REVIEW: Resident Evil 3 — Get on the Remake Bullet Train

Given the success of 2019’s Resident Evil 2 Remake, it would be no surprise to see a RE3: Nemesis getting the same treatment. What is a surprise is that it’s already here! Though the remake of Resident Evil 3 is in many ways a step above it’s RE2 counterpart, how Capcom managed to get it out to market so quickly definitely shows in the finished product.

Jill be givin’ Milla Jovovich a run for her money!

Resident Evil 4 was my first so I don’t really have good authority to compare the remake’s story with the original’s. So from a non-fan perspective, the story was like nothing short of a B-rated zombie movie that managed a cast of A-list actors.  I don’t count it as a lost point though, considering the obvious constraints of retelling the plot from a video game in the 90s. In fact, I’d go as far as to say Capcom has done a great job of modernize the story and characters to better fit the times, though I’m sure some hardcore fans might not think so as Capcom clearly took a lot more liberties with the story this time around. This meant that some events and characters have either been heavily altered or downright removed from the original.

Every cut scene was a treat to watch, at least. Resident Evil has never been this cinematic (Yes, including the movies). Everything is done in full motion capture and the voice acting and facial expressions are top notch, too. Resident Evil 3 takes place in Raccoon City a day before the events of Resident Evil 2, but ends after the event’s of the latter. Don’t assume this meant the game’s runtime is longer, because in a way, it’s actually shorter, but more on that later.

S.T.A.R.S.

You play as Jill Valentine, an American Spec Ops and member of the elite Special Tactics and Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.). At this point in time, she’s leagues ahead of Leon in terms of experience. Coincidentally, the game is also relatively easier compared to RE2. Ammunition is abundant, her knife doesn’t break, and she even has a dedicated dodge button which can avoid nearly anything when timed right. Puzzles are easier this time around, too, further supporting RE3’s more action-focused direction. Don’t worry, you’re still fighting zombies, but admittedly, the game isn’t as scary this time around and that’s coming from me; an absolute wimp when it comes to horror games.

Nemesis don’t give it to ya

Nemesis is in all manner, more menacing than Mr. X, but from a game play perspective, he’s actually somewhat of a step-down. What made Mr. X so sinister in RE2 was his relentless and unpredictable pursuit of Lean and Claire in between levels, particularly while trying to solve puzzles that your math teacher might’ve warned you about. Nemesis seldom does this, however, lending most of his appearance to more cinematic (and scripted) sequences instead. And in the instances that he does chase you around, Nemesis doesn’t quite capitalize on it as well as Mr. X does, which is disappointing considering that Nemesis has more tools at his disposal, is newer, and is hella bad ass.

Resist The Resistance!

One play through takes about 5-7 hours. That’s roughly the length of one playthrough in the RE2 Remake, but at least there, you could play the campaign again from a slightly different perspective, doubling those hours. RE3 attempts to bridge the gap by letting you to buy new weapons and upgrades at the end of a play through for use on a new game. However, they don’t really offer enough to refresh the campaign and you likely won’t even have enough points to get the more meaningful upgrades from your first campaign clear either.

Resident Evil 3 tries to make up for it with the bundled Resident Evil Resistance: a 4 v 1 multiplayer mode that pits 4 unique survivors against an evil Mastermind. Playing as the survivor is not too different from standard gameplay besides having one unique skill. Survivors win when they manage to escape before time runs out. Masterminds watch through surveillance cameras strewn around and sets up traps and hurls zombies at survivors to prevent their escape. You can even assume control of the zombies you release to aid in your nefarious dealings.

It’s a novel concept that has the potential to be fun for both solo players and groups. But, like most tie-up multiplayer modes, Resistance’s biggest issue is the lack of stable active player base. By the time I started playing Resistance, it took too long to find a match and when it did, most players where way above my rank and level. This often meant that I’m mismatched against more experienced players with little to no hope of victory. That said, Capcom did release a roadmap of their update plans for the game all the way up to July.

HD Zombies

There’s no argument that Resident Evil 3 looks great — with impressive use of lighting, shadows, and textures to really give off a photo realistic look. But what’s perhaps most impressive about the game is how incredibly optimized RE3 is. I played this on an RTX 2070 rig but the game was so well-optimized that I could crank the settings way higher than my usual thresholds and it barely puts my GPU to sweats. Loading times are quite impressive, too. Even on an HDD install, the game always loads in a matter of seconds. That said, the motion of distant figures are rendered at a really low rate. This is an issue present since the last game but made more obvious considering the more open areas in RE3.

A couple things to note, though is the way gore and physics work in RE3. In RE2, Zombies would get dismembered in such great detail and when killed, the physics reacts really well with the environments as they fall to the ground. In RE3, there is virtually no dismemberment outside of heads exploding and the death physics seems to be completely absent. Also, Dead dead zombies in RE3 disappear over time, in RE2, the zombies you’ve killed never really disappear and their corpse remain in the spots where you killed them indefinitely.

VERICT

The remake trend is certainly welcome but RE3 shows some alarming signs of a downward trajectory. At times the game felt more like a solid expansion for RE2, with almost as many downgrades as there are improvements. It comes with a novel concept for an asymmetric multiplayer game, but I would’ve preferred Capcom devote more time on the actual remakes instead splitting their focus for tacked-on features that likely wont amount to anything more than a gimmick. 

Certain design choices — from the removal of fan-favorite sequences and features, to the poor use of the Mr. X’s AI system on Nemesis — makes RE3 more like an equal to RE2 as opposed to a step up from, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing considering how good RE2 was. Ultimately, fan or no, RE3 is a stellar RE game that’s worth the price it charges for. 

NOTE: Resident Evil Resistance on Steam is structured as a standalone application. Though it’s currently bundled with RE3, it’s possible that a cheaper, Resistance-less version of RE3 might be available in the future. Might be worth the wait if you’re not into the multiplayer add-on. 

[This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the Publisher]