Resident Evil Code: Veronica
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Resident Evil Code: Veronica<tr><td colspan="2" style="font-size: 100%; text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
| |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Nex Entertainment.
<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)</th><td>Capcom |
| Release date(s) | Sega Dreamcast: Image:Flag of Japan.svg February 3, 2000 Image:Flag of the United States.svg March 29, 2000 Image:European flag.svg May 26, 2000 Image:Flag of Japan.svg March 22 2001 (Complete Edition) Sony PlayStation 2: Image:Flag of Japan.svg March 22 2001 Image:Flag of the United States.svg August 22 2001 Image:European flag.svg September 14 2001 Nintendo GameCube: Image:Flag of Japan.svg August 7 2003 Image:Flag of the United States.svg December 3 2003 Image:European flag.svg March 12 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Survival horror |
| Mode(s) | Single player
<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)</th><td>ESRB: (M) Mature |
| Platform(s) | Sega Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 Nintendo GameCube
<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Media</th><td>2 x GD-ROMs (Dreamcast) |
Resident Evil Code: Veronica<ref>The name of 'RECV' released in Japan is Biohazard Code: Veronica, and 'Code: Veronica X' is Biohazard Code: Veronica Complete Edition.</ref>, commonly abbreviated RECV, is the fourth game in Capcom's Resident Evil survival horror series originally released for the Sega Dreamcast in 2000. An updated version of the game titled Resident Evil Code: Veronica X was released for the Sega Dreamcast (Japan only) and Sony PlayStation 2 in 2001 and the Nintendo GameCube in 2003.
It was the first game in the series made for a sixth generation console, and also the first main game (as opposed to side-story games) in the series, prior to the release of Resident Evil 4, to use full polygonal environments over the static, pre-rendered backgrounds that characterized the series. The cinematic possibilities presented by this were almost entirely left unexplored, as the gameplay and static camera angles remained largely unchanged, and only a few minor differences were introduced.
While not a numbered Resident Evil sequel, Code: Veronica picks up three months after the events of Resident Evil 2, continuing heroine Claire Redfield's search for her missing brother, Chris. The game is often considered to be the true sequel to Resident Evil 2 over the actual numbered Resident Evil 3, which was more of a side-story set during the events of the second game. The storyline reveals some of the more sordid secrets of the Umbrella Corporation, as well as the existence of a rival corporation which are also developing their own bio-weapons.
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[edit] Story
Set three months after the events of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil: Nemesis , the story begins with heroine Claire Redfield raiding one of Umbrella's headquarters. She ends up being pursued by the security team and is eventually taken captive by Rodrigo Juan Raval and sent to a remote prison on Rockfort Island, which is owned by Umbrella.
However, shortly after her imprisonment, the island is suddenly attacked by an unknown force and becomes contaminated with the T-Virus. During the outbreak, Claire is released from her cell by a sympathetic Rodrigo and she teams up with fellow prisoner Steve Burnside. During their exploration of the nearby Military Facility, the two are hunted down by the head of the facility, Alfred Ashford. Claire briefly encounters the former commander of S.T.A.R.S., Albert Wesker, now revived and red-eyed, and working for one of Umbrella's competitors. He is intent on exacting revenge on Claire's brother, Chris.
Claire and Steve manage to find an escape plane, only to realize that the plane was programmed to land at Umbrella's secret laboratory in Antarctica. Within the lab, Claire and Steve battle against Alfred one last time, who sets Nosferatu (formerly Alfred's father Alexander) on them. Claire manages to destroy the creature's exposed heart, effectively killing it. While mortally injured during his struggle, Alfred watches as his twin sister Alexia is released from cryogenic sleep, and then dies from his wounds. Alexia captures both Claire and Steve.
The second half of the story begins with Claire's brother, Chris, arriving on Rockfort Island after receiving information about his sister's captivity. Immediately upon his arriving, Chris encounters an injured Rodrigo and is informed that Claire has already left the island and is in the lab in Antarctica. Shortly afterwards, Rodrigo is eaten by the Gulp Worm. This takes place unless Claire killed it before. While exploring the facility, Chris is confronted by his former commander, Albert Wesker. Wesker fought Chris briefly and overpowered him before being interrupted by one of the facility's B.O.Ws.
