Resident Evil Code: Veronica X

"A welcome addition to the Resident Evil story"

Capcoms re-release of the popular Dreamcast title onto the more popular PS2, Just how good IS it?
This review will be written for those who never played through the Dreamcast version, so no references or comparisons will be made to the original release of Resident evil: CODE Veronica.
It is for what i usually view as the ''Majority'' of Resident Evil fans, who have played through Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and know the basic mechanics of the resident evil games.

Ahh, well, to the review now then :)

Gameplay: 8/10

Very similar to its PSOne counterparts in a lot of ways, even though it does have its slight differences, there are no major changes.
I have been a large fan of the series for some time now, and have always found the control system easy to use, and if i had one small moan about the gameplay of Code Veronica X, it would have to be the character control. The feeling of the Original PSOne Games does not seem to be here, characters seem to glide a little, and look a little strange initially when moving. Also, the Evasive ''Rolls'' from Resident Evil 3 are gone, which does occasionally add a small feeling of limitation, but the main things like the very very useful ''quick turn'' are still here. Apart from these few minor control flaws, RE:CVX is easy to play, with nice moving camera angles, often adding alot of suspense and helping to create those jumpy moments which is why i like the Resident Evil series so much.
The often confusing, though often very boring and irritating Resident Evil style ''Push that box'' puzzles are back in group force, other more taxing puzzles are here and there however, but in my opinion, Capcom could really revise the puzzles for future releases.

Story: 10/10

Wow.. i have no complaints about this truly fantastic storyline. After narrowly surviving the T-Virus outbreak of Raccoon City, Claire Redfield resumes the search for her missing brother, Chris.
3 months after the Raccoon City disaster, after being captured during her attempted infiltration of the Umbrella Paris facility, Claire is transported to Rockfort Island, home of an Umbrella Military training facility, and prison.
Shortly after her arrival the island is attacked, during the attack the T-Virus was released, transforming the majority of the islands inhabitants into the living dead.
Claires negative thinking captor, Rodrigo, releases her but assuring her she has no chance of escaping the island anyway, but of course Claire has other ideas...
With the return of characters from previous games, both good, and evil, plus revealing yet more information on the dubious ''Umbrella Inc'', this is a very welcome addition to an incredible plot.

Audio/Video: 10/10

Incredible as always, when it comes to Audio especially, Capcom always delivers. The composer works wonders with the soundtrack creating incredible amounts of tension with the music alone, though i enjoyed the Resident Evil 3 music, this is still very good. Sound effects are also all top notch, from the sound the weapons to the dragging leg and the lazy groan of a zombie, everything is perfection.
Also Video in the game is incredible, this is easy to notice in cutscenes where the camera gets close to claires face, everything, even down to eye movement and facial expression is displayed very well.
Now.. the main thing people tend to criticize in previous Resident Evil titles is the voice acting, but in my own opinion, the actors in code veronica are very good, with the exception of one or two, but it isn't horrible like it has been in the past :)

Replayability: 7/10

Has its fair share of things to do after you have completed the initial game. As usual the Ranking system makes a return, allowing you various rewards for pulling an ''A'' ranking.
Also, after completing the game once you get the ''Battle game'', this mini-game allows you to pick a heavily armed character in which you must blast through various rooms meeting many dangerous creatures. Though the Mini-Game poses a short term challenge, there is not as much replay value in CODE Veronica as in previous Titles, especially Resident Evil 3.

Weskers Report: A free DVD with the game, an insight from everyones favorite traitor, Wesker. Though answering alot of things fans have been wondering about for a while, the DVD creates more questions than it answers, and sometimes BLATANTLY contradicts information in CODE Veronica X, which is strange and confusing.

In conclusion, Resident Evil:CODE Veronica X is a very good game with an incredible story line, though with some small gameplay faults, it does little damage to a great addition to the series. Definitely a ''BUY'' for Fans and i recommend it highly to those new to the Resident Evil series.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/01, Updated 09/19/01