With the remake of Resident Evil 3 already on the street, we put it in front of the original to check the licenses of the new Capcom reimagination.
Just yesterday, April 3, the long-awaited remake of Resident Evil 3 went on sale. Partially managed in parallel, but also quite a remade of the fantastic recreation of Resident Evil 2 we saw last year, the adventure of Jill Valentine has not achieved a similar consensus in its initial passage through the press. Part of this warmer reception is due to its tight duration – pretty much in line with the Survival Horror of yesteryear, but not backed by different routes and extra modes – though it also has an important basis in the licenses taken by a study that has been much further removed from its inspiration than previous Capcom remakes.
Taking advantage of the fact that the game is already available (also in digital stores such as the PlayStation Store in case the quarantine has truncated your plans), we can get more fully into it and even eviscerate advanced events – you are warned if you have not yet played it! in that case come back later! – to review some of the changes and their effects on both playable and story development.
The start of the nightmare
As we will see later, one of the main drawbacks of RE3R, at least for fans of the original, is the cutting or disappearance of content present on PSX. However, the reimagining also expands on a moment that previously had little weight, such as Jill Valentine's stay in her apartment just before the chaos breaks out and Raccoon City becomes an apocalyptic city. Since the game's startup is chronologically located before RE2, this new prologue acts as a direct bridge from the first installment, reintroducing the events of the mansion, the current state of S.T.A.R.S. and Jill's psychological aftermath. An elegant exercise in exposition that is soon cut short by the emergence of Nemesis, once not presented until the entrance to the police station, but which is now chasing our protagonist in a sequence highly written by the building.
In fact, the predominance of scripts – situations where we have control of the character, but the game constrains our movement to build more spectacular interactive sequences – is another one of those divisive elements. Once on the street, the development mimics the start of a game like The Last of Us more than that of the original Resident Evil 3 itself, putting encounters with classic characters like Brad Vickers and Dario Rosso back on our way, but pushing us immediately forward to continue with a flight that in these measures leaves no room for exploration. It is a commitment to greater density and narrative intensity at the cost of gameplay in pure terms that, luckily, does not extend much in time, and gets a moment of redemption for Brad after leaving us in the lurch at the start of the first game or limiting himself to run away in the original RE3.
Meeting the mercenaries
The end of this corseted prelude is the meeting with Carlos Oliveira, who in the past could be known in two places –the restaurant or the press building– according to our order of entry, but now it is introduced by default in what seems like a tribute to the clock tower events: just as we are about to catch a helicopter, Nemesis destroys it and faces us. At this point there is still no combat as such, the game continues in script mode and, after a few Quick Time Events, makes us rush together from the top of a parking lot. The fall has little effect on the creature, which reveals its face for the first time before being stopped by a Carlos who reverses the roles and carries the missile launcher. In this way, RE3R propels us towards the train – destination after many minutes of exploration in the original – and in the process adapts an emblematic sequence that later will not have room for even more dramatic changes.
The train, now relieved by the subway, is the game's real starting point in its most traditional form. Restoring energy to start and flee – with civilians on board instead of for simple survival – remains the objective of the stay in the city, although here RE3R once again shows substantial changes in the characterization of mercenaries in the service of Umbrella . Mikhail Victor, previously seriously injured and barely participatory, receives us in better condition and organizes the plan that Nicholai Zinoviev normally established. This is later presented, in a scene also adapted, but altered to illustrate his temperament in a much clearer way: the mercenary eliminated off camera for his supposed conversion is now introduced to Jill, still alive, and then he is assassinated. cold blooded by Nicholai. The new direction is less subtle about his intentions, but serves to make him a more imposing and mean presence from the first minute.
