Resident Evil Code: Veronica X

"In a word: Boring."

I've always kinda liked survival horror games. I dunno why really, I hate the scares. So far I've enjoyed Resident Evil 1, 2 (especially 2), 3, Dino Crisis, and I was looking forward to RE:CV for the PS2.

What a disappointment.

The plot isn't that bad, so I won't try to spoil any of it. Just take my word for it, it's the same old scenario: You Vs. an army of monsters that like to jump through windows.

I was expecting the old RE formula would eventually wear thin after a while, but I had no idea how bad it'd be when it did. Brother, this game is boring as all hell. It's the exact same thing over and over again. Run away from whatever, go here, shoot stuff, get this card/shield/retarded item, go here, put item in whatever, take this item, go here, item box, save, shoot stuff, cut scene. Repeat Ad Infinitum.

The graphics in Code Veronica, while being fairly high-poly and high-res up close, retain a rather ruddy, washed out look from any distance, and the game moves at a frame-rate barely above the original (I'm guessing 45FPS). This makes no sense. What's with the haze? I bet the levels in the Devil May Cry demo have twice as many polys and larger textures than these things, and we have to put up with muddy looking gameplay that moves at a frame-rate that's almost uncomfortable to look at? I'd almost rather the game move like the old PSOne versions than what they do now. This may have been amazing on the Dreamcast, but this sure as hell ain't impressive when put next to MGS2, Z.O.E., Armored Core 2, etc.

The voice acting is just as terrible as ever, but thankfully (or sadly, depending on your point of view) lacking any majorly screwed up lines (like oh...all of the lines from RE1). The music is respectable, but nothing you haven't really heard before. Just your traditional strings that tell you when something scary happens. The grunts, groans, and gun noises seem to be directly ripped out of RE2/3, which while being a bit unimpressive, do the job.

The gameplay is where everything starts to fall apart. RE1-3 had some irritating camera moments where you would get buttslammed because you couldn't see something because the current angle wouldn't let you. Now you have to put up with a swinging camera like Dino Crisis (except Dino Crisis' camera wasn't quite as irritating) that seems to hate you and everything you do. I had one of my friends play this game, since he was a big fan of RE2 and 3. After 2 hours of cursing and grumbling, he was killed by poison gas, and left my house in a huff.

And as I've hinted many times, RE:Code Veronica IS NOT SCARY. I didn't jump once, I don't even think I raised an eyebrow. I just kinda shrugged and shot whatever jumped through the window to death. You will likely be more pissed off from the cheap hit the monster got rather than startled. The backtracking is almost insanely boring. All RE games involve a lot of running here and there, but it feels like it takes ALL DAMN DAY to get across the various little complexes and halls you need to get to whatever socket you need to put your 52nd Eagle Shield of the night into, just so you can shoot more zombies that bust through windows as a result. I just didn't have any fun. It felt more like a job than anything else.

I hope this isn't starting some sort of pattern for PS2 games that include demos, where the demo is more fun than the actual game you paid $43 for (nevermind that Z.O.E. was a cool game).

Thumbs down. Go rent this game and steal the Devil May Cry Demo, you'll have more fun.

Graphics:6/10
+ I suppose this is a next-gen game, with the high poly counts and pretty textures and all.
- Too bad it moves like a PSOne game, and the special effects are boring.

Sound/FX:5/10
+ The guns sound decent.
- ...because they use the same sounds from all the other RE games. Boring.

Gameplay:4/10
+ Occasionally the game takes control away from you for a cut-scene, meaning you don't actually have to play.
- I had more fun at work, and I got paid for that.

Innovation:1/10
+ There's um...new guns?
- Just another RE game with prettier graphics and more boring gameplay.

Replay Value:5/10
+ The 5 is because you can have fun watching your friends vainly attempt to beat this thing.
- Other than that, it's a coaster.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/01, Updated 09/19/01