This is my personal opinion! You may disagree and prefer RE3 over the first 2 games...
I really like NEMESIS itself, the monster, how it looks, what we have to do about this guy...
But the game itself really could have been just a 3rd CD/scenario for Resident Evil 2.Sort of an expansion to RE2. It looks very similar, use the same period of time and places... (of course with some modification or it would have been a pretty cheap move from Capcom!)
At least it added a new gimmick used in all RE games since that (quick turn: A+backwards)
Update Sep/11/2010: Edited the old huge JPG picture to the layout I use in the reviews now.
VGR: Resident Evil 3: NEMESIS / Biohazard 3 Last EscapeFrom Capcom
Played on Dreamcast Also available on PS1, Gamecube and PC
Type Survival Horror
Year 1999-2000
Resident Evil 3 is a very strange game to criticize, but I'm gonna try to be honest with you guys and share my thoughts...
Resident Evil 3 wasn't supposed to be the 3rd game at first.
It begun production as a spinoff game which is almost how it ended, what it is really...
In fact the real 3rd Resident Evil is the next one, the one that came out under the strange name "Code Veronica", but being a Dreamcast exclusivity (originally), they named the multiconsole "Resident evil: Nemesis" under the label "3" and Veronica became numberless.
RE3 takes place around the same period of time as RE2. Raccoon City is being destroyed by the T-virus. You start the game as Jill Valentine from the original Resident Evil. In the dreamcast version you're even allowed to pick up the costume you want from the go!
One of my main problems with this game is that the plot seems pretty absent for the whole first half of the game... You're just wandering around... for what reason?
Trying to find something? ...do something?
There are some Umbrella mysteries, their involment in the outbreak and clues about their mysterious past like in the other games...
But why? Are we investigating like Claire or Chris in RE2? Trying to escape? Help someone?
You start off in the streets of Raccoon City, as in Resident Evil 2, then go for the Police Department, like...well, RE2 too. Some backgrounds are reused, others changed to show that stuff happened since last time you played... The game feels pretty much like an expansion for RE2 or what a "C" point of view would have been (RE2 had 2 p.o.v.)... at least in the beginning...
So... the plot seems lacking... the graphics not that updated since part 2... the environments are not that much impressive since last time... is there something new then to be found?...
Yes there is!
In the form of...
NEMESIS! a.k.a. the best enemy to ever come out of the franchise yet (well...there's also Wesker...)! basically, he's a super "tyrant" (one of the most dangerous monsters/mutations found in the Resident Evil games, mostly bosses), but an intelligent one that never dies and follows you around!!!
He has three main roles in the game.
He's wandering around specific places/protecting them. He is a story/plot enemy/boss that you have to defeat several times.
And he pops up around randomly while you play, follows you from screen to screen, across many places and never letting go!!
It's pretty intense trying to escape a monster like him (he walks/runs, opens door, climb and even uses weapons!!!), specially with Resident Evil's unique gameplay!
Love it, hate it... I think it offers a pretty good challenge and good scares!
The dreamcast port also offers you in the main menu a "mercenary mode" where you play a small prequel scenario with this game's Umbrella soldiers. Like in the previous game, it's like an arcade version of Resident Evil 3. You start in a place "a" and try to arrive alive in place "b" in a short amount of time. All the game's monsters and Nemesis are present, you have to choose wisely the character (with each their own unique ammo/health/objects). You have to make good choices in the field and be careful with the path you take!
The game felt shorter and simpler than the previous games for me. No side-story characters in this game.
At some point, during a very small part you play as Carlos, the friendly Umbrella's soldier, and that's it!
Overall, it's a nice entry for Resident Evil.
Not the worst one, by far, but it feels very much like an "alternate" take on Resident Evil 2 or a RE2+.
The last third of the game is probably the best of it (trapped in an hotel with Nemesis, then a park and across a factory). The game also offers some quick time events, were you'll have quick decisions to make!
"Nemesis" itself is the best element of this game, it creates a great tension and some thinking outside the regular box of this franchise.
But you have to wait for the end of the game for some plot (escaping the city before its destruction) and interesting surprising stuff to happen.
It's an ok Resident Evil episode with some great ideas tossed around (like the quick turn which would be featured in all following games).
I give it:
3/3 a must play 2/3 give it a try 1/3 bad game and 0/3 run from it!
