Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

aka: Biohazard 3: Last Escape, Biohazard: Gaiden, RE3
Moby ID: 3321
PlayStation Specs
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Description official descriptions

Resident Evil 3 takes place during the events of Resident Evil 2. The midwestern town of Raccoon City is in ruins, having been overrun with the undead creating T-virus thanks to the wacky hijinks of William Birkin and Umbrella Inc. The player must guide Jill "master of unlocking" Valentine (one of the two main protagonists of the original Resident Evil) out of the city alive. Along the way, Jill will interact with and receive help from (or be hindered by) three Umbrella mercenaries who are also stranded in Raccoon City. Standing in the way of your group's last escape are a horde of flesh-eating zombified citizens, homicidal mutants, and a relentless killing machine known only as Nemesis who is determined to hunt down and kill the survivors of the original Resident Evil, including Jill.

A dramatic improvement over Tyrant/Mr. X/G from the previous games, Nemesis can run (faster than Jill, in fact), use firearms (a rocket launcher), dodge attacks, and even move through doors and from room to room in pursuit of Jill. On top of that he still possesses the nigh indestructibility we've come to know from Umbrella's ultimate bio-weapons.

Like its two predecessors Resident Evil 3 is a third-person action-adventure game with polygonal characters on pre-rendered backgrounds with cinematic camera angles, a technique originally pioneered by Alone in the Dark. Although the game uses the same basic engine and gameplay as the previous games, the gameplay is improved by features such as auto-targeting, a 180 degree spin, and a new dodge move that allows Jill to avoid enemy attacks. Another addition is Jill's ability to create different kinds of ammunition by mixing together three different types of gunpowder found throughout the game. The game include a randomization feature, which changes the location of certain key items and ammo. Another noteworthy feature is that at certain points in the game, Jill is faced with two choices for a situation, each will affect later story, and even the game ending. The zombies have also been made more diverse.

The number of polygons in the character models has also been increased, along with the possible screen resolution and color depth for the PC version (up to 1600 X 1200 at 32 bits, from a maximum of 640 X 480 at 16 bits for Resident Evil 2). Another addition in the PC version is the ability to skip cutscenes as well as the door loading animation.

The PC and Dreamcast versions includes all eight of Jill's possible costumes, as well as the mercenary mini-game Operation Mad Jackal which allows you to play as one of the three Umbrella soldiers. On the Playstation version, these special features must be unlocked by beating the game with a high score.

Spellings

  • Обитель зла 3: Немезис - Russian spelling
  • バイオハザード 3 ラストエスケープ - Japanese spelling
  • 惡靈古堡3 - Chinese spelling (traditional)
  • 生化危机3 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

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Credits (PlayStation version)

137 People (120 developers, 17 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 80% (based on 63 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 183 ratings with 9 reviews)

Not the best in the series...

The Good
It's Resident Evil! Jill's back from the first game! Zombies are still loose in the streets of Raccoon City! If you liked the first two games, what's not to like?

Oh, and still heaps more story... RE3:Nemesis happens roughly simultaneously with the events of RE2 (Jill even visits the police station where most of RE2 occurs, in fact), but THIS time, she's being hunted by the Umbrella Corporation's relentless inhuman assassination machine -- the Nemesis, a sort of tentacled undead Terminator thing, who pops up periodically in the game to kick the living poopie out of you as you try to escape the doomed city...

The Bad
What? Only one character? The previous two games let you play either of TWO characters. True, at one point you do get to play Carlos (the Umbrella Corporation mercenary who helps Jill out occasionally), but it's not the same thing.

The puzzles, which were loads of fun in the first game, and only slightly out of place in the second, now become remarkably intrusive. Why does the downtown park fountain in Raccoon City operate on a gear puzzle? First the mansion from the first game, then the police station and sewer in the second game, and now the entire downtown area is based on puzzles? What the hell? Is Raccoon City infested with puzzle freaks, or what?

The game's creator, perhaps wishing to add more complexity and depth, introduced an element where, by using a loading device and "gunpowder A" and "gunpowder B", you can make different kinds of ammunition for your various weapons. It's an unnecessary complication, really, and a waste of space and memory that could have been used better.

