I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with the Resident Evil series. My problem with the first four games (not including RE: 4 and 5) have always been the tank like controls. Understandably though the PS1 and Dreamcast controllers didn’t contain dual analog sticks. What I do love is the atmosphere and over arching story. With the protagonists changing every game there has always been a sense of variety. “Resident Evil Code: Veronica X” was originally released in 2000. It was recently rereleased on the PSN with an HD coat applied. When asked if I wanted to review this game, nostalgia immediately kicked in and I jumped on the opportunity. Sometimes when looking back people see things through rose colored glasses. This was my problem. Before the game was released I was excited. I had finished Resident Evil 1, 2 and made it about half way through 3. Even in 2000 “Code: Veronica” was a graphical improvement over its predecessors. Mechanic and gameplay wise the formula remained the same.  Now aside from an improved look, remastered audio and an addition of trophies, not much more  has changed. The controls and aiming are still horrible.

Resident Evil 1 put us in the shoes of Chris and Claire Redfield. It also introduced the devious Umbrella Corporation. They are responsible for creating and unleashing the T-virus. The first game in the series takes place in a mansion on the outskirts of the fictional “Raccoon City”. The second and third games take place within the confines of the city, while Code: Veronica X takes place on Rockfort Island an Umbrella prison facility, and in Antartica. Although in Resident Evil 2 there are two playable characters. In order to play as one, you must finish the story line of the other. “Resident Evil Code: Veronica X” has players switching back and forth between Claire and Chris at various points in the game. It was cool to see the pair back as they had been missing in Resident Evil 2, and 3. The game starts with a cutscene showing Claire infiltrating one of the Umbrella Corporations facilities and being captured. The gameplay starts off with Claire in a prison cell at the Rockfort Island prison ran by the Ashford family. She is released by one of the guards due to the prison being overrun by zombies which was caused by an outbreak of the dreaded T-virus. While there she must escape the prison and figure out Alfred and Alexia Ashford’s secret. When the game switches to Chris’s perspective he is on a quest to rescue his sister.

The visual update to the game looks great and gives it an added layer of detail compared to the original’s sometimes muddy textures. The cutscenes and characters look a lot better, but the animations and movement remain the same. Various effects like fire, shadows, and the small spots where we see water are improved. The audio and soundtrack sounds crisp and clear. The added addition of trophies and leaderboards is a plus giving the game a tiny bit of replay value, but I personally don’t feel that I would play it again. The problem lies with the actual gameplay and how the character is controlled. The environments are fairly expansive and there will be a good amount of backtracking, which is par for the course. Only problem for me is controlling the character is so clunky and tedious that all of the fun is completely sucked out of the experience. A smaller issue I had was having to press a button to be able to ascend and descend stairs. With a lot of backtracking, having to avoid zombies, and difficult boss battles I found myself feeling a sense of dread when I went back to play after I initially started it. Not dread because I was frightened, but because I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Claire clumsily try to avoid zombies by running past them, only to run directly into them.

Although the controls are a huge issue for me, the fans of the series will enjoy this remastering. I don’t mind that the camera is locked, because in some instances it really adds to the overall atmosphere. Also the game does not have any button prompts, so it took me a couple of minutes to figure out which buttons do what. I’m glad the series has been modifying the controls as the game’s progress, but I also like the fairly open environments of the series as opposed to the linear gameplay of the current iterations. “Resident Evil Code: Veronica X” is certainly a testament of that time and is strictly fan service. I can’t recommend this for anyone else though. Sometimes memories and experiences are better left in the past. My verdict is to pass this one up.

Resident Evil Code: Veronica X- Review (PSN), 10.0 out of 10 based on 2 ratings