| Product: |
Resident Evil 3 - Nemesis (DC) |
| Date: |
16/03/06 (232 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: great gameplay, fantastic sound, very challenging and great graphics
Disadvantages: none! great game
Game title: Resident evil 3 Nemesis
Genre: survival horror/puzzle adventure
Publishers: Eidos
Rights too: Capcom
Certificate: 15
Resident evil 3 Nemesis, the third instalment of the franchise, though being the third instalment, the story line to this game has gone back on its self and is set before resident evil 2. Although this may sound confusing, I will now explain why, with a little history lesson, as to the goings on in a little Midwestern town, called Raccoon city.
History:
So it all began in the outskirts of Raccoon city, in Raccoon Forest near the Arkley Mountains. Strange reports of bizarre attacks were being reported around the Arkley mountain area, vicious attacks were reported of dog like creatures, also bizarre murders started to accrue in and around the city, the victims were apparently attacked by groups of about ten people, they were apparently eaten!
The sightings were more frequent around a mansion, located deep within Raccoon forest. The R.P.D (Raccoon city police department) decided to investigate the cannibal murders further, and sent out there S.T.A.R.S. (special tactics and rescue service) bravo team, to investigate the mansion. Not long after there departure, contact was lost with bravo team, R.P.D sent out there S.T.A.R.S alpha team to investigate the mansion and to find bravo team.
On touch down the alpha team were in a violent situation involving vicious dog like creatures, Chris Redfield, Barry Burton, Albert Wesker and Jill Valentine ran and took shelter in the nearby mansion.
From the minute they started to investigate they could sense something was not right, they found one of the fallen, bravo team members, Kenneth, and the shocking thing was that he was being eaten, by a shifty, not quite right looking person. They later found out that this mansion was the reason to all the bizarre murders and sightings; it was really a cover up for a secret underground laboratory, set up by a pharmaceutical company calling themselves umbrella. The bravo team and most of the alpha team were killed in action due to umbrellas bio experiments running lose around the mansion. The cause of the zombie like creatures, was later discovered that a chemical leak in the lab (the T-virus to be precise) which in turn, transformed them into the walking dead and hungry for fresh meat. There were only a handful of survivors, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, Barry Burton and Albert Wesker.
They later discovered that there captain, Albert Wesker, was working with umbrella all along, the mansion was like a field test and the S.T.A.R.S team were set up, Wesker later reviled to them umbrellas ultimate creation, the tyrant. Wesker then proceeded to release the tyrant on the team, though his plan back fired, and the tyrant killed Wesker first, before turning its attention to the team.
The tyrant was stopped with the help of two other survivors from the bravo team, Rebecca chambers and brad Vickers, the mansion was destroyed, and the case was apparently closed, due to lack of evidence. Three months later, the bizarre cannibal murders started to happen again, only this time, in Raccoon city itself. The entire city was now the walking dead, the city in ruins, the R.P.D destroyed and the S.T.A.R.S team in hiding accept for one member, Jill Valentine.
Story line: Now the story kicks in for the third instalment, with the city in ruins and the threat of the city being nuked at daybreak, Jill Valentine must now escape the city, before it's too late. But with new threats to stop her achieving this goal, it wont be easy, umbrella have found out that Jill Valentine is still in the city and have sent out a stalker known as the nemesis project, a new, more intelligent bio weapon, to neutralise Jill, and stop her spreading the information on umbrella. With no police force, and no means of escape, Jill must fight to stay amongst the living.
