This is an IGN opinion piece from writer Matt Cabral, who’s been playing Resident Evil religiously ever since the Spencer Mansion welcomed him through its creaking double doors back in 1996.
The big Summer Game Fest reveal of Resident Evil Veronica probably had some fans – especially those raised on the fright-filled franchise’s recent remakes – eliciting a collective, “It’s about damn time.”
Not because these more contemporary players of the 30-year-old series have heard so much about the cult-favorite, non-numbered entry – originally a Sega Dreamcast exclusive dubbed Resident Evil – Code: Veronica – and are eager to finally discover what the fuss is about. And not because they’re relieved all the rumors and speculation regarding the next remake project have been squashed like a Las Plagas parasite.
No, these recently christened stalwarts of Capcom’s seminal survival horror series were happy because they’ve been patiently waiting to catch up with Claire Redfield – and her urgent quest to find her missing brother Chris – since rolling credits in the Resident Evil 2 remake over seven years ago.
Of course, whether you completed RE2’s remake campaign as Claire, Leon, or both, you already know she sadly learned that her long lost sibling was actually on “vacation” in Europe, a trip he’d embarked on long before she even arrived in the zombie-infested Raccoon City.
Now, if you’re not a seasoned survivor who’s been battling the franchise’s infected foes ever since those plagued canines came crashing through the Spencer Mansion’s windows, then you understandably might have expected the series’ next remake, Resident Evil 3, to pick right up with Claire getting her passport stamped in Paris. In fact, you could even be excused for initially believing the 2020 RE3 remake’s opening had put you back in the boots of RE2’s crimson-clad protagonist. Afterall, you begin RE3 from the first-person perspective of a female character exploring an apartment filled with cryptic items, including a massive Raccoon City map and a photo of Dr. Annette Birkin, a pivotal RE2 character that practically died in Claire’s arms.
Despite these potential call-backs, it quickly becomes obvious RE3 is Jill Valentine’s living, Nemesis-inhabited nightmare, picking up her story following the series’ 1996 debut. But while RE3 skipped over Claire and Chris’ tale, the next chronological remake, 2023’s Resident Evil 4, put players back beneath the dirty blonde locks of RE2’s Leon S. Kennedy, who actually did head to Europe six years later – but not to hunt down his former RPD co-worker.
Which brings us back to the upcoming Resident Evil Veronica, a much-requested remake candidate that doesn’t just properly continue Claire’s sidelined quest to find her sibling, but also puts players behind a beloved character that’s been too-often benched in favor of other franchise faves Leon, Jill, and yes, her own brother, Chris.
Without getting lost in the math – or quibbling over canon versus non-canon, core entries versus spin-offs, sorta-sequels, on-rails shooters, mobile titles, and any other media the Umbrella logo might have appeared in – let’s just say Claire is widely recognized among the franchise’s top four heroes, yet has been playable in less mainline games than the other three. Outside of her dedicated campaigns in the original RE2 and Code: Veronica, her most prominent T-Virus-vanquishing outing was 2015’s Resident Evil: Revelations 2, Capcom’s (excellent) episodic spin-off series.
Revelations 2 represented a solid showcase for the character, who’d gone from capable college student in RE2 to seasoned solider within antibioterrorism taskforce TerraSave. But still, 15 years stood between Claire’s acclaimed turn in 2000’s Code: Veronica and her official return in Revelations 2. And, if we’re nitpicking, it’s worth noting that two of her three outings as a primary protagonist weren’t even among the series core, numbered entries.
Don’t get me wrong, Claire got lots of love in those aforementioned peripheral titles. Following her dedicated campaigns, she continued thinning the flesh-craving hordes in everything from arcade-y lightgun games (Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles) to the franchise’s foray into online and squad-based shooters (Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, Resident Evil Re: Verse.)
She also appeared in more mediocre mobile titles than you can shake a mutated tentacle at, and even abandoned her RE roots for countless cameos and crossovers in such series as Viewtiful Joe and Onimusha. Claire was seemingly more popular than her brother, yet rarely scored the franchise’s meatiest roles. Heck, if you really want to get a sense of her popularity – and padded resume – look no further than her pixelated appearance in 2003’s Capcom Black Jack.
And while it’s difficult to deny the smile-inducing novelty of racing down icy slopes as Claire, decked out in her signature red vest and shorts, in original PlayStation extreme sports entry Trick’N Snowboarder, it’s always felt like she deserved so much more.
Resident Evil Veronica promises that more.
