Did you know the PlayStation 3 can play PS1 games? I didn’t, at least until a couple of weeks ago. This lesser known feature of the PS3 gave me the opportunity to go through my brother’s PS1 game collection and replay some classics of the era. Top of the pile was Resident Evil 3, so I decided to open up its now rather worse for wear case and take a trip back to what many see as the classic era of the Resident Evil franchise.
The first thing that struck me when I started up the game was just how pixelated the writing was. It’s amazing how much crisper visuals have become since the release of Resident Evil 3 fifteen years ago. When I was set down in the game proper, it was hard at first to grasp just how poor the controls are compared to the games of 2014. Your character, RE1 survivor Jill Valentine, either lurches around or merely takes tiny steps forward. Resident Evil was not known for its outstanding controls at the time, but once you become accustomed to them the controls aren’t too much bother. In fact, I would argue that in some ways the dodgy ‘tank’ controls of Resident Evil 3 actually add to the experience rather than take away from it. The game is that much tenser when you don’t have the power to quickly and easily evade enemies. As can be seen in Resident Evil 6 where Capcom made efforts to improve the controls, this is an identity issue that the Resident Evil franchise is still coming to terms with.
Another identity crisis the Resident Evil franchise has been grappling with in recent years is whether to be a survival horror game or an action game. Whilst Resident Evil 3 is still firmly on the side of survival horror, you can begin to see the roots of the action gameplay that has increasingly crept into the franchise and came to dominate in the ultimately disappointing Resident Evil 6. To give the game its full title, Resident Evil 3 is known as Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. In many ways, Nemesis is the star of Resident Evil 3. The battles with Resident Evil 3 big bad Nemesis are perhaps the best evidence of how RE3 introduces greater action whilst also maintaining its survival horror roots. Nemesis pursues Jill throughout the game, and whenever it confronts Jill you the player are almost always given the choice of fight or flight. Do you fight Nemesis for the chance of finding weapon upgrades? (or just because it feels good pumping a few magnum rounds into the ugly brute) Or do you run away and preserve much needed supplies?
This choice is perpetually at the centre of the game, and it is a major part of what makes Nemesis both a terrifying and truly effective villain. The key difference that sets Nemesis apart from many other video game bosses is that he is just as liable to crop up in a normal gameplay area as in a clearly designated boss battle zone. You know what I mean, sometimes when you walk into the room and it’s a grand, expansive space you just know there’s a boss battle coming. With the Nemesis you don’t get those kinds of visual clues, and I think that is one of the aspects that makes it such a terrifying villain. You’re not safe anywhere. Nemesis can pursue you through doors, and even into safe rooms. This is why, for me, Nemesis is the star and crowning achievement of Resident Evil 3. The game is built around Nemesis, and because of that the monster is one of the most memorable and fearsome bosses in video game history. Resident Evil has had some great villains before and since, but I don’t think any of them quite capture the same sense of dread and anticipation you get when you hear “STARS!” upon entering a room.
There are issues with Resident Evil 3 however. Aside from the shonky controls, the third instalment in the series does at times feel like a re-hash of Resident Evil 2. Indeed, Resident Evil 3 re-uses many of the assets and locations of the second game – most noticeably the Racoon City police station early on. Overall, Resident Evil 3 feels more like a Resident Evil 2.5, certainly compared to the giant leap made between Resident Evil 3 and 4. This is only a minor defect however, especially when you take into account just how strong a foundation Resident Evil 2 built for this game. The graphics have undoubtedly suffered over time, but in comparison to some of Resident Evil 3’s contemporaries its visuals have aged surprisingly well, largely thanks to the pre-rendered backgrounds. Meanwhile, although most of the puzzles are fairly satisfying, a few are frustratingly obtuse. For example, where would you find a battery in Racoon City? In the base of the statue of the mayor of course! Despite its flaws, Resident Evil 3 still stands the test of time, provided you can handle the game’s notorious ‘tank’ controls.
“What can the current teams working on Resident Evil games learn from Resident Evil 3?” I hear myself ask. Well Euan, certainly one strand from 3 that I would like to see return to the Resident Evil franchise is the flight or fight choice mentioned above. In the most recent Resident Evil games you are continually forced to fight and defeat all enemies in order to progress to the next area. This completely removes the survival horror element of the game, something which has been sorely missed in Resident Evil games post RE4. A further lesson Capcom could learn from Resident Evil 3 is to bring back a truly fearsome boss like Nemesis that pursues you throughout the game, and not just in clearly staged boss battles. To be fair, this was done to some extent in Resident Evil Revelations, which is arguably the closest Capcom came to recapturing the magic of the first four Resident Evil games last generation. Lastly, the Resident Evil series could benefit from dialling the plots back to something a little more straightforward. In recent years the series has become a tangled web of different government institutions, para-military groups, and bio-terrorist organisations to a point where most players have given up trying to follow or decipher the storyline. This compares to Resident Evil 3’s straightforward yet much more effective ‘escape the city, watch out for the monster’ storyline.
I sincerely hope that Capcom have turned a corner with Resident Evil Revelations. Certainly, I think the upcoming releases of a HD remake of the original game and a second Revelations game suggest that Capcom are beginning to understand what players want from the Resident Evil franchise. Whilst Resident Evil 5 was great fun to play co-operatively, I for one hope that Resident Evil 7 takes more cues from the first four Resident Evil games than 5 and 6, and in turn manages to recapture the magic of classic Resident Evil.
