Ugh! Will someone please let Capcom know it would be okay to update the controls on the Resident Evil franchise! Resident Evil Code: Veronica X has come to the GameCube in all its early-2000 glory and the question is...why? Come February it will be four years since Resident Evil Code: Veronica came out on the Dreamcast. Two and a half years since the "X" got added to the slightly more fleshed-out story version on the PS2. Sadly, the game stopped evolution there and the GameCube version does not seem to offer anything new. The story is still good, but the gameplay mechanics are so painful to a modern gamer it has to be wondered why anyone will pick up this somewhat pricey package.
Just in case you've been held hostage by the Gnome Liberation Front for the last eight years, I'll briefly recap the Resident Evil story. The evil Umbrella Corporation has developed the T-virus which turns living creatures into zombies with a taste for human flesh. The player controls a character trying to stop them in each game. Many zombies get re-killed along the way. Brief enough recap?
In reality, the story has probably always been the strongest point of the Resident Evil franchise. With the exception of some really campy/cheesy moments, it is all good. The games also masterfully succeed in creating a creepy atmosphere that sets the player up for some really scary, adrenaline-soaked moments. (Remember when the zombie dog came through the window early in the first game? Knew you were in for a ride then, right?) To put Code: Veronica X into the Resident Evil story timeline, it would be after Resident Evil 2 and before Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Claire Redfield is still searching for her brother Chris, a member of the S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics And Rescue Service) team lost in Raccoon City. She has been taken prisoner by Umbrella Corporation and sent to an island detention center. After an attack on the island, Claire is freed and must find a way off the island before the place is overrun with the products of Umbrella's T-virus. Half of the two-disc game is played as Clair and half as her brother Chris.
Character control, movement in particular, is the game's major weakness. The closest thing I can compare the movement scheme to is running a remote-control tank. The player pivots his on-screen avatar until it is facing the direction he wants it to move and then - no matter which way that facing may be - pushes forward on the stick to move it along at a plod. It is a very maddening scheme. In the heat of battle it can be absolutely frustrating. The control of characters in a 3D video game world has changed a bit since the new century began. A lot of gamers are not going to be pleased with Code: Veronica X's clunky interface. I know I'm not.
Graphics are not quite up to par with what most players will expect from a Cube game in 2003. The detail players have come to expect on the system just isn't here. It is without a doubt the best looking of the series, but still does not measure up to its peers.
Sound is wonderfully creepy. This aspect of the game has to be recognized as one of the stand-outs in an otherwise disappointing game. Both effects and music combine to keep the player on the edge of anticipation of what may happen next.
I suppose if this version of Resident Evil Code: Veronica X were released in 2020 as a retro title I'd be praising it for its faithful presentation of how games were played in a bygone era. But at the dawn of 2004 not enough time has passed for this to be a retro title and now it just feels out of date. I also suppose that if it were budget priced at $19.99 and a player who was curious about the Resident Evil franchise wanted to pick it up, I'd recommend it. But at $39.99 … I can't do that.
Being a light-gun fan, I'm now going to go and play my favorite Resident Evil game - Resident Evil Dead Aim. Yeah, I know, to each his own.
