Now before I begin I just want to clarify this:
This is strictly my own opinion. If you disagree with me, more power to you. Just keep the comments civil and respectful.
!THIS IS A RE-UPLOAD OF AN ARTICLE FIRST PUBLISHED ON LETTERBOXD BACK IN OCTOBER 2021!
Hello and welcome back.
This is PART 3 of
SEASON OF THE EVIL!
Over one year after the success of Resident Evil 2, the third installment was immediately brought out onto store shelves and into the hands of excited gamers everywhere.
Originally a sideline title, Resident Evil 3 once again became a juggernaut both critically and financially with major praises being directed towards the new mechanics, non-linear structure and gameplay and intense action-packed scares.
By that point, the franchise was on a bloody roll. Resident Evil basically stood alongside Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon as one of the most iconic trilogies that the original PlayStation has been blessed with.
The 2020 remake, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. Not that critics hated it as the reception was favorable at best but a good chunk of the fans seriously tore it to shreds. People have complained that it was a downgrade compared to the RE2 remake, saying that it's too short, the extra modes were replaced with an online multiplayer game that barely anybody wanted, alot of content was cut, it's too linear and shit like that. The RE3 remake may have it's defenders but aside from that, the die-hards have spoken that it was a disappointment.
Now before anybody bitches about me playing this version instead of the original PS1 classic, let me reiterate that as much as I would love to play the older games, I'd rather not risk wasting money on old copies that may not fuckin' work. The remakes were my best option since they were selling for a reasonable discount by the time I bought them so this is all you get.
I'm sure the original RE3 is awesome and a hundred times superior to the remake but until Capcom decides to port the PS1 games to modern consoles, this is the closest I'll get to experiencing the story. I'll be looking at the remake on it's own merits as I've done so in the last two reviews so please, save your angry typing finger energy for another time... preferably when Paul Anderson decides to ruin another beloved video game franchise in favor of showing off his wife like the nepotistic twat that he is. Thank god he's only an executive producer on Welcome to Raccoon City.
So with that out of the way, let's cap off the original trilogy with Resident Evil 3.
STORY & CHARACTERIZATION:
Taking place before and after the events of RE2, Jill Valentine, still reeling in from the Spencer Mansion Incident, awaits the moment she can get out of Raccoon City. However, she suddenly finds herself being ruthlessly chased out onto the streets by a seemingly-unstoppable monstrosity known as Nemesis, a new bio-weapon developed by Umbrella to hunt down and exterminate the remaining STARS members.
Joining up with a group of mercenaries, the survivors make a hell of an attempt to escape the city before they end up meeting a nasty-ass demise at the hands(and teeth) of the undead menace.
While the last two games definetly got the survival-horror feel down, this one goes for a more action-oriented approach with lots of explosions, gunfire and one-liners.
As a result, the stakes get higher and higher as the game progresses while still retaining a certain amount of fright throughout. As a cap-off to the Raccoon City saga, it makes for a hell of a finale while still leaving the door open for the story to continue(and of course, it did).
The characters are, without a doubt, the best thing about the story. Jill is every bit the determined badass that she was before and it also helps that she has a great supporting cast to work with. Early on in the game, she meets a group known as the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service(UBCS) who were sent in to rescue any surviving civilians. Although Jill was distrustful of them at first, she does see that most of the members are well-intentioned and end up becoming good partners with them later on. One of the members is Carlos Oliveira, a man who, despite his violent background, is a good-hearted and even funny companion whose back-&-forth with Jill is entertaining to listen to. The others like Tyrell Patrick and Mikhail Victor don't get much screen-time but they're pretty cool whenever they're on-screen.
Then we have our main villain, Nicholai Ginovaef, another member of the UBCS who turns out to be a mole sent in by an unknown corporation to sabotage Umbrella's attempts to cover their actions up while also monitoring bio-weapon activity for data purposes. This guy is just one scummy douchebag that I honestly wanted to get a chance to blow his brains out, especially after the scene where he basically just left Jill and Mikhail to die on the subway train. He is such a total asshole that he's honestly become one of my favorite RE villains and Neil Newbon does an excellent job selling these aspects with his performance.
There are other minor characters including Brad Vickers, a member of STARS who met his unfortunate end early on, and Nathaniel Bard, an Umbrella scientist who apparently knows how to cure the dreaded T-Virus.