Whether you’ve been a fierce supporter of the Redfield sibling since her 1992 debut or became a fan as soon as she removed her motorcycle helmet to use Mizoil Gas Station’s payphone in the 2019 remake, you could argue bringing her back in an updated take on a 26-year-old game still isn’t enough. But with its three remakes released so far, Capcom proved it wasn’t just rewrapping its adored classics in prettier polygons, but rebuilding and reimagining the entire experiences from the ground up, essentially putting them on par, in every regard, with the brand’s more recent releases.
But like an attache case equipped with an expansion upgrade, RE4 made additional room for improvements, among them new narrative elements, fresh foes, and several layers of polish that ultimately allowed Leon’s misadventures in Spain to fit more seamlessly into the series’ always-evolving story and universe.
With all the confidence of a megalomaniacal Umbrella scientist, I fully expect Veronica to do the same, starting with adding more layers to a character that had already received a significant overhaul. While Claire’s original RE2 and Code: Veronica turns proved her to be a heroic badass with a soft side, those traits were significantly evolved for her 2019 return to Raccoon City.
With plenty of heavy lifting handled by veteran RE voice actor Stephanie Panisello – who has not yet been confirmed for the Veronica remake – Claire’s RE2 comeback packed genuine humor, emotional depth, and multiple nuanced layers that made her even more likeable. From her heartfelt moments bonding with young Sherry Birkin to dropping expletive-laced one-liners mid-battle, she not only cemented her status as a franchise-favorite, but elevated it to new endearing heights.
Some seven years after her terrifying trek through that zombie-inhabited police station, I expect her Veronica characterization to further build on the appeal that’d already guaranteed I wouldn’t want to brave a walking-corpse apocalypse with anyone else.
Speaking of the remake’s infected wasteland and Claire’s struggle through it, Capcom has promised to take a page from RE2’s and RE4’s reimaginings, which were handled by the same team tackling Veronica. This ensures the game will remain faithful to what made the original an action-fueled favorite, while also significantly tinkering and tweaking it to improve the source material’s mechanics and systems, seamlessly bringing them up to speed with the franchise’s modern chapters.
There’s no word yet if we’ll be blasting through the mutated masses with the Claire’s RE2 mini-gun, but I’d bet my last green herb that the biggest changes will manifest in a gameplay makeover that mirrors the over-the-shoulder, third-person action of the recent remakes – ideally expanding the mechanical complexity like RE4’s remake did. Veronica will also contain at least one first-person exploration-focused segment, as evidenced in its announce trailer, similar to the scene that reveals Jill in RE3’s remake
These new scenes should also translate into fresh narrative elements that nicely build on the beloved source material, while also refining and expanding it to organically fit the overall timeline that’s since been established. The series has already leaned into this more cohesive structure with its naming conventions, dropping chronological titles – save for some cleverly cryptic roman numerals – from recent chapters Resident Evil Biohazard, Village, and Requiem. Where the original “Code: Veronica” subtitle – and, moreso, the later-released PlayStation 2 version’s “Code: Veronica X” – made the game feel more like a spinoff than a new sequential installment, the remake’s straightforward “Veronica” remedies this.
This next entry not only affords Capcom the opportunity to seamlessly integrate Claire’s European misadventures into what’s come before and after, but also address any lingering questions that were left unanswered in the original. So while Veronica will nicely pick up the story for newer fans brought up on the remakes and contemporary sequels, it also has the chance to satisfy seasoned survival horror fans who’ve been scratching their heads about a few things since rolling credits on the original over a quarter-century ago.
Of course, the icing on this green + red + blue herb cake is the massive visual bump Veronica will receive via Capcom’s proprietary RE Engine. Rebuilt from the ground-up with the same tech that’s made the recent remakes and new releases shine as bright as a gemstone-encrusted treasure, Claire’s harrowing search for Chris won’t just look leaps and bounds better than the original, but will be on par with the series’ recent output.
The clue-packed, immersive reveal trailer has already teased the gargantuan graphical upgrade, spending most its time showcasing that eye-popping Paris apartment where Chris has apparently been hiding out. But it’s this game’s unique settings, the Rockfort Island prison and Umbrella’s Antarctic base, that I can’t wait to see brought to detail-drenched life (and death) in the final game.
So whether you’re a relatively new RE recruit, wondering what the hell happens with Claire and Chris following the fallout of the RE2 remake, or you’re a longtime T-Virus survivor who just can’t wait to get back behind the Umbrella-dismantling skills of one of the franchise’s absolute best-but-underused protagonists, there’s lots to look forward to when Veronica begins spreading its infection next year.
