RESIDENT EVIL 3
Jill-in’ like a villain
Shoot him, explode him, electrocute him… Nemesis never stops
Would we like to switch to Aim Assisted mode? This embarrassing and frankly condescending question keeps cropping up as OPM repeatedly dies at the hands of its Nemesis. No, we would not, we do have some pride. Besides, it’s not our aim that’s the problem. It’s Nemesis. He’s big, he’s a bully, and it’s just not fair.
Twenty years ago, playing the original fixed-camera survival horror on our PS1, we had the same problem. We can distinctly remember screaming, “Oh, leave me alone!” at our fat cathode-ray-tube TV as the Pursuer cropped up yet again to ruin a perfectly nice bit of rummaging down the side of dumpsters for green herbs.
Nemesis is designed to chase Jill relentlessly.
It’s Resident Evil 3’s standout feature. But as if the original game’s Big Bad wasn’t big and bad enough, the one in this reboot makes his ancestor seem kitten-like – and you can blame the Resident Evil 2 reboot for that, since that game’s Tyrant set a new benchmark. Nemesis is way smarter than the Tyrant, moves nimbly for his size, has prehensile tendrils that ensnare you and, at one point, has a flamethrower. Yeah, this isn’t going to be easy.
JUST STOP IT
Zombie-infested Raccoon City has been reimagined and created in exacting detail on PS4, but remains recognisable to fans of the original, despite the more open feel and evidently bigger scale of the city. It’s far from open world; areas are locked off or blocked
“NEMESIS IS DESIGNED TO CHASE JILL RELENTLESSLY.”
off by burning vehicles much like in the original, so again you progress through patient backtracking and finding paths through shops, restaurants, and apartments filled with nostalgic ’90s detail. From a distance we spot the neon sign above the forecourt of the Stagla gas station, a long-remembered location in the original, though we can’t yet reach it. We’ve no time for sightseeing anyway, Nemesis is back.
We’re not completely defenceless – deal Nemesis enough damage and he will fall to one knee for a few moments, enough time to get away. A grenade, for example, will give him pause for thought. Sparking, knackered generators are everywhere – shoot one and Nemesis and any other monsters near it are stunned by an electrical explosion.
DODGY BUSINESS
Jill also has a dodge move. This was your only way to get past the Pursuer in 1999, and it was really hard to pull off. For the reboot, dodging takes the form of a thankfully more forgiving Quick Step move, a shoulder-drop and shimmy out of the way of Nemesis’ lunges. Time your reaction just right and you enter into a Perfect Dodge, where time slows a little as Jill rolls deftly forward past her enemy, giving you a small time advantage to get running again.
This is good, but frankly we’d quite like a pad button that makes Nemesis count to ten with his eyes covered, before squealing “Coming ready or not!” like an excited child who’s got no idea that in that time you’ve legged it all the way down the street.
So we’re cowering in a safe room with no health and no herbs, wondering how we’re going to get through this, when Nemesis comes in. Oh, come on! Not even Mr X could enter safe rooms! Dodging past him and out into the street, we finally pull off exactly the right timed dodges, shoot the sparking generator at the exact right time, run the right way (easy to panic and run into a dead end), remember to have our shotgun fully loaded for the zombie that comes round the next corner, and then finally make it to safety. It’s taken us a while to perfect the manoeuvre, but the feeling of achievement is exhilarating.
IF LOOKS COULD KILL
Next we slog our way through sludgy sewers to face some rebooted Hunter Gammas. These frog-faced pseudo-dinos have long been considered ‘cute’ by some, but that doesn’t stop Jill from emptying a couple of fire-rounds into their yawning maws. Again the fresh level of detail in the new-old monsters is amazing, while the sewers themselves are just disgusting. Especially when Jill has to walk under a waterfall of sewage which coats her bob with viscous slime. Capcom has again used photogrammetry to capture likenesses in characters and environments, and visually it’s as impressive as the Resi 2 reboot.
Once more employing the RE Engine and overthe-shoulder view, this is a companion piece to that game in more ways than one. Both share the Raccoon City location, and the action in Resi 3 takes place before, during and after the events at the RPD. Capcom has confirmed there will be some shared locations and other details that eagle-eyed gamers will clock. Whether or not you played the Resi 2 reboot or the original Nemesis, though, this retelling of the iconic Jill and Nemesis story will smash it.
“THE FRESH LEVEL OF DETAIL IN THE NEWOLD MONSTERS IS AMAZING; THE SEWERS ARE DISGUSTING.”