Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Resident Evil Code: Veronica X

Written by Kyle Williams on August 15, 2001

First Impressions: Only George Romero knows zombies better than Capcom.

There are only a select few video games that have completely spawned new genres of game play. Doom really kicked the FPS (First person shooter) into gear, Command & Conquer pushed the RTS (Real time strategy) into the limelight, and Resident Evil served to champion the idea of survival horror. Since it debuted five years ago, Resident Evil has spawned a slew of clones, ranging from Parasite Eve to Silent Hill. Because of its reputation, new Resident Evil games have always been worth paying attention to, it is just a shame that Resident Evil Code: Veronica X is not promising anything new. When it releases next week, REC: VX will bring the Dreamcast chapter of the Resident Evil series to the PS2.

The one thing about this game that is cooling off the hype that typically surrounds an RE title is the fact that we've seen most of it before. The gameplay has hardly changed since RE2 and is starting to fall below the bar set by the latest action/horror titles. The upside is that REC: VX is done in full 3D instead of the static pre-rendered engine of the past RE games, which will please graphics fans. However, the fact that most people have already played the exact same game on the Dreamcast months ago makes the game harder to get too excited about, except the RE diehards. In its favor though, more of the same isn't always a bad thing. The previous chapters of this story have been, at times, both frightening and exciting. This title will give us non-DC users a chance to play the latest segment of the series.

While Code: Veronica X is essentially a direct port of the DC title, there will be a few tweaks to the game for the PS2. In game cut scenes are getting the graphics fine-tuned, with all of the models having their polygon count pushed up. The story is also getting beefed up a little bit, with additional plotlines being added and 10 minutes of new cut scene footage being produced to help back the new story threads up. These new features should be enough to coax a rental out of those that played through the DC version and, for the die-hard zombie hunter, provide another great romp through the infamous RE environment.