Cutting the Crust Off This Jill Sandwich

I love the original Resident Evil 3 game, but I find it hard to play old school PSX titles these days. Games have come so far since 1999. We have fully 3D environments that look fantastic; we have smooth camera control and full capture performance from actors. Going back to the tank controls and pre-rendered backgrounds of the original Resident Evil titles requires some serious effort and dedication, but I still do it occasionally.

However, I likely won’t anymore since Resident Evil 1 has been remastered a bunch of times and most of those are very serviceable. Resident Evil 2 got masterfully remade from the ground up last year, and now Resident Evil 3 has been given the same treatment. Why would I ever go back?

Okay, so maybe I won’t stop playing the originals but my point is that these remakes are so good and faithful to the originals in all the right places and if you haven’t ever played a Resident Evil game, then now is possibly the perfect time to jump on the train! Just hope this train doesn’t get attacked by Nemesis.

Jill looks amazing in her classic outfit!

Fair warning, there may be spoilers ahead so tread lightly or come back after you’ve played the game. We’re not going anywhere.

Resident Evil 3 Remake Review

The Story and Experience

So it’s been a few months since the S.T.A.R.S Alpha and Bravo teams were attacked and systematically wiped out in the Arklay mountains. Jill Valentine has barely slept and has an incurable obsession for exposing Umbrella as the evil shadowy bastards that they are. One day, Jill receives a phone call from her colleague, Brad, who tells her to get run because something is hunting down the last remaining S.T.A.R.S members. Before he can say more, none other than Nemesis comes crashing through the apartment wall and attacks Jill.

After a brief but terrifying tussle with Nemesis in the cramped corridors of her apartment building, Jill escapes and meets up with Brad. They’re both, very quickly, separated and Jill once again runs into Nemesis and crashes a car into him. Unphased by the assault, Nemesis stands up and is once again ready to kill Jill. Not if Carlos has anything to say about it. He heroically shows up and fires a rocket at the giant, relentless monster, and it appears to have worked… for now.

This is where the story catches up with the demo and where the game really begins.

Nemesis’ intro is as menacing as he is

Jill and the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service—U.B.C.S—must work together to reactivate the train which is housing survivors, and get it to safety. To do this, Jill must go up to street level and find the Station Control room. It’s difficult, however, as the streets are littered with danger. Around almost every corner there is at least one ravenous zombie ready to jump out and take a bite.

I never felt bored while playing as Jill but eventually I felt like I outgrew the undead streets of Raccoon City right around the time I plotted the route for the survivor train. A matter of minutes later, Jill was on said train and cruising away from the city and now I was controlling Carlos outside the RPD. I really enjoyed this segment. Seeing what the police station was like in the early hours of the outbreak was satisfying in a kind of creepy way. There are even a few notes and lines of dialogue from Carlos that comment on or reveal how certain things came to be inside the station.

The game switches between Jill and Carlos another time before finally settling on Jill for what I consider to be one of the better video game endings.

Capcom did a fantastic job keeping the story fresh and moving at just the right pace.

I really love this interior train shot

Gameplay

Compared to Resident Evil 2: Remake, RE3:R feels more fast-paced and action oriented. The zombies seem to take less damage and there seems to always be ammo lying around for Jill and Carlos to use. Jill’s segments seem to play a little slower and have more puzzle solving, whereas Carlos’ segments equip him with an assault rifle and plenty of ammo to mow down hordes of undead.

Nemesis is utterly horrifying when he’s chasing Jill but he doesn’t seem to show up all too often throughout a regular playthrough and his scripted segments quickly end as he becomes more of a boss fight than a cool chase mechanic. Not that his involvement in the game isn’t amazing. Every time he showed up on my screen I panicked and there was a complete disconnect between my brain and my fingers for a few seconds as I scrambled to come up with an escape plan on the spot.

The zombies are always a threat. There were times where I’d completely written them off as something I needed to care about but, as if aware of my thought process, a zombie would hide around the corner to prove me wrong. They seem to be able to grab Jill and Carlos much easier than they ever grabbed Leon and Claire. To combat this, Jill has a dodge mechanic, which is pretty useful. A few hours into the game, I had perfected the timing for the perfect dodge, which slows down time and lets you lock your aim on a zombie’s head. This became more than helpful on my subsequent harder playthroughs where ammo and health items are scarce.

The overall gameplay feels a lot like RE2:R with a few upgrades here and there.

I needed a change of underwear during this section

Difficulty

Weirdly, Normal and Hardcore modes felt really easy. I barely ran out of ammo or health items, I didn’t die once and Nemesis’ aggression didn’t seem to increase much either. In fact, Hardcore was such a good experience that I’d urge everyone familiar with 3rd person action games to start their first playthrough on this difficulty.

The real challenge comes from Nightmare and Inferno difficulties. On Nightmare the enemies, including Nemesis, are more aggressive and the game will add new enemies in areas which forces you to reassess your strategy. And if you’re feeling extra daring, then you can try to speedrun the game on these difficulties.

RE3:R is more accessible than RE2:R due to these extra difficulties. Gamers who just want to play through casually have Assisted, Normal and Hardcore to do so, and the gamers who need to test their skills and earn bragging rights can try their luck with Nightmare and Inferno.

My Resident Evil 3: Remake Platinum Trophy Experience

First up, I always like to do a blind playthrough of games like this so I can at least experience the story before I start to focus on collectibles and what not.

After my first playthrough (on Standard), I immediately played through it again on Hardcore while focusing on collectibles and trying not to use ANY health items.

There are 7 types of collectibles in RE3:R. 56 Files, 20 Charlies Dolls, 20 Locks and Safes, 10 Weapons, 10 Weapon upgrades, 6 Inventory Upgrades and 25 Key Items that are need to advance the story.

Most of these collectibles are easy to find and a lot of rooms will have more than one collectible. The Charlie Dolls are the collectibles that require some real searching. They can be perched high up on shelves, hidden behind boxes, out of bounds and in locked rooms.

Just some of the Charlie Dolls

After my Hardcore collectible run, I had unlocked Nightmare difficulty. I, again, immediately jumped back in and played though. This playthrough was plagued with many mistakes and hairy moments as I tried to acclimate to the new enemy locations and aggression. I died 10 times. Luckily dying doesn’t impact your final grade and since I was using this playthrough as a practise speedrun for my next playthrough, I managed to pull through with an S rank.

Exhausted after my Nightmare run, I had decided to take a breather before trying Inferno. Nightmare had me up against the wall for most of the playthrough and I needed to be calm before I tackled Inferno.

A few minutes later, I sat down and buckled in. Inferno was definitely worth its name, but I put what I learned from my Nightmare run into practise and managed to finish the game with an S rank and 0 deaths.

Beaming with pride and still full of adrenaline, I started my last playthrough. This time on Hardcore and my only goal was to finish the story without using the Item box. Once I managed this, the platinum would be mine!

I was overall satisfied with this platinum journey. It was intense, difficult and rewarding.

I wonder if they sell the infamous Jill Sandwich here?

That concludes my Resident Evil 3: Remake platinum trophy review. If you enjoyed reading this review, please do let us know, it means the world to us when we hear feedback and we love engaging with people over the game we just platted. It’s basically the only thing motivating us at the moment!

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