WARNING: OPEN SPOILERS BELOW!!!
So, Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X. I've heard a lot about this game over the years, some of it good...most of it bad, but let me get this right out the way and say that I loved this game. Yes I know; Steve is bad blah blah blah...
I don't care. Steve's great (after a little while), but let's talk about him later.
I'm a pretty big Resident Evil fan. I've played a large amount of them over the years starting with Resident Evil 4 back in 2005 and a couple are even in my top 10 games of all time, but one game that's always somehow escaped me is this one. I don't know why I never played Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X over the years, I had plenty of opportunities to play it but for some reason never did. Now that I've finished the game and had a moment to breathe and reflect on the game, I'm mad that I never did play it. At least I finally did the game justice and played it. I know everyone has their own thoughts, but let me say this right now; this is the most underrated RE game, and I'm hopefully going to tell you why.
So, with the intro out the way, let's talk about the game itself;
OK, first things first; this game is tough. Probably the toughest RE game I've played (and I've played a lot of them). Movement can be pretty tricky if you're rusty with tank controls which can really fuck you up if you're not careful. Zombie's bite radius are also really unforgiving. There were plenty of times where I found myself swearing at my TV because I was certain I'd manage to move around that zombie only to get grabbed. There are also plenty of other enemies that can really screw you over in this game; Bandersnatches can hit you from afar with their elongated arms, Hunters and Seekers can claw your ass to death no matter how confident you are that you can outrun them etc. etc. Also, fuck the moth hallway. If you know what the moth hallway is then you'll hopefully agree with my sentiment of 'fuck the moth hallway'. Enemies aside, I found that ammo could be pretty hard to find at times (though I don't know if this was just me) and there were a worrying lack of typewriters and item boxes as I neared the end of the game. I might be coming across as complaining here (and I'm sorry if I am) but I actually liked how tough this game was. I'm not often one to go after a challenge (I'm quite the opposite actually) but something about having so little health/supplies/ammo and conquering a tough section of the game was super rewarding.
In terms of locations, I really liked Rockfort Island. It was a really interesting location that I felt had a ton to see and do. The whole place just had this huge 'death' vibe that I feel really added to the overall atmosphere of the base. I also really liked the Palace area (reminded me of the Spencer Mansion which I assume was intentional). It took me a bit to warm up to Antarctica (pun intended btw) but once I did I also thought it was a really cool location (again, pun intended). I really liked how so much of the area in Antarctica was just falling apart due to all the workers being either dead or zombiefied. Something that I think was funny was when I went into the bedrooms in Antarctica and legitimately thought that I had somehow transported all the way back to Rockfort due to how the rooms were exactly the same in both locations lol. I enjoyed the puzzles in both locations for the most part, though some did feel very 'back-track-y' which doesn't bother me really (though I was annoyed at having to go all the way back to get Alexander's earring). One thing I *really* liked was starting puzzles as Claire only to finish them as Chris. I thought this was an awesome touch and really made some of the puzzles more interesting for me.
Bosses were either fairly tough or laughably easy (mostly the former). Stuff like the giant spider in the ice seemed daunting at first, but I admit I couldn't help but laugh when I literally walked around it, picked up the item I needed to get only to walk back around the spider and leave the area without taking any damage or firing a single shot. On the other hand, the Nosferatu fight was so annoying/stressful that I actually had to stop playing the game for a day because I just needed a breather lol (I'd also like to point out I mistakenly used almost everything I had in the Tyrant plane fight which resulted in making things a lot tougher than they needed to be later on). The final fight with Alexia was also a lot easier thanks to a helpful tip from a user in the RE era discord (thanks kc44135!) but I still enjoyed it. I was a little disappointing that the fight with Wesker was just a cut-scene but at the same time I was so relieved to have finished the game that I was happy to just watch the fight instead of fight myself (though I think not fighting Wesker and saving it for RE5 was a great idea).
Claire's section was probably my least favourite part of the game even though I still really liked it. I felt like it started a bit slow despite the awesome opening cut scene which I wish was actually part of the game (but that's something they can add in a possible remake I guess). Claire herself was pretty good in this game, showing herself to be pretty independent and level-headed at times compared to the over the top Steve. Her confrontations with Alfred were some of the best parts of the game imo (along with Alfred being one of the best characters in the game, but we'll get to that) and knowing that this only takes place three months after she survived Raccoon City makes her seem even more badass.
