You'll be moaning as much as the zombies
Despite the dramatic twists and the improved cutscenes, the story falls flat due to the terrible pacing and comically bad voice acting. Even the character switching and variety of environments fails to counterbalance the repetitive fetch-quest nature of the game. Navigating the environment is nightmarish at the best of times, causing you to resort to frantically mashing the ‘interact’ button in the hopes of finding something useful the only way to progress.The series’ infamous disguised loading times (also known as doors, and staircases) make an archaic return for a generation which long ago grew out of being intimidated by vibrating controllers and slowly creaking open doors, serving now only to break up the already-strained interaction over and over.
However, if the tank controls and clumsy UI don’t put you off, beneath the exterior of unpolished, aged unplayability lurks a valuable artefact of an era gone by. The difficulty imposed by the mechanics of the game adds a certain sense of satisfaction to progression, and the arsenal of weaponry available to Claire and the others is just as varied as the enemy design. The ‘survival’ aspect of the genre is stressed in Code: Veronica X HD just as much as it was in the previous iterations of the title, with resources scarce and inventory management and forward planning being essential to success – especially with the bosses.
The puzzles are a significant improvement over those in its predecessors, serving to break up the action with a few moments of pressing buttons or shifting objects around. They’re nothing revolutionary, but still a pleasant change of pace and an opportunity to reflect a little on the rich back-story of the series.
For gamers who began their Resident Evil adventures with the series’ fourth or fifth iteration, Code: Veronica X will come as a shock - one that will be arduous and unpleasant to overcome. However, for diehard fans of the series, the HD remake (with its new online leaderboard features) stays true to the original and, despite the disappointing lack of improvement made overall by Capcom, may well prove enough to whet their appetite in the wait for a true remake.
The Good
Improved cutscenesVaried environments
Enjoyable puzzles
The Bad
Awful camera angles
HD makeover is only a minor improvement
Long loading times
HEXUS Rating
Resident Evil: Code Veronica X HD
HEXUS Where2Buy
Resident Evil: Code Veronica X HD is available at to buy from the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store.
HEXUS Right2Reply
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