The original Resident Evil was a hard act to follow, but Resident Evil 2 somehow managed to not only meet the lofty expectations of the eager gaming industry, but far exceed them beyond even what a superfan like me could imagine. So all eyes were definitely on Resident Evil 3 Nemesis as Capcom attempted to catch lightning in a bottle for the third time in a row. Unfortunately, while Nemesis is a decent addition to the franchise, it wasn’t quite the masterpiece that its predecessors were, and in many ways marked the beginning of the end for the survival horror series.

Story
Nemesis takes place directly before the events of Resident Evil 2, with Jill returning to Raccoon City to find her partner Chris. The city has been overrun with zombies and Chris is nowhere to be found, so now Jill must escape the city before she too becomes one of the undead. The problem is, on top of the hordes of flesh-eating zombies, a new threat has been unleashed by Umbrella to eliminate the remaining members of S.T.A.R.S. The titular Nemesis is a Tyrant variant designed to be controlled remotely by his puppet masters, and chases Jill relentlessly throughout the entire game with only her untimely demise on her mind.

Halfway through Resident Evil 3, the timeline jumps to just after the climax of Resident Evil 2. Jill is now in a race against time to evade Nemesis and escape Raccoon City before a US government missile wipes it completely off the map.

Gameplay
Resident Evil 3 follows the same pivot-based control scheme as the first two games, but adds a few handy moves such as the quickturn and dodge maneuver. Jill will face more zombies and creatures at once than in previous RE titles, and much faster, deadlier enemies such as Nemesis himself, who brandishes a rocket launcher and will chase her down even when she zones to a different area.

To make surviving this horror a little more achievable for Resident Evil virgins, there are both Hard and Easy modes. Easy mode will start you off with an assault rifle and an entire armory of weapons and items in your item box. It also takes nothing short of nuclear holocaust to even make Jill flinch, so running through the dangerous streets of Raccoon City with reckless abandon will still lead to victory, eventually. Hard mode gives Jill a handgun and a thumbs up for good luck, then kicks her ass out on the mean streets to fend for herself (the way it should be).

Jill will encounter a both new and old characters alike as she explores both new and old areas of Raccoon City. The police department makes an appearance, as does poor Brad Vickers, but backtracking through familiar environments that are somehow laid out differently than when Leon and Claire are there (mere hours later) is rather lazy on the designers’ part, especially since this is the last time players will get the chance to visit the city before it ceases to exist.

On top of a few new weapons, items, and moves, there will be a couple key moments in the game where Jill must make a “Choose your own adventure”-style decision. The choice made will affect the following events throughout the rest of the game, sometimes considerably and sometimes not much at all.

But far and away the biggest addition to the series is the inclusion of Mercenaries mode. By finishing the game, this special mode will be unlocked. In it, players can choose between Jill or a number of Umbrella mercenaries. The mode unfolds like an arcade game, with a set amount of time in which players must make it from the starting point to the finish before getting killed, similar to Hunk and Tofu’s minigames in RE2. By rescuing civilians or chain-killing enemies, players can increase the timer and rack up more points, but the risks increase. The mode can last a few brief minutes or nearly half an hour. If you survive, you will be granted money with which to purchase special weapons for use in the main game, such as the rocket launcher and Gatling gun, as well as unlimited ammo for all other weapons. It’s incredibly fun and the rewards are definitely worth it. I would even go so far as to say there is more value in this bonus mode than in the story mode.

Visuals
As the last of the PlayStation 1 Resident Evil titles, Nemesis looks extremely similar to RE2. The Gamecube version was upgraded ever so slightly, but not enough to make any discernible difference. Although pixilated and blocky, the game still has a visual identity which helps it stand out and isn’t the complete eyesore today that other games from back then are now.

However, I have to question Jill’s now-famous choice of wardrobe; a tube top, leather skirt, and hooker boots hardly seem the ideal outfit for surviving the zombie apocalypse. How she manages to keep that shirt tied around her waist throughout the entire game is also a complete mystery, but I still don’t understand how girls run in high heels so what would I know?

Lifespan
The first few Resident Evils can all be completed in a couple hours, and this one is no different. However, there are a ton of excellent outfits and costumes to unlock–moreso than any other Resident Evil game–including a Regina (from Dino Crisis) costume and wig.

Mercenaries will add hours upon hours of exciting gameplay and the unlockable weapons it grants will give you even more reason to repeat the story mode, but the lack of a second playable main character certainly reduces the game’s longevity.

Recommendation
While it’s an enjoyable experience, Resident Evil 3 Nemesis seems more like a side story than a true sequel; an honor which really belongs to Code Veronica. In fact, it was actually planned as a side story originally, but the developers eventually deemed it to be of a high enough quality to slap a numeric value in the title. That being said, it’s more Resident Evil, it’s more Jill, and it’s got Mercenaries. For all fans of the series, those three things alone make adding it to the collection a requirement, not a choice.

Resident Evil 3 Nemesis
Systems: PlayStation, Gamecube, Dreamcast
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Find: Amazon - Gamefly - Goozex
All reviews are based on final retail code unless otherwise noted.

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