Resident Evil: Code Veronica X
Capcom - 2001
Continuing the story of Claire Redfield's search for her brother 
Chris, RE:CVX is the fourth game in the main RE series.  Three months 
after the Racoon City incident, Claire has traveled to Paris and 
infiltrated an Umbrella Inc. research facility to find her brother.  
After a wicked chase she is captured and sent to an unknown island 
(presumably near the equator), which is a prison and military training 
facility for Umbrella Inc.  Shortly after her arrival, the island is 
attacked and the T-virus is leaked, creating another zombie situation 
that Claire must escape, with the help of another survivor, Steve 
Burnside.

With appearances from Chris Redfield and Albert Wesker, this game 
really should have just been called Resident Evil 4, being a major 
part of the series and not an offshoot such as RE Survivor, RE Dead 
Aim, and RE Outbreak.  As part of the game's marketing phase, everyone 
that pre-ordered the game received a DVD called "Wesker's Report".  
This DVD was actually the Rosetta Stone for the RE series, explaining 
everything that happened in RE 1 and 2 (3 was practically an offshoot 
of the series).  It explained that Albert Wesker did not die at the 
end of RE1 and why.  His appearance in RECVX almost doesn't make sense 
if you didn't get the DVD (you can find it on youtube though).  
However, the game does work if you didn't see it or if you haven't 
played any other Resident Evil.