The game really started to pick up for me when I started playing as Chris. I'm not the biggest Chris fan (I like him but I prefer a couple of other characters in the series over him) but I liked him here. His focus being not on Umbrella but on just finding his sister and escaping was a nice breathe of fresh air seeing as his main motivations kind of slipped to just beating Umbrella/Wesker/Tricell/Carla and less about his friends and family in the later games. In relation with this, I really liked how even after knowing that Wesker was alive and after the t-Veronica virus Chris's one and only goal was to rescue Claire. It's a side of Chris that I really like and I wish more RE games would show their relationship more (this is also the first and so far only game to feature both Chris and Claire in a story together which I think is a HUGE shame and needs to be rectified ASAP).
Wesker was awesome in this game (as he is in every game) and his reveal was really well done. I can't imagine how this must have been like back in 2000, thinking that Wesker died in RE1 only to see him just stroll up to Claire wearing all black-leather. I'd have lost my shit if I was into RE back then (I would also have been 4 years old so pretty much everything would have made me loose my shit back then lol). It was kind of weird at first seeing Wesker as a side character and not the main villain, but I enjoyed seeing him slinking through the shadows, only appearing when he feels the need to. This was also a great set-up to Wesker and Chris's confrontation in RE5 (like I mentioned earlier). Their last lines of "next time" was so cool and honestly makes me wish I'd played this before RE5 but oh well, at least it's still effective.
Alfred was awesome in this game. The reveal that he was actually cross-dressing as Alexia in the beginning of the game was so good that it really threw me for a loop.
(here's my reaction to it that I posted in the RE discord as it happened)
I was kind of bummed when Alfred died as I really wanted more from him, but what I got from him was enough to cement him as one of my favourite RE villains.
Alexia on the other hand was fairly 'meh' to me. I liked her and Alfred's sibling bond but I feel like I only got that relationship through Alfred and not Alexia. The only thing I really got from Alexia was that she was a genius and incredibly dangerous thanks to the t-Veronica virus, which felt pretty weak compared to Alfred who was a legitimate psychopath. As a villain I feel like Alexia did very little to actually harm Claire and Chris other than inject Steve with the virus (which I know is a huge thing but I still feel like it wasn't enough to actually justify her as the main villain). Her mutations were still pretty cool though with the whole bug motif. It's not my favourite final boss mutation but I still think it was good.
Now then, on to the man of the hour:
Steve Burnside. The man. The myth. The fucking LEGEND. OK, he's not that great but the number one thing I heard the most about CODE: Veronica was that Steve was an insufferable little shit and that fighting him as a mutant would be the most satisfying part of the game aaaaaaaaaand...I couldn't disagree more. Now before you light your torches and sharpen your pitchforks, let me say this first; Steve is annoying...at the start of CODE: Veronica. His hot-blooded nature, insistence on being Claire's hero and goofy high-pitched voice are all elements that absolutely make me see why people find him annoying. To me though, I found him funny at first. His child-like storming off after telling Claire not to rely on people audibly made me laugh out loud and his 12 year old-like Canadian voice would get a snigger out of me every now and then, but after seeing Steve reluctantly shoot his zombiefied Father, the last member of his family he still had hope was alive, and completely break down; I felt for him. This was the part of the game where Steve turned around for me. I started to see his vain attempts at trying to impress Claire as him legitimately trying to find a way out for both of them. Yes he probably did grow too attached to Claire too quickly, but I really do think Steve wanted to do his best and protect the only other person who was friend through all this. Steve had failed to protect his Mother, he'd failed to protect his Father and he'd be damned if he was going to fail to protect Claire. I mean, Steve literally took bullets for Claire in this game for christsake. Another thing to note is that Steve is 17 years old in this game, he's literally a teenager fighting for his life through all this. I don't blame him for getting attached to Claire so easily. Seeing Steve turn into a mutant was pretty sad. I knew it was coming, but I was really hoping this goofy teenager would still make his way through this. But Steve still managing to protect Claire despite being infected by the t-Veronica virus was an awesome moment and really wrapped up his arc in this game nicely (despite, y'know, dying). I don't expect many people to suddenly start liking Steve after reading all this, but if even one person is willing to give him another chance then I'd be pretty happy.
And I've just realised how long this OP is! Woops lol! If you read the whole thing then thanks, I'm glad you did. If you didn't read everything then I don't blame you tbh. Here's a quick too long, didn't read for you!
tl;dr: Game's fucking good. Play it again if you haven't in awhile.
So, Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X. I've heard a lot about this game over the years, some of it good...most of it bad, but let me get this right out the way and say that I loved this game. Yes I know; Steve is bad blah blah blah...
I don't care. Steve's great (after a little while), but let's talk about him later.
I'm a pretty big Resident Evil fan. I've played a large amount of them over the years starting with Resident Evil 4 back in 2005 and a couple are even in my top 10 games of all time, but one game that's always somehow escaped me is this one. I don't know why I never played Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X over the years, I had plenty of opportunities to play it but for some reason never did. Now that I've finished the game and had a moment to breathe and reflect on the game, I'm mad that I never did play it. At least I finally did the game justice and played it. I know everyone has their own thoughts, but let me say this right now; this is the most underrated RE game, and I'm hopefully going to tell you why.
So, with the intro out the way, let's talk about the game itself;
OK, first things first; this game is tough. Probably the toughest RE game I've played (and I've played a lot of them). Movement can be pretty tricky if you're rusty with tank controls which can really fuck you up if you're not careful. Zombie's bite radius are also really unforgiving. There were plenty of times where I found myself swearing at my TV because I was certain I'd manage to move around that zombie only to get grabbed. There are also plenty of other enemies that can really screw you over in this game; Bandersnatches can hit you from afar with their elongated arms, Hunters and Seekers can claw your ass to death no matter how confident you are that you can outrun them etc. etc. Also, fuck the moth hallway. If you know what the moth hallway is then you'll hopefully agree with my sentiment of 'fuck the moth hallway'. Enemies aside, I found that ammo could be pretty hard to find at times (though I don't know if this was just me) and there were a worrying lack of typewriters and item boxes as I neared the end of the game. I might be coming across as complaining here (and I'm sorry if I am) but I actually liked how tough this game was. I'm not often one to go after a challenge (I'm quite the opposite actually) but something about having so little health/supplies/ammo and conquering a tough section of the game was super rewarding.
In terms of locations, I really liked Rockfort Island. It was a really interesting location that I felt had a ton to see and do. The whole place just had this huge 'death' vibe that I feel really added to the overall atmosphere of the base. I also really liked the Palace area (reminded me of the Spencer Mansion which I assume was intentional). It took me a bit to warm up to Antarctica (pun intended btw) but once I did I also thought it was a really cool location (again, pun intended). I really liked how so much of the area in Antarctica was just falling apart due to all the workers being either dead or zombiefied. Something that I think was funny was when I went into the bedrooms in Antarctica and legitimately thought that I had somehow transported all the way back to Rockfort due to how the rooms were exactly the same in both locations lol. I enjoyed the puzzles in both locations for the most part, though some did feel very 'back-track-y' which doesn't bother me really (though I was annoyed at having to go all the way back to get Alexander's earring). One thing I *really* liked was starting puzzles as Claire only to finish them as Chris. I thought this was an awesome touch and really made some of the puzzles more interesting for me.
Bosses were either fairly tough or laughably easy (mostly the former). Stuff like the giant spider in the ice seemed daunting at first, but I admit I couldn't help but laugh when I literally walked around it, picked up the item I needed to get only to walk back around the spider and leave the area without taking any damage or firing a single shot. On the other hand, the Nosferatu fight was so annoying/stressful that I actually had to stop playing the game for a day because I just needed a breather lol (I'd also like to point out I mistakenly used almost everything I had in the Tyrant plane fight which resulted in making things a lot tougher than they needed to be later on). The final fight with Alexia was also a lot easier thanks to a helpful tip from a user in the RE era discord (thanks kc44135!) but I still enjoyed it. I was a little disappointing that the fight with Wesker was just a cut-scene but at the same time I was so relieved to have finished the game that I was happy to just watch the fight instead of fight myself (though I think not fighting Wesker and saving it for RE5 was a great idea).
Claire's section was probably my least favourite part of the game even though I still really liked it. I felt like it started a bit slow despite the awesome opening cut scene which I wish was actually part of the game (but that's something they can add in a possible remake I guess). Claire herself was pretty good in this game, showing herself to be pretty independent and level-headed at times compared to the over the top Steve. Her confrontations with Alfred were some of the best parts of the game imo (along with Alfred being one of the best characters in the game, but we'll get to that) and knowing that this only takes place three months after she survived Raccoon City makes her seem even more badass.
