Resident Evil 3
PlayStation 4
Nostalgia Factor:
Even though I am a pretty big fan of the PS1 Resident Evil series, for some reason I was never too fond of its third installment: Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. It was too short. It was too easy. It didn't offer multiple characters or any kind of additional replay value. You retread a lot of old ground. It didn't advance the main story in any way. So on and so forth.
Every few years or so I come back to the game and give it another go, and each time I find that I still don't like it. I mean, I don't hate it. It is just very mediocre to me. After my most recent playthrough of the game I even said enough is enough and I traded it in to a used game store. I shouldn't have done that, as I would love to give the game another shot someday (just so I can not like it again, LOL). But it is what it is.
That being said, I was not very excited for the remake of the game which came out on PS4 last year. I dragged my heels at giving it a chance. I didn't like the original version of the game, why would I like the remake? I haven't liked ANY of the Resident Evil remakes more than the original versions of the game. My expectations for this were not high.
What a surprise I was in for! I absolutely loved this game. It is easily my favorite of the remakes, and easily the title that improves the most upon its original reiteration. Keep reading for all the fun details.
Story:
You play as Jill Valentine, one of the survivors of the mansion incident from the first Resident Evil game. Jill is hanging out in her Raccoon City apartment doing some research on the evil Umbrella corporation. She doesn't seem to realize how bad things have gotten outside. The virus has infected the general population, and Raccoon City has begun to descend into chaos. Jill is tossed into the chaos when the Nemesis crashes through her apartment wall in an attempt to kill her. Jill gets away, but now has to fight for survival in the middle of a zombie infested Raccoon City, all with the Nemesis hot on her heels.
As the game progresses, Jill joins forces with a group of mercenaries that are looking to help people escape the city through the subway tunnels. You occasionally play as one of these mercenaries, Carlos. After the Nemesis puts the kaibosh on the subway plan, Carlos and Jill's journey take them to the police station from Resident Evil 2, a hospital, and underground warehouse, and because this is a Resident Evil game and these are obligatory: a sewer and a secret Umbrella lab.
Gameplay:
This game handles nearly exactly the same as the Resident Evil 2 remake. Similar control schemes, similar inventory management, similar puzzles, similar gunplay. You even revisit a chunk of Resident Evil 2 as Carlos when you explore the Raccoon City police station. Nemesis takes on the Mr. X role as he stalks you throughout the course of the game. I found Nemesis to be a lot less annoying than Mr. X, though. Nemesis only seems to pop up during story-relevant areas of the game. He doesn't follow you around everywhere you go like Mr. X. I am thankful for this because I hate not being able to explore properly because I've got some bullet sponge on my tail everywhere I go.
This game seems a lot more action oriented than its predecessor, but it works. It doesn't dive too deep into shooter territory like Resident Evils 5 and 6. This is still a survival horror game where you have to monitor your ammunition usage and keep an eye on your health gauge at all times. There's just bigger weapons and more shooting than the last game. And I am okay with that!
I've heard a lot of complaints about the game being too short, but I didn't have a problem with its length. It seems longer than the original Resident Evil 3. I played this game for three days, a few chunks of hours at a time, before I finally beat it. I feel I got my money's worth.
Graphics:
This game is drop dead gorgeous. It may be the best-looking video game I have played in my life. I'm all about that RE3 aesthetic. Fantastic character models (Jill is a super hottie). Incredibly detailed and realistic environments. The action sequences are so cinematic they rival that of any blockbuster action movie. All the special effects like fire, water effects, and explosions look very realistic. So much detail went into this game.
It's intense when the action is flowing. Atmospheric and haunting when things slow down and you find yourself creeping around in the dark. I love it.
Sound:
This game's sound is on-point too. Good voice acting, music that matches the intensity of what is happening on the screen, all kinds of little touches that add to the cinematic feel of the game. Play this with headphones on for all the little atmospheric touches as well. The world of this game is a living and breathing one thanks to the combination of its graphics and sound effects.
Overall:
I think you've already been able to glean that I really enjoyed this game. I don't know what I can say about it that I haven't already. It is REALLY good. If you are even the slightest fan of the Resident Evil series, you need to check this out. As I said, this is easily the best of the three remakes so far. Bravo, Capcom.
Complaints? I mean, I guess the game is short. But I never felt it was too short or anything. The warehouse segment of the game was kind of meh for me. And I was not excited to play through a sewer and an underground laboratory section again. Seriously, you DON'T have to include these two environments in every single Resident Evil game in existence. But if that's the only bad thing I can say about these games, I guess you can say I liked it pretty darn well.
I forgot to mention, this game also includes a multiplayer mode called Resident Evil: Resistance, but I didn't even bother to play it. You should know by reading this blog that I am not a multiplayer person. At all.
So that's that. Great game. Much better than the original Resident Evil 3. I liked it a lot.
Overall:
A
If you liked this review, check out some of my other reviews:
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