Whenever these reveals happen I’m, like, overrun with emotion and adrenaline and I completely shut down for the next umpteen minutes of whatever showcase I’m watching. So now that I’m in the comfort of my own home, it’s time to do a deep dive on this bitch with a clearer mind.
Spoilers for Code Veronica below, and I assume most of these will apply to Veronica as well. Check out my pre-reveal predictions and hopes for the remake if you haven’t!
This building reminds me of the building from the opening Code Veronica sequence, when Claire is running away from a freakin’ helicopter. See all the windows? Also, the building definitely has a “HEY LOOK AT ME!” vibe going on. So I’m calling it: this is the Paris Umbrella Facility, and if the narrative rolls out the same way, Claire will end up there (maybe after she’s captured in the apartment?) and I hope to ALL the gods there’s another badass helicopter scene.
Like I said earlier, when I first saw this café sign I thought, “Y’know, that’s a typical-ass thing you’d see in France” which was one of the first giveaways that this was Code Veronica. Er, just Veronica. Anyway, I also know that video game devs are sly bastards, so I looked up what the word “Parapluie” means in French. IT. MEANS. UMBRELLA. Also notice the red and white stripes?! Sheeeesh.
This poor old lady – she’s probably so dead by now. Maybe I’ll pretend she’s just knocked out and stuffed into a closet somewhere. Anyway, her little comment about Chris’ room, “It’s like a boulder rolled through here!” is cute and clever. Because, ya know, he totally punches a boulder later on in his valiant effort against bioterrorism. (Again, sly bastards, those devs.) But also, it’s a fun nod to the text you get upon observing Chris’ desk in Resident Evil 2.
THE URGE I have to read every single one of those files, GAWDDAMN, it’s giving me the shakes. Anyway there’s a camera, photos, what looks like a badge flipped upside down, lots of paperwork – it almost looks like he’s gone undercover. DUDE. What if he’s gone undercover at the Umbrella facility, and that’s the reason Claire heads that way? Sure seems plausible to me!
Just throwing this out there – there’s something important about these freakin’ caramels. They could be a clue, or maybe Chris left in a rush and hid something SUPER important inside of that box. And because I doubt Claire could find Chris’ apartment without being tipped off by Chris himself, it would make sense if he reached out and was like, “YO SIS come to my apartment and get the important neat thing I hid inside a random box of sweets!” My spidey senses are tingling. TINGLING I TELL YOU.
Rodrigo? Is that you? Or is that Mr. Hunk? My gut is telling me it’s Rodrigo – while Capcom COULD make a case for swapping Rodrigo for Hunk, I really hope they haven’t. Like I said in my prediction piece I’ve always had a soft spot for Rodrigo and I’d get a kick out of seeing a more fleshed-out version of him in Veronica. Also, if she DOES get captured by him in this apartment building I gotta assume he takes her directly to the Paris facility? I can’t imagine Capcom would just skip that location. I NEED MY DAMN HELICOPTER SCENE.
STEVE! I’d recognize that red hair anywhere. I’ve already spoken my truth about Lil’ Man Burnside, but damn I can’t wait to see what’s done with him. Give that boy a fresh-ass personality makeover.
I wanna say this is the “enhanced 3D scanner” you find in Code Veronica, but in today’s lingo you’d probably just call it a 3D printer. Anyway, it’s part of one of the coolest yet butt-clenching segments of the game so, yeah, I totally see why it’d be featured in the reveal trailer. After all, nothing screams “warm and fuzzy nostalgic memory!” quite like remembering the time you were forced to store all of your metallic items LIKE YOUR WEAPONS in the middle of a zombie outbreak on an isolated island! I mean who needed those weapons anyway?! ahahahAHAHAHAH A
Those Ashford siblings are twisted, deranged and all kinds of fucked up. I think I love them. But I wish they’d stop harming dragonflies. Why couldn’t they fuck with, like, wasps? Yellowjackets? Why beautiful dragonflies? Oh right. Because they’re twisted, deranged and all kinds of fucked up.
On that note, I hope those two stay weird as fuck. Here’s our first look at Alfred. Keep the crazed cackle, keep the unpredictable voice pitches, keep it goofy. Code Veronica had a different tone from the prior Resident Evil games, in part thanks to this whackadoodle, and I’d like to see that stick around in Veronica.
Ah, the Gold Lugers. One of the many causes of Steve’s suffering. But damn I’m really digging the ivory handles on these – they’re gorgeous. Almost TOO PRETTY TO STEAL, STEVE. I’m thinkin’ this shot + slow pan is just a fancy scene created for the reveal trailer, but either way, I now know which weapons I’m most excited to use. Such a shame they’ll soon be splattered with bioweapon juice.
Finally, this is such a fun nod to some of the original art. See the legs?
Now look:
FUN!
I’m gonna write more about this a bit later, but when I was making my predictions, one of the things I had hoped for was an expanded intro that better explained the opening segment of the original Code Veronica. It was never made clear what exactly brought Claire to Paris and how she ended up in that Umbrella facility – and judging from this reveal trailer, we’re abso-freaking-lutely getting more context. HELL. YEAH.
That’s all I got for now – you KNOW I’ll be back as soon as we get some new info.