Today I am sharing my experience playing Resident Evil 3 (remake) for the first time. I’m currently working my way through all the modern games, including the remakes. Eventually, I will rank them all. I have been a big fan of this franchise for years; having seen many a playthrough on YouTube. However, I had never played them myself. RE3, as mentioned above, was remade in 2020 by Capcom. I played it on casual mode (amateur gamer here!) and these are my thoughts. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

The Story

We follow former S.T.A.R.S. officer, Jill Valentine, who is trying to escape a zombie-infested Raccoon City during the T-Virus outbreak. Hunted by unstoppable biological weapon, Nemesis, she teams up with mercenary, Carlos Oliveira, to find a vaccine and expose the Umbrella Corporation.

To be perfectly honest, RE3 is my least favourite instalment so far. It has some highs but the lows are quite low. The main issue amongst fans is the duration. I finished it within 5 hours. Compared to the other games in the franchise, that’s incredibly short. Whilst it looks good, the remake is a rushed experience that leaves the player wanting more.

Casual Mode/Gameplay

Out of all the Resident Evil games I’ve played thus far, RE3 was the hardest. I died several times. As part of ‘Assisted Mode’, I was automatically gifted a rifle in my inventory at the beginning. I figured that meant I was on easy street. Wrong! Health and ammo were scarce. Not to mention, the zombies in this instalment don’t stay dead! I would take out a whole room of them and after a minute or two, they would rise again. I learnt quickly to conserve my resources and just keep moving. As mentioned below, the hospital segment was the most challenging part. I began to question whether I had selected the wrong difficulty level.

What I did enjoy about the game was getting to play as Jill Valentine. She is such a fiesty, badass protagonist. The opening chase sequence in the apartment building was a great start. It was action-packed and high intensity. Furthermore, I liked the look of Raccoon City in RE3. It had a neon, downtown vibe to it, unlike the other instalments. There were some solid puzzles, a range of enemies/boss battles and plenty of locations to explore.

Nemesis

You better get used to Nemesis in RE3 because you have to fight him four different times! Not only that, he will spend the majority of the game chasing you. Some of his boss battles are harder than others. I actually found the first one the most difficult and the last, the simplest. How does that work? This hulking monster moves fast, so your best bet is to keep moving. He will take different forms, presenting various weak spots. I would save all of your explosive ammo and grenades just for him. I do feel that Nemesis became overkill (pardon the pun) after a while. In a game this short, we probably didn’t need to come up against him that many times.

The Hospital

There is a section of the game where you play as Carlos, whilst Jill recovers in a hospital bed from being infected. This is the part I was dreading the most, having watched it on YouTube before. It is, without a doubt, the scariest and most difficult chapter of RE3. A dark, seemingly abandoned hospital is creepy at the best of times. Throw in a mysterious growling beast leaving bodies/blood in its wake and you’ve got nightmare fuel! It builds and builds until you come face-to-face with a new enemy named Hunter Beta. It’s fast, deadly and vicious. At one point, I found myself trapped in a room with two of them. I had no bullets or health left. I was just about to die when a final slash of my knife took them down. I don’t know how I survived that.

Just when I thought I was out of the woods, I had to endure the most frustrating challenge in Resident Evil history. After all the trials and tribulations, Carlos finally secures Jill’s vaccine. Whilst waiting for it to take effect, a horde of zombies crash into the foyer, eager to get their hands on her (see image below). You have to stave them off for a certain amount of time – and it’s hard. It took me two tries but the first attempt was so soul-crushing, I waited 24 hours before trying again. I really appreciated the part where all the lights went out and two Hunter Betas’ appeared. Thanks! My advice is to keep the grenades solely for them. For the zombies, hit the electrical pods and don’t let them get too close to Jill’s hospital door. Eventually, you’ll be able to detonate the bomb and move to the next chapter. From what I’ve seen online, this segment has led to many a rage-quit.

Overall, Resident Evil 3 gets a 6.5/10 total score. I still enjoyed the experience and aspects of the remake but it was not without its issues. I also think going from Village to Reqiuem to Biohazard to RE3 was a massive drop in quality. It didn’t give me quite the same high.

Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know your experience playing Resident Evil 3. I will be back very soon with my review/breakdown of Resident Evil 2 (remake).

Peace & Love xoxo