The problem here is that a lot of these encounters are repetitive and don’t require much intuition – you mostly play Ring a Ring o’ Rosie with the big guy, arbitrarily circling an arena to fire off a shot and then repeat. The game asks little more of players in its boss battles. Instead of the teeth-chattering games of cat and mouse you may be expecting, you’ll instead be sprinting through conventional corridors and hammering button prompts to get past him. Nemesis seems to exist to annoy players and force you into a stopgap. X, he feels thrown into situations carelessly, not even for the scare factor. That was until I first encountered Nemesis. I did feel, though, that I had an abundance of ammo throughout, so it was rare to be on the back foot in combat, which is most of the fun in Resident Evil. Luckily, there’s still an enjoyable heft to the guns, and the laser-pointed aiming system revels in its own satisfying jank.
Nothing in the soundtrack jumped out to me, but the impressive and often unnerving sound design was appreciated, even if it felt hamstrung by the lacklustre encounters and pacing. Many may rebuke this point by noting that the 1997 original is more action-oriented, but it was still a Resident Evil game, and even as an out-and-proud scaredy-cat, this remake failed to stir me in the way that I imagine the developers had intended. It means that eventually, you don’t treat them like real threats and the experience starts to feel like an arcade shooter rather than a nuanced survival horror game. As ironic as it sounds, the undead feel much less alive. Zombies feel like bullet sponges – limbs don’t split off once shot like they used to. In another weird downgrade from last year’s Resident Evil 2 Remake, the gore in this game is much less impressive. Expect diatribes about how the real monsters are the humans, for example – it doesn’t quite balance out between the B-movie schlock and the serious situation in the way that Resident Evil 2 Remake did. A remake with so much more technology in play should have at least developed these side characters rather than let them feel just as forgettable.
The rest of the characters beyond Jill aren’t so memorable, fitting into unfortunate stereotypes you’ve certainly seen before, and the set pieces start to blend into one. However, beyond the push and pull of the protagonist vs bioweapon narrative, the story really isn’t up to much.
#RESIDENT EVIL 3 REMAKE JILL FULL#
It’s hard not to get wrapped up in her personal journey and enthusiastically root for her as you’re pumping the dreaded Nemesis full of Acid Rounds. She tackles the undead horde with gusto and kicks plenty of mutated ass across Resident Evil 3 Remake’s six-hour runtime. It’s distracting, but fortunately, our heroine Jill Valentine takes all of his annoying jibes in her stride and shines through as a funny and powerful protagonist. His inopportune pick-up lines and comments cause me to roll my eyes so dramatically that I could have easily been mistaken for one of the game’s brain-dead zombies. This is a man ready to deliver a salvo of groan-worthy clangers at a moment’s notice. However, speaking of 90s sensibilities… I soon run into Carlos Oliveira, Jill’s sidekick, who quickly reveals himself to be a bona fide cringe cannon. Hats off to the developers for making me take the time to lean in and study the paraphernalia among the chaos of a zombie apocalypse! Even the typography and donut store mascots feel evocative of the cultural milieu in which the original game was launched in 1997, which is testament to the game’s exquisite art direction. Particularly, I adored the detailed posters homaging movies from a bygone era and the figurines referencing past Capcom franchises that litter the subway stations and toy shop windows. As soon as you start trudging around the streets of Raccoon City, you’ll quickly be immersed in the situation thanks to the minimalist HUD and detailed, photorealistic textures. It’s hard not to fall in love with how Resident Evil 3 Remake looks.
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