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Why does Resident Evil 3 get so little love?

F

Fancy Clown

Member
resident-evil-3-logo.jpg

I came very LTTP on the classic Resident Evil games (I beat 2&3 for the first time only about 6 months ago) and fell in love with them. I can clearly see why Resident Evil 2 is the fan favorite, as I too in general prefer it over 3. 2 is simply more memorable and better paced, and at the time could see people being slightly disappointed with 3 when the flashier looking CV was coming out as well. However, when judged on its own terms I think 3 is a fantastic game. I really don't understand how some could rank 2 so highly but at the same time say 3 was so-so.

tumblr_lx0ixajTsA1qcq2vho1_500.gif


Here are some of the reasons why 3 is a great Resident Evil:

3 is probably one of the scariest of the Resident Evil games. Nemesis, the grimy urban environment, and the scary ass music all combine to make a meaner, darker Resident Evil than 2. While the jump scares aren't nearly as memorable as 2's are--well, apart from this one:

tumblr_mkg0mijhwP1rhbn4mo1_500.gif


--they are plentiful and add that extra layer of tension and unease while traversing the city.


While I love the confined nature of 2's setting in the police station, one of my favorite parts of the game was the opening moments where you run through the ghostly, apocalyptic Raccoon City. 3 takes this moment, and expands on it. While the level design of 3 works essentially the same way as 2 (gives you an overwhelming amount options of where to go, but cleverly guides you by locking things off), it works on a bigger scale and takes you to huge array of interesting locations (including a cool trip back to the RPD).
resi3_006-large.jpg

resident-evil-3-gamecube.jpg
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So many awesome environments!

In terms of gameplay, sure its a little more action packed, but its still tense as hell. The additions of quick turning and dodging make the controls a little more fluid, and there are some freaky new enemy types to fight, like those freaking bugs:

image2.gif


I also thought that the puzzles are a lot better than the rather brainless ones found in 2.

So while 3 isn't my personal favorite of the Resident Evils (2&4 hold the top spots in my book, although I just started REmake for the first time and it's already crazy good), I do think its certainly quality enough to be one of the better Resident Evil titles.
 
M

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
Brilliant game, but not as good as RE2 or RE CV (which is the real RE3 imo). I think if it didn't have a number at the end of it's title it would be considered one of the best side stories in gaming.
 
I

Into

Member
Disagree that it is scarier than the other two. By RE3 time we had already seen and gotten used to the tricks that Capcom employs in this series. You are a Rambo babe with a night club skirt and a big enough arsenal to destroy Arnold Schwarzenegger

A farcry from the more intimate, desolate and more haunting experience of the original RE.


The reason RE3 gets little love, is because its not really RE3. Sony pushed Capcom to name this RE3 so that the RE game on the Dreamcast would seem like a spin off or offshoot.

RE3 is almost like a expansion pack, where RE1 introduced the series and RE2 progressed the story, RE"3" seemed like a side adventure. It has that feel of being rather insignificant, something they shat out just because the series was popular, like Gears of War Judgement, latter Onimusha games on the PS2, God of War Ascension and tons of games that came later in a given generation and just did not feel all that important or special
 
T

Timeaisis

Member
Yeah, I think it's over looked because of CV and the popularity of 2.

3 was the scariest for me because of Nemesis. Getting chased by a hulking monster scares the shit out of me. Especially when he could be coming to get your at any time. I wish more games went with that design. It's so tense.
 
V

Vyse The Legend

Member
REmake is the factually best old-school RE. So, you're in for a treat OP.

RE3 is excellent, though... except for Carlos. He was terribad. RE3 also gave us the first Mercs mode.
 
F

friskykillface

Banned
I loved it, nemesis had me shook since i didn't play Claire's disc in RE2 so it was the first RE for me that had someone constantly popping up, dat nemi

plus the mercenaries game was pretty fun
 
V

Vamphuntr

Member
I enjoyed it back then when I played it. I like that on new playthrough you can experience new stuff by choosing different options. I didn't think the Nemesis was super scary all the way through. Once you realize you can always run for it or cheese him with freeze rounds it's much less tense. It also probably has the most boring final boss fight of all mainline RE games.

