I wrote a little quick piece for the Cheap Shot Entertainment Facebook page and my own Instagram (bigbosstp010) regarding the demo for the remake of Resident Evil 3, so I wanted to write a little first impressions piece following its release. Please be warned, there may be some mild spoilers, nothing too story impacting though.
The beginning is 100% different to the original PlayStation One version, with some minor nods to the original though are slyly woven into it. The biggest thing for me was the debut of Nemesis within 3 minutes of game play and as expected, this mother k’nucker enters with a bang, setting the tone for the first frantic 5 minutes of the game. A portion of this will be played in a 1st person view too, which shocked me.
It’s worth pointing out that the Racoon City demo released previously as a comparison to the Resident Evil 2 demo, both start at similar points in their respective main games. Essentially when the main body of the game begins following the introduction to the surroundings.
I was a little sad to see that Brad Vickers gets even less screen time than the original Resident Evil 3 and his fate feels almost a sad let down considering how he gets killed in the original. In his fleeting appearance, he becomes nothing more than a poor man’s Hodor (Game of Thrones reference there) so Jill can run away. This is funny in its own way, considering Brad was portrayed as a complete coward in both his previous “alive” appearances in the Resident Evil franchise.
We are very quickly introduced to Carlos too, however, what an introduction! This Carlos feels like a good evolution of the original, gone is the slicked back hair and rubbish accent. Instead we have a rougher around the edges character, who manages to maintain some of those cringe worthy lines of the original, with considerably more annoying hair and who clearly hits the gym more than the original ever did. Yet, I’m very excited to say that Carlos gets way more screen time in this instalment, he gets 2 playable segments from what I can tell so far. His first adventure is the RPD station, pre Resident Evil 2 timeline of course and this segment answers some questions I’ve had since I first played Resident Evil 2 (the damage in the 1st floor bathroom for example).
I know this may cause a polarising opinion, but I don’t like the knife…. I enjoyed the knife in Resident Evil 2 and was a staple of my item pack throughout the game. I loved that if an enemy attacked you and you had the knife, you could use it to defend yourself, same with grenades too. Knives were plenty in the Resident Evil 2 remake, so it wasn’t difficult to restock it should you lose it or break it. However, I’m sorry to say that Resident Evil 3 loses this feature. Replacing it with some rubbish button bash to reduce damage instead and keeps the knife as a 1 of. That’s right, in a WHOLE CITY, you get 1 knife…. I understand that the remade dodge feature is expected to keep you safe in this game and allows you to hit a cheeky counter attack if timed properly. But, anyone who knows me, will tell you that I’m more of a stand and shoot player (I’m not the stealth player on Metal Gear Solid).
Resident Evil 2 remake kept the ammo crafting feature introduced by the original Resident Evil 3, so I’m glad they have continued that here. Also the unlockable safes etc which crept in the Resident Evil 2 remake also stick around. Just trying to get those pesky unlock codes is the annoying part, however, these add to the longevity of the game play, which I’m feeling from other things I’ve read, is really limited this time round. Where Resident Evil 2 had 4 campaigns to play, this game has a grand total of 1 and due to this, I’ll be really drawing out my play through here.
Not having played a big portion into the game as of yet, I can’t comment on how the story will evolve by the end in comparison to the original. Yet, already I’m seeing huge differences and not all of them are bad. Remakes will always get stick for moving away from the original material, however, this is the nature of a remake and I for one, am kind of enjoying this as a standalone piece currently. I’m looking forward to seeing how Nemesis factors into the game later on and if he is truly more anxiety inspiring that his predecessor, Mr X.
No doubt once I have completed the full game, I’ll be able to bring you a more full on account.
Thank you so much for reading, you can also check out more from Cheap Shot Entertainment via their BlogSpot (https://cheapshotentertainment.blogspot.com/) and more from myself at my BlogSpot (https://bigboss010-genesisblog.blogspot.com/)
I’m Big Boss, I’m out….. Peace