Controls: for anyone who has played the first two games, the controls are virtually the same, they are easy to get the hang of, but for this game, there are a couple of new actions that Jill can do. The most helpful one would be the new dodge system, with a rightly timed press of either the R1 or R2 button, you can evade most attacks from your enemies, another way this action works, is the new shove action, in the previous games, the shove action was only executed after a successful attack from an enemy, now you can shove your enemy to the ground, thus saving your ammo. Another helpful action is the quick 180 degree turn; this can be help full when you are surrounded by enemies. The simple combination of the down directional button and the square button while aiming will swing you round 180 degrees quicker, than dropping your aim and turning round. The last but by far not the least, is the attack objects system, this action allows you to blow up certain objects, i.e. barrels, drums, etc. these objects can be used to attack your enemies, simply press the R2 button to locate the target object, and fire, a useful action for crowds of enemies. I'm not sure if this can be called an action, but it is a new feature in resident evil 3. The new making your own ammo system. This can be handy, but only if you can find the gun powder to make it with. It will allow you to mix the gunpowder with the reload tool, thus giving you more ammo. Apparently the more ammo you make, you skill improves, thus enabling you to make more rare, powerful ammo.
The characters: Resident evil 3 stars Jill Valentine, (gamers familiar with resident evil, will remember Jill Valentine from the first game) one of the survivors from the mansion incident. She is now on a mission to escape the city, before it is literally wiped of the map. Another character that you will control is Carlos Oliveira, Carlos is one of umbrellas U.B.C.S (umbrella biohazard countermeasure service) Carlos was sent into the city by umbrella to search and rescue any survivors, left in the city. Though umbrella is the cause for the outbreak on the city, Carlos and his team were sent in as an apparent cover up, to take the heat of umbrella, it was later reviled that umbrella's U.B.C.S were also sent in as data collectors, these selected people had the objective of collecting data on umbrella's creations, running lose in the city.
On the subject of data collection, another character called Nicholai Ginovaef. Nicholai was one of the selected data collectors although, his motives differed from umbrellas plans. Nicholai decided that the money was good for this mission, but it could be better, he decided to kill of the other data collectors and steel there data for his own uses, after all, if he was the only one with the data that umbrella wanted, they would pay a very high price for that data. Another character that makes a return, is brad Vickers, the chopper pilot from the mansion incident, known as 'chicken heart ' to his friends, Vickers was the sort of person that saves his own hind when faced with danger, thus giving hi, his nickname. Brad's escape plan was cut short by the stalker, known as nemesis, sent by umbrella to neutralise the remaining S.T.A.R.S. members. His life was ended, right in front of his partner, Jill Valentine.
Nemesis: I felt that the nemesis deserved its own explanation section, as a key part of resident evil 3, without the nemesis I believe this game would not be. The nemesis T-type or pursuer, became apparent when umbrella decided that the previous tyrant models had a defect in the programming that umbrella had to make right, the inability to control the previous tyrants and its inability to seek out and neutralise pacific targets, alerted them that improvements needed to be made. The bio weapons researches came up with the nemesis virus, this virus gave umbrella the power to control the tyrant, and to give it orders it could follow faithfully and precisely. The intelligence of the new tyrant model was increased to an unexpected level; the nemesis could now stalk and destroy pacific targets and could now use complex weapons in its pursuit. The nemesis was deployed to Raccoon city, with the targets being the R.P.D, S.T.A.R.S team, there knowledge of the mansion incident would be crippling to umbrella, there information must not leave Raccoon city. The nemesis was also despatched with a rocket launcher, with the new ability to use complex weapons, the threat was greater than before.
The creepy thing about the nemesis in the game, is its one word vocabulary, the nemesis growls "STARS" at you before it attacks, also the change in music is a big give away. The nemesis is a relentless pursuer, the option to fight or run is yours, if you fight you are rewarded, but it takes precious time and ammo. To run away from the nemesis is just as frightening, the nemesis can go through doors and the scary factor is it can run! Extremely fast! You will eventually lose it after running trough 3 to 4 doors, your first encounter of the nemesis chasing you, will have your heart pounding!
The nemesis will relentlessly stalk you through the entire game, seeking to destroy its target, later on you will severely damage the nemesis but, it only gets stronger. The nemesis has the ability to regenerate, thus later on giving it more tentacles, the tentacles also get longer, so the nemesis is an even more formidable foe, even at a fair distance. Believe me when I tell you that the nemesis will have even the most experienced gamers, hearts pounding in panic!
