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Why does Resident Evil 3 get so little love?

BTails

Member
I remember being terrified once while being chased by Nemesis: I had run to a save room (typewriter, item box, usually a safe haven), when suddenly Nemesis broke down the door before I could save my game.

That was pobably the defining moment for RE3, for me.
 
I forgot another reason why 3 is so good:

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"I'd rather starve to death in here, than get eaten by those undead monsters! Now leave me alone!"

Dario Rosso, the poet of the apocalypse
 

KyleCross

Member
It was retread of 2 and it was designed to be a simple spinoff, CV was suppose to be 3 but Sony wanted a trilogy on the PS1.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
One of the best games...You had the feeling of being hunted

Exactly; Ustanak, IMO is an Ode to Nemesis. I think it was an entry of its own merit. The series just deviated away (in a very good way) after 3. Now we want to go back.

I also feel with him being the hunter made the game speed up in a way. If you like RE you take your time. I learned about managing resources with RE and not getting completely mauled over during one or two encounters.
 

Timmy00

Member
I liked Resident Evil 3 a lot, I wish it did get more attention from fans. I've been meaning to replay it sometime in the next month or so. I'd put it around the same level as RE2, maybe a bit lower. I loved the game much more than Code Veronica though.
 

funkypie

Banned
I found Mr x scarier than nemesis even though they are pretty much the same monster. That music though that places when nemesis is after you.
 
I found Mr x scarier than nemesis even though they are pretty much the same monster. That music though that places when nemesis is after you.

I agree that Mr. X is scarier. They used him in the perfect places, and the perfect ways.
I do like how Nemesis is an expanded version though, and like you said that music is fucking terrifying.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Resident Evil 3 was my favorite Resident Evil.

Same. Despite it being more "action"-y than the first two, it at least focuses on Raccoon City and the outbreak. Something that isn't focused on in 2 (outside of the initial five minute opening) and isn't focused on again until the Outbreak series.

CV was suppose to be 3

Thank god CV isn't then. Worst Biohazard until 6 came along and shat on the series.
 

Jigorath

Banned
Only one campaign
Reused environments from RE2
Heavier focus on action than puzzles

It was definitely a step back from RE2, though it did have one of the greatest villains in gaming history.
 

Baron Aloha

A Shining Example
I don't know how people can't think Mr. X is scarier than Nemesis when the Mr. X scares were completely ruined by the fact that the game would suddenly shift to a letterbox format...so you totally knew when he was going to appear. In RE3 Nemesis would just show up completely out of nowhere.
 

fred

Member
I'm still waiting for Capcom to remake the first few games with the over the shoulder camera. Just as long as resources are just as scarce as they were in the 90s. Resident Evil 4 was great, as was Revelaitons, but the older games made completing the game and killing every single zombie was a real challenge. From 4 onwards there's way too much ammo and too many herbs lying around.

The best part of the early games was that feeling of dread you got when a zombie was shuffling towards you and you heard that dreaded *Click*...making the 'hardcore' gamer switch to your knife, swiping and then retreating to have another go and making everyone else, you cowards, run away lololol.
 
I don't know how people can't think Mr. X is scarier than Nemesis when the Mr. X scares were completely ruined by the fact that the game would suddenly shift to a letterbox format...so you totally knew when he was going to appear. In RE3 Nemesis would just show up completely out of nowhere.

Apart from maybe the scene where he first shows up I don't recall letterboxing when Mr. X showed up. I do remember shitting my pants when he burst through a wall.

Only one campaign
Reused environments from RE2
Heavier focus on action than puzzles

It was definitely a step back from RE2, though it did have one of the greatest villains in gaming history.

I dunno about this one, 3 had more real puzzles than 2, and they were all significantly more involved and required a lot more thought. Unless you count simply finding keys and lining up blocks to be puzzles, in which case 2 probably has more than 3 in terms of sheer numbers because of all the locked doors.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
I really don't know why I never got around to playing it. I loved RE2.

I think the story not really being a continuation of RE2 made me less interested in it. That and I was really into the Dreamcast at the time, so I just didn't get around to it.
 

Baron Aloha

A Shining Example
Apart from maybe the scene where he first shows up I don't recall letterboxing when Mr. X showed up. I do remember shitting my pants when he burst through a wall.

It has been like 16 years since I played RE2, so I could be wrong... I do remember some letterboxing though and not be surprised a single time when he showed up.
 

Savitar

Member
I remember at the time of it's release it was considered good but Code Veronica was by many called the true third part with Nemesis something they whipped up to please the Sony over lords and fans at the time.

