Rock_On's Full Review: Resident Evil: Code Veronica X for PlayStation 2
It was a dark and stormy Saturday afternoon, I had just gotten back from my girlfriend’s volleyball tournament, when I decided to stop by Best Buy to see about a new game. I walked though the doors and...
I ended up buying THREE games, all for discount price. I took the moment by purchasing Extermination, Dave Mirra 2, and Resident Evil: Code Veronica X, along with a couple game magazines I had missed. All three games together were 75 dollars, compare that to the 150 dollars I would have spent if the games weren’t on sale, and calculate is to find that I only paid half price for the games. The Best Buy I went to was going out of business at that location, so they were having half-off on everything. Pretty good deal if you ask me, especially since Resident Evil: Code Veronica is an Excellent game.
Now this Resident Evil title is the first one I’ve played, or even owned. So I’m not real familiar at what the story is nor do I know that the other RE titles are about, but I think RE:CODE X is somehow linked with the previous games.
Plot/Story
Your character is Claire Redfield. Three years has passed since the last incident with the T-Virus, and now Claire is off to find her brother Chris, who was held hostage by Umbrella Corporation. But while Claire was searching for Chris, she was captured and sent to a prison on a lone island where the T-Virus has broken out once again. Now Claire has to get off the island alive before she can continue her search for Chris.
Living, Dead...Man
There are a whole bunch of little plot twists you’ll meet throughout the game, but if I told you then you’d have no reason to play through the game, now would you. As you wander through different areas infected by Zombies or other freakish beasts, you have to find certain items and find some sort of connection between them to figure out what to do next. Some of the puzzles throughout the game play can get pretty darn tricky if you don’t know what you’re doing.
You’ll meet up and be able to use different characters like Steve Burnside, who’s connection with the T-Virus seems mysterious at first, and eventually Chris Redfield. Your characters have a certain amount of life and once they die, no matter which character you’re using, you’ll have to start over from your last save point. Health is done in a different way, to me anyways. Instead of having some kind of life bar at the top of the screen, you have a chart like the ones at the hospitals where the green line goes up and down, fast and slow, giving any idiot dumb enough to stare at it a headache.
Once you reach critical condition, the next one or two Zombie attacks will kill you. Save points are a little different to me also. Instead of going through some kind of portal or something like in other games, you find typewriters to save your progress. To use the typewriter to save however, you must have an Ink Ribbon, which are pretty easy to find, so don’t worry.
Combination and uh....Health
Now what are you going to use to get some health back? Maybe you could steal the Zombies. Naw...you will find three herbs scattered all over the place that you can use to restore your health. They are kind of scarce in some places, so be careful how you go into attacking the Zombies. Right now I’m stuck in an area with no green herbs, critical condition, and a bridge where the long-armed freaks keep killing me before I can cross, and I’ve only got 15 bullets left in my handgun. The Green Herbs are used to bring your health one point, for instance critical to fair. The Red Herb can be mixed with the Green Herb to go up to points probably, and the Blue Herbs you find eventually in the game are used where there are enemies who can poison you.
In the inventory selection after pressing start, you can combine certain items to make more space in the item selection screen. You can combine ammo to your guns or bow gun to save space, and you’ll also find Red Herbs that you can mix with the Green Herbs so they don’t take up any extra item slots. You can combine certain items to trigger certain events or to unlock an item you have or to like I said, combine ammo with your gun so the ammo won’t take up an item slot.
Ah!! Down you stupid freakish Mutt!!
Ok so you’re going to save your brother and have the chance of encountering some freaky beasts, wouldn’t you bring a weapon or something? Of course not. You don’t find your first gun until about 5 or 10 minutes into the start of the game. As you find your way around you can find different weapons like a handgun, bow gun, hunting knife, Sniper Rifle, shotgun, and a pair of Sub-Machine guns that really kick booty.
Boy, This load is getting heavy.. Oh look! A sub machine gun, Crap! I’ve got too much stuff!
