Resident Evil 3 is DLC!

RE3 Remake is lacklustre 

Upon Closer inspection… Resident Evil 3 should be a DLC! 

My Resident Evil 3 Review was an impression of my own thoughts on the game, and was written after a single playthrough and some extra hours of experimenting with different gameplay mechanics! I was impressed as the game ran smooth and as a fan of the series I was more excited and perhaps was blinded to some problems that I see very clearly now! That is NOT to say I would take anything back what I said in my review, however, I will have to follow that review up with this article, and I would like to explain to all of you, why after 3 full playthrough do I think Resident Evil 3 is plain lacklustre! 

I made an error and compared last year’s RE2 to this year’s RE3. That was a big mistake on my end! I need to make it clear before I start this article at full steam, I need to say this so that you don’t fall into the same trap I did when I first played this game! You will or already have paid £50 for this game! If you’re in America $60. This is not a DLC released for Resident Evil 2. Which in its current state it really should be! It should be a DLC in the price range between somewhere £25-£35. 

Resident Evil 3 Remake is 5 hours long, in fact my third replay took me under 4 hours as I knew what I was doing by then! Yes, I am aware Resident Evil 2 was similar at 6-7 hours completion, however there’s a difference! Resident Evil 2 was built ground up, a complete re-imagination of Resident Evil 2! You could hardly say that of RE3 as it uses about 70% of the assets from Resident Evil 2! Animations, Gun-play, Locations, Items etc. So much was reused! Would this be a bad thing if the Resident Evil 3 remake was true to the original game? Absolutely not! Problem is, RE3 is not true to its origins, in fact about half of the content present in the original was cut out of this remake. That content would have made this game feel like it stands its own ground! The unique locations, enemies and situations are all gone. We are only left with the recycled locations of RE2 and some new ones of Racoon City! Now, Racoon City was a major hype for most! Let me tell you, everything you saw in the demo… yeah that was Racoon City! I mean, literally. That’s it! Disappointing right? 

Live Selection was completely removed from the RE3 Remake. If you haven’t played the original Resident Evil 3 Nemesis, then let me tell you about this awesome system! In certain areas in the game as you progress you are faced with decisions! Decisions that will alter the game depending on how you chose! Let’s say the Nemesis is chasing you but there are two routes you can take. You will need to decide which route you think is best and commit to your choice! Depending on what you pick you will get to explore new locations, encounter different enemy types. Live Selection also occurs during boss battles with the nemesis, and your action could result in disabling the nemesis but also it could result in something less advantageous for you! These momentary decisions that could completely change the gameplay and that specific playthrough, not only created a sense of tension and nail biting situations but also gave you a reason to replay the game several times if you wanted to explore all the different options and choices! This whole system that arguably made RE: Nemesis so Unique was cut! Why? I have absolutely no clue as to why! 

This brings me to my absolute heartache regarding RE3 Remake! Three complete levels that were in the original were cut! Completely! These two levels not only gave it a unique setting and atmosphere but also had important events and enemies not to mention items and documents that added to the general lore of the franchise!  

The Clock tower level as mentioned was completely cut from the remake and we are all baffled as to why this is! It was one of the most harrowing and freaky locations in the original game that really stuck with me. It had many cool puzzles of course how could anyone forget the massive T virus infected spiders creeping around the place, and an awesome adrenaline fuelling encounter with the Nemesis himself, in fact it was a memorable boss fight in it’s second form. This level was also quite memorable for the lore it presented as it explained some events and enemies from RE2 that were fascinating to discover and led us to understand more about the T Virus. 

This entire segment was cut out from the game. The clock tower was merely referenced in the remake as it was in the background in one of the boss battles with the nemesis but that is it! 

The next content cut I would like to bring to your attention is the Racoon City Park Level. Racoon City park was not only an iconic location, it gave a completely different vibe to the game but also it had Hunter Gamma and Hunter Beta constantly Hunting Jill and Haunting you as the play psychologically. Hunter Gamma being submerged under the water, jumping out when it felt like it can take a bite out of you was a truly terrifying experience considering how high the stakes were as it was a one bit one kill attack! Constantly looking out for that creeper while Hunter Beta was on the ground constantly coming for you made for some pretty quick thinking and strategic coordination, avoiding to give the beasts a chance to corner you! It was a unique level both aesthetically and gameplay wise also. 

