Resident Evil 3 (2020)

9/10

Mini review:

I enjoy this more than RE2 Remake, but not because it's a better game. This is just more doable for me. Nemesis being scripted makes him easier to handle, and I enjoy that more. I like action oriented RE the best because they're such B-Movies. Always liked Jill. Beautiful, polished game, just feels great to play. Yeah, it's short, but if you take money out of the equation, you realize this game doesn't overstay its welcome. I also like linear experiences.

Full review:

I always have to add context to horror games so if you've read recent horror reviews, this is largely redundant. But I'm a wimp who a) hates being chased in games, b) hates being underpowered and c) plays these on Easy. Until recently I avoided most horror games for this reason, but decided to just start giving them a shot on Easy, and I've greatly enjoyed my experience in them because of this. So no, I am not the person you would hire to write a professional review for horror games, unless it's something like F.E.A.R. But I'm also not pretending to be professional: this is just my experience, my views, with my biases and preferences.

So in context of RE3 Remake, this game gives me everything I enjoy in horror and takes out shit I don't. Probably best to just comment on my points above.

a) Being chased - Nemesis is scripted, and when he's there, it's clear where to go, and the pursuits don't last long. They're sometimes comically short. Does Nemesis randomly jumping out of a wall make me jump? Yeah, it got me sometimes. But after that the game elicited the "not this fucking guy again" (in a good way) feeling, rather than a growing dread that eventually made me want to stop playing. Also, they did a good job narratively of always making him seem like a threat, like he could show up whenever, so I dug it. It was enough to keep me on edge while not overwhelming me.

b and c) Being underpowered/Easy - I also hate item management. I just want to carry shit around, not backtrack or think about what I need to carry. You obviously do that here, and that's part of the appeal to Resident Evil fans, but I managed. I mean, the game is quite forgiving compared to some others anyway, but playing it on Easy made it so that I never worried about bullets. I couldn't go around shooting like an idiot, but as long as I tried, it was never a problem. I also like this because I care more about the horror imagery, jump scares, atmosphere and story... not having to constantly worry about my ammo or hide.

Don't get it twisted: RE2 Remake is a better game, even though I've rated it lower. That's because RE2 isn't doable for me. And yeah, feasibility factors in greatly for me with horror games. What I mean by this is not that I couldn't technically get through a game if I really wanted to, it's that at a certain point, horror games get under my skin so much that I just lose the passion to play them, thus making them "undoable" for me. RE2 was undoable for me, mostly because of Mr. X. But it was just a scarier game in general. The reality for me is that while this is not the best of the Resident Evils that I've played, it's probably the one I could actually go back to. And I still loved it.

I know I was wordy up above and most of it is just about my own preferences, but I always feel like it's worth noting that in case someone reads my reviews and they're like me.

My mini review kind of sums up my feelings about the rest of the game, but just to elaborate a bit. I think these Remakes look gorgeous. They're such a joy to look at. Lots of polish and details. I liked running around Raccoon City the most, and while I didn't enjoy some of the other places as much, you're not there very long anyway (I will touch on length later).

You move a little slow, but not too slow (too slow can work in games like Fatal Frame but not here). You have a useful dodge button. Shooting feels heavy but not too heavy, guns have some kick, but ultimately they're just satisfying to shoot. Boss battles are fine. It was nice seeing Nemesis evolve. Final battle had a satisfying climax.

The story is about what you'd expect from Resident Evil. I have no knowledge of the original RE3 but I know they changed some things, but without that I thought it was fine. I saw someone say that Jill goes back to RPD in the original instead of Carlos and that made it more emotional because Carlos is detached, and I think that's a valid point. What I'm about to say is not a critique of this game because it came out 6 years earlier, but I just played Requiem and got to experience Leon go back to RPD, so at this point in my time it's like I already got that desire filled. But I agree that maybe back in 2020 it would have been better. But hell, I still enjoyed the story. I like Jill.

I'll end on the length. Full price I can fully understand not wanting to spend the money. I'm not strict on tying quality to quantity and price, but that doesn't mean there isn't some validity to it. I mean, where I live this game would cost 100 CAD if it came out today, and that's a lot of money for something that can be completed in 5-6 hours on a first playthrough. I'm a big movie guy and going to the theatre can cost me 20-30 bucks for an hour and a half to two hours, but that's also leaving the house, getting some food and some entertainment. I don't know the prices of digital rentals off the top of my head because I know they change depending on the movie, but you can get a movie for 10 bucks at home, which scales better than 100 for a 5 hour game.

It's important for reviews to warn players about the length, but it should only factor into the score if it actively alters the quality. So, if you play a game and it only takes an hour to beat but it's a 10/10 and costs, I don't know, 30 bucks, that's more of a criticism about the company and pricing than the game itself, so it should get a 10/10. I bring this up because I think the length serves this game well. As I said earlier, running through the streets was the best part. The final act is less inspired... I just simply didn't like the environment I was in that much. But it also didn't last long. The game is so quick that you don't get stuck in a bullshit place you're not overly enjoying, and that makes the game better. The developers knew enough not to pad it out.

I don't know. I guess I just don't mind linear, shorter experiences these days. 8-12 hours is usually a sweet spot for me, and while this is shorter, the entire time was a really good action-horror experience, so I loved it.

Of the original Resident Evil trilogy, RE3 was always the most unique chapter of this introductory story. Resident Evil was a massive, often slow-moving puzzle waiting to be solved, while Resident Evil 2, with its dual narrative, kicked up what this series could be a notch. But Resident Evil 3 seemed like an extra chapter to wrap up this story, as well as a way to sate the audience's appetite as they waited for the next major story with Resident Evil: Code Veronica (I didn't realize until just now there were only three months between RE3 and RE: CV).

And yet, Resident Evil 3 might be the first major presentation of what the future might hold for this franchise, for the better in the long run, but probably the worst in the near future. RE3 isn't the quiet, deliberately-paced adventure of its predecessors. No, this is a game that wants you to fly through it, running and gunning as you try to escape the grasp of the constantly evolving Tyrant. It was a clever shift for the series, one that moved it far more towards action, but also opened up the real possibilities of what the Resident Evil franchise could be in the long run.

As a kid, I used to play the first three Resident Evil games over and over, and it almost became a tradition for me to load up the TV and PlayStation in the car on family road trips every summer and play through them on the way to our destination. The first two games had the substance, but Resident Evil 3 was the game I could fly through, the game I could just have fun with, and wrap up this story of Raccoon City. After all these years, I still find this to be the case; however, again, while I think it might be the least essential in terms of narrative, it is a major step forward for this series. Do we get Resident Evil 4 or the impressive RE7-RE9 without this game? Probably not. But we also probably don't get Resident Evil 5 and 6, the weakest games that focus too much on action, but you have to take the good with the bad.

While I still find the previous RE games to be superior, I find this remake of Resident Evil 3 to be quite a lot of fun. This captures what I love about Resident Evil, just in a more bite-sized format. The puzzles are much more straightforward, the action is more exciting, and I don't feel like I'm busy trying to horde my health and ammo throughout the game. I even appreciate how they reuse assets from Resident Evil 2, like the police department, to provide a new viewpoint on this story. It's fast, furious, and a lot of fun.

I know people complained about this Resident Evil 3 remake being too short, but for me, this is sort of the perfect length for a game like this. Before starting this game, I just finished playing the remake of Silent Hill 2, and I forgot just how long and often exhausting that game can be — despite very much enjoying it. Resident Evil 3 finds just the right amount of puzzle and action mixture, without ever becoming a drag, and it felt like the perfect counter to what I just experienced in SH2.

Even though the story isn't the focus here, I do appreciate how they flesh out Jill Valentine a bit more with this remake. As we see in the beginning, she's still struggling with the events of the first Resident Evil, and she's not sure what the lasting impact of that battle will be, to the point that she has to get out of Raccoon City. I like that they make the first game a trauma that Jill has to overcome, even though, again, that's not really a major point of this story. Also, we haven't seen Jill Valentine in a mainline game since 2009, and that feels criminal at this point, especially since we're bringing back every major male character over and over. Jill rules! Bring her back!

The Resident Evil 3 remake is a great update of an important step for this series, and despite it being much shorter than most games in this franchise, it more than makes up for it with plenty of fun action and a new way to approach the zombie apocalypse.

Just like the original pair of games, RE3 Remake is more like DLC to RE2 Remake than a stand-alone game. The original game was really short and leaned way more into the action and cared way less about story progression, so I applaud the faithfulness in that regard. From a story standpoint, this makes a little sense. In RE2, the characters were still trying to understand the situation. In RE3, Jill being the protagonist, she already understood what was happening her only focus was getting out of Raccoon City alive.

The Positives

A lot of the things I enjoyed about RE2 Remake were transitioned into this game. The controls were tight, camera angles were fine and the menu screens were the same appealing setup. The story didn't have much depth, but this wasn't really about character development. It was the Re: Disaster Movie. All hell was breaking loose and there was just one goal for the cast. Get out of dodge and do it fast. With exploding set pieces, regular run-ins with the antagonist, and plenty of combat served up in big chunks, this was an action game more than a horror game.

In addition, once again the visuals are breathtaking. All the set pieces were carefully decorated, the characters were lovingly tailored and all the bloom effects, weather effects, etc. just made everything in the game look spectacular.

The Negatives

Okay, I know the original is a short game and it's almost impossible not to finish it in a single sitting without difficulty. With that said though, I wish the remake had been padded with additional content. I mean, many games were short in length back in the 90s, thanks to technology, hardware restrictions, etc. Gaming has come a long way since then and I can't imagine too many people would have been upset with embellishment for the sake of extra story, missions, or a chance to spend more time with this title.

Final Thoughts

Another great remake with a lot of visual polish and great controls. However, the length of the campaign made it feel more like Remake RE2.5 than a stand-alone 3 game. Could have used a little padding to extend the life of the journey.

C'mon Jill. You're in an RE game. You know that ain't true.

My Resident Evil Reviews:

• Resident Evil 0
• Resident Evil 1 - Remake
• Resident Evil 2 - Remake
• Resident Evil 3 - Remake

I wanted to love this game, but I did find it to be very hit and miss. some sections were very short because the game itself was really short for some reason - it only took me 4.5 hours and that was with a lot of backtracking to try and get everything.

I loved Carlos and Jill but found myself wanting more time with them, especially Carlos as you only play as him for a couple of sections (although the scene where you shoot loads of zombies to protect Jill was super fun). it had a lot of great things, but it fell short mostly just because of being short - I haven't played the original but can tell that there is missed potential here and there's lots that could've been more fleshed out ! :(

i adored the re2 remake (again, haven't played the original) and I found this had a lot of similarities to that but I preferred Mr X as a villain & preferred Leon and Claire as playable characters. their stories were just more interesting, especially Claire's, & you get to have longer with each of them to go in depth with that

I still had a great time though, I just wish it was,, well longer ig

love Carlos though he better be in more games soon <3

This game got a lot of flack because how short it was for it's price. I would be disappointed as well. But... I didn't buy it full price and I got it on a mega sale. So the value of what I got from the game was extremely enjoyable.

Playing this game right after RE2 remake was pretty crazy in a way of animation. This game is a lot more smoother than RE2 I'll say. But that's really it. The game was so short that it's hard to pin point everything. This should of been DLC honestly those animation is not enough to make its own game.

A good adaptation but some of the boss fights are very short, along with the entire games playtime. It took me 7 hours to beat this game, 5 hours focused purely on the games objective and 2 hours spent on other quests such as discovering different weapons and unlocking parts of the map.

I like how you can play either Jill or Carlos, and you can use their different weapons etc so it is varied, and also the teamwork aspect with the 2nd Nemesis boss fight.

I paid full price for this game and I would do it again. It's worth every penny. The reason I kick this review off with that declaration is thanks to the most common criticism I've seen aimed at RE3 Remake: it's too short to justify a $60 price tag.

I firmly disagree.

I've never really been able to get behind the notion that the length of a game is what justifies, or fails to justify, how much it costs. I'm much more in favor of viewing a game as a holistic experience in relation to price.

The facts are pretty simple. RE3 is gorgeous. It plays exceptionally well. Its voice acting is top notch and its set pieces are memorable. It worked upon launch and didn't need a slew of patches to fix it or get it into a working state. It's a tight and refined experience.

Yep, it's shorter than RE2 Remake. Yep, it's a short game by a lot of "standards". But does that mean it's not worth $60? It sure as hell didn't mean that to me. I found tons of replay value in RE3. I like that it's not a huge time commitment. I love the fast pace and how streamlined it plays. It was fully worth $60 to me, and as I said, I'd pay it again.

But I'm also a hardcore fan. I'm the player who plays it several times over in order to get all the trophies and because one playthrough just isn't enough for me. To the casuals, who might just play through it once, I can see why it wasn't a good value for them. Even with that said, I still think as a product and its inherently high quality still balances that out.

Another criticism I've seen is that some of the cut content from the original game is missed. I can't really speak to that since I barely remember playing the original RE3. But those who are familiar with it have mixed opinions. A few players have said they're fine with the clocktower section being cut because it wouldn't have fit and really isn't that critical of a component of the experience. It might be confirmation bias for me, but I think I'd fall into that camp. I view it as an analog to the film Alien, specifically theatrical versus director's cut. The director's cut includes a scene in which Ripley ventures down into a part of the Nostromo wherein she finds a cocooned Dallas, ending his life mercifully with a flamethrower, returning to her tasks thereafter. That scene just didn't fit; it's jarring and detracts from the overall narrative.

And since I don't know any better, I'm fine with that content not being there. A remake shouldn't strive to do every single thing the original did; it would probably be better to focus on the experience the original attempted to convey, and either capture/preserve it, or enhance it.

And another criticism I've seen is that it's not as good as RE2 Remake. That's such a tough one to argue with because it's subjective. If you asked each person who said that why they think it's not as good as RE2 Remake, the answer would probably be different for everyone. But at the end of the day, RE3 isn't RE2 and wasn't trying to be. Whereas RE1 and 2 are traditional slow-burn survival horror, RE3 feels and plays more like a 90's action horror movie. It's the Predator 2 of the franchise (I understand the risk of invoking a comparison to Predator 2, a film generally disliked, but I think it slaps for what it is). And I think it absolutely rocks.

I loved and love RE3 Remake. I liked it from the minute I started playing. I was surprised at the criticisms and the lukewarm reception. If you were to ask me what game I liked more between RE2 and RE3 remakes, the answer would vary day-to-day.

I'd personally welcome more games in the vein of RE3 remake. But then again, I'd welcome more RE games in general. Give me all of the Resident Evils.

Great game but so damn short. Was able to get all the achievements in about 16 hours of playtime. For a full $60 dollar title that is ridiculous. Highly recommended to wait for a sale.

Wish they could have added more to the game and got rid of the stupid multiplayer that no one plays but what can you do.

If this is how fast paced the game progresses, leaving for a short experience, then I might as well make this review shorter than my other ones. It took me 4 hours to beat this game, even with exploring for some secrets and all.

It's bad. It's dumbed down. It's super handholdy. Nemesis only has one chase sequence ala Mr. X, and he gets stunned with only one grenade, and the rest of his appearances are scripted, "gameplay" , hold W sequences along with one bossfight that was piss easy, one bossfight that was ok and a rematch with some notches, and the last one also being piss easy. There are only 2 puzzles in the game and they suck. The enemies were so easy to kill. The equipment you need to kill enemies were given to you beforehand, so you now understand what kills these enemies before even being introduced to them. The antithesis to H.P. Lovecraft's belief when it comes to horror. I always felt like I had enough ammo for every situation, leaving less tension. I loved the Lickers in RE2R and they've been used 3 times in this game. They only appeared in the RPD and I feel could've appeared in the hospital as well. There are story points that go nowhere like Jill's nightmares after RE1 and this character that hides in the truck.

I like some character moments. I really liked the tie in to RE2 Remake with Marvin. It give him a reason so say that one line that he says to Leon in RE2 Remake. That was great. The systems, engine, and stuff are sound. That's all I liked about it.

I have not played the original RE3. So I won't apply my criticisms to what has been cut out. I'm sure that playing the original would make me like the game less. On it's own, it's bad. I never laughed (actually I did. At the part where Jill's said iconic line was misplaced and she got cut off by Nemesis. I laughed at the game. Not with the game.). I only cracked a smile once. I was never scared. I just didn't get much of a positive emotion out of this game. It just felt soulless. Get it if it's on sale. Glad I got the Racoon City bundle for $30. Make your own opinion. Mine is that it's not good.

FINAL RATING: 3.5/10

People were not kidding when they said that the Resident Evil 3 remake was short. It took me just under 6hrs to complete and that was with me slowly making my way around and collecting everything! Could easily cut that playing time in half if you knew what was coming next.

They did implement a similar points system to RE5 where you rack up points doing various tasks (like shooting so many zombies with the handgun for example). You can then use the points in a shop to purchase HP coins and even weapons with infinite ammo. But this all seems kind of weak if there isn't much game to use them in?

I think what was most disappointing wasn't necessarily that Capcom removed a bunch of stuff from the game. It was that they had reused the Police department model and half of it was unexplorable?? And not even because of locked doors...you couldn't even interact with half of it giving an illusion that is was waiting to be opened.

I did enjoy playing it but I felt like it was missing a lot. Like it had been cut short. A little flat.

I never played the original RE3, so I won't complain about how things changed in the remake. Sorry, Internet.

I will say that -- much like RE2make -- this game looked pretty damn awesome on my (increasingly middling) Ryzen 1600 & GTX1600 gaming PC.

This game walks back quite a bit on some of the more tedious puzzles in the previous game. The only time you're finding random gems to slot into arbitrary setpieces, it's only to give you some bonus items. Most of the puzzles are extremely straightforward "use this one item to solve this one puzzle" deals.

Overall, the game feels a lot more actiony than RE2make, with lots of zombies occupying a lot more open spaces. And there's now a dodge button that can be used & abused to avoid taking damage from those zombies.

Nemesis has a lot more scripted appearances than the randomly wandering Mr. X from RE2make. And Nemesis also has a lot more mobility than Mr. X -- which makes him feel much more threatening during the few times where you're actively trying to avoid him.

I liked how the Jill/Carlos sections are intermingled into a single playthrough, so you're not having to repeat long sections of the exact gameplay to see the whole story (which was a slight issue in RE2Make, and a huge issue in Nier: Automata).

My playthrough lasted a little over seven and a half hours. I guess you can theoretically balls-out breakneck-speedrun the game in under 2 hours. But to claim that this is "only a 3hr game" as I've occasionally seen mentioned is more than a bit disingenuous. So, fun times. Though, as someone with little interest in doing speedrunning replays, and with zero interest in the online portion of the game, I'm not entirely sure it would've been worth the full $60 price tag on release.

Some think this remake is a downgrade from the original, is it really?

I was impressed with the first and thought it was excellent (i hadnt played the PSX orig) haven't played the well liked second (yet)

it's nice to see this series getting a more accessible lift. I'm quite lukewarm on SH and third person games in PSX era... so it helps to have something like this.

I absolutely loved every moment of this game, I fucking LOVE Jill so much and I hope that post-credits scene hints towards some DLC and/or a sequel where we get to see what Jill was doing in between RE 3-5.

It's not flawless, obviously, I noticed that the sound in cutscenes was weirdly muffled; the game is, as you've heard, way too short and I hope for DLC to expand that; the story is a little thin considering what they could have done (the concept of Jill's PTSD from Arklay is never expanded upon despite being introduced in the beginning, and would have made an already fantastic character even greater); and I wish we spent a little more time out in the city. However all of this doesn't make it any less than a great game. I've played through it six times and it has yet to get old; no section ever overstays its welcome. I honestly like it more than last years Resident Evil 2, and I can't wait to platinum it. Again, really hoping for some single player DLC though.

PROS

• Gorgeous visuals and expressive character models
• Exploration, resource gathering, and puzzles are all classic Resident Evil
• Enemies are creepy, threatening, and suspenseful to do battle with
• Fun boss fights against the Nemesis

CONS

• Both less ambitious and less polished than the Resident Evil 2 remake
• Weak sound design
• Some of the set pieces are clunky and out of place
• The lack of a central location such as the mansion or police station hinders the level design
• Dodge animations are too stiff

I watched a friend play this on Nightmare and after mediating over it reading multiple people's takes I think I'm going to skip out on this one. Gameplay looks like a major step down on the fundamentals of RE2make, and the enemy design doesn't look interesting enough to justify working entirely on perfect dodges. Nemesis only following you at certain cutscene moments is also incredibly weird, probably the most significant aspect I didn't think they'd minimize.

All I'm hearing positively is the cinematics/story and the multiplayer, which I don't think is quite worth the purchase at full price (multiplayer also apparently has pretttty bad netcode). Maybe I'll try it when it goes on sale later.

Okay, so I was going to buy RE3: Nemesis Remake day 1, maybe even preorder it just after finishing Resident Evil 2 Remake. But hell! I've just watched some short reviews on this game, even when it looks cool, three aspects were common in all of them:

• There's little to no puzzles in RE3 Remake (Iike literally what makes up a RE game)
• Neither the clock tower sequence nor Raccoon Park sequence is present (the most emblematic scenes, boss and puzzles from the original RE3 ARE NOT THERE)
• THE GAME IS 5 HOURS LONG. (Like really?!? 63 dollars for a 5h long game? f*ck that Capcom, I'll pay 63 dollars for The Last Of Us Part II, not this shit)
• The Nemesis doesn't say "STARS" that much (yes, it is important!)

I had a bad feeling of this game coming up just a year later after RE2: Remake, and I was right. This shit was rushed and Capcom just wants to feed on nostalgia from the original RE3: Nemesis players. Well, I'll wait till this game is 15 dollars to buy it. I'm not falling on that one. I'm so frustrated, had been waiting for this remake so long!