Resident Evil is a great survival horror series. But I will be forever be scarred by it. As a kid, I saw my dad play the original Resident Evil 2 and repeatedly getting mauled by zombies- to the point where I have nightmares seeing the game won’t stop even as the PS1 disc is removed.
The only RE game I properly played was RE 4. It wasn’t that scary yet that game still made me madly uncomfortable.
With our resident Resident Evil expert wanting to go blind into the Resident Evil 3 remake, I bit the bullet and gave the Resident Evil 3 demo a go. There is enough preface here for you to expect that this is a different take than you normally would expect.
So here’s what an absolute coward’s impressions of the Resident Evil 3 demo.
Them PC Settings
First thing’s first. If it is not clear yet, the RE Engine is one heck of a beast. On PC, there are enough options to push the limit of you rig, or make it run on most casual of PCs. For example, you can specify the texture size to go to a whopping 8GB size, or a slim 0.5GB. Also, the nice touches of putting preview frame, and having a meter to see how each option impact specific graphical performance, are nice to have.
On a good PC, it runs buttery smooth. Jill’s new exotic look, courtesy of model , may take some time to get used to but she’s perfectly fine, with some nicely done animations. Looking at how she runs is enough to let you know her health level is.
The Horror Of Surviving
Racoon City is clearly reimagined. But unlike the streets seen in RE 2, the Racoon City we see in RE 3 is a bit more lively. As in, there’s neon signs, plentiful of posters, and a variety of small shops you get to go through. The demo area shows that even with a wide road, you can still make the area feel claustrophobic. Clever placements of debris, and those darn zombies, stays true to its survival horror roots.
For most of the demo, I don’t necessarily got scared (no jumpscares thank god), but it always kept me on my toes. I don’t know where to go. I don’t know if it’s safe. I don’t know if I have enough ammo.
Or worse of all, I don’t know if I have enough inventory space to pick up items.
Now that I’m older it’s not the shambling, gory undead bodies that bothered me, it’s the sense of dread of not knowing if you are prepared for what’s coming next.
Which is what the RE 3 demo does oh so brilliantly.
The Nemesis (System)
And what more to sell that sense of dread when a plan goes wrong than ya boi, Nemesis. If RE 2 has Mr. X (Tyrant), RE 3 expanded that idea with Nemesis- the hulking figure of immense power that does not stop until your protagonist Jill is dead. Here, he is more imposing than ever.
Outran him? Moments after he’ll leap forward in front of you. Or maybe spawn just right around a blind corner. Despite his tall stature, he’ll bow down to enter doors- only the safe room is truly safe.
It took me a good 20 minutes to be comfortable with the controls. Like the RE 2 remake, Resident Evil 3 has the over-the-shoulder third-person camera.
But Jill has one extra ability compared to the previous remake’s rookies. There’s an evade button that, with the right timing, dodges you out of harm’s way. It’s not a roll dodge with invincible frames- timing is key here. The screen blinks white upon a successful evade.
Fail and you ended up getting a love bite- or in the Nemesis’ case, a ridiculously powerful punch in the gut.
As a relative newcomer, the RE 3 demo feels good to play. There are enough hints to tell you what to do, and where to go next. There are hints for essential things like combining herbs for health recovery. Even the puzzles and secrets are easy enough to spot and figure out how to get. I’m hoping it will ramp up in the full game, but the demo really eases you in to be familiar with Resident Evil’s style of play.
But there are smart ways to conserve your resources. The first few minutes saw me knifing every dead body so they don’t jumpscare me. Not long after, rather than pumping shots to the zombies separately, I kite them close together and shoot the explosive barrel. I can see there are many ways you can efficiently survive the undead nightmare.
While the dread is still there- you can be smarter, and better, at ensuring things are under control, and that’s a great feeling to have in a game like this.
Some Nitpicks Of The Demo
One small nitpick, and this is exclusively for the demo, is the inability to manual save. What bothers me is that the autosave checkpoints don’t save often enough. Before starting the Nemesis encounter each time I have to double back and get the shotgun (and the ammo for it) over and over, which stopped completing it properly. It’s a weird choice, but I don’t think it affects most folks.
The demo has an equivalent of “easy mode is now selectable“. Die too many times and the game lets you unlock the Assisted game mode which gives you an assault rifle – it’s the only way to try it out in the demo too.
Also, another nitpick is that I can’t seem to find an exit game button on the pause menu on PC. Which did trigger some that old nightmare memories again. Oh god no.
Closing Thoughts
Repressed nightmares being awakened again aside, the Resident Evil 3 demo gives a great glimpse of what to expect with the full game: most likely another home run of a survival horror remake. And even without the nostalgia, I feel new players can still find it as one hell of a survival horror game.
Resident Evil 3 will be out on April 3rd for the PS4, PC (Steam) and Xbox One, and includes the all-new 4v1 multiplayer experience, Resident Evil Resistance.