RESIDENT EVIL 3

Review

The T-Virus created by the Umbrella Corporation is spreading rapidly within the population of Raccoon City. Most of the civilians are now infected and time is running out for those who have managed to survive so far. One of them is Jill Valentine, who is part of the Special Tactics and Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S).  Jill has been described as a femme fatale if you ever go head to head with her.  Despite the overwhelming chaos, she teamed up with one of the last agents from the U.B.C.S. (Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service) to find a way to either save or escape the city. It’s time to experience the wild ride of Resident Evil 3!

Resident Evil 3 (remake) is a third-person/action/horror zombie game developed and self-published by CAPCOM Co., Ltd. on the 3^rd of April 2020 on Steam, Xbox One and PS4!

In the early to mid-’90s, when the first Resident Evil was released, I was mostly interested in Football (soccer) and first-person shooter games. At that time, I enjoyed playing games as a recreation after work. The Resident Evil series never caught my eye for some reason, and I probably missed something special from that era. In recent years, I started to be intrigued by the Resident Evil franchise, especially when Resident Evil 7 came out in 2017. From then on, I enjoyed playing Resident Evil 2 (remake) and now Resident Evil 3. I won’t make any comparisons between this remake and the original, as I haven’t played the original.

The game has 3 levels of difficulty: Assisted, Standard and Hardcore. After you’ve made your selection, the game will start with a video introduction on the chaos that Raccoon City is experiencing with the T-Virus, which was manufactured by the Umbrella Corporation. From here you’ll be playing Jill first, and let me tell you, it will knock your socks off straight away as she will be pursued from the beginning by a fairly big monster. She will have a few Rendez-Vous with this monster throughout the game, and every time they meet, the monstrosity will become more prominent and harder to beat.

Not too far into the game, the character named Carlos will appear, and from then, you’ll be playing Jill in some chapters and Carlos in others.  On your first play as Carlos, you’ll find that he has better weaponry than Jill.  Jill, on the other hand, will be able to carry items such as a lockpick which will be very helpful for opening lockers, suitcases and doors that have a key lock on them.

It’s pretty much a game in which you have to follow the tasks and try to survive the onslaught of zombies and encounters with the Nemesis (monster). To make things slightly harder, you’ll be limited in ammunition from the start. But don’t despair, you’ll find some ammunition here and there within the locations that you visit. You’ll also find items that you can combine to create additional ammunition and health. Your inventory will be restricted to eight items at first, but you’ll find a few hip pouches throughout the game.

The levels are well-designed, and you can access the level map at any time, which will show you where you are, which areas you have or haven’t visited, along with items that you’ve seen but didn’t pick up.

There is an auto-saving, but if you want to save your progress, you can only do it in the rooms with the old-style typewriter.

I really like the different types of zombies and creatures you meet in RE3. The interesting point is that I find my first few encounters with the Nemesis more difficult early on in the game than towards the end.

For me, the most significant impact was these incredible pursuits Jill has with Nemesis, which are part of the playing cut-scene before each of the fights against him. I experienced several moments of what the f…….. ,and jumped a few times off my chair! It is impressive the way they managed to make me, as a player, feel involved in these pursuits. Just brilliant! 

The game is relatively short; within 7 hours, you’ll have finished your first playthrough, but the game offers good replayability in the form of a grade. When you complete the game, you’ll be rated and given points for challenges that you accomplished during the game. These points can be used to unlock items and costumes for your next playthrough.

Superb graphics, great soundtracks and good voice-overs, but the initial price tag of A$90 + seems to be a bit steep for a game of that length. Yes, they are providing a multiplayer offshoot, Resident Evil Resistance, which is a 1 vs 4 but I would suspect this multiplayer option will probably soon be forgotten.