What I find very funny in the game is that the streets of Racoon City are mostly alleyways with locked doors at their end.
 
S

sotodefonk

Member
yeah resident evil 3 is an excelent game, i liked it more than 2. I loved the tension that nemesis created. I really never played RE1, and played RE2 because a friend told me to.
 
D

DidntKnowJack

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.
 
B

big_z

Member
I never played 3, have it on pc but the port was awful and I could never play it.

wouldn't mind if nintedo funded a re2/3 remake for the wiiu. Re1/0 were fantastic
 
Neff

Neff

Member
Because the design, puzzles, enemies, story and cast weren't as interesting or novel as 1 and 2. And then Code Veronica came along and hugely superseded it.

The boosted moveset and impressive number of zombies on-screen are definitely a plus for the game, though.
 
M

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
badcrumble said:
News Bot needs to come in here and correct this shit.
Click to expand...

Tbf I added imo, I know that whole situation is quite complex. It's very hard not to see it as a side story to RE2, not that I see that as a bad thing. I still absolutely loved it.

Fancy Clown said:
I'm not that far, but it's already amazing. The atmosphere is incredible and there are a bunch of really clever scares worked into the design (the mirror hallway being a great example).
Click to expand...

I genuinely envy you. As far as games that I would kill to experience for the first time again; REmake is up there with TLOU and Kotor
 
P

Pallad1um

Member
Probably because despite being a good game, it really wasn't better than the predecessors. The setting being Racoon City again doesn't help, despite being another angle of that story. Nemesis, probably the most memorable thing about that game, wasn't really all that new, because of that similar boss (Mr. X, wasn't it?) that was introduced in RE2.

Personally I love it, and until Resident Evil 4 came out, this was my most played Resident Evil game. I really liked the fact that we could create the ammunition. And the Mercenaries game was already pretty good.
 
B

badcrumble

Member
RE3's a brilliant game, not as sprawling as RE2 by any means but very replayable because of the massive scenario variation that can take place. The Mercenaries was a huge addition and a much better way to unlock superweapons than the no-save no-spray speed runs ever were. The dodging and quick turn are great and necessary.

RE3's main problem is that it was too hard, so they added a totally kneecapped "Easy" difficulty that was also the default (so it's the way most people played it). Easy difficulty gives you basically every single weapon in the game right from the start and a shitload of ammunition for them and makes the entire game an unchallenging joke.

Much, much better actual game design and atmosphere than the much more J-cheesy/melodramatic Code: Veronica, though. Raccoon City was such a great setting (and it's a bummer that your very very brief visit to the police station made people feel like it retreaded territory from RE2 when only about 5% of the game is overlapping material).
 
L

liquidtmd

Banned
As someone who was 16 when RE2 was released, Ive got to say I was a bit disappointed when RE3 hit. It felt like a slightly cheaper less comphensive sequel. In a bizarre way it felt like the Alien3 to my Aliens but Ive since disregarded that thought as its aged well and judged on its own merits I see it as the leanest, most refined of the original PS trilogy (not including the GC REmake of 1)

(note: some may say Alien3 aged better than release too but I know what I mean in my head :)
 
Majmun

Majmun

Member
Amazing game. Finished it more than 10 times. Even did a no first aid-kit run. Eventually unlocked everything in the game.
 
B

Baron Aloha

A Shining Example
I think the biggest reasons are the fact that you can only play as 1 character and it didn't really advance the story all that much since it happens before/during/after the events of RE2 so it really felt like a side story instead of a full sequel.

Also, Code Veronica was released a few months later and it was superior and it felt like the real RE3.

But I do agree that it was the scariest RE.
 
