![]() Image: CapcomĪt around six hours, RE3 is a comparatively short experience. Bits and pieces of lore are scattered through notes and computer files, some of which are amusingly written.Ĭarlos faces a new threat: the Hunter. The villains drip with cruelty and hubris. Our heroes, Jill and Carlos, are likable. That’s what much of RE3 is: a chase, with little in the way of story revelations or interesting new character additions to the Resident Evil fiction. The story starts with explosions, burning buildings, and a chase, setting the tone for the rest of Resident Evil 3. Resident Evil 3 also shakes things up at times, letting me play as secondary protagonist Carlos Oliveira for segments that offer moments of catharsis amid the more careful hours with Jill, thanks to his assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition to unload on the horrors of Raccoon City. There is a new dodge move used to evade zombie bites, and exploding barrels that wipe out clusters of the undead. Little has been done to expand the gameplay mechanics of RE2, which excelled at both movement and gunplay. ![]() The action of Resident Evil 3 is familiar and enjoyable. The Nemesis tries a new Jill-killing technique: laser-guided rockets. X felt like a truly terrifying stalker, Nemesis feels like an overpowered nuisance. Nemesis leaps around Raccoon City to hunt down Jill in ways that feel more aggravating than they are scary, and he serves as the game’s ever-mutating big boss monster. There is also the Nemesis, a relentless hunter who lacks the, well, meme-worthy charm of Resident Evil 2’s Tyrant, aka Mr. Even the filth of Raccoon City’s sewers and its dilapidated streets inspire graphical awe. Their fleshy innards are gorgeously rendered, and seeing Jill Valentine crunched in two by the Gamma’s horrid maw is impressively disgusting. There are new, strange monsters to fight, like the hideous sewer-dwelling frog creatures known as Gammas that showcase Capcom’s current masterful skill at visualizing gore. The zombies, most of them reused from RE2, still shamble about in ways that are frighteningly unpredictable and hard to headshot. But much of it feels like a lesser repeat of what was so impressive in Resident Evil 2. Capcom’s latest remake is a beautiful game, bearing the same sharp design and streamlining of last year’s game. There’s no doubt that the things that made the Resident Evil 2 remake great are present in Resident Evil 3. Jill and Mikhail try to do what’s right in Raccoon City’s decline. I called the RE2 remake “a fresh, expensive-looking game that evokes the best memories of the PlayStation original, while also being something altogether new.” The same is true of RE3, but the feat feels less impressive this time. It is nearly identical in ways that are satisfying, but offer diminishing returns. That was my unshakable feeling of the first few hours of the new Resident Evil 3: that this game, so similar in its style of play and visual presentation, is simply more of 2019’s (admittedly excellent) Resident Evil 2. None of those innovations are present here, making 2020’s Resident Evil 3 play more like an extension of last year’s Resident Evil 2 remake. The original PlayStation game offered branching story choices, and an unlockable minigame called “The Mercenaries” that would become a series staple. The Resident Evil 3 remake takes fewer risks than its inspiration. It is unkillable to an almost comical degree. Nemesis pursues the player from the game’s first minutes until its end - and it knows how to use weapons like rocket launchers and flamethrowers. The sequel recycles the stalking dread of Resident Evil 2’s Tyrant with a new threat called the Nemesis, a more present danger that is on a much more even level with the player. ![]() There was (and still is) just the singular campaign: Jill Valentine’s fraught escape from the disaster-struck Raccoon City. Resident Evil 3 shed the established tradition of a two-character, two-scenario game in favor of a streamlined, focused experience - one that set a more action-oriented tone for future Resident Evil games. In 1999, Capcom’s follow-up to Resident Evil 2 was both risky and derivative, in equal measure. That is as true for this year’s remake as it was for the original PlayStation game Resident Evil 2 was one of 2019’s best games. Resident Evil 3 is haunted by the gargantuan expectations of quality established by its predecessor, the groundbreaking Resident Evil 2. ![]()
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