"I give it 2 thumbs up (b'-')b"

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, the third of the Resident Evil series (actually, on the Resident Evil timeline, the first half of RE3 takes place, then RE2, then the second half of RE3). In this excellent survival horror game, you play as Jill Valentine, a member of S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Squad), trying to escape Raccoon City after her first time dealing with all this crazy stuff with zombies, horribly mutated monsters and the like (more on that later).

Gameplay- 10/10

This game is pure concentrated goodness. How fun is it to play? Very. How easy or hard is it? About somewhere in the middle, not too easy, not too frustratingly hard. How is the control? Hmm... Many people seem to think the control for the RE games suck, but personally, I like them.

Ok, now into a little more detail. This game plays REALLY good, maybe even better than the other RE games. In this one, Capcom added a couple things that make RE3 truly unique and different from the other REs. You can now dodge enemy attacks with a little practice and a tap of the L button, you can make your own bullets by finding little jars of gunpowder and mixing them together, and you can now use some things in the city to your advantage, such as explosive barrels, steam pipes, and crates, to take out the huge numbers of enemies coming at you. And now for the best new thing that Capcom added. The "Live Selections." In these little Live Selections, the screen will change color and give you two choices. You have to choose one under a certain amount of time, or else something bad will happen >_>. It gives the game a little replay value and adds to the "Oh noes, what'll I do?!?!" feeling you get. And whichever one you choose, it will never lead you to an instant death, so choose with confidence, dudes!

Story- 10/10

The main overall story to all the Resident Evil games goes a little something like this: In Raccoon City, there's this company, called Umbrella. And they claim to be into "Pharmaceuticals" and developing medicine and stuff "for the good of mankind," but they're actually kindo doing the opposite >_<. They're actually developing Biohazardous chemicals and viruses so they can make all kinds of Bio-organic Weapons. All the people of Raccoon City are either too scared or have no idea what Umbrella is doing to try and put an end to it. So eventually, it will lead to their doom. ;_;

The story of RE3 is about Jill Valentine, one of the few surviving S.T.A.R.S., the only group of people who are actually trying to do something about Umbrella, but really they too have no idea what the hell Umbrella is doing. She has already been through hell in her first adventure in a mansion at the Arklay Mountains, but now she's gotta escape the city. She's trying to find Chris Redfield, who also joined her in her first mission, but is now missing. Along the way out of the city, she meets with Nemesis, the guy the game is named after, and lets just say he's not very nice and she'll meet up with him more than once. That's pretty much all I can say without spoiling too much about the game.

Graphics- 6/10

This game is a direct port of the the original RE3 for Playstation onto the Nintendo Gamecube. Nothing has been changed really. The graphics are still all like you can see each little square of color, but other than that, they're okay.

Sound- 9/10

I personally like it, but again it hasn't changed any from the Playstaion version. The constant zombie groaning and eerie tunes, although they're good, they do get a tiny bit repetitive.

Playtime/Replayability- 8/10

Your first time through this game should not take you more than 4 hours, 5 max if you're new to the Resident Evil series or survival horror genre. Your second time through should not take you more than 2 hours if you get right down to business, 3 hours if you like to be thorough. Its cool to play through again and see all the other Live Selections you didn't pick the first time and get all the stuff you missed the first time. After you beat the game, you unlock a mini-game that you can play to unlock new stuff such as new weapons or infinite ammo. The mini-game itself is pretty fun and long, and the unlockables are worth getting in my opinion. Then you play the real game again and use those unlocked things ^_^. So it's not exactly the longest game you'll ever play, probably the shortest of the RE series, but there are a couple different things that will keep you coming back for more.

So, is this game a rent or a buy? Buy it if you can find it, it's kinda hard to find. It's cheap too, I think it's at like $20 or $30 dollars now. It's a nice little game to add to your collection, and it's fun to pick up and start over every now and then.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/03/04