It really took a lot of shit in the day.
 
It was retread of 2 and it was designed to be a simple spinoff, CV was suppose to be 3 but Sony wanted a trilogy on the PS1.

Nnnnnope, not true. CV was outsourced to an outside developer, in fact, whereas RE3 was actually developed by Capcom. (And, IIRC, neither one was originally supposed to be RE3, but CV was never supposed to be).
 

News Bot

Banned
I greatly await News Bot's "correction" then.

CODE:Veronica was always CODE:Veronica. It was conceived from the start as a love-letter to Sega fans after the team refused to port BIO2 to the Saturn for quality reasons. There was also absolutely no deal for exclusivity with Sony. CAPCOM have never signed exclusive deals in the series. They just do what they want.

BIO3 was originally "BIO1.9", a low budget side-story to BIO2. However, halfway through development they increased the scale due to the scrapping of the original BIO3, which was a completely different game featuring HUNK on a cruise ship (directed by Masaaki Yamada). Mikami and a few others threatened resignation over the side-story being upgraded, but relented. Meanwhile the original BIO3 "became" BIO4 and eventually Devil May Cry.


Anyway, BIO3 is on equal footing with BIO2 for me. They're both fantastic and complement each other perfectly more-so than if BIO3 remained "BIO1.9."
 

gelf

Member
I liked RE3 but it was my least fave of the pre RE4 games aside from zero. I think its the fact it was more actiony and also that the city setting didn't do it for me. I hated that gunpowder mixing stuff too.

Nemisis himself was good but most of his apperances seemed more signposted then 2's Mr X who made me jump out my skin.
 

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
CODE:Veronica was always CODE:Veronica. It was conceived from the start as a love-letter to Sega fans after the team refused to port BIO2 to the Saturn for quality reasons. There was also absolutely no deal for exclusivity with Sony. CAPCOM have never signed exclusive deals in the series. They just do what they want.

BIO3 was originally "BIO1.9", a low budget side-story to BIO2. However, halfway through development they increased the scale due to the scrapping of the original BIO3, which was a completely different game featuring HUNK on a cruise ship (directed by Masaaki Yamada). Mikami and a few others threatened resignation over it but relented.

The original BIO3 "became" BIO4 and eventually Devil May Cry.


Anyway, BIO3 is on equal footing with BIO2 for me. They're both fantastic.

You explain this so often that you should save this response on a word document :)

For me CV is the real RE3, as it advanced the series both in tech and story. Nemesis is an RE2 companion game. What's important is that they are both fan-fucking-tastic
 
You explain this so often that you should save this response on a word document :)

For me CV is the real RE3, as it advanced the series both in tech and story. Nemesis is an RE2 companion game. What's important is that they are both fan-fucking-tastic

The real RE3 is...RE3. RE3 still advances the story; it's a bit more limited in scope, but we learn of the fate of Raccoon City in that game. CV is indeed more of an advancement in tech and story but it also takes a couple of step backs from certain gameplay improvements introduced in 3.
 

News Bot

Banned
CV loses a few points for me due to shoddy development on behalf of Nextech and TOSE. The game has the potential to be downright broken at certain points and it doesn't feel as advanced as the technologically inferior BIO3.

In reality very few Capcom employees worked on CV, excluding the story writers at Flagship. I think it was just two Capcom employees, one being the director Hiroki Katoh. All the other BIO team staff were preoccupied with BIO1.9 and BIO3 at the time.

BIO3's original prologue sequence was pretty good too. Shame it was scrapped.

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Melchiah

Member
The reason it's one of my least favorite of the classic REs is because of the Tyrant Nemesis. When I want to explore, or at least take my time to get a lay of the land, the last thing I want is to encounter that guy all the time. Its probably not as bad as I'm making it out to be (it been awhile) I just remember it being very disruptive to the flow of the game.

That's how I remember it as well. Not to mention, that its design was just ridiculous; a leather-clad Cenobite look-alike with a frigging bazooka. Come on!

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This thread has given me the urge to play the game again though, as I don't remember much of it after almost 15 years.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
I think it gets tons of love. I know people like me and Badcrumble and I think Newsbot like it quite a lot. Innovative game that is impeccably paced and with a great gimmick.
 

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
The real RE3 is...RE3. RE3 still advances the story; it's a bit more limited in scope, but we learn of the fate of Raccoon City in that game. CV is indeed more of an advancement in tech and story but it also takes a couple of step backs from certain gameplay improvements introduced in 3.

