Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

"Ignore the fact that it is a port and you have yet another fantastic Zombie adventure on your hands"

Resident Evil 3 originally debuted back on the PlayStation and it tells the tale of one of the survivors of the original incident in the Arklay Mountains, Jill Valentine, and how she makes her escape from the now T-virus and Zombie infested Raccoon City. Now it has been ported to the Gamecube (Dreamcast beforehand), unlike Resident Evil Remake, there is no fancy graphical update and extra content which may put a lot of people off buying it, and if my Dreamcast still worked I would have simply kept that version because this is identical which is a shame because this is possibly my favourite installment in Capcom's survival horror series and it really captures the sense of danger and suspense, because Jill is constantly hunted by a strange foe...

Resident Evil 3 isn't just about surviving Zombies, Hunters, Cerberus and the whole other menagerie of T-virus-infected monsters. There is a greater foe called the Nemesis, created by Umbrella from the Nemesis Parasite to be the ultimate B.O.W (Bio-Organic Weapon.) And it seems that they have instructed this beast of basic intelligence to track down and destroy the remaining S.T.A.R.S members, including Jill. This is creates a fantastic new dynamic of fear, suspense and adrenaline pumping action because first time players will never quite know when the Nemesis will appear and chase them.

It really makes you nervous when you are walking around the deserted streets of Raccoon City just waiting for the dreaded mutterings of "STARS... STARS..." That the Nemesis repeats to itself as it tracks you down. You first encounter it in the Police Station and you hear a window smash downstairs, this really increases your heart rate a lot as you tentatively make your way down to investigate. This is something the other games lacked at times, Zombies are one thing but they can become boring at times and the fear wears off to a few jumpy moments, but as stated before, an intelligent humanoid that can sprint and wield a rocket launcher really starts to make you worry.

Whilst on the subject of enemies, there are some other monsters that make their debut; say hello to Drain Demos, Brainsuckers, Hunter Beta & Gamma and giant worms among others. These are all a welcome addition to the standard Resident Evil cast and will happily kill you if you cross their path.

Now we shall move swiftly on to the subject of graphics, and it is not pretty. As this is a port from the PlayStation with virtually no changes, you can expect drab pre-rendered backgrounds and grainy character models and repetitive Zombies, meaning they all look pretty much the same and there is no variation in clothing etc. This may be a minor complaint but it can detract from the realism a tad. Compared to the more beautiful and modern Resident Evil games such as REmake and RE4 this really does look poor, so low marks for graphics.

Gameplay is where Resident Evil wins time and time again and this game is no exception. It puts you in a dangerous situation with limited tools (unless you are an Easy mode wuss, then you'd make Rambo blush) and lets you survive against an undead army as well as the Nemesis. There are the usual puzzles this time but luckily this time they aren't has headscratching as some of the other games, there is a wealth of guns at your disposal such as a Shotgun, Grenade Launcher and Magnum which makes the game a lot of fun towards the end where you can blow zombies to pieces. There is quite a big gameplay niggle and you will probably be aware of it if you are a Resi afficionado, and that is the controls, they can be awkward to newcomers and they do feel clunky and it is made all the harder when you are being pursued by an 8ft tall pyscho with a Rocket launcher, why can they not implement a decent control system? Overall the gameplay triumphs again.

The music on this game, while good is not really memorable, it merely builds suspense or the lack of it can do the same. But you wouldn't expect to be humming the tunes of Raccoon City anyway, it is edgy and haunting to fit the mood. The sound effects are mediocre, the usual gun blasts and Zombie moans and groans as well as the forbidding dirge of the Nemesis. Nothing special in this department but it is more than sufficient.

The replayability in this game is good if you enjoy playing through over and over like I do, but other than that there is only bonus costumes. There is a mini-game called the Mercenaries which can be enjoyable, basically you play as one of the Umbrella Mercs that you encounter in the main game and you have to reach a target in a certain time limit and fight off Zombies and the Nemesis, fun but RE4 does it better. So rent or buy? Buy it, it is dirt cheap these days, I do not know how much it is in $ but I got it for about £10 over here in England.

I give this game 8/10, it is a port, but still a great game worth investing in if you are a hardcore Resident Evil fan and you shouldn't miss out on it.

Graphics - 5/10
Gameplay - 9/10
Sound - 7/10
Replay value - 7/10

Overall - 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/14/06