The game really started to pick up for me when I started playing as Chris. I'm not the biggest Chris fan (I like him but I prefer a couple of other characters in the series over him) but I liked him here. His focus being not on Umbrella but on just finding his sister and escaping was a nice breathe of fresh air seeing as his main motivations kind of slipped to just beating Umbrella/Wesker/Tricell/Carla and less about his friends and family in the later games. In relation with this, I really liked how even after knowing that Wesker was alive and after the t-Veronica virus Chris's one and only goal was to rescue Claire. It's a side of Chris that I really like and I wish more RE games would show their relationship more (this is also the first and so far only game to feature both Chris and Claire in a story together which I think is a HUGE shame and needs to be rectified ASAP).
Wesker was awesome in this game (as he is in every game) and his reveal was really well done. I can't imagine how this must have been like back in 2000, thinking that Wesker died in RE1 only to see him just stroll up to Claire wearing all black-leather. I'd have lost my shit if I was into RE back then (I would also have been 4 years old so pretty much everything would have made me loose my shit back then lol). It was kind of weird at first seeing Wesker as a side character and not the main villain, but I enjoyed seeing him slinking through the shadows, only appearing when he feels the need to. This was also a great set-up to Wesker and Chris's confrontation in RE5 (like I mentioned earlier). Their last lines of "next time" was so cool and honestly makes me wish I'd played this before RE5 but oh well, at least it's still effective.
Alfred was awesome in this game. The reveal that he was actually cross-dressing as Alexia in the beginning of the game was so good that it really threw me for a loop.
(here's my reaction to it that I posted in the RE discord as it happened)
I was kind of bummed when Alfred died as I really wanted more from him, but what I got from him was enough to cement him as one of my favourite RE villains.
Alexia on the other hand was fairly 'meh' to me. I liked her and Alfred's sibling bond but I feel like I only got that relationship through Alfred and not Alexia. The only thing I really got from Alexia was that she was a genius and incredibly dangerous thanks to the t-Veronica virus, which felt pretty weak compared to Alfred who was a legitimate psychopath. As a villain I feel like Alexia did very little to actually harm Claire and Chris other than inject Steve with the virus (which I know is a huge thing but I still feel like it wasn't enough to actually justify her as the main villain). Her mutations were still pretty cool though with the whole bug motif. It's not my favourite final boss mutation but I still think it was good.
Now then, on to the man of the hour:
Steve Burnside. The man. The myth. The fucking LEGEND. OK, he's not that great but the number one thing I heard the most about CODE: Veronica was that Steve was an insufferable little shit and that fighting him as a mutant would be the most satisfying part of the game aaaaaaaaaand...I couldn't disagree more. Now before you light your torches and sharpen your pitchforks, let me say this first; Steve is annoying...at the start of CODE: Veronica. His hot-blooded nature, insistence on being Claire's hero and goofy high-pitched voice are all elements that absolutely make me see why people find him annoying. To me though, I found him funny at first. His child-like storming off after telling Claire not to rely on people audibly made me laugh out loud and his 12 year old-like Canadian voice would get a snigger out of me every now and then, but after seeing Steve reluctantly shoot his zombiefied Father, the last member of his family he still had hope was alive, and completely break down; I felt for him. This was the part of the game where Steve turned around for me. I started to see his vain attempts at trying to impress Claire as him legitimately trying to find a way out for both of them. Yes he probably did grow too attached to Claire too quickly, but I really do think Steve wanted to do his best and protect the only other person who was friend through all this. Steve had failed to protect his Mother, he'd failed to protect his Father and he'd be damned if he was going to fail to protect Claire. I mean, Steve literally took bullets for Claire in this game for christsake. Another thing to note is that Steve is 17 years old in this game, he's literally a teenager fighting for his life through all this. I don't blame him for getting attached to Claire so easily. Seeing Steve turn into a mutant was pretty sad. I knew it was coming, but I was really hoping this goofy teenager would still make his way through this. But Steve still managing to protect Claire despite being infected by the t-Veronica virus was an awesome moment and really wrapped up his arc in this game nicely (despite, y'know, dying). I don't expect many people to suddenly start liking Steve after reading all this, but if even one person is willing to give him another chance then I'd be pretty happy.
And I've just realised how long this OP is! Woops lol! If you read the whole thing then thanks, I'm glad you did. If you didn't read everything then I don't blame you tbh. Here's a quick too long, didn't read for you!
tl;dr: Game's fucking good. Play it again if you haven't in awhile.
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