I’ve divided my empire. But if you’re here for me (The Jaded Gamer) and not here for the review, skip to the end. If the late-ass-review is what you see, I … GOT … YOU!
K. Sooooooooooooooooooo. What-do-ya-wanna-know? I heard it is short. It is short. I can confirm that. I hear there are less puzzles. Another absolute fact I cannot deny. I also heard it is more action heavy. Alright look. I’m starting to think that a lot of the people who WANT to play this aren’t the people who actually played Resident Evil 3 (1999) and that makes me sad. Because…
This remake is the most remake out of any remake you have ever played. Every other remake you’ve played did not stick to the original script this hard. A lot of remakes tend to hit the right notes and retell the story we all know, but this one stays a lot closer to the original. Actually. I don’t remember the original THAT well, but I remember enough things that are relevant here so let’s just calm down. What I’m saying is that this game is way closer to a shot for shot, beat for beat remake than Resident Evil 2’s remake which was more or less the same but shuffled a few things.
The main difference here in the remake as opposed to the original is Jill’s outfit and the appearance of Nemesis. Nemesis IS the plot. They try to dress it up like it is about vaccines, combat data and bio-weapons, but it isn’t. The plot is about escaping the city and eventually having a showdown with Nemesis. ALSO, brilliant foreshadowing is found at the beginning whether you’re a fan or not. If you miss the note “Escape R.C” on Jill’s calendar, she literally says “Three more days and I can kiss this city goodbye.” Jill also sports a new more combat ready outfit… which I probably have one screenshot of.
I like classic RE3 Jill.
As far as I’m concerned, this is the best Jill. Others will argue that her OG Resi-1 look is king but I disagree. ANYWAY! The plot takes place before, during and after Resident Evil 2 but there is very little crossover other than Carlos’ very brief trek inside R.C.P.D. Oh, yes. You play as Carlos in this but this is nothing like Resi-2’s Leon/Claire scenarios. Resident Evil 3 has one scenario that is played out front to back and the option to fight or run from Nemesis after each encounter is GONE. If you aren’t trapped inside an arena then you RUN. Period.
And Nemesis will firmly be entrenched in your ass. First thing’s first, and I want to be clear. . . he will push open doors and duck under the archway exactly like Mr. X. He also…. RUNS! Listen to me. This is some cheating-ass-Nemesis. He’s got this tentacle that can grab stuff AND he RUNS! So when you’re trotting along all “La-La-La. I’m just completing objectives. Just going to walk down some stair–NEMESIS SMASH!! OM NOM NOM NOM” and then it is game over for your ass. In the beninging… In the beeningging… Listen properly. In the beginning hours of this game, Nemesis can run up a fire escape, run down a street or most frequently, slide down the side of a damn building to find me. And you RUN or else you don’t get to pass go and you don’t get $200. OH! He also Hulk jumps. Meaning he’ll be behind you and then he’ll just jump in front of you to cut you off because … yanno … somebody much bigger and stronger isn’t scary enough so they went and made him a speedy frog.
But it works. Every showdown with Nemesis feels like it might be the last until it IS the last and you can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Also, even when he is active, he doesn’t over stay his welcome, there are plenty of places for you to ditch him and he doesn’t pursue you for long. Stay moving.
The combat is a little more action heavy, they give you a little more ammo and fire power to deal with threats but here’s the thing; It is very possible to waste ammo but with a little bit of conservation and grit, you can be very well stocked by the conclusion. This was also true of the original but the fact that zombies take more damage seems to offset the idea of being overstocked with ammo. Even if I’m perfect, every zombie still takes between 2-4 headshots before going down. Three seems to be the magic number for headshots. Zombies also tend to get up or start crawling after you think they are dead. So… yanno…. double tap a zombie or two.
I guess where it starts losing the identity of a Resident Evil game is the lack of stupid doors and wacky puzzles. I mean.. there are a few but they don’t stop you from progressing. One requires you to find 3 gems. Another requires you to get a password for a safe from a poster in a pharmacy. It is fairly simple stuff and mostly optional. I can understand how this would be a frustrating aspect of a traditional Resident Evil game to miss out on. I say, focus on the intensity of the combat and resource management to draw suspense from, not brain teasing puzzles.
However… If I may… During the Carlos campaign at the hospital. You’ll meet this guy.
He’s a decent dude who kinda gets the shitty end of the raw deal but you have to ignore him at one point in the game or you may confuse him for A.I that’s actually doing something. The scene is this. You have to defend a door. He has to breach security. As you defend the door, he updates you on his progress. At one point he says “Almost done” and you might think you son’t have to be so aggressive with defending the door because he’s “almost done” his task. He’s lying to you. He’s just scripted A.I throwing out dialog as YOU kill attackers advancing on the door. So don’t be like me and kite an enemy around the room, waiting for Tyson or Tyler or Tyrone to get his shit together. He can’t. He’s A.I. It’s not his fault.
The first Carlos section is so short that I thought I did it wrong. However, the argument can be made that Carlos is the action master of Resident Evil 3. He is armed and generally up against more of the same threat you’ve already seen which is why he is armed so well. With Jill, you fight a handful of zombies mostly and maybe a special enemy every once and a while, but with Carlos, you’ll be facing a larger amount of zombies rushing you and more specialty type creatures. You’re armed for a reason and it isn’t to make Carlos’ sections a cakewalk.
In conclusion. Jill is my hero and Carlos is stealth Keanu Reeves.
I give this a solid recommendation. Despite it being shorter, I still enjoyed my time with it because it does enough to separate it from the previous remake.
The Jaded Gamer
I’m around if you know how to find me.
Your Momma's Basement 