Resident Evil/Biohazard is widely known as the father of the survival-horror genre in video games. Even though it's not the FIRST title to belong to this niche, your common gamer would be hard pressed to think of another title outside of the classic zombie shooting, puzzle solving, item hording thriller. Sure, Silent Hill is a great runner-up, but nothing comes close to the stress of running out of ammo AND ink ribbons. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis follows the events of the first title- simply Resident Evil- and takes place in and around the same time as the sequel, Resident Evil 2. You'll step into the surprisingly fashionable boots of one Jill Valentine after her escapades in the Spencer Estate as she lockpicks and scrounges her way through the many twists, turns, alleys, and streets of Raccoon City.

GRAPHICS - 10
   Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, or Biohazard 3: Last Escape if you will, released in 1999 during the golden age of graphics among the more popular titles for the Playstation 1, and it certainly didn't fail to impress following the effects used in the previous game. The breathtaking FMV sequences are more than pleasing to look at even today even though they are clearly outdated. The effects were outstanding, from explosions, to the sheer multitude of terrifying zombies and monsters that would appear- especially during a specific sequence involving a certain pharmacy at some point in the game.

   The pre-rendered backgrounds are fantastic- Where anything from a simple concrete alley to the more elaborate set pieces of the Raccoon City Police Department and the local Hospital all share a very seamless and daunting atmosphere. Not a pixel was left that doesn't seem to be lovingly crafted into the panorama of Raccoon City that players will traverse over the course of the game.

   That's all big talk, but I'd by lying if I said it was 100% perfect. Naturally in such a large game with large goals, some areas felt a little TOO cluttered and can somewhat be confusing to look at. Players will have to really stop for a moment, assuming the zombie hordes will allow them too, to really scope the area for items that they might otherwise miss without the telltale flash which isn't shared by every single thing you can interact with or pick up.

SOUND - 7
   The sound design in Resident Evil has always been well made, but what would you expect from an early horror title? Today's horror titles tend to lean more on shock factors and jump scares to get their players hearts beating- but back in the hay-day it was more about ambiance and atmosphere. Well, that and worrying about whether or not there might be a Green Herb around the corner that you so desperately need. It should be noted that even today while playing ANY game- not just horror titles- I'll hear that door opening sound, or the footstep that I KNOW I've heard a hundred times in these games. Lazy? I wouldn't think so. Even if they are stock sounds to some degree, Capcom has managed to use them to the best of it's capacity.

   On the more musical side of things, Resident Evil 3 isn't lacking. The ambient tracks of the dead city nights, or the dark and dank dripping sewers are more than enough to make a players hairs stand on end. The music which is few and far between are sad and moody, which helps push the emotional situations in the games and make them feel a little more clear. You'd be surprised at how hard it can be to convey personal characteristics in the characters of zombie titles, especially in earlier games. It all comes to a head when you FINALLY get to that long awaited respite when the credits roll, and the final track starts playing.

ADDICTIVENESS - 7
   Despite the very linear nature of Resident Evil games it would be a blatant lie to say that the games don't have any replay value. Not all, but many of the rooms and areas of the games have different combinations of enemies that might spawn per play-through. Stepping into a room where zombies bust through the windows might change to a couple of- shivers- spiders the next time you're trying your speed run. Even some of the puzzles and passwords can change up along with these enemies as well.

   On top of the rooms and puzzles with built-in RNG, the absolutely unheard of number of TWO WHOLE GAME MODES actually have a lot going for them as well- Each of them still retains the random set ups previously mentioned, but they both effect game-play adversely as one might expect. Easy Mode starts the players off with a lot of freebies, from an Assault Rifle with enough ammunition to last you almost the entirety of the game to a handful of First Aid Sprays in case you make a slip up. It also comes with the handy side effect of providing the player with much more generous item drops. A hallway with 2 herbs in Hard Mode might yield 3 Green Herbs AND 2 Blue Herbs on Easy.

