Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

The Good
Remember those sequences of sheer chaos that made Resident Evil 2 such a hit? Particularly those that took place in the streets of Racoon city and which gave the game an incredible adrenaline surge when combined with the creepy classic survival/horror gameplay? And remember that particularly interesting "Terminator" touch that took place in the second part of the game and which involved a seemingly undestructible foe that hunted you through the last stretch of the game and gave the game a new life for many reasons? (giving a proper nemesis to the game and making the constant threat an even bigger source of tension and suspense). Well, considering that every RE2 player and his sister loved those elements it stands to reason to think that a sequel that foccused on those elements should be a straight winner right? uh... well, we'll talk about that later but for now just know that RE3 placed all it's chips on that and you have more chaos and more of the "nemesis" zombie-blasting action.

The storyline is much simpler this time around with you being placed in the shoes of Jill Valentine (making her return from RE1). Trading in her sassy assault suit from the original and dressed in nothing but a black skirt and a strapless top Jill decides to make a new start as a swimsuit supermodel. Well, not really but she sure could! Stranded in the zombie-infested Racoon city Jill sets herself on a quest to escape the nightmarish town, and if she's gonna do that she's gonna look like a winner all the way baby! Nothing says combat-ready like a good set of designer clothes and a sassy haircut (and hey, if Aya Brea could get away with that on Parasite Eve why can't Jill do the same, huh?). So far par for the course, using the traditional RE interface Jill moves around pre-rendered backgrounds shooting zombies and collecting items that aid her in progressing through the city.

The technical aspect of the game is flawless as expected, with gorgeous graphics (actually the same as on RE2), moody and effective sound effects and even more impressive fmv cutscenes (look out for the improved facial expressions).

While the gameplay mechanics remain the same Capcom saw fit to include a number of peripheric features to somehow mask the fact that this is just RE2.5. And while most are just annoying SNK-like features, some are actually a godsend and help the combat-oriented gameplay, case in point: remember how you frantically mashed every button when zombies got to you in a desperate attempt to escape? (using the same logic as when you punch your keyboard to "help" your computer run faster) Well now there's a use for that as it effectively influences how fast Jill pushes away from the zombies and makes the difference between getting your arm chewed off or just getting a scratch. Similarly, you can now dodge incoming attacks by (sort of) strafing a little, and the addition of a quick turn, the ability to climb over boxes/ledges and other additions like helpful Doom-like explosive barrels/panels/etc. make combat easier when faced with multiple enemies.

As a nice added touch you also have the choice to take different paths when faced with a particular situation, which come in the form of very consoley "choose your own adventure" pop-up options that appear at key moments.Sure, they are stupid and blatantly obvious way of branching the storyline and the gameplay, but still earn points for doing exactly that, as you can take different paths to solve specific situations and get different information depending on what choice you make.

The Bad
This particular sequel proved that Capcom was thankfully still Capcom and that while they may revolutionize a given genre time and time again, they are still the laziest coding house to come out of Japan, whose mantra is "No game with less than 10 sequels/spin-offs". As things would have it, this is the moment where the well started to run dry for the RE series, the innovative touches that made the original and it's sequel such classics are cloned with just some peripheric features that attempt to cover the fact that Capcom couldn't come up with anything truly innovative for their new darling series.

As mentioned the game puts the emphasis on chaotic mob sequences and the ever-present nemesis threat, but when placed in the spotlight it becomes obvious that they can't hold the game on it's own. The chaotic element puts the game in an eternal overdrive as it never lets down, and that's one of it's biggest problems. You know when you hear an annoying sound continuously and eventually you just get used to it and ignore it's presence? That's what happens here. There's simply no dynamic in the game, by that meaning that you have to have something slow next to the fast in order for it to be fast, get it? The zombie mobs and exploding situations are all too common in here, dulling the whole experience as there are less and less moody situations and dramatic pauses. Same thing goes for the Nemesis creature, by the 10th time he crashes through a wall or jumps in front of you out of nowhere you are used to it and the whole thing ends feeling tired and old. I mean, "auuhg Nemesis?? Again?? Yeah, let me shot you down, 'kay you are dead, except you aren't really and you'll come crashing through a door or something in the next 10 minutes or so..."Groan...

To attempt to cover all the "has been" ideas under a new hood the brains at Capcom decided to throw in a series of "brand new" features that for the most part function in the same way as the SNK features fighting aficionados are used to see included in their sequels rather than new gameplay ideas or mechanics. For starters you have an ammo-making utility that is just a stupid new way for you to collect powder instead of ammo, ditto the new "super-weapon" assembly system which just means you have to pixel-hunt the parts that make each special weapon, etc. etc.

