Excuse me if i get too personal with this review. Resident Evil 3 is the only game of the franchise i played when i was just a kid (9-10 years old) and the reason of more than a couple of nightmares. This review won’t be exactly an attempt of being objective and It also won’t be just an account on my experience during this recen gameplay. Actually, most of my appreciations in this review will be extremely biased by what i felt while playing this game as a child

My personal history with the genre is essentially the same as my history with horror in general. I wasn’t a horror kid while growing up mainly because my parents kinda forbid me to. They were ok with action films, but i guess the kind of splattery violence portrayed in horror films were just too much for them. It didn’t helped that the few exposures i had to horror came with nightmares. Funny enough, one of those experiences was with this franchise: When my parents bought me my PS1 for christmas (I’m guessing i might have been 10 years old as much), one of the games that came with it was RE3 Nemesis. I was blown away, it was a completely different experience for me. I had never played a game before that transmited such despair and hopelessnes. And when the moment of Brad’s death came, i guess i was kinda traumatized in a way. Sadly my parents decided that i shouldn’t be playing this kind of games anymore. That didn’t stopped me from becoming really interested in anything related to the Resident Evil lore up until that point (Resident Evil Zero and the RE1 remake were on the works). So as a i child i was very well informed with anything related to the franchise without having completed any of the games. And then when teenage came, i just stopped being interested in videogames at all.

The constant bullying of Nemesis is enough of a reason to consider this game as the scarier of the classic ones, if not the scarier of the whole franchise. This is not a random jump scare of a dog crashing through a window or some licker coming down from the ceiling. This time is Nemesis, the most powerful enemy of the game, who’s chasing you throughout the entire thing. And the truth is that, for most of the game, you have no chance against him. You might hurt him a bit but he’ll eventually come back for you. You just can’t win. So RE3 is not just a worthy contender at being the scarier of the franchise, but also the most pessimistic and hopeless for sure. And is not because of Nemesis and the constant feeling of impotence at fighting him, is because of everything: The FMV introduction sets the tone like no other game in the series. RE2’s intro is amazing, surely, one of the best of it’s times, but there’s a big difference compared to RE3’s intro. RE2/s intro is more action-packed, you have the cool mimbo Leon, and he’s not alone because he’s joined by qt petite girl Claire, and there’s a truck exploding and essentially you know that, no matter which character you picked first, you’re not alone on this trip. RE3, instead, show us that the zombie plague has grown to such a massive degree, that even the military forces can’t fight against them. The final sequence where the mercenary is cornered by a bunch of zombies despite shooting at them, was definitely something else. As a kid, i’ve never watched something as apocalyptic as that in videogames. And once the intro is done, you’re there with Jill, completely alone. You find some people in the first minutes of the game: The man who lost his daughter and decides to keep himself closeted in a safebox – even as a child i could definitely see how depressing that idea was – and Brad. And when it seems like Brad is going to be your buddy, then comes the biggest shock of my childhood gaming days: Nemesis does quite a jump-scary introduction, and kills Brad in an incredibly gory and messed up way. Following that, you’re faced with a negative screen showing you two choices, which comes as a total shock because this is a completely new thing in terms of gameplay, and is even more upsetting considering how Nemesis is rapidly getting closer. So there you’re, alone again. And in the middle of a fight you just can’t win.

