Resident Evil 4: Code Veronica
System: Dreamcast
Publisher & Developer: Capcom
Released: April 2000
Capabilities: VMU Compatible, Jump Pack Compatible, VGA Box Compatible

The Game

I've never played a Resident Evil game before this one, but I heard good things about it like the Official Dreamcast Magaziene giving it a perfect 10, and other good comments about the game from other critics, so I was kinda happy when I got this game for my birthday. You start off controlling Claire Redfield, a woman who was captured locked up in the beginning of the game. Later on you get to control her brother Chris. Your object, kill all the evil zombies, and make it out alive. This is also the first US Dreamcast game to contain more than 1 GD-Rom, and this game's so big it's on 2 GD-ROMs.

Graphics

WOW! These are some of the best graphics I ever saw on the Dreamcast! The opening FMV's give you the feeling of watching a movie preview. Plus the switch from FMV to game play is hardly noticeable. After the FMV, of the first zombies attacking Claire got over, I was like, ''Oh, yeah, now I gotta kill them off now!'' The graphics for game play are just as good! The backgrounds look amazing and are some of the most lifelike I ever saw! The same goes for the character animation! All the characters look amazing and so lifelike, that my little brother got scared and ran away from the game!

Sound

The theme music fits the game perfectly! You background music for the FMV's fit the game just right, giving it a really horror movie type of feel. Like I said before, it made the game seem so real, it scared my little brother away. I love the use of voice in the game, and it makes the game sound more realistic after you hear all the voices. It's just amazing how lifelike this sounds, it's simply unbelievable. Some of the voice acting is a little bit on the cheesy side, but not as bad in The House of the Dead 2.

Game play

Well, I already said Claire starts off locked up in a cell, and when she makes it out of the prison facility, she finds out that the town has been the victim of a outbreak virus, which is making everybody turn into zombies. Later in the game, Claire's brother, Chris, joins in on your quest and in order to beat the game you must keep both of them alive. You got plenty of sub screens where you can change, equip, examine, and combine items and weapons. Kind of brings back memories of the Zelda games. I like how the VMU shows your life bar during the game.

To move around in the game, you use the control stick, or pad, but you press the control pad, or move the control stick in the left or right direction, to choose which direction your character faces, so they stand up stiff, and rotate in a circular motion, making the game seeming totally unrealistic. And then you move your chracter with the up and down arrows. Now, I've been use to playing action/adventure type games like Zelda 64, Mario 64, and Bomberman 64 where the control stick offers free 3-D movement (and keep in mind this is the first Resident Evil game I've ever played) and then all of a sudden I have to adapt to this!? It took me forever to get use to the controls and turns out to be one of the most painfully learning of controls since WCW Nitro for PSX and N64. But unlike that game, you will get these controls down, and after you do you will enjoy the game a great deal.

Replay Value

C'mon! You don't think Capcom offers the goods? Well, you're wrong. Capcom always offers lots of hidden goodies. And once you beat the game, you unlock the battle mode, and once you beat the game with other characteristics such as within a certain amount of time, you'll unlock other goodies too. And this game can be played by so many different angles, you'll be playing the game over, and over, and it’ll probably be a long time until you get bored of the game.

In Brief

+: Some of the best graphics ever on Dreamcast, background music fits game perfectly, same old zombie killing fun as in older RE games

-: Confusing controls for Resident Evil newbies, little kids will have nightmares

The Final Ratings Rundown

Graphics: 10.0
Sound: 8.6
Game play: 7.6
Replay Value: 7.7

Overall: 8.4

Rounded to fit GameFAQs score: 8

Final Analysis:

Well, if you're a veteran Resident Evil player, you'll love the game and will be play the game until hours on end, but if you've never played any Resident Evil games before, than you might wanna be cautious before you pick up this title, unique controls will hamper the game play, but if you get the controls down, this may as well go down as one of the best 1-player Dreamcast games ever!