So we got a great cast of characters, sick action set-pieces and some cool developments, what else is there to talk about? Well, the problems, actually.
Yeah, let's face facts, folks. RE3 is quite a short game. It only took about under 6-7 hours just to beat the story and keep in mind, there's only one campaign. There's no other where you can play through the perspective of another character like in the previous games. The pacing can be a bit too fast for it's own good and there's barely a moment where you can just take a breather, it's that quick to go through. On top of that, there's no extra modes, no mini-games, it just lacks the content variety that RE2 has and for a Triple-A title that sold for $60, that's inexcusable. Yes, there is the multiplayer add-on, RE: Resistance but here's the thing: Nobody wanted some sub-standard online game. They came for Resident Evil 3. Maybe it plays fine and actually can be fun but honestly, I can't be arsed to pay a monthly subscription for PS+. I'm not much of an online multiplayer gamer anyway.
I understand the defense that alot of RE games, if not, all of them, are quite short and are meant to be played through more than once. If you're able to use your knowledge of each entry wisely, you could easily strip off an hour or two on your next playthrough. I should know because I've seen people beat some of these games in about two hours or under... on the hardest difficulty imaginable. That's bloody insane.
So yeah, I get this defense but in the end, I still felt that a bit more extra content akin to RE2 shouldn't be a polite suggestion. Maybe give it another year of development is all I'm asking here.
Plus, I would've preferred if they saved the iconic "I'll Give You Stars" line for until the end when Jill finally kills off Nemesis for good.
So yeah, a bit short for it's own good, lacking in content and missed certain opportunities but as a whole, the story's still mildly enjoyable to play through.
GAMEPLAY & CONTROLS:
RE3 basically reuses alot of gameplay elements and assets from RE2, even going as far as to bring back the RPD station for a bit and to be fair, it still plays fine. The controls work pretty well, the shooting still feels good and for the most part, it does provide a fair challenge... and I say "for the most part" because this is, without a doubt, the hardest of the RE games I've played so far.
Fucking hell, certain parts are just relentless. If you thought Mr. X was a problem, Nemesis will do everything in his power to fuck you up badly. He's faster, he uses deadly weapons, he likes to spring out his tentacles, he's just a royal pain-in-the-ass. So much, in fact, that in the moments you're able to beat his ass down for now, you do feel great about yourself. I don't care if his encounters are scripted unlike Mr. X's, this guy is just one bad mother-fucker and the many set-pieces with him are pretty sweet to watch and play.
There's also this great moment where Jill is traversing through a power station that's been overrun by big-ass disgusting-looking insects, I mean, that shit had me spooked like crazy.
But while the game provides a good challenge from time to time, it does have a tendency to be very cheap. For example, the hospital segment. This is the part where the Hunters from RE1 make a comeback and they're much worse here. They soak up more damage than a T-Virus zombie's cranium, they like to dodge your attacks often and sometimes, their hits are an instant game over. Trying to kill those bastards with anything other than grenades, a shotgun or a launcher is a fucking nightmare. Even with the dodge mechanic, they're a pain to avoid and take down thus I ended up dying more times here than in other RE games.
Even worse is the part where you have to defend a currently-healing Jill from hoards of zombies, Hunters and other abominations while performing a couple tasks to stop them from coming in and my god, did I scream so loudly every time I died because I couldn't concentrate on so many things at a time.
Oh, and for some reason, they decided to throw in a little quick-time event whenever an enemy grabs you and no, it's not for defense items like in previous games. Every time you get grabbed, the X button icon appears so I assumed I had to tap it in order to escape the grasp. It didn't work and I ended up losing some health. Next time it happened, I tried holding the button. It didn't work and I ended up losing some health. No matter how I pressed the damn thing, the asswipe always gets a good bite out of me. Why did they implement this mechanic here when it doesn't even work, I have no fuckin' clue.
I've heard people complain about the lack of puzzles in this game and while I understand the frustration, I think it makes sense within the context of the setting. With RE1's Spencer Mansion, it was built upon limestone caverns which is where Umbrella's secret lab was set up so I'm pretty sure the guy in charge of construction would create little traps and puzzles to hide various key items that allow access to said lab. With RE2's police station, it was originally an art museum so there's a good chance the puzzles were made as a gimmick for guests to take part in. In RE3, why the hell would there be random-ass puzzles spread throughout the city? It just seems unrealistic and yes, I know it's a video game and I am aware that I tend to bitch about realism in entertainment but I've never said it's wrong to just have a reasonable amount of it.