Exploring the streets of Raccoon City
Starting the subway this time does not require getting a series of objects scattered around the city. Although the exploration has some visual and mechanical reminiscences of that search –such as using the hose to extinguish the fire that prevents passage through an alley–, the procedure has been rethought and consists of making our way to the electrical substation where we previously obtained one of the Mentioned items after overcoming a puzzle, now relieved by a maze riddled with Drain Deimos. It is, unfortunately, the only place in the whole game where these insects appear, reduced in size and resistance compared to PSX, although here they take advantage of their greater number, the disorientation favored by the design and darkness of the substation, and the Jill's poisoning through the implantation of a parasite in her trachea, making this part a quite tense section.
Of course, this highly focused structure does not mean that exploration on the rest of the streets has been completely trivialized. Although smaller, the area near the subway has a circular design that, in addition to offering more than one route to deal with Nemesis on the return from the substation – restoring the electrical current with the Drain Deimos activates their pursuit on the way to the station. control, second and last step to start the subway – also distributes some optional searches for the different stores accessible before or after getting the chain cutter and the pick. Beyond the consumables like gunpowder, ammo, or herbs that we can find during normal exploration, the game also links permanent pistol, shotgun, and inventory upgrades to collections that reference some of the mandatory steps in the original progress.
The sewers and the new Hunter Gamma
That said, the section through the streets is undoubtedly shorter and lighter than on PSX, although it does not take long to reveal that it is because the development has other plans for the city: the return to the metro fleeing from Nemesis winks at the fall to the sewers to deal with the giant worm, but now it is Jill who intentionally descends and discovers a considerable area of expanse rather than a simple hallway with a pair of switches that allow her to immediately return to the surface. More interesting if possible is the fact that the Hunter Gamma is also missing here. Inspired by a variant of this species originally not introduced until the second half – during the hospital – the new design is larger and incorporates the retractable jaws of Grave Digger, which it replaces to the regret of fans, although this allows it to use its properties more frequently during play.
Face to face with Nemesis
Given the size of the sewers, the return to the surface does not occur near the subway but several blocks away, although with Nemesis still on our heels. It is here where the first inescapable confrontation takes place – a year relegated to the clock tower -, seasoned by a flamethrower that was not in the original either and that changes the nature of the combat by extending the scope of its attack and offering a new weak point with your deposit. After defeating him and seeing the new Kendo cameo in the surroundings of the police station, Nemesis reappears carrying, now, his iconic bazooka for one more chase. This is linear and last in the remake, where he will only reappear as the boss to the disappointment of those who enjoy this most harassing facet. Condensing his "spontaneous" appearances to the first third, although it allows us to vary more later, moving from the city onwards, is another one of those decisions that inevitably change the essence with respect to the original game.
Leaving the tracks
Although for changes, those that come from the metro. Because once ready to leave the city center, the game surprises with the news that this time Carlos is staying. The remake introduces here a new character, Nathaniel Bard, that Carlos and Tyrell Patrick must go to find the Raccoon City police station. Thus, what was once a nostalgic little tour with Jill to get the pick soon after starting, becomes a key turning point for the remake as an adaptation. Mikhail's death at the hands of Nemesis and the derailment remain, this time with an added betrayal by Nicholai for further reinforcement of his role as antagonist. But they no longer lead to exploration of the clock tower, but rather to a small temporal and spatial leap backwards that sets a new direction for the plot and even significant changes to the canon of the saga.
Because the good Brad, absent since the introduction, reappears to discover that it is he who bites Marvin before the arrival of Leon and Claire during the events of Resident Evil 2. In this new continuity, moreover, neither his conversion to zombie nor his final destination depend on Nemesis or Leon and Claire themselves as part of an easter egg, but Carlos if we decide so. On the other hand, the search for Dr. Bard is unsuccessful, but it serves to expand the role of Tyrell – with an anecdotal presence on PSX – and introduce the need to visit the hospital before Jill is infected, since getting the vaccine against T virus becomes the new macguffin. The engine of a story that tries to increase its scale and is no longer about flight, but about the hypothetical salvation of Raccoon City.
