Normal folk use keys to unlock doors... (Resident Evil - Code Veronica (DC))

Member Name: quirky

Product:	Resident Evil - Code Veronica (DC)
Date:	03/10/01 (313 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Graphical splendour, puzzley goodness, Claire's nice bottom

Disadvantages: Rubbish controls, familiar feel with no real leaps forward , frustrating backtracking

Finally, I have completed this blasted game and I can return to normal life.

Those were my first thoughts as the end credits rolled across my TV screen. For the last 2 weeks I had been playing Resident Evil Code Veronica almost every spare waking hour, trying to work my way through its tricky puzzles and flesh-eating zombie filled levels. I hadn't really enjoyed all of it, at times it is extremely dull and I wanted it all to be over, but when it was over, I couldn't help but feel a little bit sad.

I was going to miss the action sequences and the thrill of finding out what devious plot twist was coming next. I was going to miss the atmosphere created by the tense music, which really compliments the action. Most of all I think I was going to miss the sight of Claire Redfield's little bum wiggling when she walks down a spooky corridor.

What I wasn't going to miss, however, was the down right tedious sections of gameplay, the stupid inventory system and the terrible controls. This is a game that will drive you mad with its superb atmosphere and plot ruined by unresponsive controls and plodding backtracking.

Now that I have finished it, I am very wary of giving away too much of the plot, or revealing the answers to any puzzles in my gameplay descriptions. I will try and avoid this by being as vague as possible, so don't worry too much about that.

Plot
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Code Veronica, as part of the ongoing "Resident Evil" saga by Capcom, follows on from the end of Resident Evil 2. The main character, Claire "Perfect Posterior" Redfield, is following on her mission to find her brother, Chris, and bring down the evil zombie-making corporation "Umbrella Inc". McDonalds have nothing on this lot - the anti capitalists would be up in arms if they knew the devious lengths that Umbrella go to to make a bit of cash.

After being caught snooping in an Umbrella lab in France, C
laire is knocked out and dumped on an Umbrella prison island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. You just know what is going to happen next... the island becomes *gasp* overrun with zombies and monsters and Claire must fight her way to freedom!

Describing any more would be to spoil one of the biggest draws of the game; finding out what happens next. Needless to say, Claire makes a few friends on the way to escape, as well as a few enemies. Puzzles need to be solved, various doors need to be opened and scary monsters have to be shot before you can finally escape the horrors...

Gameplay Mechanics
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The gameplay hasn't changed one iota from the first Resident Evil game on the Playstation all those years ago (1996, facts fans!) You move your on screen character around using the digital pad - left and right rotate you on the spot, forward walks forward in whatever direction you happen to be facing. It takes a while to get used to, and when you do the movement of your hero isn't exactly responsive. Turning round seems to take forever, so trying to avoid the undead can be a real chore.

To fire a weapon at or attack an enemy, first you must hold down the right shoulder button, upon which your character stops and the weapon is raised to the "ready" position, then press "A" to do the business. This means no running and shooting at the same time, though one slightly new feature is a "quick turn" that allows you to turn 180 degrees in a flash. Still, I would rather be able to run off from the hordes of undead while blasting at them.

Most of the puzzles in the game are of the traditional "pick up object A, use at position B. Repeat." There are a few variations on the theme - some are quite nifty - but most of the game involves a lot of gophering about with vases, medallions and other such bric-a-brac. A lot of the doors unlock with anything but a set of keys. I have no idea
what the architects of the buildings were taking at the time, but it can't have been legal.

Manipulating which items to carry and when to carry them is an important part of the game. Your inventory only holds a small number of objects, and you will not always know what you need in advance. More often than not you will take the wrong puzzle object on a wild goose chase and spend hours trudging to a door, only to discover you should have trudged there with something else. Infuriating, but part of the "game". Aarrgghh!

On top of this, the puzzles have a very familiar feel to them; some of the objects have even made an appearance in other Resident Evil games. Are the designers running out of ideas? With announcements of Resident Evil "remakes" for next generation consoles, I think this might be the case!

As you are not going to finish this in one sitting, the game allows you to save your progress. This is done by typing out your location on a typewriter, a neat touch that has been preserved from the original Resident Evil. Each save takes up 9 blocks and 15 can be stored on a VMU. Saving is only possible in certain locations, which adds to the fear factor, as you know that if you should die then you will have to re-do all the hard work put in since the last save.

For me, this can lead to the biggest annoyance in the game: the ammunition situation and when to save. Let me explain...

When you first start the game, you are given a gun and a limited amount of ammo. As you progress you pick up more ammo and more weapons. However, the first time you play a section of the game, you don't really know what to expect. So you blast everything that moves and are usually struggling through with your last 5 bullets.