Holy shit that moment when Nemesis kills Brad... For an adult familiar with 80’s and 90’s horror flicks, that scene might look campy, even funny. I know it because i am that kind of adult right now. But trust me, that sole scene was the reason for many nightmares as a kid. So yeah, i guess finally coming back to this game and finally beating it might count as some kind of Jungean-like way of dealing with something that is not essentially a trauma, but kinda looks like one. Nemesis is, by far, the best boss of the whole franchise. In terms of concept is just so coherent and almost natural that Umbrella’s constant struggle in developing the ultimate biological weapon eventually led to this point: This creature that, while being kinda flawed, is faster, stronger, and even more inteligent than any boss you had encounter yet. In terms of design, Nemesis is one of those horror faces that will forever stuck on your subconscious. It’s actually interesting, for me, to think Nemesis within the frame of not just horror games, but actually horror media in general, mostly 80s and early 90s horror films. The aesthetic influence of Hellraiser, particularly the Chatterer –The Sharp-teethed cenobite who appears alonside Pinhead in the first two films of the franchise – has been pointed out already. Nemesis could be some kind of buffed-up cenobite. But also, i think the role that Nemesis plays in this game is more akin to a classic slasher film, and i can’t help but thinking that there is even some Michael Myers resemblance here, for two reasons: motherfucker never dies, and also, he’s obsessed in chasing someone in particular, so Jill pretty much plays the final girl role kinda like Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween.
Now, finally talking about something related to the actual gameplay: During a big part of the first half of the game, is useless trying to fight Nemesis. Forget about fighting him in the police station. And probably you shouldn’t even consider fighting him at all –despite the few times when there isn’t any other choice- and i mean it for a few reasons: First of all, it takes a lot of tries and practice to beat him down, wasting a lot of resources in a process that is not really fun, specially during your first couple encounters, where you just don’t have proper weapons to fight . Technically, it is possible to beat him down using only the handgun but that would definitely make for the most boring and frustrating gaming experience imaginable. Second of all, despite the fact that Nemesis leaves some goodies as a bonus for every encounter where you succesfully beat him down, you’ll find out that they’re not really worth it. I actually got three bonuses: both parts of the Desert Eagle, and the Medikit bag. They are very cool for sure but i can hardly say that they were really necessary to get through the game. Third, and probably the most important reason: Fighting Nemesis isn’t nearly as fun as just escaping him. The game was designed mostly to feel the thrill of being chased by a monster as if you were the final girl from a slasher film. WIth the exception of the encounters where you have no other choice than to just fight him, i mostly decided to escape from Nemesis. Out of the three times i decided to fight him, two were basically free (The kitchen blowup and the clock tower electrocution). So the only time i actually fought him as my own choice, was right before meeting the Gravedigger, on my way to fixing the train.

I think there are some interesting design choices here when it comes to the map and the gameplay. First of all, the game is divided in two: Once you take the train, there’s no possibility of backtracking. In a way every game from the original trilogy was essentially divided in two, with a transition in between. It’s always the iconic scenario in the first half – Mansion in RE1, Police Station in RE2, the whole Racoon City in RE3 – with some sort of in betwen scenario – mines in RE1, sewer in RE2, Clock Tower/Hospital/Zoo in RE3 – leading, in all of the cases to, well, a lab. And of course, an explosion in the end. It’s almost laughable, but still it works great. RE3 is a little more linear than it’s precursors. And somehow, to me, it felt more convoluted in terms of layer design. It is pretty confusing, for example, to find your way through the police station during the first section, given how mazey that part of the map is. I also have to say that the music during this part is by far the most opressive in the entirety of the original trilogy, it truly adds to the mood, and it enhances the feeling that you’re playing the least enjoyable game –in a good way – of the franchise up until this point at least. And this whole uncomfortable mood is in a way increased by the new “randomization”. Of course, i’m aware this is technically just a randomization between A or B, but still, it makes it even harder to study the map and think of strategies.

There’s also new mechanics here. The auto-aim is glorious, a necessary addition for sure. The fast spin is also pretty useful but not so easy to get right. And then there’s the dodging, which is just broke, really badly implemented. As a concept is great, it is pretty satisfying to get it right, but your chances to do it are pretty much the same as your chances of getting it wrong. And also the infamous gunpowder system, which is interesting but kinda messy, and also kind of an attempt to delve more into RPG territory. The manual you get right at the beginning is pretty much a fail: It never explains that the C gunpowder is made up by mixing the A and B type, which is far from being a minor detail considering that the C type is the one you need to make the most powerful types of ammo. So that’s how i played the entirety of the game wondering how come i could never find a single C gunpowder, and also how come i’ve only found two Magnum rounds and only one Freeze Grenade rounds (the one that Carlos gave me in the train)