M

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
badcrumble said:
RE3's main problem is that it was too hard, so they added a totally kneecapped "Easy" difficulty that was also the default (so it's the way most people played it). Easy difficulty gives you basically every single weapon in the game right from the start and a shitload of ammunition for them and makes the entire game an unchallenging joke.
Click to expand...

Is this the general consensus? I don't remember being any more or less difficult than RE2
 
C

Captain_Spanky

Member
Absolutely, by far, my favorite RE. I mean don't get me wrong 2 is "better", but 3 is the one that makes me feel utter despair and horror, but still b-movie charming. Nemesis is a fucking brilliant creation, the dynamic chases, the branches, the false hopes, the ruined escapes, the whole game is so focused on creating an experience of terror and a feeling of being hunted, relentlessly, by a horror that is strong, fast and smart. And it's brilliant for it. It's totally a side game, and lacks the sweep of the other mainline RE games, but for me the intimate story of Jill Valentine against a relentless predator just works.

Oh and it had the first iteration of Mercenaries mode, so there's that too. Man I need to replay RE3
 
B

badcrumble

Member
I've said this many times before, but I'd love to see a RE2/3Make that did RE3 Day 1, RE2 Scenario A, RE2 Scenario B, RE3 Day 2, and The 4th Survivor with much more integration between all of them, a massive massive Mercs mode, and so on.
 
B

BeEatNU

WORLDSTAAAAAAR
Definitely one of my favorites, I was genuinely scared since Nemesis was chasing you throughout the game getting stronger and stronger. There was even essentials for actually taking him down too. If anything I wish they remade this one.
 
T

TheFLYINGManga_Ka

Member
I was always afraid of playing this because of the frustrations I'll be dealing with running away from Nemesis.

I hate gameplay like that when you can't kill something and you're constantly on the run.
 
F

Fancy Clown

Member
liquidtmd said:
As someone who was 16 when RE2 was released, Ive got to say I was a bit disappointed when RE3 hit. It felt like a slightly cheaper less comphensive sequel. In a bizarre way it felt like the Alien3 to my Aliens but Ive since disregarded that thought as its aged well and judged on its own merits I see it as the leanest, most refined of the original PS trilogy (not including the GC REmake of 1)

(note: some may say Alien3 aged better than release too but I know what I mean in my head :)
Click to expand...

I think a more accurate movie series analogy might be Romero's dead trilogy.

Resident Evil = Night of the Living Dead. Spooky, sparse, confined.
Resident Evil 2 = Dawn of the Dead. Hugely expanded sequel. Still mostly confined to one area but its scope is much larger.
Resident Evil 3 = Day of the Dead. Lean, mean, and dark. Also the most underrated of their respective trilogies, even if they may not be the best.
 
A

Arklite

Member
This was the game that got me into survival horror way back. My copy came with a Dino Crisis demo disc as well, which I quickly picked up afterwards. I've since played all of the main RE entries and none of them match the horror of Nemesis chasing you through several claustrophobic rooms for the first time, except for maybe the explosive laden Forest in REmake.
 
B

badcrumble

Member
Markitron said:
Is this the general consensus? I don't remember being any more or less difficult than RE2
Click to expand...

It's generally tougher (largely because of the huge number of potential boss fights compared to the rest of the series), but with the option to run from fights, of course.
 
F

Fancy Clown

Member
Markitron said:
I genuinely envy you. As far as games that I would kill to experience for the first time again; REmake is up there with TLOU and Kotor
Click to expand...

It's even better because this is a game I've pretty much been dying to play since it first came out, but I just never had the opportunity/right console. And then yesterday I was like, "oh wait, I can run Dolphin on my laptop". So my date with this game was 12 years in the making.
 
K

kuYuri

Member
RE3 introduced so many new things to the franchise, it's a shame Code Veronica took away alot of the things introduced in RE3.

