| Game Info: |
| Platform | PlayStation |
| Publisher | Camcom |
| Developer | Capcom |
| Genre | Action |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| Released | 4th Quarter 1999 |
| Memory Card | Recommended |
| Dual Shock | Recommended |
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Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
It's slicker, it's faster, and it's chock full of new puzzles. While RE: Nemesis is a great playing experience, it unfortunately does little to enhance the Resident Evil series. In fact, gameplay aside, Capcom has cheapened the Resident Evil name.
High Points
No longer tied to investigating a "house"
Same great action
Newer puzzles
Easy mode enhanced to be really easy!
Bonus missions and weapons
Same great RE quality
Low Points
Storyline confusion : is this the next one in the series.
Man, do you have to run EVERYWHERE just to get some things done
The puzzles are no intuitive. You must search and search and search.. *Yawn*
New controls take some getting used to
Maybe it is a little bit too silimilar...
Review
The original Resident Evil was a groundbreaker when it came to interactive horror, and Capcom has capitalized heavily on its success. Resident Evil 2 introduced new graphical cut sequences and refined the game play to make it the next in the RE evolutionary chain. And now we have RE3. While the cut sequence animations have again been refined, the game itself does not quite have that same Resident Evil feel. Let's try to determine why.
The largest change to Resident Evil 3 is that Capcom takes the game to the streets of Raccoon City. Maybe in an attempt to mimic the success of Silent Hill, you'll find yourself running through the streets of the now abandoned Raccoon city moving from building to building all in the attempts to survive the night. Huh? Survive the night? Yes, this is another change in the way the game is played. Whereas before you were always the invader; the carrier of justice; the "Rambo" type character; now you are suddenly the victim. You are no longer out to stop Umbrella, you are out to just save your own sorry hide.
Believe it or not this makes a big difference in game play. Before when you played Resident Evil you were always cautious but bold. You HAD to go downstairs, you HAD to check every drawer, you HAD to stop Umbrella. Now, you are just trying to stay alive. No one to save, no one to help, just survive.
In the game you take on the role of Jill Valentine (remember her from the original Resident Evil?). Jill was the tough nosed S.T.A.R.S. member who brought the mighty Umbrella to its knees in Resident Evil. Well, now Jill is a piece of fluff who for some inexplicable reason has decided to trade in her S.T.A.R.S. uniform for a mini-skirt and halter-top. What gives? Maybe Capcom looked at those great Lara Croft sales figures and thought "Hey, we can make some money by creating busty pieces of fluff too." A terrible shame, and a terrible waste of a strong female lead. Luckily for us the designers of Jill's halter top have found some amazing kind of new elastic because Jill never ONCE, despite the constant running and fighting, she never ONCE has to pull the halter top up. A miraculous feat I'm told by my better half. Why couldn't they just have left Jill in her S.T.A.R.S. uniform? Oh well. Luckily, you can earn her S.T.A.R.S. uniform by finishing the game with a certain score.
Other changes in gameplay include the need to mix gunpowder. At first I found this very annoying. It was just another series of items I had to carry and another thing I had to constantly keep dumping into those magical trunks. But as I played I began to enjoy mixing the different gunpowders because it allowed me the option of creating the type of ammo I required at the time. Think about it for a sec. You now have the ability to make most of the ammo types in the game when you need them (providing, or course, you have enough of the required types of gunpowder). Wow. This really did make the game easier to play as all I did was make shotgun shells after shotgun shells. Make enough of one type of ammo and you'll even become an "expert" at making that type of ammo, which results in your being able to create more powerful versions of that ammo.
With the game moved to the streets of Raccoon City, you also loose that claustrophobic feeling that so heightened the tension in both previous Resident Evils. One thing I will say for Capcom is that unlike Silent Hill, which used fog effects to escape having to do detailed backgrounds, Capcom has provided us with an INCREDIBLE rendition of Raccoon City. The surroundings are dank and dark and provide an awesome atmosphere for the title. My only concern with the move to the new layout lies with the fact that I suddenly found my character running back and forth and back and forth over long drawn out distances in order to gather the items the computer game hinted I needed. The great thing about being confined to a series of buildings, as we were in RE1 & 2, was that all the pieces of the puzzles were within a relatively short distance of each other. No more. Expect to spend a great deal of your time LOOKING for items that are spread over the whole area. A little frustrating.
