"One of the hardest or easiest RE games... you decide!"

Capcom did it again. I love the Resident Evil games. I had some extra cash and decided to pick up this title (besides no one seems to have RE2 around here). This is not just a ''hold-up'' game for the RE series, it's much much more. It would be ''Resident Evil 3.5'' but that doesn't sound real good. It's not a ''hold-up'' game because it's actually a huge part of the story and will affect RE4 for sure. It is an awesome game to get.

Graphics- Good. They could have been a bit better though. Since this is a PS2 port, the graphics are much better than the GameCube ports of RE2 and RE3. The only thing wrong with the graphics is zombies should've had more details and the fingers of people look blocky. Other than that it all looks awesome. All your classic enemies and a few more all look very detailed and realistic. The weapons also look very great. The cinemas look pretty great as well. It all fits in into the whole scare you to death factor.

Sound- Pretty Good. The voices all sound real and have their emotions and such. Some people sound very annoying (as you'll soon notice). But The voices are good. The zombies all have their authentic and classic moan. All your other classic enemies sound really good (and so do the new ones). The weapons also sound great. The echo effects in certain places are great. The cinemas also sound very good. The classic creepy music is still there to keep you on the edge. So basically everything you'd want sound wise is hear in RE:CVX.

Gameplay- Classic. As far as controls and gameplay elements go, they are the same and any RE player would be used to them in seconds. As for the story, take the past 4 games and build from there. Claire Redfield (from RE2) has gone in search of her brother Chris Redfield (from RE1). She infiltrates an Umbrella Inc. (the evil organization) in search of information. She is captured and sent to a prison. This prison is attacked shortly after her arrival by an unknown group. The T-Virus (Virus that mutates cells and creates zombies) gets leaked into the base and there are a ton of zombies for you to fight against. It goes on from there. Like I said, there is your basic RE gameplay elements. Your health can be Fine (Green), Caution (Yellow), Caution (Orange), Danger (Red), or Poison (Purple). You use Herbs to cure these or First Aid Spray. It's all in 3rd person (with a few exceptions). You have 2 basic scenarios, Claire then Chris. The game spans over 2 discs. But this game can be the hardest RE game or one of the easiest. If you know exactly what you're doing, it's very easy. If you don't then it's very hard. It is very easy to screw yourself and have to restart (I had to restart once because I didn't have enough ammo to kill the boss of the game... 7 hours for nothing). You must be conservative. But as long as you're careful, conservative, and alert, you'll be fine. The knife is probably one of your better weapons in this game though (it's much stronger than in the previous games). It can save you many times. But all in all this game is very awesome and will keep you busy for a while.

In conclusion, this game is awesome. You should definitely buy it. But I don't suggest this being your first RE game for 2 main reasons: 1) You don't know the story. 2) It will be way too hard for a beginner of the series. But other than that, buy it. It's only $35-$45. Well worth the price. So with little flaw, I give Resident Evil: Code Veronica X for GameCube a 9/10.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/07/04