Resident Evil 3 (2020) Review
Played on Xbox One (base)
Developed by Capcom
Released 4th March 2020
While the remake for Resident Evil 2 was ongoing, Capcom wanted to complete the trilogy of remakes and thus began developing this game, overlapping its development process with RE2. Kiyohiko Sakata, the programmer and designer of the first 4 games, became the director of RE3 and instead of retelling the experience to modern audiences like RE2 aimed, he and the team focused on rejuvenating the project and strived to make "improvements" to it, such as a more cohesive and constructed narrative. These attempts are also what the game was criticised for at launch as the focus on the story resulted in many fan-favourite moments from the original being removed, such as the live choices and Clocktower section. Having not played the original '99 game, I went in expecting a disappointing experience, though the RE2 blueprints may have saved it for me.
Story
The narrative of Resident Evil 3 is interesting, to say the least. The game follows heroine Jill Valentine as she is relentlessly hunted by the fan-favourite terror, Nemesis. The game is also set during the initial hours of the T-Virus outbreak, a couple of hours before the events of Resident Evil 2. The story is not too bad. While it does suffer from certain flaws, I had a blast playing through this relatively short experience. However, the flaws the game does suffer from aren't particularly terrible, nor do they dampen the overall enjoyment of the game as many others say. One of the first issues is the rapid pacing. The main driving force and catalyst for the events of the game are influenced by Nemesis, or at least the action sequences featuring him. You'll be thrown into perpetual action that exists solely to push the story forward, resulting in the 5-hour journey feeling much shorter than it is. This being said, the game feels very much out of sync with its predecessor, abandoning the horror element of the Resident Evil series. Resident Evil 2 generally struck a good balance between horror and action, yet this game is so jam-packed with what's meant to be adrenaline rides, that when it makes small attempts at horror, they prove to be ineffective. Although, I can't blame the game too much for this since Resident Evil 3 was originally supposed to serve as an action-filled spin-off to Resident Evil 2, back in 1999.
Gameplay
The gameplay, just like the story, starts with a great foundation but falls apart the further you get into it. On this basis, the mechanics are parallel to Resident Evil 2. A survival shooter with a relentless threat in constant pursuit. The difference between this and its predecessor is the notable drop in quality.
First and foremost, Nemesis is somewhat overused. While the super bio-weapon of a behemoth is fantastic in how it interacts with Jill and the environment, it does so only in scripted moments. This means that every time he bursts through a wall or starts gunning you down with a rocket launcher, it’s not customised for your experience, and instead, they're moments everyone else will have, which is a big let-down compared to Mr X's unique omnipresence.
Second of all, I must address the dodge mechanic. While it was a smart addition to the game's action-filled nature, it was not implemented well. Although having the dodge ability came in handy in so many moments, it often didn’t work. Instead of behaving like an actual evasive manoeuvre, it felt more like a 50/50 chance for either a sigh of relief as it worked or a sigh of disappointment as it failed, despite knowing full well that it should've worked.
Finally, the zombies are no longer a looming threat; more like a fly that's bothering you. These enemies are no longer genuinely terrifying like they were before; now they're just target practice. The only real threat that they deliver is when your dodge unreasonably fails. Other than that, you can douse them in however many bullets you want, since not only are they more vulnerable to these attacks, but the game will also give you back the bullets and gunpowder you used in the next room. While these are major issues that do take away from the game’s charm, it's not all bad. The tense feeling of being outnumbered or hunted like defenceless prey is still vaguely there despite the ramped-up ferocity of gameplay. The weapon variety is still a semi-problem with the generic pistol having been upgraded into a shotgun, but the inclusion of a grenade launcher with different ammo types used is quite cool. Enemies are still the same except with the new introduction to the near-unstoppable Pale Heads and the feral Hunters, posing new and enjoyable challenges.
Bossfights
The boss fights - they're incredible. Whilst each boss is essentially just Nemesis over and over again, the differences arise in each stage that he’s at in his evolution cycle. This causes some monstrous designs, which inherently affect how Nemesis interacts in the fight. In one fight he may be using a goddamn flamethrower, then in the other, he's bouncing between the walls of the arena like a dog. I wish I could go into more detail without majorly spoiling the fights, but I can't. What I will say though, is that the intense joy that came alongside these fights is immense.
Characters
The characters of this game are exceptionally good. Although the lip-synching is troublesome and at times painful to watch, the relationships between characters and their dynamics with one another are enjoyable. More specifically, Jill and Carlos have a fun-to-watch, back-and-forth friendship throughout the game. The characters occasionally cross the line to cliche hero/evil but never to an unentertaining extent.
Atmosphere
Audibly, the atmosphere has barely changed, but visually, it's been configured a lot. This game is miles better in terms of eye candy than Resident Evil 2. The gorgeous beginning consisting of a vibrant, neon-lit city only to slowly crumble apart like war ruins is such a nice oxymoronic aesthetic. Other than this, the audible sensations and mini-disappointments are the same. This will most likely be due to the small difference in launch dates between the two games. The enemies and their snarling are still fantastic, the gunshots are still tame, and the soundtrack is still phenomenal in all its blood-pumping, terrifying glory. Other than the lip-synching problem, it suffers in no technical way.
Story- 6.5/10
Gameplay- 5.5/10
Bossfights- 8.5/10
Characters- 7/10
Atmosphere- 8.5/10
Good
This and the previous RE remake are like cookie dough. RE2 was left in the oven for a perfect amount of time and left as a well-baked cookie, while this game should've been left in the oven a little bit longer, yet, at the end of the day, it's still cookie dough.