This is all fine until one point, about half way through, where there is a giant, seemingly unstoppable zombie thing. I tried many a time to kill it with my last 5 bullets, but alas it was
impossible. I was forced to restart the whole game, only shooting zombies that were in my way and avoiding the rest. The reason? Well, I didn't save at the right time, so I had saved the game too far past "the point of no return"...

This smacks of sloppy design to me. Surely, as you have reached far enough to find this giant monster, they should give you a fighting chance? Having to restart, because earlier on you didn't know what was coming, so couldn't prepare yourself, seems a bit mean to me.

This also happens a few more times later on. There are numerous occasions where, unless you are psychic or read a "walkthrough" guide, you have to start from a much earlier saved point to re-jig your strategy. If that save point is quite a long way back, or too far down the road of "Wrong Strategy" then you are faced with replaying a large chunk of the adventure again.

Graphics
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The graphics are pretty special, one of the best bits. Locations are very detailed and realistic, sometimes a bit too grim though with blood stains and gloop on the walls. This is rated a "15" after all.

The "camera" is usually fixed to one spot in the room, but pans across to track your characters motion. Some rooms have several viewpoints, which switch depending on where you are stood. This allows for some hair-raising moments, as zombies hide just out of view, until a camera switch shows them in all their horrific glory. It also leads to some frustration, as you can't see a zombie or monster off screen, you know it's there, but you can't shoot it or run past easily. There were also various times that I got eaten, stabbed or stung purely because I couldn't really tell which way I was facing due to the camera angle.

The game runs full screen and is optimised for the PAL region. This means that the detailed character models are well animated and there is no sig
n of "jerky" background graphics. The only time there are borders is when a cut scene happens, and this is to let you know that you are not in control of the characters.

These movies and in game cut scenes move the story along nicely. The pre-rendered movies are quite good, but I preferred the cut scenes that used the normal in-game graphics. In these the picture quality seemed less grainy and the character animation smoother, you can see the faces move as they talk, and expressions change with mood. When released last year, this was the prettiest game around and it still stands up well today.

Sound
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As I have already mentioned, the music is very good. While you wander around the game's locations the music always sounds as though something really bad is about to happen. It really helps keep up the tension, even during dullest "wander backwards and forwards trying to solve puzzles" moments. Then, when the inevitable Scary Event happens, the music steps up a gear, making you even more nervous! I think that the overall game would be a lot poorer were it not for such a good sound track.

The sound effects are ok too, though they haven't really changed since the ageing Playstation original. Zombies moan, groan and go "splat" when you shoot them. The weapons all have their own sound effect when you fire. Footsteps sound different depending on what you are walking, clanging on metal walkways and thudding on concrete paths. The other baddies have their own spot effects too, though usually little more than variations on the zombie noises.

The voice acting in the movie and cut scene bits is, surprisingly, pretty good. The Resident Evil series is famed for its terrible voices, sounding all too wooden and with pretty poor scripting. This time round the acting is not going to win any Oscars, it's extremely hammy, but more than bearable. The characters do say some cliched and silly thin
gs - does nobody proof-read these scripts? - but that the lines are delivered in more than a monotone, we should be grateful. Oh well, this is a game, not a film, right?

Lastability
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I bought the game when it was released last year, so you could say that it has lasted me a long time. However, I was so annoyed at it the first time through, due to having to restart, that I didn't complete it until recently. Upon completion you are awarded a grade, based on how fast you finished, how often you were eaten and other statistics. I received a rather embarrassing "D" grade ("Quirky must try harder and disrupts other zombies with his talking in class")

The thought of improving your rank may spur you on to play though again, but for me, now it is completed I can't see myself returning to it. There are some bonus mini games for completion too, and I think you get others depending on what your rank is.

Summary
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I am unsure how to mark this game. If you can overcome the irritating parts, then the story, atmosphere and some of the trickier puzzles make it worthwhile. It is split into 2 disks, and this almost divides the level of enjoyment in two as well. The first disk is excellent; I really liked it. The puzzles are better; you feel like you solve them rather than stumble on the solution. Level design seems more complete, varied and better looking. The plot has more sinister twists and there are more scares.

The second disk is not up to the same standard really. The gameplay involves less strategy and more blasting, so if you hadn't saved enough ammo in the first half of the game, you would be stuck. The puzzles are a lot more linear, little more than "take object A to B"; the tricky bit is getting there with so many baddies. Finally, the plot seems to just come to a fizzley end with no real conclusions.

Overall this is a game that you really ought to play.
As part of the Resident Evil series it is probably the best, it certainly looks the part and has some good characters. Just try to ignore the frustrating controls, the familiar puzzles and the occasional bit of hammy acting. Instead enjoy the atmosphere, the plot and the feeling of taking part in your own horror movie.

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