Resident Evil 3 continues the series' gradual evolution, sporting noticeably better graphics and drastically better voice acting than the previous entries. It also leans further towards action-game elements, with more threatening enemies appearing in larger groups (even zombies are more of a threat given their newfound ability to lunge at considerable speed). Thankfully the game gives the player more tools to match the faster-paced gameplay, with plenty of healing items, a dodge function (clumsy, but the intent is appreciated), and the game-changing quick-turn which became a series staple from here on.
However, I also need to say that despite the little enhancements to the gameplay, the fixed camera angles simply don't translate well to the action-heavy style where you want to always have a sense of where you are in relation to your enemies. The camera angles seemed especially egregious in this installment, and I frequently found myself getting stuck on corners trying to escape from enemies, running left and right against a wall trying to enter a door, or even having the change in camera angle be so jarring that I ended up going backwards without realizing it! Full disclosure: I have a terrible sense of direction and spatial awareness in general so it's possible I just suck at this game. But given that I rarely faced these problems in Resident Evil 2, it reflects a slightly unpolished rough edge to this game I can't entirely give it a free pass for.
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I also wanted to take a bit of a tangent to talk about how this game felt slightly unfocused to me. After some thought I think I hit on why, and it has to do with this game's two most unique selling points:
- The titular Nemesis. Terrifying both onscreen and offscreen, and his speed, stature, moveset (and bloody rocket launcher) making you feel hopelessly outmatched the first few times you see him. He was a big part of ensuring that my first playthrough was ultra tense all the way through.
- Its short length combined with its host of unlockables. It's the shortest of the three mainline games on the PSX, and my first playthrough (where I played like a scared chicken and got a D rank) nevertheless was enough to earn me a new minigame and several new costumes. Evidently, the devs wanted to encourage the players to complete the game several times, getting better as they did so. In this respect, it was rather effective, as my second playthrough shaved off about 2 hours of time from my first and I even managed to defeat Nemesis on a couple of the optional encounters to earn a pretty sweet upgraded handgun.
Now the problem is this: the two unique selling points cancel each other out. On my first playthrough, I was scared shitless of the Nemesis but I was also equally scared that I would get screwed by the wonky camera angles or get stuck in a corner and consequently buried in a zombie dogpile. On my subsequent playthroughs, I got better at playing the game (partly due to actually getting better skills-wise, partly due to knowing what to expect), but this neutered the 'magic' of Nemesis, knowing that his Big Damn Villain moments were all scripted and knowing when to expect him to appear. Without the Nemesis' magic this is still a very decent replayable action title... but Resident Evil 4 does a much better job of playing that role anyway.
This is a good conclusion to the PSX trilogy of RE games and I'll forever be grateful to it for introducing the quick-turn, but I'd also say this game is Resident Evil in its slightly-awkward braces-wearing phase.
However, I also need to say that despite the little enhancements to the gameplay, the fixed camera angles simply don't translate well to the action-heavy style where you want to always have a sense of where you are in relation to your enemies. The camera angles seemed especially egregious in this installment, and I frequently found myself getting stuck on corners trying to escape from enemies, running left and right against a wall trying to enter a door, or even having the change in camera angle be so jarring that I ended up going backwards without realizing it! Full disclosure: I have a terrible sense of direction and spatial awareness in general so it's possible I just suck at this game. But given that I rarely faced these problems in Resident Evil 2, it reflects a slightly unpolished rough edge to this game I can't entirely give it a free pass for.
------------------------------------
I also wanted to take a bit of a tangent to talk about how this game felt slightly unfocused to me. After some thought I think I hit on why, and it has to do with this game's two most unique selling points:
- The titular Nemesis. Terrifying both onscreen and offscreen, and his speed, stature, moveset (and bloody rocket launcher) making you feel hopelessly outmatched the first few times you see him. He was a big part of ensuring that my first playthrough was ultra tense all the way through.
- Its short length combined with its host of unlockables. It's the shortest of the three mainline games on the PSX, and my first playthrough (where I played like a scared chicken and got a D rank) nevertheless was enough to earn me a new minigame and several new costumes. Evidently, the devs wanted to encourage the players to complete the game several times, getting better as they did so. In this respect, it was rather effective, as my second playthrough shaved off about 2 hours of time from my first and I even managed to defeat Nemesis on a couple of the optional encounters to earn a pretty sweet upgraded handgun.
Now the problem is this: the two unique selling points cancel each other out. On my first playthrough, I was scared shitless of the Nemesis but I was also equally scared that I would get screwed by the wonky camera angles or get stuck in a corner and consequently buried in a zombie dogpile. On my subsequent playthroughs, I got better at playing the game (partly due to actually getting better skills-wise, partly due to knowing what to expect), but this neutered the 'magic' of Nemesis, knowing that his Big Damn Villain moments were all scripted and knowing when to expect him to appear. Without the Nemesis' magic this is still a very decent replayable action title... but Resident Evil 4 does a much better job of playing that role anyway.
This is a good conclusion to the PSX trilogy of RE games and I'll forever be grateful to it for introducing the quick-turn, but I'd also say this game is Resident Evil in its slightly-awkward braces-wearing phase.
3 Comments
I hadn't really considered my own lack of directionality/spatial awareness as a potential reason for my being so bad at RE games... but yeah, I think that's totally valid. Thank you for giving me an excuse for my terribleness :D
@NegFactor: That sounds like it would stress me out so much! I'll get around to it though, I love seeing how developers of older games work around hardware limitations to still create authentic experiences.
@Dief88: Yeah, it's not something I thought of at first, but then I realized I was a lot more comfortable with RE4 than any of the previous ones and it's definitely to do with the fact that I see what the character sees and so it's much easier to get my bearings and judge distances!
@Dief88: Yeah, it's not something I thought of at first, but then I realized I was a lot more comfortable with RE4 than any of the previous ones and it's definitely to do with the fact that I see what the character sees and so it's much easier to get my bearings and judge distances!
Shenobi
2 years ago
Check out that game if you haven't already. Although probably not as functionally a solid game as any of the RE iterations, being perpetually chased between areas by a monster with a solid AI (for its time) is already rough, but add in the fact that in most cases, contact means GAME OVER, and you have quite a thrilling experience in that regard. I had a friend play it on an emulator at one point and he made really base assumptions about how the AI would behave, so at one point when it completely caught him off guard (I won't spoil how), he leapt out of his chair as it "subverted his expectations" (he'll swear to this day that it didn't scare him).