Imo the destruction of Raccoon City isn't a significant enough plot point to justify it being a numbered series entry. I mean it's effectively destroyed already at the start of RE2, when that game ended I naturally assumed the city would be nuked (or something similar)

It takes place at the same time and uses the same setting as the previous game (revisiting some locations), whereas CV is completely new. When you say step's back are you referring to the decision system and the dodge move? Whilst nice (especially the decision system) I don't think they are all that significant really.
 
I think it gets tons of love. I know people like me and Badcrumble and I think Newsbot like it quite a lot. Innovative game that is impeccably paced and with a great gimmick.

I always see a lot of people ranking it quite low, or at least saying it's so-so, on the RE totem poll in GAF. I feel it's definitely got fewer people who outright love it than some of the others. It's not outright divisive like CV and 6, but it seems to occupy a middleground where most people neither hate nor love it (at least based on what I've seen of people's opinions).
 
I personally loved 3 more than 2 solely because of nemesis. All the encounters are very well thought out and you also get different options sometimes. This added to the replayability value of the game and made me do multiple playthroughs.
 

Melchiah

Member
I always see a lot of people ranking it quite low, or at least saying it's so-so, on the RE totem poll in GAF. I feel it's definitely got fewer people who outright love it than some of the others. It's not outright divisive like CV and 6, but it seems to occupy a middleground where most people neither hate nor love it (at least based on what I've seen of people's opinions).

I remember it being somewhat disappointing after RE2, eventhough it's by no means a bad game. It just was more of the same, with a lesser story, and an enemy that divided opinions.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
I always see a lot of people ranking it quite low, or at least saying it's so-so, on the RE totem poll in GAF. I feel it's definitely got fewer people who outright love it than some of the others. It's not outright divisive like CV and 6, but it seems to occupy a middleground where most people neither hate nor love it (at least based on what I've seen of people's opinions).

CV gets shit on way more because it is far shittier.
 
Imo the destruction of Raccoon City isn't a significant enough plot point to justify it being a numbered series entry. I mean it's effectively destroyed already at the start of RE2, when that game ended I naturally assumed the city would be nuked (or something similar)

It takes place at the same time and uses the same setting as the previous game (revisiting some locations), whereas CV is completely new. When you say step's back are you referring to the decision system and the dodge move? Whilst nice (especially the decision system) I don't think they are all that significant really.
Honestly I thought the hook of RE3's plot was better than all of the other games. Having that one objective really worked well for the game's pacing and the tension felt palpable and direct. RE2 (and CV) is a bit more over the place due to its more robust elements. I guess what I mean is that I was engaged enough by RE3 to not be bothered by the thinner plot. I think what I generally prefer story wise in RE games are the files and the little character arcs which felt just as satisfying in 3. But I see your point as well.

And yeah, I was referring to the dodge system in particular. Having the dodge function meant that combat was a bit more robust and you could handle hordes of enemy attacks with more precision - it just made sense moving forward since the games progressively got more action oriented. It felt a bit weird how CV ditched it.
 
It felt like more of the same. RE1 felt revolutionary and RE2 already took 32-bit survival/action horror as far it was going to go. This was a great game but it just didn't have the same WOW factor.
 
I think it's still has the best gameplay of the originals. It's hard to play RE2 after it. The Resident Evil Remake is probably the best in the series though.
 

Mellahan

Concerned about dinosaur erection.
CV loses a few points for me due to shoddy development on behalf of Nextech and TOSE. The game has the potential to be downright broken at certain points and it doesn't feel as advanced as the technologically inferior BIO3.

In reality very few Capcom employees worked on CV, excluding the story writers at Flagship. I think it was just two Capcom employees, one being the director Hiroki Katoh. All the other BIO team staff were preoccupied with BIO1.9 and BIO3 at the time.

BIO3's original prologue sequence was pretty good too. Shame it was scrapped.

Dang. That's awesome.

Is there one site or wiki that chronicles all these unused/scrapped/beta/prototype Resident Evil things? I feel like a lot of this cool stuff is scattered across multiple sites.
 

News Bot

Banned
The game's story is probably my favorite in the series, even though most of it is in the background while the main narrative is the simple act of trying to escape.

It's one of those cases where the new writer just "gets it." It's the first title to really explore and expand the mythology, whereas BIO2 and CV were pretty isolated. On top of that, 3 expanded upon 2's story quite a bit and addressed most of the points that weren't explicitly brought up through the course of 2's main narrative.

Take the final area in the game for example with the dead soldiers and Tyrants. The amount of story surrounding that single segment is pretty stellar:

Q17. What was the U.S. Army doing at the Disposal Plant? Also, what was the reason for the Tyrants fighting against the U.S. troops there?

