Having all those bad reviews at launch, I was expecting a complete disaster. Started with zero expectations but at the end it was an OK open-world game. It is just too ambitious for its own good. The world is wayyyy to big for what it is with nothing interesting going on in it. Repetitive locations for the sake of the collectable or stat increase just gets boring after awhile. The story itself does not need that much space and useless side content. There are a lot of good ideas underneath all of this but most are not developed fully. The battle system is also quite engaging with various different abilities and play styles, just, again, too bloated and filled with huge number of them, confusing the player more than engaging him into variety. If they made it on a smaller scale, focused more on the story and less on the huge open world, this could have been so much better.

A lot of people complain about the length or gameplay of this game and to that I say... I mean, you're not exactly wrong. Nemesis is not even nearly as scary as Mr. X since most of the encounters are scripted, but that wasn't a problem to me. His presence in the story was pretty well-placed and, even though I couldn't exactly "feel" how scary he was, his durability and boss fights were pretty cool. Especially the last one! It literally looked like something you'd see in an early 80's movies. And I love those. The story is pretty serviceable, there's not much to say, but it was pretty decent I guess. But I'll try to make a list of stuff to better explain the game.

For starters, this game's protagonist is Jill Valentine. Which to me raises the rating by like 2 stars by itself. Yes I love her character and if you don't, then you're missing out! She's probably the most fleshed out character in the series other than Leon and MAYBE Chris. I really enjoyed her in this game and, while there were many "Mary Sue" moments, that didn't deter from my enjoyment of the character. She's a badass and has pretty iconic and cheesy lines all around. I know some people prefer the edgier/grittier characters, but I can't say no to characters like RE 3 Jill and RE4 Leon, i.e. "Where's everyone going? Bingo?", but lines like "Bitch can't even swim" are way too good to be left out.

Also CARLOS. I LOVED CARLOS. HE WAS LEGITIMATELY MY FAVORITE CHARACTER IN THE WHOLE GAME AND HE WAS SO AMAZING. I loved everything about him, from the design to the dialogue to the arguably lowkey boring sections of the game with him in it. I found them a bit too long, but it was still really really fun to just play as him. Please add Carlos more in Resident Evil things please I'm begging you I love Jeff Schine and I love the way they wrote Carlos please please please.

If you liked the gunplay in RE2 then there is more of that here along with more action and even some better mechanics. I much preferred RE3's dodge to RE2's defense items. Granted, I like a little more survival-horror in my RE, but the action take is pretty fun too. I also know a lot of people shit on the knife mechanic change, but I don't exactly dislike it too much. It's too minimal for me to complain.

The graphics and sounds are stunning and very light, too. Surprisingly well-optimized, which is funny considering just how many problems RE PC ports usually have.

Overall, there's a lot to love in this game in my opinion. Everyone just needs to stop being so critical and enjoy it for what it is. It's not Resident Evil 3 Remake, it's Resident Evil 3. And I think that says a lot about the game itself. I loved it, and you might do too. But pick it up on sale cause 40 bucks is WAYYY too much.

Gorgeous, fun remake of Resident Evil 3 but just too short.

For those unaware this is a remake of the original Resident Evil 3 on the PlayStation 1 back in the late 90's. I don't have a huge amount of Nostalgia for it as I only played it a little bit of the original so don't have a lot to compare, but what I can tell you is it's a gorgeous, fun, action horror title that is worth picking up if you're a fan of the series, but probably not at full price given the amount of content.

The game is set after the original Resident Evil in Raccoon City and roughly at a parallel time of last years Resident Evil 2 remake. While you can play this stand alone no problem without either of those titles I really recommend you do play them as A) they are amazing, and B) there are story beats that you would miss without them.
The game follows Resident Evil's protagonist Jill Valentine, she stayed in Raccoon City investigating the Umbrella Corporation and was planning on escaping the city when a zombie outbreak hit and she started being chased by a giant seemingly indestructible monster intent on killing her. Jill is one of the stand out points of the game. Her character has been updated with a better costume and her tough personality and interactions with the other characters I loved.

As Jill tries to escape the city there will of course be a lot of exploration and combat. The game is pretty linear with only a few basic locks and very rare puzzle to progress. Jill is played in a third person view and will have to scrounge for different weapons and ammo as she explores. The zombies and monsters are tough so ammo shouldn't be wasted where possible, placing accurate shots, choosing the right weapon, using explosive barrels or just running by enemies that you can safely avoid are all valid strategies though there is enough to kill everything should you choose.
The game plays very similarly to the recently released Resident Evil 2 except Jill now has a dodge. If timed right, almost like a parry, at the very last second Jill's dodge will enable a brief slow motion period allowing you to aim and take a shot after rolling. It looks great and at higher difficulties in certain places it's almost necessary.

Presentation wise resident Evil 3 is simply gorgeous. Capcom the developer use a technique called Photogrammetry. This has them scanning and taking photos of people and objects from all angles to get accurate representations in the game resulting in some incredibly detailed visuals. The cutscenes of the characters in particular are really good, as each character is based on a real life model. Sound wise the game knocks it out the park too with some great atmospheric music and the voice acting is perfect. We have come a long way since the B-movie voice acting of the original Playstation games, that's for sure.