So let's hit that scoreboard.
Graphics-
Characters - Claire Redfield is an excellent example of a female game 
character.  She is very realistic in her character design (properly 
proportioned and clothed).  Steve Burnside, however, is kinda off.  
First of all, he's been on the prison island long enough to have been 
given the prisoner uniform.  Also, he has this awkward choker that 
looks like either a bomb or a shock collar.  Your enemies are a bit 
blocky, but they work.  Major enemies could have used a bit more work 
(the Nosferatu, for example).  Over all, I'm going to say 7/10 points 
on characters:  Average for the time.
Environment - For the first time in the main RE games, the background 
was not a pre-rendered environment.  Rather, the environment was 
completely 3D so that objects, characters, and enemies did not stand 
out like a jock at a Trekkie convention.  Given that the old style of 
graphics worked (and made an appearance in the RE1 remake for the 
Gamecube), this is a pretty big accomplishment for Capcom.  However, 
it's hard to enjoy the scenery when the camera angles leave you blind.  
Far too many times does the camera not change when you move around a 
corner, which Capcom loves to hide zombies in those corners.  Also, 
the fog levels are turned up way too high a lot of the time, so you 
can't see very far at all (see Abilities for my rant on the sniper 
rifle).  It looks good, but you can't see it, so I'm tossing up a 
6/10.
Boundaries - Honestly, I have no complaints about the boundaries.  I 
can't really recall any invisible walls that you get snagged on, but 
there are moments where you might get attacked because the boundaries 
on characters/enemies aren't perfect.  I give an 8/10.
Smoothness - Okay, so if you stop and start turning, Claire does not 
step.  You just turn and there is absolutely no movement aside from 
the rotation of Claire.  Graphics are a little jumpy here and there, 
and sometimes movements just look silly (mostly smooth, but the 
movement itself is off).  We'll call a 6/10.
Cinematics - The cut scenes look pretty good, considering the time.  
There are a lot short bits of you not controlling the characters for 
brief moments of dialogue and such, which definately don't look as 
good.  The actions are a little choppy, but all in all, it's average 
for it's time.  7/10
=Graphics (34/50)
Sounds-
SFX - Zombie moans, check.  Claire getting hurt, check.  Gunshots, 
check.  Footsteps for every type of surface that are far too loud and 
incredibly annoying, check.  Honestly, you just want to stop moving 
because of the footsteps.  The gunshots are pretty weak sounding, like 
every gun is a pea-shooter.  I think my BB gun sounded more powerful 
than their grenade launcher SFX.  Overall, 5/10...  In general, they 
should have put more work into the sound.
Music - The actual music score is pretty neat, though it sounds a lot 
like a rip off of several songs from RE2.  Where they really screwed 
up is when they decided to go with the synthetic orchestra.  Yeah, it 
sounds of .midi quality.  This is something that they just didn't 
spend the money on, and it's annoying hearing the "choir".  5/10.
Environment - Throughout the entire game almost, there is a humming of 
a generator...  It works though.  There aren't any random zombie moans 
off in the distance, no birds chirping/hooting/calling on the island, 
and there's just a general lack of effects.  At least you don't have 
to worry about a zombie being around when there isn't one though.  
6/10.
=Sound (16/30)
Gameplay-
Controls - If you haven't played an RE game before, you'd be kinda 
pissed with the controls.  Capcom originally planned out the controls 
to be 1st person from a 3rd person perspective.  That means that the 
controls act as if you were seeing through your character's eyes, but 
in actuality, the camera is off to the side.  Also, the only way to 
reload (aside from running out of ammo and trying to fire again) is to 
go into the menu and combine ammo with gun.  3/5.
Story - Claire is searching for her brother, gets caught, and winds up 
in a crazy zombie situation...  Escape.  Simple enough.  However, you 
learn more about the story from Wesker's Report than you do the actual 
game.  Anywho, the real problem is that Claire is trying to find her 
brother, right?  So why does she email Leon to get in contact with 
Chris to tell Chris where the island is and that she needs a rescue?  
It just kinda kills it all right there with that emailing Leon to have 
Chris come save her.  The entire situation could have been avoided, 
but it wasn't.  As for the resolution, Wesker shows up, gets samples 
of the viruses that are floating around, and Chris and Claire fly away 
to take out Umbrella...  The end...?  I'll give it some points for 
effort though, and that the way everything actually unfolds in the 
middle almost makes sense.  3/10
Believability - I will tell you right now, 0/15.  Okay, the military 
installation is attacked and falls within 30 seconds.  The T-virus 
leaks out during the fight, and zombies are everywhere.  Claire emails 
Leon to get to Chris.  There are these Stretch-Armstrong monsters that 
are just kinda there.  Did I mention that HUNK, the most badass of 
badasses was trained at this island?  Here's the real fun that I 
always rant about for this game:  You escape the island via an 
emergency escape plane, which requires three plaques in order to even 
get on the plane.  The first plaque is just lying on the ground near 
the palace (yeah, the palace) beyond the prison and military 
installation (on the western side of the island).  The second plaque 
is hidden somewhere (I always forget where to find it) within the 
military training facility (which is on the eastern side of the 
island).  The third is the best part.  It's hidden on top of a 
bookshelf in the secret room of the personal mansion of the person in 
charge  of the island (Alfred Ashford), which you can only get to by 
going through a secret door in Ashford's personal office, which is 
locked with a special lock that is unlocked by placing two golden 
lugers in the door, which all this is in the palace.  As if that 
weren't enough (and there are several other ridiculous keys/puzzles 
like that), there is one bowgun on the entire island.  One bowgun, and 
around 500 bolts for it.  They come in quivers of 30, so if you feel 
like doing the math, that's great...  Either way, it comes out to way 
too many bolts.  If I were allowing myself, I would probably go into 
the negatives with this score. 0/15
Playability - Let me put it this way:  I haven't played it all the way 
through again.  It's really not much of a fun game...  It's just kind 
of there.  It almost feels like a chore while playing it, and the 
whole reason you play is to beat it.  It's one of those games that's 
entertaining, but not really that much fun.  I'll give it 12/20.
Replayability - (see above).  After you beat the game, you can play a 
bonus game that's unlocked.  It's a run and gun type thing where each 
door takes you to another area, and you go up against a boss at the 
end.  You can choose between Claire, Chris, Steve, and Wesker, and 
it's mildly entertaining (you can even do a first person view).  There 
may be more to unlock in the game that I don't know about, but as it 
stands, replaying the main game is boring as hell, but the bonus game 
might be worth playing another time or two. 6/10
Multiplayer - Being a single player game, it's not for multiplayer.  
However, the bonus game is very entertaining to watch and take turns 
with (especially with Wesker, who only has a knife).  The main game is 
mildly entertaining to watch.  It's pretty much what would be expected 
of a single player game. 7/10
Abilities - Really, your abilities would be considered your weapons, 
all of which are guns of varying power and use.  Here's some notable 
things.  The Handgun - The gun that Capcom calls the handgun this time 
around actually has a lever that, when held down, allows for fully 
automatic fire.  This comes from Josh, and it upset him that Capcom 
didn't portray this weapon correctly.  The Sniper Rifle - You get this 
bolt action rifle from Alfred Ashford eventually (which he fires 
without reloading it, shame on you Capcom) and really only use it once 
against Nosferatu...  However, you use it in the heaviest fog in the 
game, so it's practically pointless.  Your greatest weapon is 
discretion.  If you don't have to kill the zombies, don't. All in all, 
there's like no difference at all, and no abilities.  The weapons you 
do have aren't true to life, and they don't vary enough.  3/10
Length - Honestly, this game is just too long.  The first time I ever 
saw the game, we thought it was over at the end of disc one (Rob 
failed to mention the second disc).  It just kinda drags on after that 
point.  It's not ridiculous though. 6/10
Concept - This game is obviously from the RE series in that it feels 
the same as RE0, 1, 2, and 3.  There are zombies, you need to survive, 
there are doors locked with special keys, and you have to push things 
around.  It's pretty much the exact same game as the ones before it, 
but it works.  6/10
Script - Terrible.  Terrible to the point that I sometimes want to 
skip cinemas...  It's mainly Steve that says stupid things without 
reason...  Still though, it's pretty annoying when people talk, and 
Steve's voice bugs me...  And there's a reason why I nicknamed Ashford 
as Alfred Queerfellow.  He's got an incredibly high pitched voice and 
a rather annoying laugh.  Also, it just doesn't make sense why 
characters leave.  They just do. 4/10
=Gameplay (50/110)
Other - Okay, this game is pretty crappy and really dumb.  First of 
all, the title really should have just been Resident Evil 4.  After 
that bit, we run into the constant splitting up of Steve and Claire.  
That's retarded, especially since Steve runs off without a weapon 
several times.  Then there's the rumble feature...  At times in the 
game, the loading screen (which is whatever door or set of stairs or 
ladder you're moving through or past) will slow down, a heartbeat will 
play and it will rumble with the heartbeat.  At first, it was pretty 
neat, but then they wouldn't stop doing it.  Other random plot holes 
that I fail to mention or just don't remember are taking another 
point.  And lastly, Steve takes one more point away.  Why?  When 
operating some machinery near a gas line, he gets distracted by Claire 
and starts staring at her, which causes him to hit the gas line.  Boy, 
there ain't no booty that fine that you screw up your plans for escape 
from a zombie situation.  In a zombie situation, booty comes after 
survival.  2/10

Total Score = 102/200 = 51% = F

This game is a failure that looks good, that's all there is to it.