A17. It was a complete miss that they, the U.S. Army Special Forces, went out to the incineration disposal plant. There are Umbrella personnel within the U.S. government. However, among these types of people there are double agents on both sides and intelligence on the Umbrella side was leaked to the U.S. government. The Special Forces wiped out in the factory were dispatched for the purpose of seizing the newly developed "G-Virus" and to protect its developer, but went up the lift to the disposal plant far from the destination because there was no intelligence on the actual facility. (They invaded from the underground frieght train route). But at the same time, Umbrella had already caught the leak in intelligence and ordered that all remaining Tyrants be dropped at the disposal plant after one T was dropped on the police station. The consequence was that the Special Forces and Tyrants were lost in grand simultaneous attacks and the virus was recovered by the Umbrella Security Service, who gained total control of the laboratory in the meantime. In addition, the rail cannon the Special Forces brought in for use against "G Creatures" wasn't used during the surprise attack by the Tyrants.

The circumstances under which the U.B.C.S. was deployed into Raccoon City is very complicated. Their primary and most important objective was the successful recovery of the "G-Virus" samples that Dr. Birkin held. Umbrella's Chicago branch was slowly losing control over Dr. Birkin and was plotting an assassination to get rid of him. Dr. Birkin, who had already become distrustful of the corporation, figured that he would eventually be held responsible for the Spencer Mansion Incident (the plot of BIOHAZARD 1) that resulted in the leaking of sensitive research data. He expected that an elite team of agents would be sent into Raccoon City under the guise of hunting down Jill and Chris, with their real motive being to kill him and steal the G-Virus samples.

Preempting this assault, Dr. Birkin increased the amount of toxic waste generated by his research facility to such levels where it overwhelmed the waste treatment plant creating a state of biohazard. The biohazard conditions ended up unleashing the T-Virus zombifing the employees and researchers working within. The damage didn't stop there and the infection quickly spread throughout the city, transforming the place into an inhospitable zombie wasteland. Successfully holed up within this biohazard zone, Dr. Birkin negotiated with ranking officials within the United States government, requesting protection in exchange for providing the G-Virus and its research data.

The U.S. government, keen in acquiring Umbrella's top scientist and the research data for the latest B.O.W., quickly agreed to send in a team of U.S. special ops forces to extradite Dr. Birkin. Learning of this development, Umbrella airlifted six Tyrant B.O.W.s into the industrial area of the city (per scenes from BIO 2), where they fought with the U.S. special ops team. The special ops team waged a heavy battle, but was annihilated before they had a chance to use their anti-B.O.W. weapon, a rail gun called "Paracelsus' Sword". (The Tyrants were also annihilated, as you would know if you've played the final stage of BIO 3.)

In the event where the extradition mission failed, the U.S. military had plans in place to destroy the entirety of Raccoon City with a nuclear missile, but in an attempt to buy time Umbrella leaked video feeds of the U.B.C.S. operating within the city, promoting a "humane rescue mission" to the public. This tactic succeeded and while the entire U.B.C.S. team perished, enough valuable time was bought to allow Umbrella agents to successfully recover samples of the G-Virus before the city was destroyed.

The U.S. purchased biological weapons from Umbrella, but Umbrella was a troublesome presence for the U.S. government. Other countries besides the U.S. often purchased Umbrella's weapons too. It was also considered that they would become opponents of U.S. soldiers. Birkin is American but the U.S. government couldn't freely use his knowledge and skills because of his affiliation with Umbrella. Birkin demanded protection from the U.S. Rather than deliver all the research results he knew to the U.S. government, he demanded protective custody and the right to study in an American research institute.

A problem was that time was needed in order for the U.S. forces to rescue Birkin. Umbrella collaborators lay hidden in the U.S. government and the U.S. military. The unit was organized so they wouldn't know about it, and they had to be very careful to prepare equipment and storm in. Another problem was that the U.S. government had insufficient information on Umbrella's research facility. The Raccoon City laboratory had complicated pathways of entry for the sake of being a secret facility, and it took time to analyze it. Although they received information from Birkin to some extent, planning of the operation still ran into difficulties and since Umbrella's interference was expected, countermeasures against Bio Organic Weapons were necessary. On the other hand, Umbrella's Chicago branch felt a sense of danger as-well. They were aware of Birkin's disturbing behavior, and when he would betray them, there was no telling if he'd take all of his research results. In addition, showing the above-mentioned results he brought to an American research institute would be a serious problem to Umbrella. That liability was investigated from the head office. As for the people of the Chicago branch, nearly all are American but they don't prioritize the interests of the United States.

