It's almost an improvement over the original but discard the Light Gun controller for the game's control scheme and.....
Game Title: Resident Evil Survivor 2 CODE: Veronica
Platform: PlayStation 2
Developer: Capcom Production Studio 3/Namco
Publisher: Capcom
Genre: First Person Shooter/Light Gun Shooter
Age Rating: ELSPA: 15+
Release Date: February 8th 2002 (Europe)
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Game Score: 4.0/10
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Summery:
It's almost an improvement over the original but discard the Light Gun controller for the game's control scheme and also it's still mediocre at best.
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Before the release of Code Veronica there was a Resident Evil spin-off called Gun Survivor. It eventually became one of worst reviewed games in the series because of it's bad control scheme, broken English and it's issues when using the Light Gun. A year later a squeal does come afterwards which was released in Arcades before being ported to the PlayStation 2. Enter Resident Evil Survivor 2 CODE: Veronica which takes place in the same place as, what else? CODE: Veronica.
In the Arcade Mode you play as either Claire Redfield or Steve Burnside as they attempt to escape Rockfort Island which is swarming with infected monsters before the whole island detonates or RE3's boss Nemesis showing up to kill you. There is also a Trial Mode where you can play any of the Arcade Game's 5 Stages as you desire.
First up is the gameplay controls, the game takes place in a First person shooter with mostly the controls improved. You can move around and strafe freely, change weapons easier and also not bother to reload as your handgun has unlimited ammo while other guns you can pickup has a percentage of ammunition.
It's not to say that the game is nearly better then the original. In the arcade version of the game the machine used a mounted gun where you can shift it left or right to strafe in that the direction, turning the gun turns your character, shifting the gun forward or backward will move the character in that direction and of course you had the trigger for firing. For this control scheme it fells more of a near version of Doom at it's core but however it's worsened by Light Gun Support.
You can use both the G-Con 45 or G-Con 2 but both of their setups no matter what you pick are worthless. Not only does the G-Con 45 have less button to make it playable with it but turning and strafing is just uncomfortable to handle when you got to take your trigger onto the B button. Your better of with the Standard Controller but some of the control schemes feel like your playing old FPS title on the PS1 aside from the last control schemes which fells much better.
The Arcade game has a Time Limit in which running out of time makes RE3's Nemesis run loose and attack the players. This was a feature that helped to prevent players from staying on the machine for to long, that means that you really need to get a move on before you'll meet your end by it.
There are power ups like Machine Guns, Shotguns, Magnums, Rocket Launchers and a few others. Some of the weapons become exclusive to one character while other weapons go to the other character. You'll also have to find First Aid Kits and Healing Herbs to keep your health up as dying will reset your score to 0 when continuing as well as a dropped Shotgun.
At the end of each stage you'll have a boss fight and beating a stage will give you a results screen based on your performance. You'll gain extra points for not taking a hit or beating a stage with just the regular handgun. The Arcade Mode is decent but only lasts for about 45 minutes and the time trial stages aren't that interesting.
Then you got extra modes like Dungeon. Dungeon Mode as you playing through 3 selected stages with different missions to play. These include simply going through the stage and defeat the boss, collecting all jewels, getting a maximum combo and so on. The levels are interesting but however gains problems after you beat the first mission of each stage. Missions tend to get annoying with objectives that just add frustration, on top of that each of the objectives are the same for the unlocked stages which means each stage you play will get tedious and repetitive quickly.
Beating some of the Dungeon Stages will unlock Roach Mode where you simply breeze through 5 quick stages of blasting tiny Roaches that are in the room. It's simple but at least it's downright fun when you can shoot those disgusting things. Hate them in real life? Why not shoot them down in this game.
Resident Evil Survivor 2's graphics are very poor and almost N64 level with the exception of the models which like Code Veronica X are superb. Areas from Code Veronica have had some parts of the map swapped around on the map so gamers who played Code Veronica before playing this will find it confusing. Weapon models stick out for some reason and also animations fell a bit stiff and jerky at times on top of the games framerate which can drop considerably. The soundtrack and sound effects are taken from Code Veronica for the most part and there is no voice acting what-so-ever aside from the character select screen where a character will say only one word upon selected.
The game has some improved mechanics but the G-Con controls make the game a chore to handle then provide an experience. Dungeon Mode has some decent ideas but missions can get repetitive and some frustration involved. The Two Player mode sadly never made it into this game unlike some Arcade units and to be honest it's still not recommended. If you've got Resident Evil Code Veronica then you be really disappointed in buying this. It's still mediocre at best and there is really no need to use the Light Gun for this game at all.
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The Good Points:
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1. Improved control scheme, at least for the controller
2. Roach Mode is downright fun
The Bad Points:
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1. Light Gun Controls is uncomfortable and pointless
2. Dungeon Mode Missions are lacking and repetitive
3. N64 Like graphics
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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