Well, sorry as its been quite a while since I've done a post on here but I figured it was high time I did another as I have recently just finished playing the remake of Resident Evil 3, which was released on Friday just there and I thought I would do a review on it.
So, with that all said let's take a look at the remake of this classic horror game...
And I will say a little about the plot below so the usual warning is coming...
PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!
STORY
So, the story follows Jill Valentine, a former STARS (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) member, who is attacked in her apartment by a bio-weapon named Nemesis, who has been created to destroy the remaining STARS members. Jill narrowly avoids being killed by Nemesis who ruthlessly pursues her until she is rescued by Carlos Olivera, a member of the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (UBCS) who takes to an underground subway where they meet with other UBCS operatives Mikhail Viktor and Nicholai Ginovaef. Mikhail tells Jill that they intend to use the subway train to evacuate survivors but they need someone to help them restore power to the subway system to which Jill agrees to help them.
However its from here Jill's problems really begin as she has to find a way to both get the subway working and also being terminated at the hands of the unstoppable menace that is Nemesis...
THOUGHTS
Following on the from highly acclaimed Resident Evil 2 remake, Resident Evil 3 is a pretty solid update of the original game although I do have to admit it isn't quite as successful as its predecessor in this regard as it feels like a pretty rushed game as it has come out just over a year after RE2 remake. So, as a result of this we seem to have gotten a pretty compressed version of the original although I have to admit I have not played the original since it came out back in 1999! And as a result we are left with what is a game that last just a mere six hours in gameplay which isn't much!
The game however still has plenty going for it as they manage to still keep the suspense going just as well in RE3 as they did in RE2 and you still get the same chilling atmosphere as before too. So, basically in that regard the game does feel like more of the same, which in itself isn't a bad thing and I will go more into the games other pluses below aswell as its negatives.
GAMEPLAY
Gameplay wise RE3 is pretty much the same as RE2 in terms of the movement and action there is not much in the way of change with the exception of a new quick step move, which Jill can perform to dodge enemies. What has changed though is this time around there is significantly less emphasis on puzzle solving unlike in the previous games and even in the original RE3 where there were more puzzles to be found but here they are largely absent and this places more emphasis on the action.
The inventory also pretty much remains the same too as well as the usage of items such as healing items, herbs, keys or other items of use. Jill's inventory allows her to start off by holding 8 items at one time but this increases as she can find various pouches throughout the game to increase her inventory equipment again similar to RE2. Jill can also use a lock pick (especially as she is the master of unlocking!) which is a new feature to the game that will allow her access to cases or certain locked doors.
As for the enemies we get the usual slew of zombies but there are also some new foes to be found here too such as the hunters, poisonous beasts, sewer monsters (yuk!) to name a few. As for the zombies, Jill can perform a quick step move to avoid them or if she get's bitten she will fight them off but with other enemies its a case of just shooting or stabbing them to finish them. Another new aspect of the game here is that Jill can shoot electric generators to temporarily electrocute enemies to stun them so she can get away or it allows her to buy some time to escape Nemesis at key points in the game.
Weapons wise, Jill has access to the usual kind of weaponry seen in RE games starting with her pistol then after she will gain access to other weapons such as a shotgun, grenade launcher, magnum and of course an assault rifle. The weapons can also be upgraded via the use of items littered throughout the game that are stored in cases or safes and this can also include ammo upgrades that increase ammo capacity.
And lastly the puzzles in the game have largely been scaled back but there are still the odd one or two be found here but they are vastly simplified in comparison to puzzles found in the previous games. I was never a big fan of the Rezzie puzzles but at the same time I do appreciate there were one of key aspects of the series, so if you are a puzzle fan then you will be disappointed.
GRAPHICS
As for the graphics, the game looks absolutely stunning just like RE2 remake did as both games use the same graphics engine, which is the RE engine. So, here we get some almost life-like character model as Jill looks great (and pretty foxy too!) and yeah OK Carlos has a ridiculous looking fuzzy hairdo (although he does have an optional clean-cut look too) but his character model looks no less lifelike and the same goes for the other characters too such as Mikhail and Nicholai. The zombies also look pretty scary and creepy and the other enemies are well detailed especially Nemesis, whose HD upgrade is a very impressive one.
The game's environments also look superb with plenty of great detail (and quite a bit of blood and gore to be found too!) and there is also plenty of variety to the environments and the weather effects are great too. So, in short Res Evil 3 is a mighty fine looking game with superb graphics all round and as such there is little to complain about here.