Chris eventually finds his way to Antarctica and is reunited with Claire. The two are then briefly separated by Alexia again. While fighting Alexia, Claire finds Steve confined in a nearby hallway. Unfortunately, Steve has been injected by the T-Veronica virus by Alexia and is transformed into a raging mutant, and gives chase to Claire. Eventually, Steve recognizes Claire and spares her, only to be wounded mortally by Alexia's massive tentacles. After reverting back to normal, Steve professes his love for Claire and dies. Chris manages to save Claire by activating the facility's emergency self destruct system which opens all escape doors. Chris confronts and destroys Alexia with a linear launcher.
Before Claire and Chris escape, they are confronted by Albert Wesker once again. Chris and Wesker fight, but Wesker, with superhuman strength easily pummels his rival. Chris only manages to weaken Wesker by dropping a series of metal bars on top of him. The two are separated by an explosion. Chris vows to finish it the next time they meet.
Chris and Claire make their escape from the facility through a jet. Chris knows now that Umbrella must be stopped once and for all. The entire facility explodes as the jet streaks across the sky.
[edit] Gameplay
Code: Veronica is the first Resident Evil game in the main series to use 3D backgrounds instead of the traditional pre-rendered ones (similar to the original Dino Crisis). Despite this, the camera does not follow the player around, but swings between semi-fixed angles similar to the previous games. However, two weapons in the game (a sniper rifle and a linear launcher) can be fired from the character's point of view and a first person view mode is available in the game's unlockable Battle Mode.
Gameplay remained largely unchanged from Resident Evil 2, although features from Resident Evil: Nemesis (which was developed in tandem with Code: Veronica) are carried over to this game such as explosive oil drums and a 180-degree turn.
The zapping system from Resident Evil 2 was reused in Code: Veronica. However, instead of playing two concurrent scenarios like in RE2, the player plays one long scenario as Claire in the first half and as Chris in the second half. All of Claire's items left in the item box will be available for Chris during his portion of the game.
Items from RE2, such as upgradeable handgun parts and "side packs" for larger item capacity are featured here, as well as new types of weapons such as crossbow arrows mixed with gun powder and Anti-BOW rounds for the grenade launcher. A unique feature of RECV is the inclusion of twin weapons, which the player character could equip on both hands, allowing the player to target two enemies at the same time.
Some of the more subtle improvements in RECV includes the addition of continues, allowing the player to retry a scene after a game over, and the ability to pick and use a healing herb when the character's inventory is full.
Along with other Resident Evil games, Code: Veronica rewards superior players with a rocket launcher upon the completion of the game; provided that the following conditions are met:
- The player cannot use any health sprays during the game.
- The player cannot use any save ink ribbons during the game, except the "free" save after Claire fights the Tyrant; which is roughly halfway through the game.
- The player cannot use the "retry" option, or die at all during the game.
- The player must save the Rodrigo character (both as Chris and Claire).
- The player must finish the game in under 4 hours and 30 minutes. NOTE: this includes cutscenes and when the game is paused - the clock runs continually. On the Code: Veronica X version for the PS2, the last 7 minute cutscene cannot be skipped.
Because of these stringent requirements, Code: Veronica is considered one of the most difficult incarnations of the Resident Evil series to earn the rocket launcher.
[edit] Trivia
- Reintroduced the ability to view and analyze items and weapons from the inventory in 3D (a feature from the original Resident Evil, missing in 2 and 3).
- At the very beginning of Chris' half of the game, the player can see the graves of "Robert Raval" and "Maria Raval" in the underground save room. These are the graves of some of Rodrigo Juan Raval's (the security guard) relatives (presumably either, his parents or his wife and son).
- The Japanese-only Limited Edition for Dreamcast featured a different title screen from the regular version of the game, in which Wesker's face can be seen on the background. This version of the title screen was reused for the X edition of the game.
- All versions of the game (with the exception of the Beta version) were censored in that zombie heads no longer exploded or that their torsos could no longer be separated from their legs as the results of well placed shots. Interestingly though, the ability to score a head-shot remains, as does the gore created by such a shot, and though the head remains intact it still results in an instant kill.
- The only core story Resident Evil without a number in the title.
The following info is from hints-and-tips books:<ref>Biohazard Code: Veronica Complete Edition kaitai shinsho (Studio Bent Stuff, 2001, ISBN 4-7577-0422-4)</ref><ref>Biohazard Archives (Capcom, 2001, ISBN 4-906582-31-1)</ref>
- The acronym H.C.F. (seen on Wesker's outfit) stands for "Hive or Host Capture Force". It is not established whether H.C.F. is the name of Wesker's employer or just a task force working for them.
