Resident Evil: Code Veronica X

Resident Evil: Code Veronica was the series' first foray into the last generation of systems, coming out first for the Dreamcast but eventually for the Gamecube, the system I played it on. And let me tell you, this one was hard to find. I had to turn to eBay to spend way more than I should have just for series completion's sake. But that's beside the point. The formula is hardly switched up in this game, but I have to say it feels like it's at least been perfected- the game plays essentially like a giant puzzle, running from room to room searching for the right key to progress, and the smaller puzzles are good enough to keep this from getting boring. Also, zombies. Anyway this time around you play as both Chris and Claire Redfield (and minor character Steve Burnside briefly) in a third-world prison and then eventually in an Umbrella Corporation complex in Antarctica. The scope certainly felt more epic considering how quick RE2 and RE3 flew by. This was probably an effect of the forced difficulty- the original Dreamcast version had two difficulties to choose from, but for some reason the easier mode was scrapped by the time Code Veronica hit the Gamecube. This led me to make a frustrating but necessary sacrifice halfway through the game. I had been saving two files the entire game so I could go back earlier if necessary, and the end-boss of the first disc forced me to do just that- I simply didn't have enough ammo to beat him. So after loading an earlier save, I knew exactly where to grab some extra to get the job done. But no! At that point the game claimed I "had to make it to the plane" and couldn't waste time entering a room that wasn't on the way there. Even though I had several extra minutes left on the timer when I did make it to the plane. So for really no reason at all, I had no choice but to restart the whole thing. You know what? I'm glad I did. Resident Evils get much easier on a second playthrough, because most of the difficulty comes from knowing where to go and what to do. An 8-hour first disc was finished in 3 hours, and I had tons of health, ink rolls (to save the game) and ammo, making disc two much easier than it would have been. So yeah, frustrating, but a small sacrifice to finish the whole thing off. And now it's done. Code Veronica was fun enough, and probably more worthy of a play than the first three for someone who's never tried out the series, as long as you know that it's a slow burn instead of a thrill-a-minute joyride. I'm expecting more of the same from the last game in the main series left for me- prequel Resident Evil Zero.