Some of the things RE3 had:

- Nemesis
- Interactive elements in the background (exploding barrels, pipe valves that could be shot, etc).
- Multiple choices or paths that have an effect on the story or where you go in the game, more or less expanding on the ideas introduced in RE2.
- Gunpowder mixing mechanic to produce ammo.
- Dodge mechanic
- Mercenaries mode, which became a mainstay in the series.
- Random item/monster placements and some random puzzle solutions.
- Streamlined going up and down stairs.
- Quick 180 degree turn.


While there were reused assets and environments, there are also plenty of new areas (Raccoon Park, Clocktower, etc).
 
S

Seik

Banned
Nemesis fucking gave me nightmares for week because I was a kid when it came out, yet I was still playing it in the dark late at night.

Fuck ESRB.

Kind of a love/hate relationship, Nemesis can still make me jump my shit because I just went through the game once, so I don't remember all of his spots.

I prefer RE2 because it introduced Racoon City first, RE3 felt like an expansion at some point, especially to my young eyes from back then, so RE2 kept the top place.
 
M

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
badcrumble said:
It's generally tougher (largely because of the huge number of potential boss fights compared to the rest of the series), but with the option to run from fights, of course.
Click to expand...

Now that I think about it, back in the day a friend did tell me to run from Nemesis and not waste ammo on him. That's probably why.

Fancy Clown said:
It's even better because this is a game I've pretty much been dying to play since it first came out, but I just never had the opportunity/right console. And then yesterday I was like, "oh wait, I can run Dolphin on my laptop". So my date with this game was 12 years in the making.
Click to expand...

Since you missed REmake, have you played Eternal Darkness?
 
P

pompidu

Member
I wish more games like resident ev 1, 2, 3 were made. Great atmosphere, the sense of dread and not knowing wtf is going on. Being confined and try to make your way through the world. If the mechanics were better I would go back and keep playing them since noone is making games like that anymore.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Putting aside the gameplay merits:

2 was a hugely important game for Playstation, while 3 was very much a "me too" game at a time when the series started to churn out titles.

It's like Cool Boarders 2 vs 3. Everyone knows 2 was so much more important. Everyone. Everyone.
 
F

Fancy Clown

Member
Markitron said:
Since you missed REmake, have you played Eternal Darkness?
Click to expand...

Nope! That's another on my list of games I've always wanted to play. The only Nintendo console I've owned is a GBA, so I'm gonna have to play catch up with Dolphin.

BocoDragon said:
Putting aside the gameplay merits:

2 was a hugely important game for Playstation, while 3 was very much a "me too" game at a time when the series started to churn out titles.

It's like Cool Boarders 2 vs 3. Everyone knows 2 was so much more important. Everyone. Everyone.
Click to expand...

While 1&2 undoubtably have the more important place in history, if you ditch the context I think Resident Evil 3 stands quite well as a great game in its own right.
 
M

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
If you like horror games ED is absolute must-play. It's Lovecraft to RE's Romero
 
F

Fancy Clown

Member
I'll be sure to play it then! I'm a huge horror fan, but I only really got into horror games this past year or two, surprisingly.
 
Green Wiggly

Green Wiggly

Member
Fancy Clown said:
I think a more accurate movie series analogy might be Romero's dead trilogy.

Resident Evil = Night of the Living Dead. Spooky, sparse, confined.
Resident Evil 2 = Dawn of the Dead. Hugely expanded sequel. Still mostly confined to one area but its scope is much larger.
Resident Evil 3 = Day of the Dead. Lean, mean, and dark. Also the most underrated of their respective trilogies, even if they may not be the best.
Click to expand...

That feels pretty much spot on.

I was a big RE fan when 3 came out. A friend of mine bought it before I did, and watching him play really soured me on it. Of course, he was trying to take on Nemesis head on, and it didn't occur to me that that was the wrong way to play.

It wasn't roughly a decade later that I picked it up on PSN to complete my collection, and I now regard it as the best of the classic games. The first will always be my favorite because of what an amazingly different experience it was moving from 16-bit 2D games to something so immersive, but RE3 is absolutely outstanding.
 
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