Resident Evil 3: Nemesis Review

Character movement has been enriched with new evasion maneuvers. These moves are very useful, because you'll sometimes find that some enemies are hard to get rid of, no matter what weapon you use. Unfortunately, these moves are very hard to use, so you'll have to practice a lot first, and this may even make you give up playing. The control system is an utter disaster. The engine still features the possibility to wiggle out of enemy grip, which should give you enough time to escape, and make the game a bit easier. The most efficient way to destroy enemies and spend minimal quantities of ammo is to shoot explosive objects on terrain. These objects are easy to spot, but there is relatively few of them in the game. (So, it's not the easiest way then, is it - Ed)

The inventory, usage and combining objects are absolutely the same as in RE2. Everything was designed in a way that should make access and application of all ingame objects as simple as possible. The game features one interesting element here - Jill can make her own ammo. There are several types of gunpowder that can be combined using a reloading toolset. First you have to learn what to combine in order to produce ammo for the desired weapon, but that is easy to figure out. The arsenal resembles the one in RE2. The Grenade Launcher can launch grenades, fire rounds, acid and freezing rounds (new feature). Only mercenaries or Carlos can use Merc's Handgun. Mine thrower is a highly destructive and highly useful weapon. It launches mines that you can later detonate. This may sound simple, but it requires extreme precision. Gatling Gun is another powerful toy whose weight may hinder your movement. And, finally, the Western Custom M37 resembles the shotgun, and uses the same 12 gauge shot shells, with an auto reload feature. The rest remains the same: Hand Gun, Eagle 6.0, Shot Gun, Rocket Launcher, Magnum and Knife.

The game uses the same engine as its prequel with no genuine technical novelties. The game supports resolutions up to 1280x1024. Textures, backgrounds, animations and special effects have been improved. Fire and lighting effects are pretty good, but we're already used to seeing better. A lot of details, both in sound and visuals have simply been taken from RE2. Funny how Capcom never did anything about this. In the age of 3D engines, all we can possibly conclude is that this game belongs two years in the past. (It's a PSX game, for Christ's sake; of course it belongs in the past - Ed)

Sound effects have been given extra attention: they are varied, and each character has a lot to say. The sound effects are pretty convincing. The music score is decent, but too short. A lot of themes have simply been taken from RE2, and the rest sounds too passive. Each location has a specific musical background, and as some locations have to be visited over fifty times, the music will soon start to irritate you.

When you finally finish RE3 you'll be ecstatic and you will never think of going through all that again. The very notion of passing those same levels for the second time will induce nausea. So, OK, some solutions would be different, but that's not nearly enough to make you want to play the game again. There goes the replay value...

Capcom obviously strove to create a game that would preserve the spirit and outlooks of its prequels (read - it's another damn PSX1 port). It seems that they pushed this tendency one step too far, and forgot to actually deliver anything new to the gaming scene. This game can get hold your attention, and it would probably do a far better job if it were not for the controls, which are hard to grasp, even after hours of play. The seemingly incomplete story also hinders the atmosphere. Not even after finishing Resident Evil 3: Nemesis could I spot any specific features that would make it a good game in general, or at least much better than the rest of the serial.