Birkin felt a sense of impending danger in the slow moving operation to rescue him. He thought of a way to buy time. In my opinion, the biohazard in the laboratory wasn't an accident. Birkin intentionally caused the biohazard. As mentioned above, the elite troops of Umbrella wouldn't be held back by the laboratory's defensive traps and security guards. In addition, it was also difficult to hold back the infiltration of spies. It was a matter of time before Birkin would be either abducted or assassinated. However, penetration of the research facility wouldn't be easy if it was blocked with a biohazard. If Raccoon City was contaminated, the intrusion route would further fade away. The U.S. military's Special Forces were organized between that borrowed time and carried out an infiltration mission. Umbrella also took action to prevent Birkin's defection to the U.S. government. The elite U.S.S. was dispatched from the head office and sent into Raccoon City at the Chicago branch's request. Then six Tyrants carried in by helicopter were deployed to support the operation's expansion. As a consequence, Birkin was assassinated by the U.S.S. It was a result of the differing accuracy of the U.S. military's information.

The U.S.S. was given detailed information on the secret facility and also had more combat experience with Bio Organic Weapons than the U.S. military's Special Forces. They were no match for Birkin infected with the G-Virus, but they were administered an advanced type of anti-viral drug and had the ability to eliminate Zombies without a problem. In the end, the U.S. government discovered that Birkin's rescue had failed and changed the objective. BIOHAZARD 3 is the story of its progress. When Birkin's rescue failed, the U.S. government feared that his research results would be recovered by Umbrella. If research results such as the G-Virus were brought to Umbrella, there was no telling what terrible weapons would be brought to enemies of the United States later on. Therefore, the U.S. hurried the execution of the "Sterilization Operation." The true purpose of that operation wasn't to prevent the spread of the virus. Raccoon City's setting was a city that existed in isolation within a Midwestern desert. Since it was surrounded by dry desert, there was no need to be nervous toward the virus spreading. It could be said that there was no danger to the extent that a new bomb had to be dropped and 100,000 victims had to be sacrificed. The U.S. government intended to prevent Umbrella taking Birkin's research results, in complete disregard of survivors. In my opinion.

All of this for a very, very tiny portion of the game that isn't even directly addressed. All in the background. While some may find this to be a bad thing, to me it's rather great. It helps the game keep a focused narrative, while the extra details can be found for those who seek them since they don't have any direct impact on the narrative.

Dang. That's awesome.

Is there one site or wiki that chronicles all these unused/scrapped/beta/prototype Resident Evil things? I feel like a lot of this cool stuff is scattered across multiple sites.

I'm rebuilding Project Umbrella at the moment and will have a much more dedicated beta section. Should be the end-all site for most things related to the series once I'm finished.
 

hohoXD123

Member
Resident Evil 3 was damn scary for me at the time. Nemesis was well done, the feeling of being hunted down by him was intense.
 

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
Honestly I thought the hook of RE3's plot was better than all of the other games. Having that one objective really worked well for the game's pacing and the tension felt palpable and direct. RE2 (and CV) is a bit more over the place due to its more robust elements. I guess what I mean is that I was engaged enough by RE3 to not be bothered by the thinner plot. I think what I generally prefer story wise in RE games are the files and the little character arcs which felt just as satisfying in 3. But I see your point as well.

And yeah, I was referring to the dodge system in particular. Having the dodge function meant that combat was a bit more robust and you could handle hordes of enemy attacks with more precision - it just made sense moving forward since the game progressively got more action oriented. It felt a bit weird how CV ditched it.

Fair enough, I can see your point plot wise. Like I said I absolutely loved the game but I have subconsciously amalgamated it with RE2, I see them as 2 halves of the same game.

As far as the dodge goes, I have never really thought about it but I suppose I didn't miss it all that much. I suppose it's probably because RE's combat was all about not letting the zombies get too close, and about being patient and inching forward until you got a useful camera angle to see whats about. Maybe the dodge move negated this somewhat? It did return to some extent in REmake tho with the defensive weapons, what a fantastic little addition they were.
 
I didn't like RE3, I like to take a methodical approach to my games and having Nemesis there really fucks up how I approached the RE games. I also really didn't care for Carlos and the vibe of the game just screamed "samey" compared to RE2.

CV is amazing and superior to 3 in every way and I will defend it to my last breath as a great RE title.
 

cvxfreak

Member
Nothing else in the series quite like this one. It's just unfortunate that the story established in this one has rarely been followed up upon (such as Nicholai) with the exception of one thing that was later revisited in RE5.
 
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