Resident Evil 3 and the Missed Opportunity

Resident Evil 3 is absolutely my favourite of the first three games on the original PlayStation; the first two Resident Evil games on the PS1 are both classic survival-horror titles, and two of my absolute favourites of all time, so to choose a favourite is no easy task. But the third one has always been special to not only me, but the vast majority of Resi fans who have gone back and played the first few titles in the legendary series. If I had to break it down, it’s simple really: Jill, in her best design to date (in more ways than one), has had enough and Nemesis is her final, grotesque, shit-the-bed, fucked up hurdle. For now...

It’s been a bit of a roller coaster for its remake, released barely over a month ago now. The game has come out to mixed fan and critical reaction, with people citing a shorter run time than expected (amongst other things) as being the main issue with the game. But to me, and the initiated who know the Resi formula like the first floor of the Spencer Mansion, I know that length isn’t the selling point of a Resident Evil game. It is, amongst other things of course, its longevity.

It seems to me that even though it's been open season in terms of criticism for the game, most of it understandably so, a few things need to be clarified. Even though I believe this game to be a bit of a missed opportunity in comparison to the game it's based upon, I think the argument of length is misdirected and awkward in the grand scheme of ink ribbons and shotgun ammo.

Resident Evil has always been a shorter video-game experience in comparison to most, but what made that first playthrough so much longer than the second or third, was the mixture of ‘what the fuck do I do now?’ and ‘where the fuck do I go?’. This isn't meant as an insult, because part of the fun in survival horror games is always the moment-to-moment progression and the Metroidvania tinged level design, making the world you live in feel like a literal puzzle-box of death.

Now, for those who can put the length of the game aside, there is still analysis of the remake that sits awkwardly with me, namely comparisons to the original game and how the linearity of the remake is exactly right and faithful to scripture. In reality, the straight-line gameplay of the remake is more awkward mistranslation than faithful recreation.

You see in the 1999 version of Resident Evil 3, the runtime is made longer, due to the aforementioned back-track puzzling and deducing we all so love, and the linearity of the escape from Raccoon City is made less linear due to its core game design. It seems to me like the lovely folks at Capcom got carried away with trying to recreate the difference in between this remake and its predecessor, Resident Evil 2 (2019). Much like it was in the late nineties, Resident Evil 3 remake is being criticised for straying too far from its predecessor, but where the previous installment made use of its DNA, this one seems to leave it behind for a sense of high-octane escape.

Don’t get me wrong, when the remake wants to do high-octane, it does it well, especially in the gloriously rendered and directed cutscenes, with jaw-droppingly gorgeous visuals that the RE Engine seems to be perfecting with every outing. The game doesn’t hold back in staying true to its original Japanese title of ‘Last Escape’, but I feel once again that this has been mistranslated or indeed misunderstood. I, like most people, was supremely happy during most of the game, especially those quiet eerie moments like the hospital segment, where that pitch-black, nostalgic terror was reconstructed with a professional level of skill and finesse, slowly opening every door with Carlos, knowing perfectly well that a damn Hunter was due any minute.

But these moments are not only over too soon due to the fast-paced nature of the game, there's also exclusions of whole sections of the original which when it's over leaves you asking ‘why?’. I couldn't contain my excitement when I climbed up that ladder and there in the distance I saw the Clock Tower (my favourite section from the original), but then only to have my excitement reduced to mere set dressing for another boss fight with Nemesis, that frankly takes too long for what it's worth and includes a Nemesis which has metamorphosed a little too early for my liking.

Another brilliant aspect of the original excluded from the remake was the ‘Live Selection’ system. One of my favourite aspects of the original was in fact those iconic moments where the screen suddenly becomes black and white, the music swells up and Jill’s lone heartbeat is pumping along to the beads of sweat on your forehead, as you have a split second to decide whether you’ll fight the hulking creature in your way, or run around and away from him. The exclusion of this mechanic is another fatal error on Capcom’s behalf, especially when you consider how much people feel let down by the replayability of the game; the perfect mechanic conceived for exactly the idea of replaying a game, and it's left morosely on the cutting room floor.

To add more ‘missed opportunity’ pudding to the main course of ‘missteps and almost-theres’, Capcom not only removed the ability to get an S+ rank, an aspect that made fans of the previous remake replay that game into oblivion, they also made it ten times easier to achieve an S Rank. Not only can you save five times in a run, but you can also rely on autosaves (unless you're playing on the highest difficulty) and, get this, INFINITE WEAPONS! Sure the noble of you will get an S Ranks on the highest difficulty without the use of these difficulty-annihilators, but the fact that they further reduced a reason to replay the game into a lesser version of itself again makes you scratch your head.

Even Nemesis, the titular stalker from the 1999 original is given a rather disappointing role, heavily scripted, both easy to kill and easy to avoid. It pains me to say it, but he doesn't hold a candle to Mr X from last year’s remake. Of all things to muck up, you'd think Nemesis would be hard to flop, but the poor bastard’s barely given a chance before he turns into a rather adorable puppy, running around on all fours like a naughty boy who wants to eat all the STARS he can find.

It sounds like I hate the game but I really don’t. There’s a lot of fun to be had with what the game offers, however linear it is, it just commits the cardinal sin of low replayability, which for a Resi game is unheard of, and also doesn’t quite live up to the potential it most definitely had.

It’s common knowledge that this was made by Capcom’s B team, not by the crew who helmed last year's Resident Evil 2, so with talks of a Resident Evil 4 remake on the horizon, we can only hope that Capcom brings their A-game. At this rate, remakes are starting to echo the sentiment of if it ain't broke, please don't try and fix it.