Please note, this review will be compared heavily with the original, but will not impact the overall score.
Resident Evil 3, despite being called THREE, actually takes place a few days before RE2 (and also a few days after), before the outbreak peaked. You are Jill Valentine, a S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) member and survivor of the
Mansion Incident. By the time RE3 occurs, 2 months have passed and Jill seeks a way to get out of the city, but things quickly take a turn as the infected surge in numbers, and mass panic takes over the populace, resulting in many infected, and many more dead.
This is where our story begins, as Jill fights to survive, once again, among the undead.
The game has cut quite a lot from the original, many locations we visited almost 20 years ago have either been cut (I don't recall visiting the newspaper building, the restaurant with the flooded basement or the clocktower, and a few other locations, but again, many locations have been reworked and may look vastly different than they did back in the day).
Story wise, the end goal is the same, but the game takes a roundabout way of getting us there, and certain characters are added or removed (Nikolai makes a much more present role this time around, whereas last time, he would only occasionally pop up). There aren't nearly as many puzzles (less than 20, as there is an achievement for unlocking all locks and completing all puzzles), and as mentioned before, you won't be visiting some locations this time.
Many locations are centralized as well, which may be good if you hate backtracking (why are you playing a Resident Evil game?), but if you're hoping to recapture that nostalgia, you'll be longing for the days of zombies breaking out of cop cars, and Hunters leaping from debris in some alley.
The game, on average, takes about 3 to 4 hours to beat, but is doable in under 2 if you are speed-running (my first playthrough, on Normal, was about 4 hours). After beating the game once, you will then unlock the shop, which you can use points earned in-game (via unlocking achievements and other challenges) to purchase various items, such as an unlimited handgun, super powered knife, unlimited AK47, max inventory slots, and much more.
Another gameplay mechanic to keep in mind, you can DODGE this time around, and when timed perfectly, allows Jill to enter slow motion for a few seconds to allow for headshots or other weakpoint exploits.
As with previous entries, you will find gun attachments that make your handgun or shotgun more powerful, but these are not universal, so obtaining a stronger variant of the handgun makes them useless.
Overall, the game is short, but offers a fun time for anyone able to overlook the bastardization of the original and does add a nice little shop feature to give it the little replayability it has, but if you're hoping for something that keeps you occupied for a few dozen hours, this isn't it.
Pros
- Game looks amazing
- Unlockables are both fun and rewarding
- Lots of replayability
Cons- Lots of buildings and parts of the original are omitted
- Nemesis isn't as much of a threat as he was
- Game can be beaten faster than the time it takes your body to reject that Taco Bell
3.5