With eight mainline entries and a ninth one on the horizon, Resident Evil has been one of Capcom’s most profitable franchises. Much of that has to do that with the slew of remakes they’ve done over the past 6 years starting with 2019’s phenomenal Resident Evil 2 Remake all the way to the incredible Resident Evil 4 Remake in 2023.
As rumors spread of a potential Resident Evil 5 remake, I feel there is one entry in the series that truly warrants a remake that’s been largely ignored by Capcom and that is Resident Evil: Code Veronica.
Based on my experience within the Resident Evil fandom, Code Veronica is an entry that frequently dodges mention from RE fans, and I can kind of see why. It’s a flawed game with some baffling design decisions that bring down an otherwise fantastic Resident Evil title.
It’s a shame because I feel that Code Veronica is perhaps the most essential game in the series to bridge the gap between the events of the PlayStation 1 trilogy and the events in Resident Evil 4 and 5, I’d even argue that it’s more of a “Resident Evil 3” for the series than the actual Resident Evil 3.
Why Code Veronica Matters
Crucially, the game features the return of antagonist Albert Wesker after his unfortunate “demise” in the first game, now alive and perhaps a bit too well for someone who got stabbed to death by a giant hulking Tyrant. He is, for me, the best part of Code Veronica’s rather insane story, made all the more entertaining through the sheer pettiness and hate he feels towards Chris Redfield despite having literal Matrix superpowers.
Unfortunately, though, Code Veronica as a whole is…kind of a mess. Its messy pacing, outrageous story and some borderline confusing design decisions hold it back from being at the upper echelon of the series in the eyes of many RE fans. With a remake however, Capcom can finally iron out many of the game’s issues and revise it to be the incredible survival horror experience it should be.
As for what Capcom can fix, it’s not hard to realize where they should start.
Steve
I’m someone who generally doesn’t pay attention to stories in a Resident Evil game; it’s a series I mostly come to for the gameplay where the story is just there as a side motivation. Besides the series has always had schlocky B-movie style stories that only got more outrageous with each passing entry. Even so, this does little to mitigate the sheer unbridled fury I feel towards Steve. I am entirely convinced Capcom wrote this creature in a laboratory while testing just how utterly insufferable they can make a video game character.
If it isn’t already obvious, I loathe Steve. From his ear-grating voice to the fact that he’s a whiny, tantrum throwing brat that is somehow one of the main characters of Code Veronica. As many low points as the series has had since its inception, it still hasn’t reached quite the sheer depth of that one scene in Code Veronica where Steve tries to kiss a sleeping Claire while romantic music blares in the background.
He is the single worst part of the game and Capcom can instantly improve Code Veronica by a country mile by simply rewriting Steve and giving him a voice that doesn’t make me want to shoot him with a revolver.
It also doesn’t help that he plays a huge part in one of my other major complaints from the game.
The Balance (Or Lack Thereof)
Chances are if you’ve ever played Code Veronica or if you’ve even heard people talk about it, you’re familiar with some of its infamous “gotcha” moments. Moments where the game can put you into a sort of checkmate situation where no matter what you do it’s nearly impossible to get through it. The most iconic of these gotcha moments is the tyrant boss battle in the airship at the end of the game’s first act. It’s a test to see if you’ve been conserving your more valuable ammo throughout the game which would be fine, it’s a survival horror game after all.
However, if you’re one of the unlucky players who get stuck in this fight, well, your only option is to either knife him to death (which is easier said than done) or restart the game from the beginning if you haven’t been keeping multiple saves on hand. Another one of these moments happen during a scene where (spoilers) you’re being chased by an infected version of Steve wielding a giant axe.
This is probably the single most baffling gameplay sequence in the entire game. If you do the obvious thing and just start running away from him as he starts chasing you, you’ll be dead sooner than you know it. Doing it this way is only really possible if you already have a fair bit of healing on you, which you’ll be promptly wasting on this sequence. The only way to actually get through this sequence unscathed is to bait Monster Steve’s AI by running in a weird pattern so that he misses his slashes. It’s a bizarrely designed sequence that has never made sense to me.
These are only a few of such moments in a game that’s full of them and all of them feel cruel and unfair in a way that no Resident Evil game has felt before or since.
With a proper remake Capcom can rework these parts to make them fairer while still retaining (and even building on) the challenge of the original, something they’ve proven they can do with the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 4.
Conclusion
These are just a handful of changes Capcom can make in order to make Code Veronica a stronger overall experience. There are plenty other things they can improve such as the game’s primary antagonists, the Ashford twins and make them truly as threatening and creepy as they’re supposed to be. The potential for greatness with a Resident Evil Code Veronica remake is beyond the stars, and if there’s anyone with the talent to reach that greatness, it’s Capcom.