Sounds almost perfect right? Why only four stars? It just feels so very short. My first play-through took me 6 hours and even then I was trying to find everything and looking at all the graphical details I could as I like to really look at my game worlds. One of my friends completed it in 4 hours first time. This in itself wouldn't be a problem if it had something else to give it replay value at that price but it just doesn't. You can unlock a store to buy infinite weapons and there are harder difficulties which add a little bit of fun but with these weapons I sped through in 2 hours, and even once at an hour and 15 minutes (I was speed running for an S rank but still).
The original game came with a mercenaries mode where you run through levels rescuing people collecting ammo and weapons as I recall, this version doesn't but comes with a separate online multiplayer with it's own trophy list I suspect was a separate game originally but got bundled in, called Resistance. Not going to lie, I didn't even try it, didn't care, wasn't interested as that's not why I buy Resident Evil games so your mileage may vary there.

All in all I had a great time. I beat it four times in a couple of days and got the platinum trophy. It's definitely a quality experience I recommend, just not at £45 for the amount of content. Grab it when it's more like £20 as that's probably a better estimate.

+ Jill is great.
+ Gameplay and the dodge mechanic are really fun.
+ Stunning visuals and great voice acting.
+ Good pacing, nice tie ins to Resident Evil 2.

- Game is short, lacking replay value or extra modes unless you're into tacked on multiplayer.

It may come as a surprise to some to learn that Red Dead Redemption is actually a sequel. The series actually debuted in 2004, on the Xbox & Playstation 2, as Red Dead Revolver. Reception was lukewarm at the time, and you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was just a one-off title in the Rockstar catalog. So it was certainly brave for the American developer to give the series another go, especially in the way that they did; Red Dead Redemption's development was over 5 years long, and it became one of the most expensive video games ever made. Their investment paid off; RDR was highly praised upon release, and is not an uncommon sight in "best of" lists. After 12 years, though, it's lost a bit of its luster.

No doubt the best thing Red Dead Redemption has going for it is its setting. In a sense, it plays much like a 19th century (in reality, it's set in 1911) Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar's more prominent open-world title; you travel around the world either by horse or by carriage, with plenty of side activities and games to play, along with a multi-character mission system. RDR was made around the time when open-world games were truly becoming an industry standard, and it was the largest map Rockstar had produced at time of release. This made it a completionists dream; there's a wealth of content to experience, especially for players who enjoy the wild west aesthetic. The world feels decently alive too, especially for a 2010 title; you'll often encounter robberies, gangs, and hunters in the world that you can interact with. This is how RDR connects you to the world of New Austin, and it does a pretty good job of doing that, even if some of the random events do get a little repetitive by journey's end. One thing RDR's world does suffer from is just how slow it feels; you'll spend a larger than ideal amount of time traveling by horseback or watching repeated animations, all of which sacrifice enjoyability for immersion.

Red Dead Redemption's immersion is decent, but where the game really got its plaudits was from its story; the game tells the tale of John Marston, a former outlaw who's forced to hunt down member's of his old gang in order to escape his past and life peacefully with his family in the future. And while this may sound like an exciting story, it takes far too long to actually become interesting for its own good. The story is split into 4 acts, and only one of them-the third-really carries any sort of narrative weight. Until then, John's enemies-both his former gang members and the FBI agents controlling him-are mostly just names, and the stakes aren't impactful up until that point because you as the player have no connection to them. The third act is fantastic, and it's because it places you directly between Dutch, the final gang member, and the FBI, who hold John's family captive. The tension is palpable, and for the first time you encounter the brutality of both sides first-hand. It also introduces the most interesting and diverse area in the game, as both New Austin and Mexico are somewhat generic and aesthetically dull.

In truth, outside of the third act, the game's plot isn't very engaging, and save for some memorable characters, it feels a bit generic. The first act can be forgiven for acting as a bit of a tutorial and having better mission variety (even if some of the farm missions are tedious), but the Mexico arc doesn't really feel necessary at all. The fourth act, the shortest, is also bizarrely tutorial-like, and it's only really significant for its final mission. The final mission is very impactful, but it simultaneously feels both foreseeable and out of left field, and it would have been served better if there was some more concrete build up to it. It does do well in servicing one of the main themes of RDR though, that being that the past will always come back to haunt you just as John came back to haunt his fellow gang members. Again though, just as with the dying of the wild west, these are topics that are only really explored in the latter half of the game.

It's no doubt that Red Dead Redemption was a product of its time; much of the focus and allure of this title are its large open world. That aspect of the game holds up decently well today, even though some QoL changes would be much appreciated. The controls are a bit of a mixed bag as well; aiming is consistently precise, but movement can feel a bit clunky. RDR probably could have been a great game even with all these misgivings, though; it's the narrative where the game's faults are less excusable. It's frustrating, because it clearly has all the pieces to be an excellent story; so much so that even in its current state, many players remember it fondly. It has those memorable and impactful moments, but a modern playthrough reveals too many flaws for it to truly be called a great game. It's decent, and there's definitely some enjoyment to be found, but in a lot of ways it feels like the definition of style over substance.