It should be worth mentioning that once you beat the game, you unlock a shop that allows you to buy cool stuff using the points you've earned by gaining achievements. Also, there's an additional difficulty mode so I guess there's a bit of replay value for those who are up for 100% completion or are just plain masochists. After all, and I must reiterate, Resident Evil games are meant to be played through more than once.
So aside from it's shortcomings, the gameplay is perfectly-playable and controls just fine.
PRODUCTION & VISUALS:
Seeing how it once again makes use of the RE Engine, the game does indeed look great. Every character and monster looks about perfect, Raccoon City itself just looks amazing and there's just some cool visuals topped off with some neat sound design.
I guess if I did have one complaint, it's that unlike in RE2, you can't individually cut off a zombie's limbs aside from a shotgun blast to a leg or two but besides that, the graphics are pretty badass. For a supposedly rushed game that was put out a year after the RE2 remake to cash in on it's success, there aren't many technical issues I've noticed(aside from the occasional jittery zombie far off in the background).
In regards to soundtrack, Kota Suzuki and Azusa Kato take over scoring duties this time around and to be fair, their music is a little better than the last remake's. It definetly pumped me up whenever the next action set-piece took place.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Overall, Resident Evil 3 is definetly a downgrade from RE2. It lacks the content variety and it can be a bit too cheap at parts but at the same time, I liked the story, I love the characters and it still plays just as good as the last remake.
Despite it's faults, I am glad I played it. It's far from the worst game I've ever played but I get why people don't like it that much. If you're still interested in playing this one, be like me and wait for a sale. I got this off the PS Store for only £16.49 so it's a purchase I don't really regret. If you can, it's worth a rental.
But while Raccoon City maybe gone for good, a new sinister threat is due to be unleashed... in about six years. So tune in next time as I discuss Resident Evil 4.
AFTER-NOTE: BTW, before any Alien fans kill me for not bringing this up, William Hope, who played Gorman in Aliens, provided the voice and motion-capture for both Nathaniel and Mikhail. That's pretty awesome.
This is strictly my own opinion. If you disagree with me, more power to you. Just keep the comments civil and respectful.
!THIS IS A RE-UPLOAD OF AN ARTICLE FIRST PUBLISHED ON LETTERBOXD BACK IN OCTOBER 2021!
Hello and welcome back.
This is PART 3 of
SEASON OF THE EVIL!
Over one year after the success of Resident Evil 2, the third installment was immediately brought out onto store shelves and into the hands of excited gamers everywhere.
Originally a sideline title, Resident Evil 3 once again became a juggernaut both critically and financially with major praises being directed towards the new mechanics, non-linear structure and gameplay and intense action-packed scares.
By that point, the franchise was on a bloody roll. Resident Evil basically stood alongside Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon as one of the most iconic trilogies that the original PlayStation has been blessed with.
The 2020 remake, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. Not that critics hated it as the reception was favorable at best but a good chunk of the fans seriously tore it to shreds. People have complained that it was a downgrade compared to the RE2 remake, saying that it's too short, the extra modes were replaced with an online multiplayer game that barely anybody wanted, alot of content was cut, it's too linear and shit like that. The RE3 remake may have it's defenders but aside from that, the die-hards have spoken that it was a disappointment.
Now before anybody bitches about me playing this version instead of the original PS1 classic, let me reiterate that as much as I would love to play the older games, I'd rather not risk wasting money on old copies that may not fuckin' work. The remakes were my best option since they were selling for a reasonable discount by the time I bought them so this is all you get.
I'm sure the original RE3 is awesome and a hundred times superior to the remake but until Capcom decides to port the PS1 games to modern consoles, this is the closest I'll get to experiencing the story. I'll be looking at the remake on it's own merits as I've done so in the last two reviews so please, save your angry typing finger energy for another time... preferably when Paul Anderson decides to ruin another beloved video game franchise in favor of showing off his wife like the nepotistic twat that he is. Thank god he's only an executive producer on Welcome to Raccoon City.
So with that out of the way, let's cap off the original trilogy with Resident Evil 3.
