After the release of Resident Evil 2 Capcom began development on several different projects related to the franchise. Among them was a title focusing around a rarely mentioned antagonist named Hunk, a separate side story focusing around Jill Valentine set before and after RE2, and the continuation of the main storyline which would eventually release as Code Veronica on the Dreamcast. It seems odd to me that after the first of these was canceled that the other side story was chosen to be the big bad Resident Evil 3, but what can you do? Despite being a huge fan of the franchise I was never particularly excited for this next title pre-release. I rented it and remember being disappointed because Resident Evil 3: Nemesis hardly felt like a big step up from the last title. It wasn’t until years later that I gained an appreciation for this sequel, and although it’s one of the weaker classic RE games in my opinion it’s one of the more unique ones.
RE3 begins just before the events in the last game. Despite her best efforts S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine (one of the protagonists from the original game) has failed to raise public awareness of the zombie outbreak at the Spencer Mansion. The story begins as the Raccoon City incident has begun to unfold with zombies quickly overtaking the city. Jill Valentine must escape from the now dead city, but the evil Umbrella corporation has made that a difficult task by unleashing their latest project; the Nemesis, into the city. He’s an intelligent bio-weapon that has been tasked with killing all members of the task force S.T.A.R.S. in order to cover the company’s tracks. With one hundred thousand zombies and a hulk of rotting flesh on her tail the odds are certainly against Jill, but this is her last chance to escape. The scenario and story are okay, but it doesn’t serve to advance the plot in any significant way. It is, however, interesting to get a better look at Raccoon City following the zombie outbreak, and Nemesis itself is pretty unique by series standards.
Gameplay is largely the same as it was in the past two installments. You wander through various environments consisting entirely of pre-rendered interconnected backgrounds from a third person view. Characters are all rendered in 3D, and the camera angles are static often taking dramatic viewpoints to enhance the atmosphere. The game uses the standard tank controls the series is famous for; pressing up will cause Jill to move in the direction she’s facing, down will make her back up, and left/right are used to turn her either way. Your basic weapons in this game are firearms, and after equipping them via the menu you must hold the R1 button to aim, and the X button to fire. You cannot shoot while walking/running, but Jill can pivot to change her aim. The Resident Evil games prioritize survival via item management, and this one is no different. You’re given a limited amount of ammunition, and a horde of zombies that stand between you and the end credits. You must pick and choose which zombies to put down because many can be avoided due to their low speed and intelligence. Ammunition and health restoring herbs are not entirely common, and you will need to conserve both and carefully select which to take along with you because you have limited inventory space. Success comes from playing intelligently.
While this is mostly a case of deja vu in terms of gameplay the developers added in a few new welcome gameplay elements. The first of these is the ability to turn completely around while aiming which is useful when you need to escape enemies. Another is a dodge move that you can perform while aiming that comes in handy more than you would expect. This is the only game in the series where you can create your own ammunition by combining different types of gunpowder into a mixing device. This is a rather curious addition, and I find that it diminishes the difficulty on normal mode quite a bit which is unfortunate. I still like this feature, and because it never reared it’s head again in this series it helps RE3 to stand out from the pack. The biggest new feature is referred to as the Live Selection sequences. During specific intervals in the story you’re given two options about how to deal with different in-game events. This affects the way in which the plot unfolds in a few different ways, and if you don’t make a selection in time you could end up suffering from a game over. This is a really cool feature that makes each time you play different.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is a great addition to the series, and the aforementioned features make it unique enough from the last game to stand out. The biggest addition however is the Nemesis himself. This hulking mass of rotting flesh shows up at several intervals within the story, and in several of these instances you’re required to defeat him. This wastes a lot of ammunition, and he’s significantly more difficult than your garden variety zombie. The Nemesis can run, and when you’re a specific distance away he can can even use a rocket launcher against you. While you can run from him and enter doors he will follow most of the time. These encounters are difficult, and can quickly wear you down after repeated battles against him. Many of his appearances fill the game with ‘jump scares,’ and even though it can be frightening this game simply isn’t as scary as the previous two. The environments, despite taking place in Raccoon City, just aren’t all that interesting in my opinion. I would have much preferred to check out the residential area rather than the generic shopping districts and dilapidated outskirts. The most interesting area you visit here is the Police Station from RE2 which is unfortunate because they’re recycled from it.
The graphics are largely on par with Resident Evil 2, but there are several notable enhancements here. We have several different zombie models here and the diversity is a welcome change. The new monsters are well designed and fit the franchise quite well. In addition Jill and the other characters feature a few more frames of animation than the others did in the previous title. The pre-rendered backgrounds aren’t a significant upgrade, but they’re definitely on par with those from 2. The framerate holds quite steady, and the game is pretty decent looking by PlayStation standards. The soundtrack is unfortunately one of the weakest across the entire series. It’s still spooky and can be quite haunting, but for the most part the tracks are pretty forgettable. The voice acting is, as usual, quite low quality. Again this adds to the b-movie charm of the story, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. One of my favorite aspects of the audio here is the Nemesis who mutters “STARS…” over and over again while in hot pursuit. It can be and often is very creepy.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is easily the weakest of the original installments in the series. With that said it’s actually a very competent survival horror game, and one of the most interesting and unique RE sequels. It would have been better received were it not sandwiched between the superior second game and Code Veronica which was a significantly bigger step forward for the franchise. RE3 is well worth playing today, but it’s not a necessity for those delving into the series.