Despite being a considerably newer game, the graphics haven't gotten any better, since this was the last RE game created for the original Playstation... sigh

...and since it's a PS1 port, get the gamepad peripheral out if you want to play this one on the PC. Otherwise, you WILL have control problems.

The Bottom Line
Third-person zombie shoot in downtown Raccoon City. The original RE was largely a horror movie... whereas this one goes more for the action/shootemup style, sacrificing any last vestiges of spooky atmosphere for the kind of scares you get when something horrible leaps out of the closet at you. This isn't necessarily bad... but it's not what made the first two great, either.

Windows · by Dr.Bedlam (55) · 2002

Perhaps A Game That Could've Been Improved

The Good
Resident Evil 3 was a great game! The graphics are pretty decent for its time. The game is full of mystery and suspense! And the new feature that was added was great too. This feature allowed you to choose what you wanted to do in cut scenes. The story line is full of different endings and that makes good for replay value! The story-line is great! The whole mishaps with Umbrella unfolds in this installment.

The Bad
The games sound is just crap. The BMG's in this game are more funny then scary. The sounds of the zombies sound like old people. Nemesis voice sucks too. The game will have you running in circles and will get you frustrated. The game really is good over all.

The Bottom Line
Well I think the game is great! Its just the sound and the puzzles that take away pleasure from this game! Perfect for any Resident Evil fan/Horror game fan.

PlayStation · by TwoDividedByZero (114) · 2010

More action, less brains.

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.

PlayStation · by Zovni (10504) · 2003

[ View all 9 player reviews ]

Trivia

Book

A book adaptation of this game was published under the same name in 2000, the fifth in Pocket Books' Resident Evil series, written by S.D. Perry. The novel featured a preface by Perry stating that it was not canon with her other novels, as changes she had made in the previous novels would have prevented Resident Evil 3 from taking place.

Development

Resident Evil 3 began as BIOHAZARD Gaiden, a side story based around escaping Raccoon City. When the PS2 was announced Hideki Kamiya's BIOHAZARD 3 was changed to a PS2 title and renamed to BIOHAZARD 4 (This would later become Devil May Cry), while BIOHAZARD Gaiden was renamed to BIOHAZARD 3 and given a more important place in the overall Resident Evil story. Jill and the Nemesis were added to the game after this point.

German index

On May 31, 2000, the English version of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. For more information about what this means and to see a list of games sharing the same fate, take a look here: BPjS/BPjM indexed games.

German version

In the German version, there are a number of changes (the cutscenes are not affected): * Zombie blood was coloured green * Killed enemies disappear almost instantly * Limbs can't be cut off and heads don't explode * In the Mercenary mode, unlocked after beating the game, no time bonus is rewarded for kills (except for animals). This makes it impossible to get a good ranking and unlock bonus content

A detailed list of changes can be found on schnittberichte.com (German).

Movie

Carlos Oliveira, Nicholai Ginovef, Jill Valentine, and the Nemesis can be seen in the film Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Carlos, Jill, and The Nemesis are mostly the same as their game counterparts, but Nicholai was rewritten from a scheming combat veteran into a greenhorn with a hear of gold.

Sales

According to publisher Capcom, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis has sold 3.5 million copies worldwide since its initial release (as of June 30, 2016).

Title

Producer Shinji Mikami was originally against calling this game Biohazard 3. He felt that Biohazard Code: Veronica, which advanced the story more than this game did, was the "true Biohazard 3" and that Biohazard 3 should've been called Biohazard 1.9.

-Source IMDB.com

Information also contributed by Emepol, NightKid32, Pseudo_Intellectual and Xoleras

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Kasey Chang.

PS Vita added by GTramp. PlayStation 3 added by Shaun Dunham. GameCube added by Kartanym. PSP added by Sciere. Dreamcast, PlayStation added by Matthew Bailey.

Additional contributors: Alan Chan, Matthew Bailey, Unicorn Lynx, John Chaser, tarmo888, Foxhack, Xoleras, DreinIX, —-, Paulus18950, CalaisianMindthief, Patrick Bregger, Lain Crowley, Victor Vance.

Game added February 13, 2001. Last modified March 20, 2024.