   Hard Mode offers much more challenge to knowledgeable players than simply restricting the starting inventory to 6 slots and only giving them a handgun and a few magazines as well. Generally throughout the game you're trying to avoid the titular antagonist Nemesis, but taking him down in each encounter on Hard Mode and net the player some WELL deserved drops- including the aforementioned Assault Rifle you start with in Easy Mode.

   Not enough for you? Both mods also have a NEW GAME PLUS feature which has quite a few bonuses that I don't entirely feel like spoiler here in this review- you're gonna have to face your fears and escape Raccoon City yourself to find out. Or google, that would probably help too... Okay, costumes. That's one of them. Only freebie you'll get from me though.

STORY - 9
   The high score I bestow upon this Playstation 1 title is largely due to the huge canon it belongs to. The stories inherent in Resident Evil 3 do not start nor end in this game. The events, as one might expect, start in Resident Evil 1 where Jill Valentine and other members of her S.T.A.R.S. unit are called to check out weird reports surrounding the Spencer Estate just outside the city limits of Raccoon City. While in the abandoned halls of the mansion the group falls onto a deep and dark secret that incriminates not only Spencer, but many government officials in Raccoon City as well as the pharmaceutical powerhouse Umbrella Corporation.

   For those who played Resident Evil 2, in which you take control of a new character Leon as he goes about his first day as a police officer in the RCPD to find that the chaos has already started, you should note that RE3 actually takes place before AND during the events of RE2. While Jill Valentine fights to escape the city while being hounded by S.T.A.R.S. hunting Nemesis, Claire and Leon are trying to escape Mr. X in a different part of the city.

   Little bits of RE2's story are scattered about through RE3, whether it's large area's you'll visit or a little corpse that might be familiar to players of both games.

DEPTH - 8
   On the depth of the game, there really isn't much to be said that hasn't already been stated. If you need a refresher, scroll on up and read the Addictiveness section.

   As for how long the game is it depends on the playstyle and knowledge of the individual player in question. A knowledgeable player who knows the in's and out's of the game should find it relatively easy to beat the game in 3-4 hours even on the Hard Mode difficulty. However, if you're new to the title you're in for a ride- the applications in which you'll need to use items to advance can be so obtuse yet so disarmingly simple that it's a wonderful challenge for anyone who thinks puzzle games are above them.

Difficulty - 9
   As mentioned before, the game offers two modes which are VASTLY different. Easy mode is laughable when you know what you're doing. You generally won't even need to waste half the ammo you start with as long as you can zig, zag, juke and jive through the enemies in the streets. Even if you slip up and get hurt you won't feel it too harshly since there's Green Herbs and FIrst Aid Sprays aplenty to take advantage of.

   Hard Mode however, can get a little dicey- You don't have infinite Ink Ribbons, which means your saves are in fact numbered. And since you don't star with enough ammunition to arm a small militia, you really have to work on your dodging skills or your knife skills and make every single shot count until late game- you'll definitely need the ammo later on.

Nice work again. I do have to ask a question though: you said "The sound design in Resident Evil has
always been well made, but what would you
expect from an early horror title?"

But...isn't that one of the things the first Resident Evil is so well known for, it's horrendous voice acting? xD Seriously, I didn't know people could act that poorly even if they tried. lol But yeah, the rest of the audio was good and I'm sure that's what you were referring to. And that wasn't even a critique, just a funny thought.

Anyway, keep up the good work.


EDIT: I couldn't help but laugh at that clever title by the way. xD

Eirinn : Thanks! And yeah, the first 3 Resident Evil games as far as I remember (I'll be playing both the first and second one soon on Twitch as I played 3 right before my review) the voice acting has always been... Off, to say the least. I had actually completely forgotten that I meant to have voice acting as a point under audio which was actually the reason I gave it a 7 instead of an 8.

Jill's voice is fine, and even Dario- a character you meet about 2 minutes into the game- has decent enough voice acting as well, but it seems every other character who has a speaking role in this game has some sort of weird accent that JUST misses the mark. With the notable exception of Carlos who, ironically enough, brags about his accent in his first couple of lines yet has easily the worst one of the bunch.

And thanks for noticing the little joke in the title,