One last problem i’d like to point out is concerning to the live selections. Of course they always come during extreme situations and of course they add a lot of intensity. Overall they are a great addition given that, for the first time, Resident Evil decided to explore the fear underlying the simple act of choosing an option, which to a grander extent implies the fact that you have to face your destiny. During my gameplay, i loved them, the rush of adrenaline was just fantastic. But once i finished and i took the time to explore the different incomes of these choices, i came to realize that the potential of this concept wasn’t fully realized. I can understand that the technical limitations of the PS1 made it really hard for a more complex branching (after all, these choices didn’t affect greatly on what happened next), but at least, they should have put more effort in the different endings. See, this selections always made me think of negative consequences such as other characters dying. But the truth is, at the end, the game just have one ending. Of course, they are three, but they’re only slight variations of the same ending. So you forced me to choose during the game, you made me really overthink about the consequences of my elections, but at the end, it didn’t really matter, because everything would be alright and i wouldn’t have to pay for anything. I would rather had the possibility of more tragic incomes. See, a classic example of simple but good implementation of choosing is shown in Metal Gear Solid 1. In fact, this is a great example of tragic dilemma shown in ancient greek drama, implemented in video games. If Snake cannot resist during the torture scene, then Meryl will die. But if he does succeed in resisting, then Otacon will die. So no matter which choice you make, all of them will have a negative income. Of course, Silent Hill explored this like no other. Clock Tower already pionered this kind of branching. Heck, even Dino Crisis has some of this. So is kinda unforgiving how poorly RE3 managed this thing: live selections were just a way of adding a cheap thrill in the end, and that’s it.

In conclussion, RE3 is a masterpiece, althought a flawed one. Yet i can’t rate it less than 5 stars. Of course i can definitely see how, objectively, RE2 is the best of the trilogy, but what RE3 does good, it does it like no other game in the franchise. Plus, my personal bond with it is just something else, as i told early in this review. It feels like a perfect closure for an unforgettable saga, almost like George Romero’s trilogy of the dead. So i guess i’m essentially rating 5 stars to the whole PS1 saga, and that’s it.

In january, i played RE1. During February and March, i played both RE2 and RE3, almost at the same time. I went like this: I played Leon A, Claire B, then i went with Resident Evil 3, then i played Claire A, Leon B, then i played 4th Survivor, and by the end, i played The Mercenaries.

RE2 is a masterclass on recursiveness. A lesson in how to reutilize the same material in ingenious ways to keep it interesting, while economizing resources. This time the big deal with RE2 is perspectivism. In RE1, the fact of having different endings was mostly tied to a concept of free will, therefore having to face the consequences of your own actions. RE2 instead will have a specific ending depending on the order in which you play the CD’s. In that sense, the story in RE2 is pretty much determined, which is the opposite of RE1. But what makes RE2 interesting in a philosophical way is that, if we accept the idea that there is no real truth but mostly different perspectives, and therefore, the actual truth might come from the juxtaposition of all those perspectives –something unreachable for us as individuals- well, RE2 adds a little more info and a little more “truth” everytime you finish the game. So let’s say that you finish Leon A first, then of course you’ll know a lot more things about the story once you finish Claire B. But if you decide to keep playing, this time Claire A and then Leon B, you’ll know even more things, and you’ll even get to unblock the 4th Survivor minigame which actually serves as even more lights to the mistery. And if we agree on the fact that RE2 story, while being a bit more complex than RE1 is still quite minimalistic, then the conclussion i come to, is that RE2 does a masterful work in creating little intrigues that overcome repetition. No matter if you’re already familiar with the police station, there are many chances that once you play with both characters, you’ll want to play once again in the inverted order. Replayabiliy, therefore, doesn’t really play as an option but rather a condition here, in order to properly experience this game.

I find extremely funny –in a good way of course - how RE2 continues a not-so-commented idea where guys are pretty dumb and the girls are actually the ones with the brains. If we go back to RE1, you find out that both Jill and Rebecca are the ones who are able to play the piano and solve the chemical puzzle. Jill also has the lockpick, which is something useful only for smart people. Chris himself can’t do any of this stuff. In RE2, while this kind of differences in the way of solving puzzles have been pretty much equaled (still, Claire is the one with the lockpick) the “intellectual” differences comes out in the way each character relates to the story. Leon, essentially a mimbo here (a different kind of beast than Chris who ressembles more the typical chad, despite sharing pretty much the same cognitive cappabilities) doesn’t seem to be much aware of how the whole Umbrella plot is tied, even at the very end. He’s rather a more pragmatical guy in his concern about escapin but also quite idealistic in the way he just wants to get away with the hot asian chick in his arms. He’s also quite innocent and insecure, which is pretty much shown when he states that no one seems to listen to what he says (inb4 rookie). Claire, instead, is there with another objective which is finding her dumb brother. But meanwhile, she seems to be the one who’s really trying to understand what’s going on in the city, discovering many important things about the whole Umbrella conspiracy in the proccess, and really trying to tie loose ends. She’s also shown as a more grounded and secure person, mature enough to also take care of a minor. Do i have a favourite character in RE2? No, i just love all of them, even with how simplistic they might be, they still have a unique charisma which somehow makes them all impossible to not like. There are some nuances as to how they relate to each other and which role they play in the whole story. I don’t want to spoil those details to you, but i have to say that, in my opinion, the story just tie way better if you play Claire A and then Leon B. My recommendation as i stated emphatically already, is that you play Leon A, then Claire B, then Claire A and finally Leon B. RE2 is widely recognized as the game with the most replayable value in a franchise that is already known for it’s replayability. So it wouldn’t be much of a problem to play all 4 stories, and in the order i told you (so you save the best for last). But if you’re definitely sure that you won’t have enough time to do so, then i suggest you to play Claire A, then Leon B.