In search of the vaccine
Despite this, Jill does see the faces again with a completely redesigned version of Nemesis in front of the clock tower, and she also becomes infected again because of him, adding urgency to the reunion with Carlos. Unfortunately, the change in focus and the separation of the two characters leaves this area relegated to a battle arena for such an event – offering a great opportunity to use the grenade launcher mines by the way – before moving on to the next place. The remake does not provide an opportunity to explore its interior, to recreate itself in its Gothic setting, to deal with the giant spiders or to rack their brains with some of the most iconic puzzles of the original. It is perhaps the instance where the deviation of RE3R with respect to PSX reaches its most critical point, and already makes it completely clear that the intention of the study, for better or for worse, is to make a different game.
The good news is that just before facing the final stretch, development still holds joy for purists and novices alike. Because the hospital, now renowned in honor of Ozwell E. Spencer – a bad omen where it exists – recaptures and enhances the virtues of the original. The design is broader and more convoluted, offering the most substantial exploration since we left the streets and possibly also the best atmosphere in the entire game. The Beta Hunters are reintroduced with great results, and after a good dose of tense calm, the zone culminates in a climax similar to the waves of Cattle that Leon and Luis faced in the RE4 cabin – the presence of zombies with parasites, whose whip looks like a workout for the remake of the fourth installment. This ends the playable part of Carlos, who heads to an underground laboratory to get more vaccines and negotiate with the government to stop the destruction of Raccoon City.
Descent to NEST 2
Recovered thanks to the vaccine, Jill wakes up a day later, turning the rest of the development into a sequel to RE2 (in the past this ellipsis occurred after the battle against Nemesis in the clock tower). Although during the section of Carlos the explosion is maintained, now it is he who uses the detonator to block the entrance from inside, it means that the hospital is re-explorable by Jill – necessary to get the magnun and other goods stored under locks for the pick – , but also that we no longer go abroad in what remains of the game. Therefore, the remake does not include visits to the park, the cemetery or the abandoned factory. Instead we descend to an underground network where we spot Nicholai and look for fuses while we deal with zombies, dogs, Alpha Hunters, and Gamma – again, to make up for the worm's lack – as if it were an indoor park.
For its part, the new laboratory is called NEST 2, since it has complementary functions to the RE2 remake. As a climax to the new storyline, focused on the possibility of saving Raccoon City, it fits well. Although as in the case of the clock tower, it is understandable that fans miss the most distinctive setting of the abandoned factory. From this one, he loses the puzzles and changes to a more aseptic environment that, in addition, inherits objectives and themes from the original hospital: while the vaccine found by Carlos in this version is already ready to be used in Jill, in NEST 2 we must look for two ingredients and combine them to synthesize the entire sample. The process even includes a puzzle similar to that of the hospital laboratory and the ambush of the Hunters in an incubator room – which also makes room for the cameo of several Tyrant in hibernation.
The end of Raccoon City
Something that does not change the laboratory is the final double encounter with Nemesis, although now it is a much more monstrous creature and battles take advantage of the improved combat system. The rubbish center has been redesigned as a large circular room with several deposits that Nemesis climbs to assault us from above while avoiding zombies that fall through hatches destined for the elimination of bioweapons. Regarding the confrontation against the last – and gigantic – mutation, the idea of pushing three energy sources to use the powerful electromagnetic weapon against Nemesis is still maintained, although now it becomes a combat with much more crumb by requiring to knock it out first by aiming to a few bumps on your body. After feeding is restored, Jill uses the portable cannon manually and pulverizes the creature in the midst of a pretty gore festival.
However, unsurprisingly given the significant consequences of RE3 in the context of the saga, getting the shot and defeating Nemesis is no use in saving Raccoon City. Here the game merges two possibilities from the original again – Nicholai's death or flight – and leads us to a series of predefined sequences where the mercenary destroys the vaccine before being left to his fate by Jill and Carlos at the heliport. However, prior to that he reveals that he has not only been working on field information gathering for Umbrella, but also as a double agent for another contractor who wants to see that same company go down. The price in exchange for betraying him is his salvation, but Jill refuses, ensuring that she can investigate on her own. Small teaser for another remake or future installment? Time will tell.