MUSIC
Music wise we have a very similar score to the previous RE2 remake and was scored by Kota Suzuki and Azusa Kato and its actually quite subtle and sparse at times but it also has its bursts of loudness at times. The score however isn't quite as memorable as the original RE3 one, which was a very distinctive soundtrack and unfortunately there is no way to access the original score here like you could in the RE2 remake.
VOICE ACTING
As for the voice acting once again its excellent as the cast all do a fine job with their respective roles and it helps that the main characters are all well drawn out even if there isn't much room for development with them due to it been an action orientated game.
As for the cast members starting with Nicole Timpkins, she does an excellent job as Jill Valentine and she plays here with a lot of attitude and heroism but is intrisicly a good person, who does her best to cope with an impossible situation. Jeff Schine also does well with his role as Carlos, the UBCS mercenary, who helps out Jill during the crisis and the two of them together shared some good amusing dialogue even if Carlos comes across as a bit of a dick first, he proves his worth as he goes on.
Neil Newbon also does very well with his role as one of the primary antagonists in the game, Nicholai and he certainly does his best to make you hate Nicky, who's character is for sure a real scumbag. And last of all is William Hope, who does a fine job playing two roles, Mikhail the UBSC mercenary, who helps Jill and Dr Bard, who proves to be a key character later on. William Hope was also notable for his performance in Aliens as the inexperienced Lt Gorman, who leads a squad of marines to investigate the alien planet.
FLAWS
As for flaws...yes RE3 remake isn't perfect.
For starters I think the main problem with the game is that it is simply too short at a mere six hours of gameplay, you actually feel a bit robbed once you have finished it and it would have been great if they could added in just a bit more content here. I can't remember much of the original game but apparently there is a lot that they left out and it would have been good if they added that in here. However I guess CAPCOM wanted to keep the game pretty taut rather than add in what they might have seen as excess moments that could otherwise have been cut. Perhaps they might make up for this with a DLC in future covering the cut content but we'll see.
There were also one or two inventory issues too such as the inability to change or reload ammo from the inventory screen as you simply had to do it while in action, which kind of sucks yet you could do this in RE2 remake. So, I felt this was poor oversight in the game that should have been addressed to be honest but wasn't.
I also thought that the new quick step move wasn't that great or of much use here because there were times I just couldn't time it right as often ended up in the path of a zombie, which ended up with Jill getting bitten more times than not! I think there is a visual cue for when to do it but I was never able to do it properly and the cues seem to come more when Nemesis is in pursuit of Jill.
And this brings me onto the issue of Nemesis himself as his persistent encounters with Jill become tiresome after a while as they are obviously scripted so that there isn't much room for unpredictably unlike in the original game where Nemesis could apparently appear at random. So, toward the end its like "achh not ANOTHER encounter!" which to be honest was kind of the case with Mr X in the RE2 remake also.
I was also a bit disappointed to see the game go as far as to recycle the same zombie character models that featured in RE2, which kind of smacked of laziness for me that they couldn't have changed them up a bit more. Further to this, they also had to include the police station from RE2 again, which was yet another graphical rehash from the RE2 remake that felt a bit lazy. Now to be fair perhaps the police station did feature in the original RE3 but to be honest I don't really know but if so it is at least justifiable in its reappearance.
And last of all, I was a bit disappointed to find that I could not access Jill's original outfit from the game menu (i.e. her blue top and skirt) or at least I couldn't see an option to select it and don't know why. Perhaps it is accessible but I was unable to locate an option for it and wondered if you have to actually buy it online and if so this sucks as its something they should have included. I might be wrong about this but I certainly couldn't get an option for Jill to wear although I did manage to get her original STARS outfit from Resident Evil 1 after I completed the game.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So, to sum up, RE3 remake is a pretty good one and a pretty solid update of the classic original which features some tense, gripping moments of action, great graphics, fine voice acting and reasonably good main enemy in Nemesis. However the game is of course a bit too short with just six hours worth of gameplay it is bound to leave gamers feeling a bit short-changed (especially as it costs £50 online!) and it just isn't quite as good as the RE2 remake overall.
However despite this, its still a pretty solid game and despite its shortcomings and worth having a look at.
Right, that's it for and until the next one, take care folks and I might return with a revisit of my review of Doom 3 as I am currently replaying that too and having a blast with it (quite literally!).
So till then its bye for now.
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