Resident Evil Survivor 2 Code: Veronica (2001)

I played this during a full Resident Evil series playthrough and though it’s early in that journey, this is the first game of that playthrough that I’ve never played before now…and that’s probably for the best! I’ve always heard this is one of—if not THE—worst games in the series. In some ways it was a little better than that reputation had me expecting, but still quite bad. Gun Survivor 2 was developed as a coin-op light gun arcade shooter and it really shows. I played the PS2 version using a controller. I try to view games in context of what they’re trying to be and truthfully, I didn’t get the full experience, but I can’t really read in context I didn’t have. As a PS2 game, while there’s a little dumb fun to it, Gun Survivor 2 is plainly not a good game.

As the title implies, this game attempts some form of an adaptation of Code Veronica’s story. This is mostly just window dressing, likely to entice people to try it out rather than it being some random story with the Resident Evil name on it. The story is unsurprisingly barebones, coming down to a few lines of unvoiced dialogue between Steve and Claire at the beginnings and endings of levels, and nothing that really creates much of a plot. I’m not sure if this is true, but I heard that at one time Capcom tried to insist that the game is somehow canon. While I’m not sure why that even matters, this is a pretty goofy claim considering the order of events and “plot” bear very little resemblance and—perhaps most surprising—in every level, if you take too long, Nemesis appears and comes after you? Supposedly they later claimed that it is canon as a dream Claire is having about the events of Code Veronica, which is for one a pretty big cop-out for the claim, but also still makes no sense given Claire does not know anything about Nemesis. Anyway, the upshot of it being based on Code Veronica is that the environments are pulled straight from that game. In some ways this is always kind of cool, seeing the familiar sights from a new angle in new graphics. But it is also was likely just another development shortcut to avoid coming up with new environments.

Given I played the PS2 version with a controller, the controls likely weren’t quite what was initially envisioned, but they were pretty jank all the same. The game mostly controls similar to Survivor with an off-rails first-person perspective, though in this one you don’t need to aim to shoot, the gun is always up. The most bizarre aspect is that while you move with the left control stick, you turn with the L1/R1 buttons rather than the right control stick which goes unused. Even by the end of the game, I still wasn’t totally used to this and kept expecting the shoulder buttons to strafe or something. I considered remapping the shoulders to the right stick but the game was short enough I just sucked it up till I was done.

The gameplay itself is extremely basic. You have an infinite ammo handgun and occasionally pick up limited-use stronger weapons like an assault rifle, shotgun, or magnum. Each of the five levels has you navigate a different part of Rockfort Island, needing to reach an exit or make a detour to get a key then go to the exit, fight a boss, and you’re out. There is a timer at the beginning of each level and if it goes all the way down, Nemesis appears and pursues you through the level. While not glitchy or anything, the gameplay feels very basic and legitimately looks and feels like you’re playing someone’s demo of their practice game in Unity. It’s not terribly challenging and the entire story mode takes about 30 minutes. There’s a bonus Dungeon Mode in which you have a more classic Resident Evil experience in some ways since even your handgun has limited ammo, but it’s a quasi-mercenaries mode in which you just blast through enemies in a series of rooms. While that sounded kind of fun, I tried it for a bit and it was way too confusing with so many doors and no map to help you through the plain rooms that all look the same. It also looked way too long with levels lasting about as long as the entire story mode and the resources were overly abundant to the point there wasn’t really much point in having a greater limitation and in fact I felt like I just had way more ammo with the more powerful guns than I’d ever need.

So no, in short, I don’t recommend Gun Survivor 2. It’s certainly not the most unpleasant experience I’ve had—after all, I’m giving it TWO whole stars—but it’s easily one of the most skippable games in the series. My desire to push on was more a result of academic curiosity than actual enjoyment. Still, I could see it being a bit more fun if you have the ability to play it more how it was intended in the arcade version or with a light gun.

My other Resident Evil reviews:

• Resident Evil (1996) - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 2 (1998) - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 3 (1999) - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil: Survivor - ★★★
• Resident Evil Remake - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 2 Remake - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 3 Remake - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 4 VR - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 4 Remake - ★★★★★

Released in 2001, this "sequel" of Survivor doesn't follow the riveting plot of the first part and instead adapts the story of Code Veronica... Sort of.

You can only play as Claire or Steve, and the arcade mode ends with the boss battle in the plane, although in the previous level, you have to defeat the first form of Alexia. Also, Nemesis is still alive here, so this is a really loose adaptation of the events.

Another interesting detail is that Steve refers to Claire as "sis". At first, I thought it was because you could unlock Chris in this mode so it would be weird if he replaced Steve and had romantic interactions with his sister, but he is only playable in other modes, so I guess it was an idea that they never implemented.

Related to gameplay, this time you can play with a light gun in all the regions, although this game was never released in America, so if you want to play an English version your only option is the PAL edition. Still, the gunplay is a lot better than in the first game, and you can play with a normal controller if you want, which isn't ideal, but it's doable, unlike controlling your aim with a D-Pad.

However, the arcade/story mode is really short, and you can complete it in 30 minutes, so most of the content is in Dungeon mode, where you have to complete some missions in 3D versions of previous scenarios, like the Clock Tower from RE3. These missions include killing as many enemies as you can and collecting gems while trying to find the exit.

I found these missions fun at first, but they become old quickly, especially because the 3D scenarios look similar and boring, and killing everything in sight is entertaining just for a few minutes. Maybe if you like light gun shooters or enjoy unlocking everything in a game you will have a better time, but in my case, I had more than enough with the Arcade Mode.

The other mode is VS. Roach Mode, where you kill cockroaches. It is as fun as it sounds, and it functions more as a way to practice your aiming than an actual challenge, so don't expect a lot of emotions. Still, who doesn't want to shoot cockroaches once in a while?

In conclusion, unless you are a huge fan of light gun shooters and/or love Code Veronica, I doubt you will find a lot of fun with Survivor 2 aside from the short arcade mode, but it isn't a bad game at all, just underwhelming and lacking in interesting content.