STORY & CHARACTERIZATION:
Taking place before and after the events of RE2, Jill Valentine, still reeling in from the Spencer Mansion Incident, awaits the moment she can get out of Raccoon City. However, she suddenly finds herself being ruthlessly chased out onto the streets by a seemingly-unstoppable monstrosity known as Nemesis, a new bio-weapon developed by Umbrella to hunt down and exterminate the remaining STARS members.
Joining up with a group of mercenaries, the survivors make a hell of an attempt to escape the city before they end up meeting a nasty-ass demise at the hands(and teeth) of the undead menace.
While the last two games definetly got the survival-horror feel down, this one goes for a more action-oriented approach with lots of explosions, gunfire and one-liners.
As a result, the stakes get higher and higher as the game progresses while still retaining a certain amount of fright throughout. As a cap-off to the Raccoon City saga, it makes for a hell of a finale while still leaving the door open for the story to continue(and of course, it did).
The characters are, without a doubt, the best thing about the story. Jill is every bit the determined badass that she was before and it also helps that she has a great supporting cast to work with. Early on in the game, she meets a group known as the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service(UBCS) who were sent in to rescue any surviving civilians. Although Jill was distrustful of them at first, she does see that most of the members are well-intentioned and end up becoming good partners with them later on. One of the members is Carlos Oliveira, a man who, despite his violent background, is a good-hearted and even funny companion whose back-&-forth with Jill is entertaining to listen to. The others like Tyrell Patrick and Mikhail Victor don't get much screen-time but they're pretty cool whenever they're on-screen.
Then we have our main villain, Nicholai Ginovaef, another member of the UBCS who turns out to be a mole sent in by an unknown corporation to sabotage Umbrella's attempts to cover their actions up while also monitoring bio-weapon activity for data purposes. This guy is just one scummy douchebag that I honestly wanted to get a chance to blow his brains out, especially after the scene where he basically just left Jill and Mikhail to die on the subway train. He is such a total asshole that he's honestly become one of my favorite RE villains and Neil Newbon does an excellent job selling these aspects with his performance.
There are other minor characters including Brad Vickers, a member of STARS who met his unfortunate end early on, and Nathaniel Bard, an Umbrella scientist who apparently knows how to cure the dreaded T-Virus.
So we got a great cast of characters, sick action set-pieces and some cool developments, what else is there to talk about? Well, the problems, actually.
Yeah, let's face facts, folks. RE3 is quite a short game. It only took about under 6-7 hours just to beat the story and keep in mind, there's only one campaign. There's no other where you can play through the perspective of another character like in the previous games. The pacing can be a bit too fast for it's own good and there's barely a moment where you can just take a breather, it's that quick to go through. On top of that, there's no extra modes, no mini-games, it just lacks the content variety that RE2 has and for a Triple-A title that sold for $60, that's inexcusable. Yes, there is the multiplayer add-on, RE: Resistance but here's the thing: Nobody wanted some sub-standard online game. They came for Resident Evil 3. Maybe it plays fine and actually can be fun but honestly, I can't be arsed to pay a monthly subscription for PS+. I'm not much of an online multiplayer gamer anyway.
I understand the defense that alot of RE games, if not, all of them, are quite short and are meant to be played through more than once. If you're able to use your knowledge of each entry wisely, you could easily strip off an hour or two on your next playthrough. I should know because I've seen people beat some of these games in about two hours or under... on the hardest difficulty imaginable. That's bloody insane.
So yeah, I get this defense but in the end, I still felt that a bit more extra content akin to RE2 shouldn't be a polite suggestion. Maybe give it another year of development is all I'm asking here.
Plus, I would've preferred if they saved the iconic "I'll Give You Stars" line for until the end when Jill finally kills off Nemesis for good.
So yeah, a bit short for it's own good, lacking in content and missed certain opportunities but as a whole, the story's still mildly enjoyable to play through.
GAMEPLAY & CONTROLS:
RE3 basically reuses alot of gameplay elements and assets from RE2, even going as far as to bring back the RPD station for a bit and to be fair, it still plays fine. The controls work pretty well, the shooting still feels good and for the most part, it does provide a fair challenge... and I say "for the most part" because this is, without a doubt, the hardest of the RE games I've played so far.
