Resident Evil 3 (2020) or: The RE3make

 This game gets a bit of a bad rap but, you know, it was pretty good!

I played this on my PS5.

I'll start with the elephant in the room: this game is significantly shorter and smaller in scope than its predecessor the RE2make. I can totally understand why someone might be disappointed with this if they were coming in expecting another game of that scope and, given the fact it retailed at full price, going in expecting that would make sense. Still, for what it is, this game is great.

It feels like an older  (RE5-era), action-y linear Resident Evil built using the framework of the RE2 remake. There are certainly large sections that are still classic Resident Evil, sure, but for me this game is at its most interesting when it's committing to being a straightforward action game. On that front, it's a ton of fun. When you start making direct comparisons to its precursor you'll notice shortcomings, but if you take a different tack and accept it for what it's actually doing there's a lot to like.

The intro in particular is very cool.

As I mentioned, this game feels a lot like the RE2make but it's not identical. The menus,  gunplay, sound effects, and movement have all been tweaked, for example. Gunshots, particularly the bullet impacts, sound way... I don't know, squelchier, in a very satisfying way. You have a new dodge mechanic (which I kept forgetting about) that is invaluable when dealing with Nemesis. There's a QTE when you get grabbed that essentially replaces the need for consumable defense items. All in all it's the RE2make with a fresh coat of paint and that's not a bad thing. It feels like its own thing despite the similarities.

I've said this game is linear, and there are sections that are your typical action game fare, but this is still Resident Evil and there are still portions that have you exploring somewhat open areas for long periods of time. It seems to cover the same general locations as the original, as far as I can recall at least, and a handful of specific locations are recreated, but generally speaking I feel like the layouts this game plays with are less one-to-one recreations and more vibes-based retellings of the same events and areas.

You *know* this game's still got its own RPD section though.

The story is, unsurprisingly, pretty similar to the original Resident Evil 3. You play as Jill (and Carlos, at times) as they fight their way out of Raccoon City loosely concurrently to Resident Evil 2 (or the RE2make, naturally). There are also some Umbrella soldiers and an Umbrella lab because this is still Resident Evil after all. Along the way, the two are hounded by Nemesis as he hunts down the remnants of S.T.A.R.S. It's been a while since I played the original game so my memory's fairly fuzzy, but this feels like it covers most of the same beats as that game. One additional thing that's neat is that there are a number of moments, particularly in the RPD, that explain or add color to things seen in the RE2make.

I've mentioned him a few times but as this is a remake of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Nemesis is obviously a big part of it. For the most part he functions similarly to how he did in the original, with a handful of distinct encounters against him that you're usually better off running from. For some of these, he chases after Jill much like the Tyrant (or Mr. X, if you please) did in the RE2make, but he doesn't dog her through the entire game the way that enemy did in the RPD. Essentially, Nemesis shows up a number of times for a setpiece fight or a brief chase before leaving, each time he appears. I gather some people were disappointed with this but I feel like it's a good adaptation of the original game and it fits this game's more linear direction.

Nemesis is appropriately intimidating in this.

I've included my results screen below.

Unlike its predecessor, and, frankly, most of the series, there weren't any bonus modes or special add-ons to play. I believe it launched alongside Resident Evil: Resistance (a game I may or may not end up playing) but within this game itself there isn't too much bonus material or filler. This was just the single-player campaign (with a few additional difficulty modes, to be fair) and I think that, combined with the shorter length and smaller scope led to this game getting the reputation it's gotten.

I said as much at the top, but this was a good game. Maybe not a contender for "best in the series" in the same way some of the other games released around it were, but it's a solid remake whose biggest fault, in my opinion, was being based on Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. I didn't hate the original game, but it was one of the weaker entries in the series and by hewing so closely to it, at times, it reminds me in some ways of how playing that game felt after playing the original RE2. Compared to that game, there's just less for a remake to work with. Still, this was a lot of fun and it's worth playing.