Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

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.