The storyline has obviously suffered due to the new approach to the series: all combat and no suspense make RE3 a very dull boy as you'll see when comparing this one to it's predecessors. To sum it all up, you have to escape the city, there are a couple of Umbrella covert ops. guys that ally themselves with you as they face the same situation, and then there's the armored Tyrant aka Nemesis that somehow seems to be targetting S.T.A.R.S members for a particular reason as the only source of real intrigue, oh yeah and mid-game you'll get infected with a nasty virus that needs taking care of if you want to get out of here alive, but that's it. The charming corporate conspiracies and the personal squabbles have been subdued in favor of self-referential information (see what happened to the chopper pilot from RE1...yippe...) and zombie bashing-action, sub-plots are kept to a minimum and generally it all just revolves around you shooting shit that gets in the way of your freedom.

The Bottom Line
For the most part Resident Evil 3 proves that the series became a hit for their innovative blend of intriguing B-movie plots, dramatic suspense, action and stylish elements, and that cutting it all down to action and style just doesn't work the same way.

Nemesis has the babe, the guns and the gore but not everything else that made the magic work. The game is still entertaining and extremely well produced regardless of what some of the other more "extremist" reviewers may say, hardly the "craaaaap, craaaaap, Craaaapp" you may read around here, with enough optional elements (such as different game modes/bonuses/etc.) to make it a real value, and with plenty of good action that relies mostly on interesting scripted set-pieces and sheer chaos. Sure, any game that relies on that is easy prey for the usual arrogant bastards that make it their business to point out just how above those things they are and how utterly damaging they are to the high art that is videogaming and if you are going to listen to that vaya con dios. But yeah, it's equally far from the level of the previous games. Get Resident Evil 1 or 2 for the true thing, this one definetively doesn't make the series justice and will be enjoyed mostly by fans only.

The Good
Resident Evil 3 (Biohazard for PAL gamers) was the last Resident Evil game in the series to be released for the original Sony PlayStation system.

The first game probably helped sell quite a few of the original Sony systems, so it was nice to see that the classic survival horror game got one more chance to shine on the system, which would seen be eclipsed by the then-Next Generation video game console systems.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis has some of the best animation and graphics you are likely to see on the first PlayStation home console system.

All of the game's characters and locations look great. The CGI story sequences are incredible and everything just looks and moves incredibly well and, yes, supernatural terror is everywhere in this game.

The game's got plenty of great-looking zombies and other malevolent monsters to do battle with as well. Fans of the first Resident Evil game will notice some familiar faces and, yes, no review of Resident Evil 3 would be complete without mentioning the Nemesis character.

The Nemesis is -- essentially -- a better designed and tougher version of Mr X. When you try to beat Resident Evil 2 the second time, the mysterious and massive Mr. X character would sometimes appear and attempt to end your game.

Beyond having a better name, Nemesis is not only much faster then Jill Valentine, but also has the ability to open doors. This means going into a different room is not (necessarily) going to keep you safe from the Nemesis.

It is not just the Nemesis character; while the zombies and mutated monsters cannot open doors, they are all much scarier and more aggressive in Resident Evil 3. Thankfully, the improvements found in the third game do not end their.

Resident Evil 3 also features better, tighter, game play mechanics. Jill Valentine can mix ammo, in addition to herbs, to create new weapons. Her ability to quickly turn around and push zombies off of her has been improved upon.

I thought that Resident Evil 2 had the best controls in the series, when I first played it, but I have to say that Resident Evil 3 managed to improve upon greatness in the game play department.

So, everything about Resident Evil 3 seems to be great, wonderful and cool, right? Well, sadly this title in the franchise does have a few grave (no pun intended) problems.

The Bad
If the better animation, graphics, game play are the "something new" in Resident Evil 3, the problems with the game tend to fall under the "something borrowed" and "something old" headlines.

Resident Evil 3 borrows some ideas seen in Dino Crisis, in an effort to extend the replay value of the game. Someone at Capcom probably knew that going from the massive, two disc Resident Evil 2 game to a one disc sequel was not going to sit well with fans.

To help bump up the replay value, Resident Evil 3 features randomized locations for items -- i.e. ammo, herbs and objects needed to solve puzzles -- and sets up specific "live" opportunities in the game where you must quickly choose from a set of on-screen options.

Where as moving the location of objects in Resident Evil 2 was part of the expanded storyline -- found in attempting to beat the game twice, with a different character -- Resident Evil 3's storyline does not really offer anything new.

While Raccoon City looks great, certain streets and pathways in the game are blocked. This means that you have to take the “long way” to get to and from important locations in Raccoon City.

Initially, this requirement to find 'alternative routes' does make sense and encourages you to explore Raccoon City. After all, the once idyllic Raccoon City has taken a nosedive into glorious, B-movie, anarchy.