Fucking hell, certain parts are just relentless. If you thought Mr. X was a problem, Nemesis will do everything in his power to fuck you up badly. He's faster, he uses deadly weapons, he likes to spring out his tentacles, he's just a royal pain-in-the-ass. So much, in fact, that in the moments you're able to beat his ass down for now, you do feel great about yourself. I don't care if his encounters are scripted unlike Mr. X's, this guy is just one bad mother-fucker and the many set-pieces with him are pretty sweet to watch and play.
There's also this great moment where Jill is traversing through a power station that's been overrun by big-ass disgusting-looking insects, I mean, that shit had me spooked like crazy.
But while the game provides a good challenge from time to time, it does have a tendency to be very cheap. For example, the hospital segment. This is the part where the Hunters from RE1 make a comeback and they're much worse here. They soak up more damage than a T-Virus zombie's cranium, they like to dodge your attacks often and sometimes, their hits are an instant game over. Trying to kill those bastards with anything other than grenades, a shotgun or a launcher is a fucking nightmare. Even with the dodge mechanic, they're a pain to avoid and take down thus I ended up dying more times here than in other RE games.
Even worse is the part where you have to defend a currently-healing Jill from hoards of zombies, Hunters and other abominations while performing a couple tasks to stop them from coming in and my god, did I scream so loudly every time I died because I couldn't concentrate on so many things at a time.
Oh, and for some reason, they decided to throw in a little quick-time event whenever an enemy grabs you and no, it's not for defense items like in previous games. Every time you get grabbed, the X button icon appears so I assumed I had to tap it in order to escape the grasp. It didn't work and I ended up losing some health. Next time it happened, I tried holding the button. It didn't work and I ended up losing some health. No matter how I pressed the damn thing, the asswipe always gets a good bite out of me. Why did they implement this mechanic here when it doesn't even work, I have no fuckin' clue.
I've heard people complain about the lack of puzzles in this game and while I understand the frustration, I think it makes sense within the context of the setting. With RE1's Spencer Mansion, it was built upon limestone caverns which is where Umbrella's secret lab was set up so I'm pretty sure the guy in charge of construction would create little traps and puzzles to hide various key items that allow access to said lab. With RE2's police station, it was originally an art museum so there's a good chance the puzzles were made as a gimmick for guests to take part in. In RE3, why the hell would there be random-ass puzzles spread throughout the city? It just seems unrealistic and yes, I know it's a video game and I am aware that I tend to bitch about realism in entertainment but I've never said it's wrong to just have a reasonable amount of it.
It should be worth mentioning that once you beat the game, you unlock a shop that allows you to buy cool stuff using the points you've earned by gaining achievements. Also, there's an additional difficulty mode so I guess there's a bit of replay value for those who are up for 100% completion or are just plain masochists. After all, and I must reiterate, Resident Evil games are meant to be played through more than once.
So aside from it's shortcomings, the gameplay is perfectly-playable and controls just fine.
PRODUCTION & VISUALS:
Seeing how it once again makes use of the RE Engine, the game does indeed look great. Every character and monster looks about perfect, Raccoon City itself just looks amazing and there's just some cool visuals topped off with some neat sound design.
I guess if I did have one complaint, it's that unlike in RE2, you can't individually cut off a zombie's limbs aside from a shotgun blast to a leg or two but besides that, the graphics are pretty badass. For a supposedly rushed game that was put out a year after the RE2 remake to cash in on it's success, there aren't many technical issues I've noticed(aside from the occasional jittery zombie far off in the background).
In regards to soundtrack, Kota Suzuki and Azusa Kato take over scoring duties this time around and to be fair, their music is a little better than the last remake's. It definetly pumped me up whenever the next action set-piece took place.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Overall, Resident Evil 3 is definetly a downgrade from RE2. It lacks the content variety and it can be a bit too cheap at parts but at the same time, I liked the story, I love the characters and it still plays just as good as the last remake.
Despite it's faults, I am glad I played it. It's far from the worst game I've ever played but I get why people don't like it that much. If you're still interested in playing this one, be like me and wait for a sale. I got this off the PS Store for only £16.49 so it's a purchase I don't really regret. If you can, it's worth a rental.
But while Raccoon City maybe gone for good, a new sinister threat is due to be unleashed... in about six years. So tune in next time as I discuss Resident Evil 4.
AFTER-NOTE: BTW, before any Alien fans kill me for not bringing this up, William Hope, who played Gorman in Aliens, provided the voice and motion-capture for both Nathaniel and Mikhail. That's pretty awesome.