As for the gameplay, there are many reasons for me to consider that RE2 is by far the best and most enjoyable RE title of the PS1 trilogy. For one instance, the map. Of course, it’s not as charming and iconic as RE1’s mansion, and for sure it’s not as ambitious as RE3 streets, but when it comes to the layout, the police station is just absolutely perfect. It flows organically, and even if it’s pretty linear it’s just imposible to not love. It’s also worth mentioning how RE2 doesn’t drop it’s quality once you get past the first scenario, in this case, the police station. The sewers and the lab are also great here. The balance is also perfect: more action-focused than RE1 but without getting as intense as RE3. It’s just the perfect sweet spot. And if you’re resourceful enough, you’ll find that the whole map just has enough items to beat the game with just the perfect ammount of suffering. Every single character has different weapons and also, there are a couple weapons that are available only on certain scenarios. Regarding weapons, there’s a general consensus that Leon’s arsenal is a lot better than Claire’s. This is also more notorious on Claire B than Claire A. When playing Claire B you’re easily underwhelmed because you’ve just finished Leon A with his hard-ass upgraded weapon (hands down best arsenal of the entire ps1 trilogy) and suddenly you’re there dealing with a shitty crossbow. And also, in Claire A is less of a problem because it’s by far the easiest run of all the 4 variations of the main game. Considering that, when the game offers me both a sub-machine gun and a backpack (which adds two more slots available in your inventory) i always leave both for Claire (Remember, picking any of these with the first character will make it unavailable for the second). I strongly recommend you to do the same. The sub-machine gun is quite a let-down but it might be an interesting addition for Claire, specially for dealing with lickers. The Backpack is specially useful considering that Claire’s main weapon, the grenade-launcher, makes you deal with three different types of ammunition, so the extra space comes quite in handy, and is also useful considering that the sub-machine gun fills two slots.

I can’t help but feeling that RE2 is somehow the least scary of the PS1 trilogy. Don’t get me wrong, it has a lot of suspenseful and tense moments, and i even think that the music is handled a lot better here than in the first game. But somehow it feels less scary than RE1 with the creepy mansion filled with traps and with a lot less resources, and also it feels less scary then RE3’s whole pessimistic and apocalyptic mood. Or maybe i kinda ruined the suspense after playing the four “campaigns” this game offer. Mr. X is scary probably just the first time you find him, and if you are already familiar with Nemesis from RE3, then this glow-up version of a Tyrant just feels like a joke. Now Birkin? That’s a scary-ass fella. Birkin is actually my second-favourite boss after Nemesis. I love how RE2 incorporates body-horror elements. In contrast, RE1 is simply the haunted mansion trope, while RE3 plays more like a slasher. But RE2 is closer to a body-horror flick, with Birkin’s many forms as the prime example of this. He’s also a lot harder to beat than Mr. X, for sure.

In cinema, it’s pretty usual that sequels are oftenly resented, easily disregarded as inferior titles compared to their predecesor. In videogames, instead, sequels are not just a common thing, universally accepted, but also, they usually generate tons of expectation, and it’s also pretty normal to see sequels largely surpassing the original title. I can’t help but wonder if RE2 is actually one of the titles that actually cemented this possibility in this media, specially considering that during the 90s, the industry is still at an early stage of becoming a mass media. It is no surprise that RE2 was and still is the holder of titles such as one of the best sequels of all time, one of the best videogames of all time, one of the best titles of the PS1 catalogue, and so on.

