Club Retro 2020: October - Horror & N64
Oct 31, 2020 0:51:01 GMT -5
Post by Ex on Oct 31, 2020 0:51:01 GMT -5
Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica is a PAL PS2 light gun shooter developed by TOSE and published by Capcom. This entry was originally released in 2001, as a Japan exclusive arcade title. The arcade version was developed in conjunction with Namco. It was ported to PS2 later that year, also in Japan. The European release came in 2002, but no USA release ever happened. The PS2 version included a "Dungeon Mode", as well as GunCon 2 support. (Alternatively RES2-C:V can be played using the standard DualShock 2 controller.) The "Arcade Mode" represents exactly what it sounds like, with gameplay similar to the original Resident Evil: Survivor. However, the gameplay has devolved from the initial PS1 entry.
The plot concerns Claire Redfield continuing to look for her brother, after the Raccoon City incident. She was tipped by an unknown source about an Umbrella facility in Paris. When she tried to infiltrate the facility, she was caught, after which she was taken to the Umbrella prison in Rockfort Island. Claire teams up with fellow prisoner, Steve Burnside, and plans to escape while an outbreak of the t-Virus has released onto the island. This game's plot however, is revealed to be a dream, after the completion of the arcade mode. It is alluded that Claire is having this dream after escaping Antarctica with her brother Chris Redfield, at the end of Resident Evil Code: Veronica.
In arcade mode, the goal is simply to escape from Rockfort Island. There are five stages, with completion of each dependent on finding a key in a maze, finding the escape door, and defeating a boss character afterwards. While doing so, players must face a constant assault of enemies. The arcade mode also offers assistance via the partner system. This allows the player to team up with a computer-controlled partner. Every stage runs on a timer that counts down continuously. If the timer runs out, Nemesis from Resident Evil 3 will begin pursuing the player. Nemisis will quickly kill the player and partner if he finds them.
The dungeon mode puts the player with no partner, against successive waves of enemies. It's comparable to a survival mode. Completion of a mission is once again determined by defeating a boss, but the more zombies and mutants defeated, the greater the overall mission score. Time is also crucial in this mode, because each time an enemy is defeated, a combo gauge appears, and the player must defeat another enemy before that gauge runs out to receive an additional combo score. If players are quick enough and accurate enough, then the combo will keep multiplying, resulting in bigger scores. In this mode, the player's character can select three weapons to take on the quest. Some weapons can be used by both Claire and Steve, while others such as the magnum and the grenade launcher are restricted to either Claire or Steve.
+You can play as Clair or Steve.
+Guns feel somewhat satisfying to shoot.
+Stage designs have some non-linearity.
+Nemesis doesn't yell "Stars!" constantly.
+Only five stages (four would have been better).
-Overly simple gameplay that grows stale quickly.
-Endless cheap hits and unavoidable attacks.
-Graphics are unimpressive for their platform.
-Partner AI is ridiculously bad.
-Lost all the charm from the original Survivor.
Sadly Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica manages to be a big downgrade from the original Survivor. All pretense of legit Resident Evil flavoring is gone, replaced by a cheap arcade shooter. Capcom must have gotten the memo about the original game being too easy, because this sequel falls too far on the opposite side of the scale. A successful run only takes about a half hour, but the player will have to replay this game many times, to learn where all the cheap attacks lie in wait. There's just nothing here that I found compelling or exciting. I think it's worth knowing this game exists for Resident Evil fans, especially USA fans who likely don't know it does. Survivor 2 is an interesting footnote sure, but it is not an interesting game. I would not recommend this schlock to light gun shooting fans or RE fans.
Ex's time to beat: 28 minutes (successful run time only)
Ex's rating: 3/10
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Because this was a PAL game, and I didn't feel like doing the hertz conversion patch and burning a real disc, I used PCSX2 to play this one. The emulator worked very well, I was impressed. There were a few slight graphical glitches at times, but overall it was totally playable that way.