Local citizens are no longer burden by “big governments” taxes, rules, regulations or other laws. If gun control ever existed in Raccoon City, it is a safe bet that owning (at least one) gun has become mandatory, unless you are feeling suicidal. Heck, maybe all the Tea Party supporters need to do is find their own Raccoon City. But, I digress.

While the blockades and the like, all make sense, given the recent events, it can make Resident Evil 3 unnecessarily tedious.

Why? Their are actually not too many puzzles in the Raccoon City portion of the game, and it is pretty obvious what sort of object you need to solve the puzzles.

However, too many of the puzzles require you to go back and forth, covering large sections of the city, in order to solve them. So, when you are one side of the city and realize that you need an object located on the other side city, having to take several “long routes” (simply to get from Point 'A', to Point 'B' and back again) is really, really, really tedious. It is also totally unnecessary.

Resident Evil 3 could have easily had a feature built into it where, you could have Jill Valentine open certain manhole covers in order to take some direct, “short cuts” throughout the city.

Some people may actually enjoy the long walks back and forth through Raccoon City (especially if you are on the hunt for herbs or ammo), but most people would probably like the direct route option. This option seems all the more reasonable, when you consider the fact that there is not too much to do in Raccoon City beyond the specific, linear puzzles.

Raccoon City looks great and clearly a significant amount of time went into the city's design, layout and overall look.

The game offers the early signs of the “Open World” and “Sandbox” concepts would be later become quite popular in video games. However, it is more of a whiff then anything else.

Once you scratch the surface, Resident Evil 3 is not really too exploratory or interactive. Maybe Capcom finally reached the hardware limitations of the Sony PlayStation 1 or maybe not enough time was allotted for development.

Whatever the reason, Jill Valentine cannot enter most of the homes, commercial and other buildings you walk (or run) past. For the most part, access to buildings is limited to the ones needed to accomplish very specific goals.

So, while you are free to explore large chunks of Raccoon City, the player cannot really do much in the city outside the standard Resident Evil format of killing monsters, grabbing herbs and ammo and picking up items needed to solve puzzles.

In fact, much of the challenge in Raccoon City is not really figuring out how to solve the puzzles. Much of the challenges involves figuring out how to survive the army of undead and mutated monsters, while taking a series 'scenic routs' back and forth to certain locations.

Once you leave Raccoon City two things will stand out. First, the early whiff of open world and sandbox quickly concepts fade away (leaving a much linear, survival horror game) and the game is almost over.

Jill Valentine is pretty much on her own in Resident Evil 3. While she is a tough soldier (and one of my favorite STARS members), this is a noticeable shift from the number of important (and playable) characters in Resident Evil 2.

Granted, Resident Evil 2 was a massive, two-disc game, but it is hard to avoid the fact the not only is the story shorter in Resident Evil 3, it fails to really keep the player engaged.

Jill frequently battles the “Nemesis” – a huge monster that is faster then Jill and able to open doors – in Resident Evil 3, but he does not really add much to the story.

Yes, he is a tough and scary “mini-boss” (for lack of a better term) who keeps popping up in the game, but he does not really offer any sort of tangible story development.

In contrast. Resident Evil 2 had two, huge, min-bosses in the game. One of which had an interesting back story that was a major part of the Resident Evil 2's story.

Yet in Resident Evil 3, the Nemesis min-boss is basically an advanced, better looking version of the silent Mr. X character who appeared when you tried to beat Resident Evil a second time with a different character.

Yes, in Resident Evil 3, Jill Valentine does meet members of an elite military unit in Resident Evil 3, who have been hired by the Umbrella Corporation to locate survivors.

Most of the these soldiers are so obviously“red shirts” (to borrow an old-school, Star Trek term), I was actually surprised that none of the “dead men walking” wore red shirts.

I can accept, even appreciate, the B-dialogue in Resident Evil games, as something of am homage to classic horror and science fiction film.

However, because most of members of this special unit are not really that interesting, important or helpful in the game, an opportunity to add some, much-needed, depth to the Resident Evil 3 storyline is lost.

Instead, when we close the door on Raccoon City, it stays closed, and Jill is joined by only one other member of this – allegedly – topnotch search and rescue squad. When you crash into the last half of the game, the whiff of an open world concept is quickly dashed.

The few remaining locations to explore in the game all look incredible, the hospital in Resident Evil 3 is one of the scariest locations depicted in the entire franchise, but you are kept on a fairly tight, linear track, with only as few, simple, puzzles to accomplish.

By “simple” I mean that – like virtually all of the puzzles in the game – it is obvious what object you need to solve the puzzle. This late in the game, it is not too difficult to find the required object, as you are able to access fewer locations.

Instead, the challenge becomes one of battling the waves of monsters and making the – possible tedious – walk (or run) back and forth to the two points in the game.

