I don’t have a strong connection to the original Resident Evil 3 (RE3). I played it in the early 2000s and felt pretty meh about it. It probably didn’t help that I played Code Veronica (CV) first. Not because CV was a better game, but because the Resident Evil series was showing signs of stagnation. Tank controls, fixed camera angles, and the dastardly Umbrella Corporation that had come to define the series was played out. I was bored of it. Playing RE3 was a formality by that point, and I had little faith in the future of the franchise. Resident Evil 4 would change all that. Resident Evil 4 was such a huge leap forward that it also rapidly aged the older Resident Evil games. There was even less reason for the casual player to revisit past titles. Fast forward to 2019 and Capcom releases the Resident Evil 2 remake (RE2R). It was a blast. While not perfect, it was much needed update to a classic game that didn’t deserve to be regulated to a relic of the old days. In 2020, a Resident Evil 3 remake (RE3R) followed it. Was RE3R able to do the same for its older counterpart? Depends on who you ask. Some vocal fans will tell you that the remake made too many cuts - that it is a shadow of its former glory. As for my answer: For $60? No, it's not worth it. But for $20, it is very worth it.
If a 5-hour game demands a full-priced ticket, it better have some serious replayability. RE3R simply does not have that. So, I could understand feeling slighted if you bought this on release day. A large aspect of RE3R’s mixed reception came as a direct result of the price tag though. These days, you’ll find RE3R much cheaper. With that major misstep out of the way, what is there to be said of the game itself?
I know RE3 has ardent fans. Nostalgia sells the best rose-colored glasses; I get it. I can understand the letdown if the vision you had for the game wasn’t met. As someone who was never on the RE3 fan train though, I experienced great improvements to the graphics, tone, story, gameplay, and pacing with only some minor hang-ups. RE3R sacrifices fluff to tell a much more focused story.
Unlike the original, RE3R doesn’t waste any time introducing you to Nemesis, the prominent villain of the game. It makes for a hell of an opening. The sequence sets the tone for RE3R’s more action-oriented approach, informing you immediately to not expect Resident Evil 2 remake’s slower and methodical gameplay. RE3R feels dynamic. Jill utilizes a dodge roll that if used correctly creates a minor and unobtrusive slowdown effect, allowing for a clean shot on your attacker. That bullet never feels like a calculated risk either. RE3R encourages you to be active with your tools. Guns and ammo are delivered at a brisk pace to help combat the increasingly ferocious monsters. This doesn’t diminish the threats you encounter though. Most enemies have one-hit kills. Time your shots and space yourself well or risk the game over screen. I feel that this action-oriented tone fits Jill’s character well. She is special forces after all. She has had time to prepare herself to some extent, and teams up with other special forces who seem quite well equipped. Lastly, and more importantly, Jill has done the T-virus dance before. Contrast this to Leon who was a beat cop experiencing his first day on the job. Claire has no formal training at all. Jill should naturally be a huge step above the RE2R’s cast and better prepared for the trials ahead of her. To be clear, the gameplay loop isn’t better or worse than RE2R’s focus on conservation, just different.
While Nemesis makes for an imposing monster, he does not quite live up to RE2R’s dark cloaked menace. Nemesis battles are scripted. Early in the game, he only appears in the “open field” portion of Racoon City as you travel between points. As you progress past this part, the game regulates Nemesis to a recurring boss. While this makes him far more predictable, and thus less scary, it does allow the game to be a bit more cinematic with him. Encounters become frantic getaways and the boss battles are different and dynamic enough to keep things interesting. You are forced to fight him multiple times, codifying his Nemesis moniker. Compare this to RE2R's Mr. X who you can avoid nearly completely for the limited time he actually has in the game. Still, Nemesis should have been a much bigger presence in his own game.
For those familiar with the story, elements were changed for the better in my opinion. Brad Vickers was always a throwaway character. Instead of making him mere Nemesis fodder, RE3R intertwines Brad’s small part with Marvin’s. This helps establish connections to the new narrative the remakes are writing and refers to recent and pertinent events. I felt that the Racoon City Park portion and associated worm boss were filler. Neither seemed to have any real story purpose, so I was fine seeing them on the cutting room floor just as I was the Dead Factory. A secret lab under a hospital makes more sense than the easy to stumble upon Dead Factory. That said, the secret lab trope is getting a bit old. Nikolai’s story has a much more solid conclusion this time around. Making him the concluding encounter was appropriate as the conflict means something to both Jill and Carlos, the later of which has a much more prominent role in the story. Lastly, and this is a matter of opinion, it made no sense for Barry Burton to save Jill in RE3. His cameo is the coincidence of the century and distracting.
The last gripe I have pertains to the cutscene frequency. RE3R doesn’t allow you to live the moment as much as it should. Sometimes, you will move only a few feet between scripted scenes, ripping you right out of the experience. Often a cutscene plays just for dialogue that could have easily been game play instead. It doesn’t bug me a ton, but it happens enough that it deserves a mention.
