3.5/5 ★ – MechaniChris's review of Resident Evil Code: Veronica.

Very strange that this wasn’t released as the official Resident Evil 4 considering it directly continues two of the lead characters plots, brings back the series villain, and has the exact same style of play as the mainline titles. Stranger yet is that it hasn’t been remade like the others. It’s an essential piece of the story and collection overall. All that said, I do think this is the game that cranks the campiness up to 11. The story has gone off the rails after the relatively streamlined plots of the first 3 games: Virus is created and tested on STARS team, virus breaks out and infects city, heroes escape city while Umbrella hunts them with monsters. That all tracks. This game opens with Claire turning into Trinity from The Matrix in a globetrotting plot that involves an resurrected Wesker and the implied incest of the Ashford family that have been working on a completely unrelated virus from the previous games. There’s also Steve who sounds like he was written by a 13 year old. I’m not saying the game isn’t good, but it is extremely silly. Regardless, the gameplay and puzzles are all at the peak here, giving us more of the Resident Evil that we know and love. The game is also nearly double the length of previous games, making it an extremely robust experience without ever getting boring thanks to its varied level design and wide array of enemies. Like all the best Resident Evil’s, it also refuses to hold your hand, meaning you could royally screw yourself in certain boss fights if you don’t know what you’re doing beforehand. I can’t believe how much I remembered from playing this as a kid, so this time was kind of a breeze. (Hang on to those exploding arrows until you get on the plane!) There’s also the battle mode after you beat that game that is an utter blast. Just tearing through monsters with infinite ammo and trying to beat your high score/unlock new costumes. It’s insanely replayable. Overall it’s fun and satisfying RE game, even if it does jump the shark a little in terms of storytelling. Hopefully this will get an official modern remake in the style of the most recent games to make it more accessible to fans of the series, and to maybe smooth out some of plot (or at the very least the performances in the cutscenes).