Resident Evil 3 does an uneven job of properly balancing the arcade and adventure gaming elements. The game is driven much more by arcade action, then any good adventure gaming puzzles, and the puzzles often get hurt by the requirement to backtrack.

For example, when Jill becomes injured you – as the solider – have to get to the city's hospital (Point 'B'), solve a few puzzles, battle lots and lots of monsters and then backtrack your way to Jill (Point A).

It is slightly less tedious because, this late in the game, you don’t have (as much) space to back track as you did in Raccoon City, but the puzzles in Resident Evil 3 just never seem as fun as they did in Resident Evil 2. In Resident Evil 3, heavily armed, brawns seem to be much, much more important then brains.

Frankly, much of the tedious backtracking seen in Resident Evil 3 and empahsis on the arcade action is similar to what was seen in Resident Evil 1.

The only time a puzzle in Resident Evil 3 is likely to require some serious brains, is the music box puzzle. The musical solution is randomized and it is not easy to try and notice the slight variations that you have to perfectly repeat.

Beyond having a random solution, one of the reasons that the puzzle is tough (insanely so, given most of the puzzles in the game), is because of merely adeqaute quality of the music and sound effects in Resident Evil 3.

Within the Resident Evil franchise, gamers have come to exepct much, much better music and sound effects then what is offered up in Resident Evil 3. It would be a mistake to think that game's music and and sound effects are horrible.

Resident Evil 3 has – mostly – “adequate” music and sound effects. They are no where near as great as they should – be within the Resident Evil video game franchise – and sometimes, such as with the music box puzzle, they end up making things even more tedious.

The Bottom Line
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is the final Resident Evil game to be released for the original Sony PlayStation home system. It offers amazing animation, graphics and game play mechanics. The game is certainly scary, although it does a better job with the arcade action elements of survival horror, then the adventure gaming puzzles. With a few additions and modifications this game could be re-leased as one of the greatest entries in the Resident Evil series.

The Good
This sequel has some replayability features I liked. The structure is less linear than its predecessors, so you have a wider range of tasks to complete and paths to go through. Also, you get the chance to make choices when you face dangerous situations, and the choices you make will affect the direction of the game. The ammo and goodies you encounter and the type of enemies you face will vary, their distribution in this game is random (but tending to be balanced). Jill's ability to create different kinds of ammunition by mixing different types of gunpowder also adds some versatility.

The graphics are on and off, but overall they are an improvement from the previous games. The scenarios tend to be atmospheric and well drawn, but in some places you see backgrounds that are blurry and artifacts with a pixelated look. Good thing is that the screen resolutions have increased.

The cinematic cutscenes are quite good, energetic and very well done; I was impressed (talk about those facial expressions!).

The sound effects are decent and the voice acting is competent. But the music score, although effective, is less impressive than in the first two games.

Gameplay wise, here we have some improvements too. While the gameplay system and the menu interface from the previous games remains the same, now your character can dodge or escape enemies and turn 180 degrees with these new combo moves. If a zombie grabs you the desperate keyboard tapping becomes actually useful!

The puzzles have a different tendency here. They are not so intrincated but are still challenging. They require you to think a little and not to spend too much time looking for keys and strange artifacts to open doors. This game is a little more action oriented. I approved that.

And "Nemesis", well, he is the big bad guy. An improved version of the Tyrant monster, this big boy is faster, nastier and with enough intelligence to mouth the word "Stars"… and to chase the hell out of you. "Nemesis" will appear during the game in several situations, and while he is normally easy to avoid, it's advisable that you learn to kick his ass, because when he dies he leaves some nice goodies for you to pick up (which is quite an incentive).

The Bad
Thing is, after the first installment the suspense and the style has gone trite. The plot is not very involving. The script is lazy. The characters have no interesting personalities, they lack development (and not to mention, good one liners). The voice acting is acceptable, but in no means superb (not much to do with such shallow characters anyway).

It lacks originality. I mean, nothing that much new under the sun here. We have a familiar game engine and the same camera annoyances that pissed me off in the previous games. The enemies, aside from the main bosses, are not very innovative nor too much of a challenge. The zombies are weak and their AI is uneven, they are not as threating as they used to be. The weapons are almost the same, not much of a new toy to kick some zombie ass here.

And what happened with the lickers? Those were bad asses.

You will find some annoyances. This game sometimes feels rushed and messy. In the PC version, while playing a game, if you want to quit and load a saved game, you have to let your character die or quit the game entirely (the F9 key now quits the game instantly!) and then run it again just to access the main menu. And the 15 second prologue that opens every time you load a game is unnecessary and is non-skipable. The controls for the new moves are uneven; for example, the dodging is confusing and sometimes difficult to perform correctly, which makes the game harder than it deserves. The little bugs here and there can actually freeze the game in certain parts.

The Bottom Line
Worth trying if you liked the previous games.