Originally released back in 2000 on the Sega Dreamcast, Code Veronica was one of the last games in the series to maintain the traditional Resident Evil experience. Stationary camera angles, so-called “tank controls”, hammy dialogue and laughable acting were all present and correct. In a way, it was the last in the original run as the following remake of the original Resident Evil on the GameCube essentially rebooted the series in terms of tone and realism.

Set three months after the Racoon City incident chronicled in the first three games, Code Veronica (which gained the X moniker following its PlayStation 2 re-release) picks up with Claire Redfield still looking for her missing brother Chris who hasn’t been seen since the original Resident Evil. She finds herself detained on Rockfort Island, a military base run by the nefarious Umbrella Corporation. At roughly the halfway point the perspective shifts to Chris Redfield, though both continue to deal with a fresh zombie outbreak and the deranged siblings and administrators of Rockfort, Alfred and Alexia Ashford.

Despite being killed in the first Resident Evil, the mysterious Albert Wesker is back

Overall, the game didn’t dramatically further the series’ story. Other than the surprising reappearance of Albert Wesker, the supposedly deceased villain from the first game (do I still need to call spoilers for an eleven year old game?) I can’t think of any other developments of lasting importance.

At the time of its original release Code Veronica marked a number of series’ firsts. Most notable was its shift to three dimensional environments rather than pre-rendered backgrounds of the past. This allowed for a much more cinematic presentation and was boasted as a graphical showcase for the Dreamcast.

Today, however, it doesn’t fair so well especially in comparison to the recent Resident Evil 4 HD port. Especially dated are the robotic animations and occasionally hideous textures. Aside from Alyson Court as Claire Redfield the voice acting is awful, even for the time of its original release.

As with Resident Evil 4 HD, Capcom have made the bare minimum effort with this port. It plays at a higher resolution and textures have been up-scanned to look palatable on high definition displays. In-game button prompts and control explanations have been tweaked to refer to the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 controllers, but that’s really where the changes end.

Chris and Claire Redfield are the two main protagonists this time around though the irritating teenager Steve Burnside is briefly playable

Though RE4 HD had no extra content it had the benefit of the substantial array of bonus content that was native to the original version. In had two extra mini campaigns based around Ada Wong, the fiendishly addictive Mercenaries mode and collectable statuettes. Code Veronica X on the other hand only had the meagre Battle Game, which was essentially a series of combat challenge rooms.

Given that both HD ports are selling for £14.99 (they aren’t listed in Microsoft Points as they fall under the Xbox Originals category) Code Veronica is a far worse value proposition by comparison.

At least this version includes the content added for the X re-release, which amounts to ten minutes of extended and differing cutscenes and a few graphical tweaks here and there. Several companies have been guilty of breaking out content and charging extra fees when it comes to reselling their old software in downloadable form. Sega was particularly guilty of this with their Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network port of Sonic Adventure, where they charged an additional fee for the marginal content of the Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut re-release.

Cost should always been considered when reviewing any product and is ultimately the deciding factor in the case of Code Veronica X HD.

As mentioned previously, it’s going for the same price as the vastly more substantial Resident Evil 4. But even taken on its own merits the game doesn’t hold up well by today’s standards and this version adds basically nothing to the experience. If it had been priced appropriately at say, £5 it would have been hard to complain. However, given the fact that you can find used Dreamcast and Playstation 2 copies going for next to nothing (the Gamecube version’s a different story due to its rarity) it’s hard to recommend this version to newcomers and veterans alike.

If you can deal with its old school nature there’s still enjoyment to be had in Code Veronica X, but is it £15 worth of enjoyment? I think not

If you absolutely have to get a downloadable Resident Evil fix, get Resident Evil 4 HD instead. It holds up markedly better in every conceivable way and looks pretty good in high definition.

Top Game Moment: The return of the mysterious and delightfully sinister Albert Wesker, now with red glowy eyes.