Resident Evil Survivor 2 Code Veronica Review

I played on: PS2

I paid:? (too much!)

Available on: PS2

Notes: This is a port of an arcade game only available in Japan.

Resident Evil Survivor 2 is, in a single word, trash.

The idea here is simple. You play as Claire or Steve from Resident Evil Code Veronica and have to make your way through Rockfort Island. Don’t be fooled though because this isn’t a retelling of Code Veronica like the title would lead you to believe. No, you move through 5 stages collecting keys and then unlocking a room with a boss in it. You do this 5 times and then the bulk of the game is over. There are short cutscenes but there lacking any voice acting and feel as bland and dull as, well the rest of this mess. Seeing as this was originally an arcade game you have 3 continues and then if you die after that you just start the whole thing over again. The difficulty is almost unfair at times with enemies often lunging at you before the loading screen has finished fading away. If you’re playing this with a PS2 controller then good luck as the controls are awful. You move with the analog stick but moving it to the side will only strafe you side to side. If you want to turn around then you need to press L1 or R1 and this feels as clunky as it sounds.

Shooting crates around the levels will sometime give you access to more powerful weapons, but you only get a few shots before you’re forced to use the default pistol again. Seeing as you’re also timed on each stage it’s often not worth the time it takes you to pick these extra weapons up. That’s right each stage is timed. When you run out of time Nemesis is released into the level and will run you down in no time at all. When this first happened, I was pleased. Instead of just acting as a game over you get a chance to fight to the end, right? Nope, Nemesis is invincible, not even being staggered by your most powerful weapons and he kills you in a single punch. Unless you already have all the keys you need and are maybe a room or 2 away from the boss this is pretty much just game over, but with extra steps.

There are a few other modes included in this port such as Dungeon mode that’s a survival type experience. Vs Roach mode that puts you in a room with a set number of cockroaches on the walls and has you just kill them as quickly as possible. I could go into more detail for these modes but it’s not worth it. All you need to know is somehow they are even more shallow than the standard Arcade mode.

I gave the original Resident Evil Survivor game a 2 out of 10 when I reviewed it but somehow even that pitiful score feels too high for this disaster of a game. It’s not that this game offends me in any way it’s just how vapid, empty, and devoid of any value it is. I’m a massive RE fan and this is the first game I’d say is totally not worth playing. Even if you’re as diehard as a fan as I am this empty shell of a game is still not worth playing. Not even the inclusion of Nemesis can salvage this one.

Recommendation Rating: 1 out of 10.