[h2] Playing the classic RE game 28 years after its release for the first time. My thoughts[/h2]
‘Nemesis’ is probably the favorite Resident Evil entry for the majority of old-school players, and I’ve never heard nothing but praises about this game. [u]So here come I, the new gen gamer, who fell in love with the RE franchise after the revolutionary 7’s release[/u]. I’ve played (and replayed) all of the series’ entries this summer inspired by the gorgeous Veronica Remake trailer announcement, and only one game was left untouched by me, RE3. Several reasons for that: I never felt super close to Jill as a character, despite her having an enormous and slightly mental fanbase, I was never really immersed in her Raccoon City storyline, and relevancy-wise, RE3 was strongly associated with the lazy and hastily-baked remake that seemed so off to me that I didn’t even finish it back in 2020. That’s why [u]I had zero nostalgia or any biases when I decided to finally jump into the original RE3[/u].
[b]My introduction to the game was NOT smooth at the start[/b]. Instead of isolated, lonely but eerily homely RE1 and RE2 locations, I got the messy overwhelming Raccoon City streets, full of fire and annoying hoards of zombies. [u]The scare factor was reduced to the ‘enemies grabbing you whenever you move’ factor, which only fueled my annoyance towards the gameplay and level design decisions[/u]. The third game moved much deeper into the ‘action’ zone than its predecessors, which is logical to see knowing how RE4 and RE5 turned out to be. And well, blatant action was never my favorite part of RE games. [u]As I moved further through the city’s convoluted map, I met the (in)famous Nemesis for the first time, and that’s when I got to another… annoyance-inducing part of this game: dodge mechanic[/u]. Oh, the dodge mechanic. A few words about that.
I started the game on the Hard Mode (the only alternative being Easy, as Normal option was absent this time for some reason), and I also decided to follow the path where you fight Nemesis instead of fleeing most of the times. It’s not only slightly changes the ending, but also allows you to get the special item drops from him which sounded great on paper. [u]Here’s what wasn’t great though: Nemesis being a ‘one move, one-shot’ type of enemy[/u]. So Capcom decided to add some new stuff after RE2 – the more ambitious map, the gunpowder mixing system, and [i]the DODGE FREAKING MECHANIC[/i]. It was not implemented smoothly, and it did not work very well with the tank controls. [u]Combine it with Nemesis, the fast-pace, grab spamming bullet sponge cake that can just stomp you to death in some random corner, and you’ll get pure frustration and ‘Why do I even bother’ cocktail of feelings[/u]. As I was pushing through the first 40% of the game, I was thinking to myself: ‘There’s no way this entry is called the perfect RE game by fans…’
However, as I got past the R.P.D. part [i](yeah, you get into the exact same Police Department location from RE2 which really surprised me!),[/i] [u]things eased up a bit.[/u] I started getting new weapons which finally made Nemesis encounters less of a stressful time-consuming chore, the plot became more intriguing, and the locations surprised me a lot in a good way. [u]From the technical point of view, Capcom pushed the classic RE engine to the absolute limit while making this game, so I can easily understand how it was seen as revolutionary at the time of its release[/u]. The map is [b]HUGE[/b] given what year RE3 came out in, like RE4 and RE8 kind of huge, which seemed almost surreal to me combined with the same clunky tank controls and fixed angle system. [u]It’s almost hilarious how much the R3make is missing in comparison with the almost 30 year old game. The gameplay choices were really ambitious as well[/u], although just as I said, some of those choices did not seem perfectly compatible with the game’s existing controls. [u]But it showed how Capcom were eager to evolve with each new RE game and try something fresh to add to the already amazing formula, and that’s what I really admire.[/u]
[b]To sum it all up after I watched the ending credits[/b]: this game was not as perfect as many nostalgia fueled fans claimed to be. [u]It absolutely has some tedious and frustrating moments if you decide to follow the harder, riskier routes, but it also has a lot of greatness after all to soothe your wounds[/u]. Nemesis can be pretty obnoxious in gameplay, but he’s so visually and conceptually impressive and works really well as the game’s main spooky gimmick. I can easily imagine a lot of young kids not being able to sleep at night after playing the OG RE3 and hearing his eerie ‘S.T.A.R.S…’ howls, ha ha.
Did this game really pass the test of time almost 30 years later? Well, not entirely so, but it still aged very, very well given how many things changed in the gaming landscape. The atmosphere is really good, the music is lovely, Jill is a baddie for real, Carlos is there, Wesker is not (what a pity!), and Barry is always the GOAT. I’m giving this game 5 S.T.A.R.S., Rank A. [i]Jill, you did a fine job![/i]
