Three-fourths of the maps here, including the ones in which the boss fights take place, are tight little corridors, presumably an attempt on Capcom's part to encourage the use of the marginally functional dodge mechanic. Combined with the lurching two-second pauses between perspective transitions, Nemesis is often too clumsy to offer any of the lizard-brain satisfaction that this franchise trafficks in. The encounter and level design really hit the skids at the clock tower, which is where they most needed to take off, and the hospital in particular is unbelievably bad; fuck Carlos and fuck getting one-shotted repeatedly by the eight hunters in a row that the game throws at you.

Getting a closer look at Raccoon City is fun, but otherwise it has almost no new ideas about the franchise, its themes, or its aesthetic. As a dry run for Code Veronica and thus RE4, however, it does what it needs to.