The other change I noticed in the game, and it is a subtle change, is that the amount of attacks Jill faces are fewer but consist of more enemies. Maybe it is just how it felt, but to me Resident Evil 1 & 2 held far more attacks on the hero's person. Although only 2-3 enemies would attack, there were greater incidents. In RE3 I found myself mostly running through empty alleys and streets only to suddenly be set upon by 6-7 enemies at the same time. One reason for the change might be the inclusion of exploding devices that have been planted throughout the city. By shooting these new barrels and explosive packs you can cause an explosion that literally blows any enemy standing near the objects into flaming debris. Very cool, yes! But the action element does suffer a bit for it.
As stated, the new concept behind RE3 is one of survival. You are just trying to get Jill out of Raccoon City. On her quest she meets up with a mercenary squad hired by Umbrella to go into Raccoon City under the guise of "aiding the people." Through gameplay you'll learn more about their real mission. The storyline behind the game is strong and very interesting, although I found the ending to be very much of a let down. Yes, the ending animation is AWESOME (and why the hell didn't the U.S. government do something similar earlier?) but we aren't given any other information as to the storyline. What is Jill going to do with all that evidence she gathered? What is the US going to do about Umbrella's actions (Umbrella can't deny what they've done now... watch the ending and you'll see what I mean). What comes next? To make matters even more confusing, the whole game feels like it should be called "Resident Evil 1.5" as it seems to take place BEFORE Leon and Claire's episode in Resident Evil 2. The problem is that the ending to Resident Evil 3 definitely places it after Resident Evil 2. So what gives? Myself, I like to think that Resident Evil 2 and 3 happen at the same time. But as far as continuing the story goes, no, Resident Evil 3 is NOT a sequel to Resident Evil 2. Resident Evil 3 is a completely different story that has nothing to do with the Resident Evil storyline other than the fact it takes place in Raccoon City and stars the heroine from Resident Evil 1. We all know after the ending of Resident Evil 2 that Claire was destined to go find her brother Chris. For that, we'll have to wait for Resident Evil: Code Name Veronica to be released on the Dreamcast.
With plot twists aside, the game does please. The action (when it is there) is intense, and the new bad guy (Nemesis) is just as evil and unbeatable as all other RE baddies. The only annoying thing about Nemesis is his one word vocabulary, although it sets up for a corny "before you die" line from Jill at the end of the game. The atmosphere and sounds within the game are fantastic. The machine gun is an awesome weapon that can provide minutes of joy against a horde of zombies. Too bad those ammo clips run out so fast.
One thing that Capcom has done that I applaud them for was to make the "Easy" mode easier. Choosing the easy mode not only starts you with the ability to carry more items, it also starts you off with almost a full compliment of weapons (with tons of ammo) and three healing canisters. Playing the easy mode will NOT provide much of a challenge for seasoned Resident Evil players, but it does allow those of us who enjoy the story line more than having to worry about being killed every few minutes to play the game. Be warned, however, there are some negatives to playing the easy mode. You will not be able to unlock all of Jill's alternate uniforms, nor will you be able to acquire certain weapons. That being said, the easy mode flows well and provides an extremely good balance of action and storyline. Kudos to Capcom!
So when all is said and done what do we have? We have a great sequel to an awesome series. Was it everything I hoped for? No. It didn't continue the story line, it didn't add too much to the Resident Evil lore, and it cheapened poor Jill. BUT at the same time it provided me with the same great Resident Evil gameplay wrapped in a new sideline story that could very well spin off into its very own "Resident Evil" series. The atmosphere was excellent, the environment dark and foreboding, the puzzles challenging (although spread a little far apart), and the action satisfying. In all, while it might not be the Resident Evil Sequel we were looking for, it is definitely a game to add to your Playstation library.
