| Resident Evil Code Veronica X Resident Evil is now exclusive to the Gamecube, with the original getting a complete and spectacular overhaul, then what happened with the Code Veronica name, why didn't they give the game a complete overhaul from the Dreamcast version? Is the X the mark of death for the series for the Playstation? No, the X makes it a new game, different names, always make different games these days, but anyways it's still a great game, so enough about the moaning! Claire Redfield returns in search of her brother Chris, who has been missing since the events of the first game, but the stupid girl got herself captured in one of the Umbrella labs, or did she want captured? Maybe, you'll have to play to see. Two other characters also make a return, who both happen to be part of the cast of the original game, the already mentioned Chris Redfield(who is playable for at least half of the game) learns of his sisters (yes, the same surname isn't just a coincidence) location, so he makes a grand entrance up a cliff about half-way through the game in a rescue bid and a cheesy 'take-down' Umbrella attitude. The final returning character was a great surprise when Code Veronica was first released on the Dreamcast all those months back, he was killed by the tyrant on the original game, but resurrected himself with a virus injection before the tyrant produced his bloody death, Albert Wesker betrayed his fellow members, as he was the captain of the S.T.A.R.S team, this was of course all before his death, now he is back as evil as ever, but much stronger, think Terminator or even The Matrix, he is completely unstoppable, or so it seems, he happens to turn out being the best bad guy in ages, with his hatred for Chris, there is nothing but revenge and evil laughter on his mind! While the new cast (always a new cast) includes Steve Burnside(which you control for a couple of minutes or so), a young upstart, but as usual there is more to the character then meets the eye, new villains include twin brother and sister Alfred and Alexia Ashford, who happen to have real strong connections with a certain Umbrella Corporation, said enough! The pre-rendered backgrounds are now replaced by full 3D, resulting in a much more classy horror, cameras swoop around, close-in to the characters, everything feels more real and more solid, as expected from games today, by solid I mean that when the zombies are close to walls, and are shot down, they will slump against the wall looking drunk and dazed, bodies on the ground don't look drawn in to the background anymore, everything looks the same, it's Solid Snap 3D all the way round, for example remember on the earlier instalments, when you could tell which bodies are going to get up, because o1f the difference in 3D and pre-renders. Never has a Resident Evil game looked so good, there is a certain Gothic clouding over most of the locations, which presents a newer and better horror, raging flames and dimly lit lights cast there shadows and lighting over the characters, I was so amazed that I just stood still in the many glows and glooms of the scenery with my mouth on the floor. One small room has a swinging roof light which sets the tension, with each swing it goes from gloom to doom, ahem, I mean glow to gloom, and also shows how fantastic the developers are, thumbs up Capcom. The graphics do have some huge disappointments especially as it had already been released on the Dreamcast, for example the shadows of the controllable characters are so weak in design, they are just little circles underneath their feet, although I shouldn't mention any other console games, but I'm going to anyways, the shadows should have been redone in the style of the original Resident Evil Rebirth on The Gamecube, I'm sure the PS2 is more than capable of such graphics, although the amount of crappy looking games so far is worrying, but remember it's always gameplay that counts, and PS2 can only get better as time moves on, lets hope anyways! Anyone who is familiar with the series will (almost) feel at home here, most of the original controls are intact, with a few minor changes, these changes are for the better I have got to admit, as they are easier to use in certain situations. Pressing Circle and down will spin the character round, allowing you to get out of tight spots(or get in to tight spots, if you are stupid enough), sadly no RE3 dodge move, why couldn't Capcom have added it in to this PS2 version? It would have given the game more of a reason to have an X on the end of the title. The sound is typical Resident Evil in most areas, but I can gladly say that the acting has changed a lot for the better, ok some of the lines sound dodgy, some you can't hear because of the music, but on the whole it's very impressive, although not up to Oscar winning standards yet! Page 2 |