Very similar to Resident Evil 2 and has the same classic RE gameplay but with some tweaks to enemy design a few new mechanics that end up making this game feel distinctively more action oriented.
RE3 introduces the ability to dodge and quick turn as well as the ability to craft ammo. In line with the new dodge mechanic enemies are generally quicker and more aggressive than they are in RE2, which encourages you to actually learn how to dodge properly. This increase in enemy aggressiveness also prevents the dodge button from making the game too easy. This is overall a more difficult game than RE2 mostly due to how dangerous the enemies can be.
RE3 also adds the “live selection” mechanic where players are given the chance to choose different actions to perform in certain cutscenes like whether to hide, fight, run away, etc. These can all branch the story in small but noticeable ways like impacting the fate of minor characters, the style and location of future boss fights, and the availability of weapon upgrade parts. There are some very slight variations in the ending based on these choices but there is generally speaking only one ending - you can’t get a bad ending or true ending through these choices. I actually enjoyed this mechanic even if the choices presented to you aren’t terribly fleshed out and at times seem a bit arbitrary. It at the very least adds some nice replay value to the game and makes the player feel more invested. The choices presented definitely feel arbitrary enough that it would be really annoying if they could significantly change the story or give you a bad ending, so I’m glad they didn’t go that route. Small but noticeable changes in the story are perfect for this mechanic.
Level design in Nemesis also manages to make the world feel surprisingly open and expansive despite not being any larger than RE2’s. You spend a lot of the early game walking around the branching streets of Raccoon City, and the designers did a great job of actually making it feel like a large city in spite of the PlayStations hardware limitations.
Nemesis of course steals the show in this game and forces the player to adopt a more defensive style of gameplay than was necessary in the earlier games. In previous RE games enemies were almost always visible or audible the moment you walked into a room. This put the player on edge when entering a room but caused the tension to die down a bit once they realized what it any enemies there were to confront. In RE3, Nemesis can show up at any time and without warning, even when you’re in the middle of exploring a room, which is something I can only recall happening a handful of times in previous games. This creates an experience where the player rarely feels safe and always needs to be prepared to make a mad dash across several rooms if Nemmy shows up. Unless you’re really good at this game and have a lot of ammo you’re going to want to run away immediately whenever Nemesis ambushes you. The feeling of always being hunted by a creature significantly more powerful than you are does a great job at creating tension and makes character progression feel really satisfying. By the end of the game when you’re relatively kitted out and are forced to fight nemesis instead of running away you’ll be able to beat him due to your enhanced load out and practice with the game. After dying to nemesis 15 times trying to fight him with just the pistol at the beginning of the game and eventually giving up and just running away this was immensely satisfying. Nemmy’s frightening and often times progress halting presence for the entirety of the game also makes him the most emotionally compelling villain in the series thus far. Playing this game I felt like Nemesis was my enemy as opposed to the enemy of the player character. Finally defeating him for good at the end of the game was unusually cathartic because of this.
Unsure if I like this or RE2 better. RE2 has more memorable locations and better writing and story, but RE3 is more challenging, tense, and satisfying to conquer, which I really enjoyed. Would rec to anyone that likes the classic RE formula.
RE3 introduces the ability to dodge and quick turn as well as the ability to craft ammo. In line with the new dodge mechanic enemies are generally quicker and more aggressive than they are in RE2, which encourages you to actually learn how to dodge properly. This increase in enemy aggressiveness also prevents the dodge button from making the game too easy. This is overall a more difficult game than RE2 mostly due to how dangerous the enemies can be.
RE3 also adds the “live selection” mechanic where players are given the chance to choose different actions to perform in certain cutscenes like whether to hide, fight, run away, etc. These can all branch the story in small but noticeable ways like impacting the fate of minor characters, the style and location of future boss fights, and the availability of weapon upgrade parts. There are some very slight variations in the ending based on these choices but there is generally speaking only one ending - you can’t get a bad ending or true ending through these choices. I actually enjoyed this mechanic even if the choices presented to you aren’t terribly fleshed out and at times seem a bit arbitrary. It at the very least adds some nice replay value to the game and makes the player feel more invested. The choices presented definitely feel arbitrary enough that it would be really annoying if they could significantly change the story or give you a bad ending, so I’m glad they didn’t go that route. Small but noticeable changes in the story are perfect for this mechanic.
Level design in Nemesis also manages to make the world feel surprisingly open and expansive despite not being any larger than RE2’s. You spend a lot of the early game walking around the branching streets of Raccoon City, and the designers did a great job of actually making it feel like a large city in spite of the PlayStations hardware limitations.
Nemesis of course steals the show in this game and forces the player to adopt a more defensive style of gameplay than was necessary in the earlier games. In previous RE games enemies were almost always visible or audible the moment you walked into a room. This put the player on edge when entering a room but caused the tension to die down a bit once they realized what it any enemies there were to confront. In RE3, Nemesis can show up at any time and without warning, even when you’re in the middle of exploring a room, which is something I can only recall happening a handful of times in previous games. This creates an experience where the player rarely feels safe and always needs to be prepared to make a mad dash across several rooms if Nemmy shows up. Unless you’re really good at this game and have a lot of ammo you’re going to want to run away immediately whenever Nemesis ambushes you. The feeling of always being hunted by a creature significantly more powerful than you are does a great job at creating tension and makes character progression feel really satisfying. By the end of the game when you’re relatively kitted out and are forced to fight nemesis instead of running away you’ll be able to beat him due to your enhanced load out and practice with the game. After dying to nemesis 15 times trying to fight him with just the pistol at the beginning of the game and eventually giving up and just running away this was immensely satisfying. Nemmy’s frightening and often times progress halting presence for the entirety of the game also makes him the most emotionally compelling villain in the series thus far. Playing this game I felt like Nemesis was my enemy as opposed to the enemy of the player character. Finally defeating him for good at the end of the game was unusually cathartic because of this.
Unsure if I like this or RE2 better. RE2 has more memorable locations and better writing and story, but RE3 is more challenging, tense, and satisfying to conquer, which I really enjoyed. Would rec to anyone that likes the classic RE formula.