For a while I wasn't planning on writing anything for this as, well, I didn't think there was much to talk about, but my opinion's warmed on it slightly over the past few weeks (I started playing this a while ago) and I think there's at least some value to it.
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| Much like the first Survivor I, uh, emulated this one |
I suppose I should say what this game is. Like its predecessor, it's a lightgun shooter, but instead of an original story this loosely (very, very, VERY loosely) follows the events of Code Veronica and has you playing as either Claire with her pistol or Steve with his Lugers. You have a choice between an "Arcade Mode" that has you playing through five maps that all roughly correlate to sequences from Code Veronica, a "Dungeon Mode" that has you traversing dozens of identical corridors while trying to complete some generic objective, and, for some reason, a "Vs. Roach" mode. If you have no idea what that means, well, it's a set of levels where you run around large rooms to see how quickly you can shoot some cockroaches.
I have no idea why this mode exists
I should add the caveat that I played it with a controller and not a GunCon (or whatever) so maybe the game'd shine with the right equipment, but from where I'm standing it wasn't great. Maybe this is just a matter of taste but I felt like, with the way enemies were placed on the map, I was often taking hits and being punished for things that didn't feel like failures on my part. Learning the optimal routes through each level is (mostly) enjoyable and I like how they've managed to condense Resident Evil down to its fundamentals, but a successful run takes half an hour so it ends up feeling short and underwhelming.
The early missions have a "countdown to Nemesis" mechanic, which is neat in theory
That's where the "Dungeon Mode" comes in, I'd imagine, but unfortunately that isn't particularly interesting. There were TONS of levels of this that I didn't play, but just doing two or three gave me a pretty good idea of what to expect and I've had my fill. You're dropped in a building filled with lots of interconnected rooms (so, you know, Resident Evil architecture) and you're told to "find all the gems," or "kill the boss," or whatever. This mode has its appeal, you're mowing down hordes of enemies as you work your way through a dungeon, but just about every room feels identical to the last and, without a map, it always boiled down to me spending my last few minutes going back to previously cleared rooms while looking for doors or items I'd missed like it was a frustrating point-and-click adventure game.
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| I hope this sounds fun to you, because this is most of the game |
The first game had its issues but I at least admired that it tried to do something new.this game is effectively just a poor rehash of Code Veronica without any of that game's narrative structure tying it together. I say "rehash", but it's closer to someone's half-forgotten memories of a story they heard a few years ago. Bosses will show up in locations they shouldn't be in and what little dialogue that is there is fairly nonsensical.
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| Why is Steve "Mr. Knight"? |
All in all, this is a pretty standard arcade lightgun shooter and, while it's not a bad one-of-those, I feel it needed more of a hook to keep me invested.
Like before, I've attached my finish screens (for the arcade mode) below. The left is my organic finish, while the one on the right was thanks to some liberal use of savestates. I've also included my roach mode finish. Because that's funny to think about.
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