A message to Capcom, Shinji Mikami and friends: We’re living in an era with barely new ideas, an era where both mainstream media and niche-underground communities are making huge incommings (materially and simbolically) based on their own concepts of nostalghia. As a way of expressing the discontent with the decay of western society in cultural matters, a large part of today’s artist have decided to look back at the past, which has of course happened uncountable times along history, only that this time they’re not doing it in order to pick something that works as the base of something inherently and authentically new. This time, culture is really trying to turn back time. With is pros and cos, with the inner sadness that this whole idea gives, there’s no denying that it is also something of an opportunity for many to be creative, even if it happens to be over the basis of an aesthetic taken from the past. Yes, the right word is opportunity. So come on Capcom, this is the time, just do it: Bring back fixed cameras and tank controls. Do it for the homies. Make Resident Evil great again.

So this year i’m planning to play as many classic survival horror games as i can. Of course i had to start with the founder –despite the very well known precursors- of the genre, Resident Evil.

As a kid, i’ve always been curious about the Resident Evil franchise and it’s lore, but for many reasons i never got to play the games –Except for RE3 Nemesis but that’s another story-, and by the time teenage came, i stopped being interested in video games in general. But still, i think one of the main reasons why i was attracted to Resident Evil and other survival horrors was actually it’s gameplay, which is probably the thing thatmany people consider to be one of those things that hasn’t aged well. To me, games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Dino Crisis, were essentially a 3D graphic adventure with the adition of action elements. It was a perfect combination at the time. Nobody complained about tank controls back then, we just sat and played instead of getting all picky about minor details. And just as it happens with point and click games, this was a great genre to play with someone else at your side: Not just for the story and the cinematic aspects, but also because it was nice to discuss how to solve the puzzles. And also it was really fun to share a couple scares.

So i finally sat down and played Resident Evil. I played with Jill which is not just “the easy way” but rather the proper way, in my opinion. I got the best ending and i have to say that i had a fantastic time while playing it. All those things that seem “dated” were just a fundamental part of the fun for me: i was surprised to see that tank controls weren’t a problem at all (yes, it takes a while to get around with them but sooner than later you just get used to them), i was also totally in love with the low-poly graphics, and also, i actually found that the infamous dialogue was a really funny way to have a certain relief from the tension, also providing some kind of Horror Comedy B-Movie vibe to it.

Resident Evil isn’t a game that could scare someone to death nowadays, but it definitely succeeds in creating an atmosphere full of tension and mistery. It’s curious to think how most of the precursors of the genre -Alone in the dark, Clock Tower, Sweet Home, even Maniac Mansion – they were all going for the haunted house trope. It’s also noteworthy, just like it happened with it’s precursors in the haunted mansion theme, how the story is overall pretty minimalistic here. In the case of Resident Evil though – This also happens somehow in Clock Tower – the most interesting pieces of actual story are not really shown on-screen, but rather in the various documents that you can find throughout the mansion, which serve as the basis of the whole RE lore. There is some criticism concernig the latter parts of the game, those were you’re kinda leaving the mansion and going into different environments. To me they were all fine. I have to admit i didn’t have the best time of my life during the segment of the mines, but mostly because that was the part with the biggest spider of the game. Spiders were the only thing that kinda creeped me out to be honest.

I’m not sure if it has been adressed how important Resident Evil was for the revival of the whole zombie culture. On one hand, it should be mentioned that incorporating the classical concept of the zombie designed by George Romero in Night Of The Living Dead was something that hasn’t been done at that time, and even less, with this degree of perfection: Zombies are slow, they have to be shot in the head, they can be left behind just by walking if the area is big enough, but they can corner you if the space is tight. This hasn’t been done in videogames at this time (Alone in the dark probably tried but without this level of results). Also, zombies were pretty much forgotten during mid and late 90’s, so Resident Evil pretty much held the torch of the zombie myth and pave the way for the big revival that happened during the 2000’s, with titles like 28 Days Later and The Walking Dead as the prime examples.

In conclussion, playing Resident Evil felt like an experience that holds up perfectly well nowadays, contrary to many opinions. I’d like to believe that this is not due to me being an old-fag, but rather because the game is inherently good. It’s not that certain mechanics are replaced because they are bad. Maybe they are replaced only because the industry says so, and maybe because other mechanics prove to sell better at a certain time. But honestly, with the proper mindset, any youngster should be able to play this game. This new wave of indie developers designing survival horrors in the style of the three classic Resident Evils serves as a proof of that. But being aware of the existence of all those games, i can’t help but feeling a little sad knowing that we might never see a game in the RE franchise going back to this particular style. Or something like the first remake, with it’s visual enhancements but with the gameplay almost intact.