The final major cut that I can think of as of now is of course the Cemetery! Racoon City Cemetery in 1999, was infested with zombies, and there were a lot of them. There was an interesting spin on the lore as well, as we found out that first people infected with the T-virus went into a dead coma, where they were thought to be dead and were buried. Only days later would they emerge from their graves as the T-virus was activated in their body. This was due to an experimental strand that was supposed to infiltrate a bio weapon by pretending it was dead until activated! Really awesome lore right? Yeah, all cut from the remake! But no, I am not finished…  The cemetery also hosted the Grave Digger! A giant, disgusting and absolutely intimidating worm that could dig itself into the ground and emerge from anywhere! The Grave Digger was a fully fledged out boss battle as well, almost as worthy as the Nemesis phase two fights! Why is it not here? 

Resident Evil 3 Remake is severely lacking in clever puzzles… or any puzzles at that! The resident evil games are based on puzzles and clever ways to force players to think in order to progress through areas and solve challenges. Now the argument can be made that RE3 is a more action focused game and that would explain why it doesn’t have as many puzzles however, the original Resident Evil: Nemesis on the PlayStation had more puzzles. Now that is just lazy! 

The star of the show, Nemesis is grossly underutilised! The Nemesis is big, intimidating, possesses tentacles, wields a flame thrower and a rocket launcher, pretty much immortal, Evolves, Regenerates, has multiple forms and looks absolutely awesome! The Nemesis is probably the most iconic and threatening Tyrant in the entire resident evil franchise! And yet, in this remake he doesn’t feel like he is the “King of the Tyrants”. There is one simple reason for that… he is just not used enough and not used cleverly! In the first hour or so of the game you see him a few times and that’s pretty much it despite the later boss fights which are… just boss fights! It doesn’t add to the Nemesis’ character. That is not to say that said boss fights aren’t fun or challenging, however Nemesis’ presence does not pose a threat to the gamer! And this, the reason why that is, I think ties in beautifully with my next point.

Nemesis encounters are way too scripted! The Nemesis as discussed previously is supposed to be this major threat in Resident Evil 3. In the original it actually was. The horror that struck you every time you saw him was haunting! I’m afraid to say in the Remake that is not the case! During the encounters most of the time, you are greeted with a cut-scene! This is because The Nemesis does not stalk you like Mr X did in RE2. This means there is no chance in randomly encountering him forcing a dreadful escape. The cut-scene at the start of each encounter allows you to get prepared mentally meaning you are never off your guard while interacting with the Nemesis taking away all fear! This leads to the Nemesis seeming less impressive and less threatening even though him having an arsenal of killing, torturous tools at his disposal!  

Mercenary mode does not exist. Considering how much content was cut from the game it is an absolute shock that Mercenaries mode was not included which was basically an arcade event, almost like a rush mode, where the player had two minutes to go from location to location! Killing zombies would grant extra time! Even the Nemesis made an appearance in this mode in the original and was actually cab be killed granted you had enough firepower! Instead of this awesome mode, we got Resident Evil Resistance which was a buggy frustrating mess at best! Read my critique of RE Resistance if you’d like to know more! 

After seeing all this content disappear, reflecting on how much locations, levels, animations, enemy types were completely reused from the original game, I must ask myself is this worthy to be its own game? Or is it more like a very well polished DLC? People didn’t give it a doubt as the nostalgia and the polished, amazing zombie killing took over our critical minds, and I am including myself in this group as well. We were blinded by the awesomeness of this re-imagination and we allowed our guards down, not talking about these crucial problems, that if not brought to light will be the norm in the future! As much as I love good gaming developers, they all aim to do less work for more profit, which is why it is our duty to call them out when they produce too little and ask too much! 

-AnotherGamingJournalist