charged up and used to inflict a one hit kill which by all accounts is very brutal and satisfying.

There is promises of a co-op style horde mode, more maps and more MP variants but whether this will be too little too late is yet to be foreseen. I am not completely giving up on this title as it has a small amount of potential but if initial releases are anything to go by this fell drastically short unfortunately. Feel free to have your opinion below or across at our Facebook page.

• Brainer kills are awesome
• Teamwork aspect
• Zombie jammer mechanic

Negatives:

• Single player is very lacking
• Constant red bar connection
• Lack of content 

Platforms: Playstation 4, PC
Genre: Tactical shooter
Initial Release: 21st June 2016
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom