Retro Review: Resident Evil 3 Nemesis

With the sudden reemergence of Capcom and the IP’s, Resident Evil has never been more popular. The Resident Evil 2 Remake of last year put this style of game into many new gamers and they can’t seem to get enough of it. Since Resident Evil 3 Remake has recently hit stores and since I have lots more time on my hands I decided to replay the title, which I haven’t played since 1999. This is probably the Resident Evil that I played the least back then, not because I didn’t enjoy it, but because my favorite title in the series released very closely to this one; Resident Evil: Code Veronica.

This game takes plays a little bit after the events at the Mansion, Jill finds herself in Racoon City about to leave forever, there’s just one hitch. Umbrella decided to use Racoon City as a test for the virus and some of their new bio-weapons. The final two S.T.A.R.S. members are the prey and we all know what happens to poor Brad. Jill on the other hand is one tough cop and decides that she will not fall prey to this new foe, no matter how many bullets she pumps into it. Along the way Jill meets a lot of mercenaries that really aren’t good at their jobs, Carlos is the only one who doesn’t seem to become Zombie fodder. This game is their journey through the ruined Racoon City as they are chased by a terrifying foe, and I loved every minute of it.

An interesting “choice” mechanic was introduced in this game, and then never used again; kind of like Carlos. At certain points in the game the screen flashes to a negative overlay and asks you simple questions. For instance at the beginning of the game when you first meet your stalker buddy you are asked if you should stay and fight or hide in the police station. I of course ran like a little bitch because all I had on me was the assault rifle, that just irritated Nemesis.

Now, seeing that this game is twenty years old it is hard to look at sometimes, the zombies while finally having some variety only have like three varieties. Jill and Carlos look good, and they look even better in the cut scenes which for the time were leaps and bounds better than Resident Evil 2. Capcom still decided to use the pre-rendered backgrounds and static camera that were a mainstay of the series. They look great, yes the camera angles can get you killed because dogs, but the scenery looks so amazing because of that. Nemesis is a scary mo-fo that is not easily put down and his character model just shows off the raw power of the virus.

Controls are still the tank style controls where if you’re pressing forward and the camera changes, keep pressing forward or you will go backwards. The control layout is the same as the prior games, a button for the menu, a button to run and a trigger and button to shoot. However, the new “dodge” gimmick was introduced in this title and it is safe to say that “it works 60% of the time…Every time.”

Which means that while you’re holding down the aim your gun button (Right Trigger), you have the chance of dodging an incoming attack. This mechanic was spotty, sometimes Jill would gymnast herself out of danger, other times she stood there and let Nemesis slap her silly. There was no direct way to make sure it worked like in the Remake, you just held it down and hoped for the best. I basically RAN from Nemesis when I could, there was no benefit to fighting him, nor were you really forced to.

I’m glad that I decided to go back to this game, I question why I didn’t replay it a few times like the others, but all I can think of is that I wanted to replay Code Veronica over and over. That doesn’t mean that Nemesis is a bad game by any means, but I enjoyed the story aspect of Code Veronica more than the over the top action Nemesis gave me. Supposedly Code Veronica was actually suppose to be the final numbered entry on the PlayStation but they decided that Nemesis was to be the third installment and Code Veronica the off shoot. Either way I’m glad both games were made, and I still hold out hope that next year we are getting a proper Code Veronica Remake, that would be so amazing especially if they align the story to all the other Remakes.