The trilogy conclusion on the PlayStation is absolutely nuts and it’s hard not to love every minute of it.
For more Resident Evil:
Iconic series antagonist, Nemesis and fan favorite heroine, Jill Valentine square off in a six hour, city sprawling melee in Capcom’s last mainline entry to the pioneering Survival Horror franchise.
Two things should be noted before we even begin with this late 90’s masterpiece:
1.) Resident Evil 4 may have perfected the action horror ratio for the series but after maybe fifteen minutes worth of deliberation I am here to boldly state: Nemesis is the first mainline action Resident Evil. Often 4 is cited as the first true RE action game and I think that is wrong.
2.) Nearly everything Resident Evil 2 does right, RE3 does even better (except for two crucial things, more on that later.)
Resident Evil 3 actually begins BEFORE RE2 but ends after Leon and Co. have already escaped the city which really means that between the first three titles all events occur between June 24th 1998 and October 1st 1998. That’s a lot of apocalypse in a short period of time.
Basically picking up directly after the Mansion incident, surviving S.T.A.R.S. member, Jill Valentine loads up on ammunition and equipment with the sole mission of getting the fuck out of dodge (and maybe helping a couple of people along the way.) The game, much like the second, begins in the city streets of Raccoon City but Jill is armed to the fucking teeth.
With an Assault Rifle and a couple of Banana Clips at her disposal right from the beginning it’s pretty clear that this lady has had it with Raccoon City’s bullshit. The city is, as expected, in ruins. Cars crashed everywhere, burning wrecks at every intersection- the city streets now just a winding labyrinth of rotting corpses, feral dogs and trash.
The city’s alleyways and dead ends setup for some white knuckle close quarters combat with the undead and maybe with the exception of, Fatal Frame no other game has made me jump more than the jump scares throughout Nemesis.
The game has you explore a familiar haunt, Raccoon City Police Department which I’m sure has thrown some Canon-Nerds into a tizzy with a mountain of continuity errors but that’s not what we’re here for. Hell, I didn’t even bring up the Police Station because of that reason. I bring it up because it’s the first (of one billion) encounters you have with everybody’s favorite Rocket Launcher wielding super freak, Nemesis.
Nemesis for reasons partially unknown, maybe fully unknown (before the remake) is like an eight foot asshole whose only goal in his crummy life is to eliminate the remaining members of S.T.A.R.S. (Which lucky for you, you belong to). You can tell this because, “STARS” is all this idiot says the entire game. So either he’s really fucking into space or he hates you. Or both. I don’t know him, personally. But he’s fast, strong, poisonous, shoots rocket launchers and is practically indestructible so overall he’s not someone you want to fuck around with.
You eventually run into a man named Carlos who is actually working for Umbrella. Carlos claims that Umbrella sent him and his tactical team in to help rescue and evacuate civilians from the city (which we all know is a bunch of bullshit. Since Umbrella lies about everything, every single game.)
Carlos is a great team mate to Jill and I wish they would have fleshed his character out further but alas no dice AND his commanding officer isn’t so generous which thrusts you into a bit of an unnecessary and bizarre plot thread later on.
Visually, the game offers its sleekest pre-rendered backgrounds to date as well as its cinematic camera angles the franchise is lauded for. The sound effects are the most improved in my opinion over the other two games. The constant moaning of the zombies through the cities is varied enough to forget the loop, the crackles and pop of a fire, the gusts of wind or even a rain storm rolling in adds to the Halloween themed auditory potpourri.
All of the enemies throughout the first two games make an appearance in 3 except for Lickers for some reason. There are two more guns added to your typical weapons list and a new reloading tool which requires you to make your own bullets by combining gun powder containers that you have procured – which I find illogical and stupid but it’s not enough to get mad about.
Another addition which debuted with this entry was scenarios. Almost always involving an encounter with Nemesis the player is faced with choosing an approach. Usually between fight or flight but in dire situations how you will attack big ole, Nemmy. These decisions as cool as they are don’t really have any impact on the plot line as a whole.
I only gave two gripes with this game and they’re relatively small. The first and biggest gripe I have is with the game’s invisible walls. The texturing of walls was not made smooth enough for players to run along them freely, which is only exasperated by very narrow alleyways and small rooms while you’re trying to flee threats. My second gripe is the game’s length – I clocked in a finished game around six and a half hours – and while it was pleasing and it didn’t personally bother me, for other game collectors that may not have this game and want it, six hours worth of gameplay is pretty hard to justify a purchase over $70.
With that said, it’s my favorite of the PS1 bunch and a fast, tough fight all throughout that will have you jumping and gritting your teeth for hours. A stable in the Survival Horror genre and a must play – (go download the Rom for free somewhere).
Overall: 95% (PLATINUM)
