Capcom just announced that in 2022 we will be saving the President’s daughter as Leon S. Kennedy, AGAIN! Now I’m a huge Resident Evil and survival horror fan and I thought for sure that Capcom was going to remake Code Veronica next. I don’t understand why they’re remaking 4, we’ve had so many ports of 4 that Todd Howard is jealous!
Having more and more Resident Evil games to play is always a good thing and maybe I’m whining cause I’m quarantine, but I’m going to be laying out why Code Veronica. The Resident Evil Red Headed Step-Child NEEDS a remake, especially if the developers knock it out of the park like they did with Resident Evil 2 Remake.
Favorite Characters
Claire Redfield makes her triumphant return to the series. Her quest to find her brother is told in this game and the climax is amazing. I’ll also add that I’ve had a crush on her since I was twenty years old.
Chris Redfield also returns to the series, he’s yet to hit the gym for three years straight. He was also the first character I and most players were introduced to back in the day; which means he has a soft spot in my heart.
Alfred and Alexia Ashford are the antagonists that were the most unique to me. I don’t want to spoil anything, I know Code Veronica was the hardest RE game; but there have been NO villains like them. You think that Ramon Salazar was over the top? Wait till you meet Alfred; they’d just better keep the same voice actor.
Nosferatu was one of the most striking boss fights I had encountered up to that point. You learn of his terrible fate as you progress through the game, and when you finally meet him you get the goose bumps. I’ve only beaten Code Veronica once due to the difficulty but I can remember this fight like it was yesterday.
Steve was one of the most memorable characters in the game, he’s the whiney man/boy that crushes hard on Claire. I remember laughing at all his tantrums and stupidity and it would be interesting to see how they bring that back. They’d better make him look like Leonardo DiCaprio again though, that was hilarious. Note: He only resembled Leo in the Dreamcast version, they updated him in all the ports.
And finally the BEST villain in the series that sadly went out like out like the Terminator, Albert Wesker finds his way back to mess with the Redfield’s again. Seeing him return in this game was mind numbing at the time and the voice work, animations and his upgrades just engrained him in my mind as the pinnacle of evil in the games.
The Story
At this point in my life I had played through the numbered titles on the PS1 a few times, except for 3 for some reason. So I was an old hand at the games and knew my way around the tank controls. I was clamoring for the continued tale of Claire looking for her missing brother and Capcom gave me what I wanted and more. This story was more than just surviving a mansion, city, or nemesis; it brought depth to everything. Claire and Chris’s characters were expanded, as was Wesker’s and the whole Umbrella Corporation.
I knew Umbrella was evil but I didn’t realize their evil was worldwide and extremely sick. This story takes you around the world and back with unique and insane characters that you are amazed at. Steve is a goober, Alfred is insane, Alexia is indescribable and Nosferatu is terrifying. I want to experience these characters again in a remake, I have no problem playing X on my Xbox One, but I want a new version of this title.
Difficulty
I think that I’m pretty darn good at the older Resident Evil games, I’ve beaten them all without the use of the Internet, because it didn’t really exist back then. I could never afford the Strategy Guide, so I was always on my own against Umbrella and their terrible creations. My junior year in college I borrowed my friend’s Dreamcast and purchased Code Veronica so that I could play it. I couldn’t afford the system at the time, so I was lucky friends could. This was, at the time, the most difficult and longest Resident Evil game, I think it clocked in at twelve hours or so and spanned two Dreamcast discs. Let’s also throw in the tank controls and the fact that you meet EVERY bio-weapon that were in the previous games.
Beating this game was a task and gave you some bragging rights back then. I wish that I could track down the VMU that had my save on it because I would love to see the unlockables, if any, and use them on another run. I know that games all have different difficulty sections that we can pick now, but back then we didn’t. If we didn’t figure out what to do you did not complete the game, and with limited access to help it was a trip. I’m still surprised that I’ve beaten this game and now that I’ve re-beaten Nemesis on the PS1 I can’t wait to jump back in and beat it again.
Please Capcom
To quote the Red Queen in the first Resident Evil movie, “I implore you,” Capcom to make this Remake. I know that money-wise Resident Evil 4 might net you more money, but don’t count out Code Veronica. There are many fans of the title that would love to replay it on modern consoles. Plus, there are many fans who have never had the opportunity to play this title. Either they never had a Dreamcast or PlayStation 2 and never played the title. Code Veronica Remake would smash records, especially if you have the same team the worked on the Resident Evil 2 Remake. I’ll buy this game, heck, I’ll buy it for both consoles; hell I’ll buy it for last gen and current gen all consoles if you get this game into my pudgy little fingers! Please Capcom!