- In the earlier development stages of the game, Alfred and Alexia were named Hilbert and Hilda respectively. Their surname was Krueger instead of Ashford.
- Claire Redfield wore a similar outfit like the one she had in Resident Evil 2 for the beta version of the game. Test players thought it was too boring, so Capcom gave her a new costume. This was the character's second appearance in the series.
- On the back of Claire's jacket is the phrase : "Let Me Live", which is the title of a song by 80's rock band Queen from their last album, Made in Heaven. Also, in RE 2, Claire's jacket has the phrase : "Made in Heaven" on it, which is the title of a song that comes from the same album.
- This was the only main series Resident Evil title developed externally by Nextech Corporation <ref>Nextech Corporation</ref>. However, Capcom's Production Studio 4 had absolute artistic and directional control on the project.
[edit] Differences between versions
The main difference between the original Dreamcast release of the game and the later X edition of the game is the inclusion of nine minutes of new cutscenes, all involving Albert Wesker, that are integrated into the main game. They were added to the game due to Wesker's minimal screen presence in the original version of the game. The three new cutscenes in the game are as followed:
- A confrontation between Claire and Wesker during the first half of the game.
- An extended version of the fight scene between the mutated Alexia and Wesker.
- A longer ending featuring a fight sequence between Chris and Wesker.
There are also other differences between the two releases, such as a different hairstyle for Steve, a different ending theme during the closing credits, slightly different result screens for Wesker and Claire in the "Battle Game" and different face shots of the characters on the game's status screen. The Japanese Dreamcast version contained most of the game's unlockable (including Battle Game with all the characters) content available from the start.
The Japanese versions of the game also contained two difficulty settings ("Easy" and "Very Easy") in addition to the default "Normal" setting. "Very Easy" started the player off with the Rocket Launcher and unlimited supply of ink ribbons.
Resident Evil Survivor 2 - Code: Veronica
- Main article: Resident Evil Survivor 2 - Code: Veronica
A light gun game released in 2001, based on Code: Veronica developed by Namco in conjunction with Capcom. Originally released for the NAOMI 2 arcade hardware, it was ported to the PlayStation 2 and released only in Japan and PAL territories. The game stars Claire and Steve in a two-player coop situation on Rockfort Island and is canonically a dream that Claire had after crashing in her plane over Antarctica, and as such has no real bearing on the series plotwise.
[edit] Wesker's Report
Bundled with the Japanese release of Complete Edition in Japan (as well as the Biohazard: Collector's Box for GameCube) and sold as a pre-order bonus with Code: Veronica X in North America and Europe, Wesker's Report is a fictional documentary which examines the events of the previous Resident Evil games from Wesker's perspective. The film reveals a few hidden plot insights from the first two games, including Wesker's unseen resurrection at the end of the original game (explaining his presence in Code: Veronica) and his allegiance with Ada Wong during the events of Resident Evil 2.
[edit] Novelization
| Author | S. D. Perry |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Pocket Books |
| Released | December 1, 2001 |
S.D. Perry's novelization of Code: Veronica was the sixth book in her series of Resident Evil novelizations. The novelization was based on the original version of Code: Veronica and written before the X edition of the game. As a result, the added scenes where Wesker confronts Claire in front of the Palace and the final fight sequence between Chris and Wesker are not just ignored in the book, but contradicted as well; in the former case, Wesker behaves as if he'd never seen Claire before when first encounters Chris; in the latter case, Wesker is unaware that Chris and Claire escaped from the Antarctic Facility, nor does he recover Steve's body as a specimen.
The end of the novel reveals that Wesker acquired his new job at the Organization due to Trent's manipulations, similar to the revelation that Ada Wong worked for Trent in City of the Dead. This was before the release of Wesker's Report, which ironically featured a similar revelation that tied Ada with Wesker and the same Organization (see above). When seen in context with Wesker's Report and the more recent games in the series, this would lead readers to believe that Trent is also a member of the same organization (regardless of Perry's original intentions).
[edit] Reference
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[edit] External links
- Official Japanese site
- Official Japanese Complete Edition site
- Official American Code: Veronica X site
- Official European Code: Veronica X site
- Official Japanese GameCube site
fr:Resident Evil: Code Veronica it:Resident Evil: Code Veronica ja:バイオハザード CODE:Veronica pt:Resident Evil Code: Veronica