As the Resident Evil 4 remake (RE4R) looms, it seems like the best time to play (or replay) RE3R. You’ll catch up on the story while also evaluating the positives and negatives these remakes have brought to the table. If anything, it should serve to help temper expectations. Even if RE4R is a homerun, it won’t have everything the original did, for better or worse. RE3R broke free from the chains of its original. While this didn’t make everyone happy, I feel it makes a heathier, more invigorating game.
If a 5-hour game demands a full-priced ticket, it better have some serious replayability. RE3R simply does not have that. So, I could understand feeling slighted if you bought this on release day. A large aspect of RE3R’s mixed reception came as a direct result of the price tag though. These days, you’ll find RE3R much cheaper. With that major misstep out of the way, what is there to be said of the game itself?
I know RE3 has ardent fans. Nostalgia sells the best rose-colored glasses; I get it. I can understand the letdown if the vision you had for the game wasn’t met. As someone who was never on the RE3 fan train though, I experienced great improvements to the graphics, tone, story, gameplay, and pacing with only some minor hang-ups. RE3R sacrifices fluff to tell a much more focused story.
Unlike the original, RE3R doesn’t waste any time introducing you to Nemesis, the prominent villain of the game. It makes for a hell of an opening. The sequence sets the tone for RE3R’s more action-oriented approach, informing you immediately to not expect Resident Evil 2 remake’s slower and methodical gameplay. RE3R feels dynamic. Jill utilizes a dodge roll that if used correctly creates a minor and unobtrusive slowdown effect, allowing for a clean shot on your attacker. That bullet never feels like a calculated risk either. RE3R encourages you to be active with your tools. Guns and ammo are delivered at a brisk pace to help combat the increasingly ferocious monsters. This doesn’t diminish the threats you encounter though. Most enemies have one-hit kills. Time your shots and space yourself well or risk the game over screen. I feel that this action-oriented tone fits Jill’s character well. She is special forces after all. She has had time to prepare herself to some extent, and teams up with other special forces who seem quite well equipped. Lastly, and more importantly, Jill has done the T-virus dance before. Contrast this to Leon who was a beat cop experiencing his first day on the job. Claire has no formal training at all. Jill should naturally be a huge step above the RE2R’s cast and better prepared for the trials ahead of her. To be clear, the gameplay loop isn’t better or worse than RE2R’s focus on conservation, just different.
While Nemesis makes for an imposing monster, he does not quite live up to RE2R’s dark cloaked menace. Nemesis battles are scripted. Early in the game, he only appears in the “open field” portion of Racoon City as you travel between points. As you progress past this part, the game regulates Nemesis to a recurring boss. While this makes him far more predictable, and thus less scary, it does allow the game to be a bit more cinematic with him. Encounters become frantic getaways and the boss battles are different and dynamic enough to keep things interesting. You are forced to fight him multiple times, codifying his Nemesis moniker. Compare this to RE2R's Mr. X who you can avoid nearly completely for the limited time he actually has in the game. Still, Nemesis should have been a much bigger presence in his own game.
For those familiar with the story, elements were changed for the better in my opinion. Brad Vickers was always a throwaway character. Instead of making him mere Nemesis fodder, RE3R intertwines Brad’s small part with Marvin’s. This helps establish connections to the new narrative the remakes are writing and refers to recent and pertinent events. I felt that the Racoon City Park portion and associated worm boss were filler. Neither seemed to have any real story purpose, so I was fine seeing them on the cutting room floor just as I was the Dead Factory. A secret lab under a hospital makes more sense than the easy to stumble upon Dead Factory. That said, the secret lab trope is getting a bit old. Nikolai’s story has a much more solid conclusion this time around. Making him the concluding encounter was appropriate as the conflict means something to both Jill and Carlos, the later of which has a much more prominent role in the story. Lastly, and this is a matter of opinion, it made no sense for Barry Burton to save Jill in RE3. His cameo is the coincidence of the century and distracting.
The last gripe I have pertains to the cutscene frequency. RE3R doesn’t allow you to live the moment as much as it should. Sometimes, you will move only a few feet between scripted scenes, ripping you right out of the experience. Often a cutscene plays just for dialogue that could have easily been game play instead. It doesn’t bug me a ton, but it happens enough that it deserves a mention.
As the Resident Evil 4 remake (RE4R) looms, it seems like the best time to play (or replay) RE3R. You’ll catch up on the story while also evaluating the positives and negatives these remakes have brought to the table. If anything, it should serve to help temper expectations. Even if RE4R is a homerun, it won’t have everything the original did, for better or worse. RE3R broke free from the chains of its original. While this didn’t make everyone happy, I feel it makes a heathier, more invigorating game.