Umbrella Corps Review

More like Resident Evil's corpse.

Did you know that Umbrella Corps released on PS4 and PC recently? If not, I don't blame you as it released with no marketing or fanfare, and after playing it I can see why: It sucks. I think Capcom knew it was bad early on, hence why the Resident Evil branding is nowhere to be found in the game—even the iconic rumbling voice saying "Resident Evil" has been replaced with a woman simply saying "Umbrella" without much passion. I guess it would have been more expensive to have her say the full game's title, and Capcom clearly wanted to cut its losses.

The easiest way to describe Umbrella Corps is a frantic arcade multiplayer third-person shooter that feels closer to something that should have been free-to-play instead of being offered for $30. Playing as a generic gas-masked guy with a few different guns, you'll be running around zombie-filled locations based on the Resident Evil franchise in one of three modes. You can unlock various other boring black gas masks for your character, as well as other customization options, all of which are equally dull.

The first mode you'll probably play, aside from the tutorial, is the single player-only mode called The Experiment. Here you'll essentially be completing matches with game types you'll find in the multiplayer multi-mission mode, only without the nuisance of other players, just the awful zombies. Most of the zombies you'll find are totally brain-dead, which makes sense for multiplayer, but makes the whole of The Experiment a boring chore. Luckily, The Experiment doesn't last all that long and is completely optional as it only gives you a few cosmetics for the multiplayer, which are just boring logos.

Multiplayer, the main focus here, consists of two different modes that can be played in ranked, public, and private variations. One Life Match pits two teams of three against each other in a fight to the death where each player has, you guessed it, one life. These matches are rather short and intense, but many times just end up with someone running in and using their one-hit-kill melee weapon to get the final kill or lots of camping.

Multi-Mission mode, on the other hand, has teams working towards objectives with unlimited lives. Objectives range from capturing points à la King of the Hill matches, killing zombies to get DNA vials they drop, holding a briefcase for a set amount of time, racing to kill powerful bullet-sponge zombies, or facing off in straight-up team deathmatch. Nothing here stands out as being all that original or fun.

Zombies serve no real purpose in multiplayer aside from helping the other team possibly suss out where you're hiding because zombies will rush you. Most zombies can be taken down with a single headshot or melee, making them basically harmless. This comes across as missing the point considering this is a spin-off of the Resident Evil series, where your main enemies are zombies. Zombies might as well not even exist here.

Movement in the game is at least fluid, if not comically fast. Players move at nearly the same speed regardless of if they are standing, crouching, or crawling on the ground, which is hilarious to see but utterly stupid. A majority of The Experiment can be completed crawling on the ground meleeing zombies, though the strategy doesn't work as well in multiplayer as you'll stick out like a sore thumb. Gunplay is a bit clunky with aiming feeling sluggish at times; it's not the worst I've experienced, but there are many games with far better gunplay.

On the plus side, the game doesn't look terrible, even though it runs on the Unity engine. However, the framerate on the PS4 version constantly bobs up and down, somewhere above 30 frames per second but definitely below 60. This also causes the screen to tear considerably and annoyingly often.

If it weren't for the inclusion of zombies, Umbrella Corps would be indistinguishable from almost every generic first-person shooter that gets released on Steam or for free. While zombies make it stand out just a smidgen from the competition, the gameplay is as brain-dead as they are. If you're looking for a solid, cheap shooter on PS4 or PC, there are better options, like Blacklight: Retribution. Even diehard Resident Evil fans should save their money, as I can't think of a single reason anyone should buy this.