Review | Resident Evil 3
Resident Evil 3 comes just one year after Resident Evil 2, both are remakes of classic survival horror games of the same names. Since its release, RE2 has been described as one of the best remakes ever made and one of the best games of 2019. Sadly, while RE3 may appear to be a continuation of what made its predecessor so fantastic, it feels lesser in almost every way.
Jill seen here deep in thought. How will she expose Umbrella? What would a Jill Sandwich taste like? How badly will later games ruin her character?
In RE3, you play as Jill Valentine, returning series protagonist and master of unlocking from the original Resident Evil. Jill has been investigating the Umbrella Corporation following their involvement with the events of the first game (dubbed ‘The Spencer Mansion Incident’.) However, a sudden virus outbreak in Racoon City has rapidly transformed the population into flesh-hungry zombies and now Jill must escape. Unfortunately, she is pursued by a mysterious hulking humanoid bioweapon, codenamed ‘Nemesis’, whose sole objective appears to be to terminate her and the other surviving members of S.T.A.R.S.
RE3 plays similarly to RE2, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Fixed camera angles have been replaced with a controllable over-the-shoulder camera and tank controls have been replaced with a more familiar standard third-person movement. The main addition in RE3 is a new ‘dodge’ mechanic which is extremely satisfying to execute, especially as it allows you to counterattack enemies, and is also a great way to showcase Jill’s S.T.A.R.S. skillset and further differentiate her from Claire Redfield in RE2. However, the rest of RE3’s gameplay changes and even its design philosophy feel like steps backwards for the series.
By the game’s end Nemesis really does have a face only a bunch of mad scientists inciting the apocalypse could love.
These steps backwards start with small oddities, like the ability to counter a zombie’s grab, either with a knife or grenade, being removed entirely. In its place are quick-time-events that are either passed or failed with no damage mitigation. Not only does this act as a removal of options available to the player but makes that interaction more annoying than tense. You’d have thought that Capcom would’ve learned after the backlash to Resident Evil 6’s gross overuse of QTEs. It also feels as though the game is too generous with ammunition, even on the harder Hardcore and Nightmare difficulties, making enemies nuances more than anything else.
Then there are broader, more design-oriented problems. RE3 replaces fixed camera angles and tank controls for a more modern over-the-shoulder control scheme, like RE2. However, the game’s design does not lend itself to replicating the tension of the 1999 original nor does it ever match the remake of RE2. This is because of two factors: the spacious nature of its environments and the pace with which the game moves from one location to the next. You never grow familiar with the largely linear streets of Racoon City because of how little time you spend there, or in any of the game’s locations. The maze-like Racoon City Police Department allowed your familiarity to become laced with dread as you were forced to avoid certain enemies, due to resource constraints, only to be forced to return to those same locations and enemies at a later time. This almost never happens in RE3.
The only instances in which the game comes close to capturing that same feeling is in the Racoon General Hospital but this is spoiled by a horde-style action sequence as the level’s climax. There’s also an altogether brief section, involving power circuits, that successfully creates a feeling of constant dread but this is isolated to the time you spend in this specific location. It’s worth noting that entire sections and puzzles from the original game have been cut, such as The Clocktower, making the lack of well fleshed-out locations sting all the more.
Then, there’s Nemesis himself. While he looks fantastic, as does much of the game, You never feel threatened by him. This chump goes down on his knee to one hand grenade on the Hardcore difficulty. He also does not have the same presence that Mr. X had. There are no tell-tale signs that he is approaching to build dread prior to his appearance, and I was never worried about him appearing unexpectedly as the game telegraphs its ‘set-piece’ moments a mile away. It’s a crying shame to have such a sinister and threatening looking character disappoint on both fronts.
Despite its shortcomings, there is still lots of fun to be had with RE3. As I mentioned previously, the game feels like RE2, it is still just as satisfying to get a critical hit on a zombie and watching its head pop open like a gore-filled piñata. There is still a satisfying level of resource management that must be applied in order to overcome both enemies and puzzles. However, the thing that Resident Evil 3 improves on most, compared to RE2, is in how it handles its boss battles. Far more attention has been paid to making these encounters work alongside all the modernised gameplay that the RE Engine brings to the game.
Racoon City has never looked better… Apart from the whole being on fire thing.
Speaking of the RE Engine, the game is almost as gorgeous as Resident Evil 2 was. Character models and facial animations, on both playable characters and enemies, are stunning as ever with secondary protagonist Carlos getting the best facelift. Seriously, that new hair is amazing. Everything that should be dark and gross is wonderfully so, particularly the exposed mandibles of the hunter gammas. There’s also some lovely use of neon lighting in the Racoon City streets. Strangely, however, certain gore effects that were present in RE2 are absent here. Whereas previously you were able to shoot a zombie’s arm and watch as it dangled by a sinew before falling to the floor, zombie arms now do no such thing. Additionally, screen-space reflections are still very noisy and can detract from the visual quality somewhat. These gripes, however, don’t detract much at all from RE3’s excellent overall presentation.
Just. Look. At. Carlos’. Hair.
That is character development right there.
Resident Evil 3’s narrative and characters have not been massively overhauled, adhering to the same beats as the original. The voice performances from Jill and Carlos are good and the two have some nice chemistry together but it’s nothing astounding. The same can be said for the flesh given to the barebones Umbrella’s Biohazard Countermeasure Service; improved but nothing special.
Overall, Resident Evil 3 is a good game that could’ve been great had it received the same level of care and reinvention that its predecessor had. There is fun to be had here but it falls short of Resident Evil 2, in both quantity and quality of content. As such, it will forever live in its predecessor’s shadow.