That has happened to me a lot. I’ll be walking around and then I’ll find a really cool weapon or an item needed to proceed, but I’ll have no room for it. Good thing there are item boxes where you can put anything you don’t need in. Eventually you’ll find a pack that allows you to carry six items. Some guns take up two items spaces, so be careful how you choose which items to keep or else you’ll be along way away from an item box, and you’ll find an item you need. Then you’ll be cursing and swearing at your TV like my father did when he tried the game out(it was the first game he has played on my PS2, and I think he liked it so this might mean I can keep my money for myself and let him do the shopping for me :)).
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Graphics 5/5
Visually, this game is breath-taking. The graphics are very superior to the previous RE titles and I think are better than the Dream Cast version, but I have read reviews that said they are and I’ve compared Dream Cast snap shots to the PS2’s and the PS2’s looks better, but then again I could be wrong since I’ve not played the DC version.
The environments are very realistic and give you the eerie feeling. Like there’s this one part where you’re walking around the house, and you’ll just get this eerie feeling...and then two mutated dogs jump out and scare the crap out of you. Well, most people anyway. The FMV’s are almost the same as regular game graphics, except they may be a little bit more clear, but the graphics are pretty darn good. Fire, water, tombstones, cabinets, whatever, they’re all realistic.
Aside from the environments, there’s the character detail and gun decals. All the characters that actually have hair, Steve, Claire, and Chris, they’re all detailed so well and they look real, very real. When there’s wind, you can see individual hairs blow in the wind depending on the angle you’re facing. Now onto the zombies, killer dogs, sand worm, and whatever. All of the freaks are made to look gross and disgusting like missing arms, missing eye balls and a whole chunk missing out of their side, well they’ve done it. All of the weapons look, and feel, like the real thing with flying bullets and magazines that fall when you change ammo.
Control 4/5
You can use the D-Pad or the Analog Stick to move your character around, however if you’re new to the series, like I was, the controls will seem very awkward at first, but you’ll get use to them after a little bit of game play. Unlike most shooting games, you can’t just “SHOOT” anything you see, in order to arm your weapon, you have to press and hold “R-1” before you can use whatever weapon you have equipped by pressing “X”.
Once you’re holding the “R-1” button, you’re stationary in that place you’re standing, so you can use the D-Pad or the Analog Stick to turn around a different direction or aim up and down. This also means that you can’t run and shoot, which would come in real handy at some points in the game. The only thing that I don’t like about the Stationary shooting is that if you’re shooting at numerous zombies, then one of them is going to get a bite atcha.
The camera control is awkward at first, well actually, it still is awkward to me. The camera doesn’t follow your character in RE, but instead the camera moves to a set place when you’re in different areas. As you move to a different area where you can’t see what your characters doing too well, the camera will switch positions. I have died many times from going into a room and hearing the zombies, but the camera is fixed on one angle, the exact angle that I can’t see, and when I move into the other camera angle, there the zombie will be, right in your face about to eat your brains. But I guess Capcom does this camera effect to add suspense when you come into a room, so it’s all good.
Sound 5/5
I’ve heard that the music sets the mood in the pas RE installments, and the music definitely sets the mood in RE: Code X like no other game I’ve played. The sound is a constant piano like sound, real mellow and makes you feel like something’s going to jump out at you. The music usually starts getting heavier as you get nearer something or just to scare you a little bit. Your heart beat will definitely rise, fall, and jump SOMETIME in the game.
Aside from freaky music that'll scare the crap out of you the sound effects also add to the scaring effect. When you walk on certain floors, you can hear your footsteps creak. You can also hear footsteps from enemies, but you can’t see them, so therefore It’ll probably jump out at you. Also in one part of the game, as you’re walking on the side of the house, you’ll hear growling, and then the music starts to pick up, and when you turn the net corner, BOOM! These freak dogs come after you. To sum all the sounds up, they’re freaky, it feels like there's someone behind you, and you'll really be wrapped into the game because the sound grabs you and pulls you in.
Overall 14/15
Do you own a PS2? Do you like scary games? Do you like the Resident Evil series? I highly recommend this to any PS2 owner. This is the only game that has ever scared me and actually given me a few nightmares. BUT WAIT!! That’s not it...oh no. Capcom’s upcoming hit Devil May Cry demo will be bundled in.
Here’s a little key for my point system and the rating I give the game:
13 to 15: *****
10 to 12: ****
8 to 9: ***
6 to 7: **
5 and below:*
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