Enemies: there are many new and old enemies to be afraid of in resident evil 3. the classic zombies make there return, these zombie like creatures are the once, human citizens of Raccoon city. Infected by the T-virus outbreak, they are now the walking dead! And they are hungry for flesh to feast on, in the previous games they were slow and annoying and limited to were they could go, but in this one they can now pursue you down stair's and through doors, also they are a lot faster than the previous games, making them still, a formidable foe.
Another return are the infected dogs, these dogs cannot be shifted with a few soppy words and a stick! They have been infected with the T-virus, making them very aggressive. They are hard to defeat as they tend to jump at you, making them hard to target, also they tend to attack in packs.
The last return is the vicious hunter, the hunter made its first appearance in the first game, the hunter is one of the bio weapons that was created by umbrella in there labs. The hunter was a successful creation and could follow simple orders, the hunters are very hard to kill as they don't stay still for very long, they will jump up and attempt to severe your head.
Environment: the game is set in Raccoon city, and there is a lot for you to explore. The city is practically destroyed, the environment is full of crashed cars, abandoned businesses and plenty of dark, grotesque places, the way Capcom have set out the characters view, gives an enclosed, claustrophobic feel to the environment, the way you can only hear what's around the next corner and not see it, keeps the chills and thrills coming thick and fast to the very end. The nearly complete darkness of the environment also, is a key factor to the way the game is played. The not quite sure what to expect next feel to the environment, is original to resident evil, because of all the back tracking you have to do to make progress, you will start to appreciate the environment you are in, the background is lush and has a lot going on in it, you cant help but look, I guaranty that you will spot things, like dead and mutilated bodies within the background that you didn't notice first.
Sound: the sound is absolutely amazing for this game; the background sound effects will catch your ears first. When you're exploring the streets, stop and listen for the moans of the zombies in the background, which is layered over with the sound of a chilling wind sound effect. Not only is the music a great edition to the feel of the game, it also can help you out. When a sudden attack happens the music will change to a fast beat, stabbing of violins. Telling you to get the hell out of there! Another dead give away is the way the music changes when the nemesis attacks, it will change to a fast, almost dark, type tune, you will eventually come to recognise this music and can prepare for the nemesis. The last thing I have noticed is the music in the save rooms. Because no enemies can access the save rooms, the music changes to a light, melodic tune, giving you the impression you are safe from the monsters on the street. All these will add some emotion to the game, it will either calm you down or have panicking, there for I do believe the music gives you the impression you are there, amongst the mayhem.
Game play: If you have never played any of the first resident evil games, the controls will be a bit strange at first; they are easy to pick up though just read the booklet that comes with the game. I felt that the entire game was exceptional from start to finish. The chills and thrills come thick and fast, unexpected things will happen all of a sudden that will have you jumping out of your skin. The game is quite long so it will keep you busy for a while, the story does unfold slowly, which I think adds to the suspense, not forgetting the almighty nemesis, prepare to panic and run when the music suddenly changes, the nemesis will relentlessly chase through the entire game, the great thing about this is that he could pop up anywhere, just when your not expecting it. The puzzle are also another great aspect of the game play, they are challenging and get you using your brain, not just for working out the puzzles, but finding the clues to help you with them as well. All these aspects will have you on the edge of your seat and your heart pounding with suspense, so be prepared for a roller coaster ride of thrills, like no other.
Graphics: the graphics in this game are slick and have come far from the first game. The in game graphics are a bit blocky but compared to the first game, Capcom have used every inch of the Play stations power. The F.M.V sequences are very realistic in this one, and the animation moves smoothly and freely, I would say the helicopter F.M.V is my favourite, it will annoy you but please you at the same time, just when you think you have done it and have an escape helicopter, the nemesis appears! I wont spoil it for you but do give it a watch, I am sure you will be shouting 'NO!' at the TV screen.
How long will it last: resident evil 3 will keep you busy for quite a while, it took me about a month to fully complete it, including unlocking all the extras and all difficulty settings. As for the length of the game you are rewarded with extras and I'm sure you will play it again and again to get the top ranking, your ranking system is based on your time of completion and your number of saves, you are ranked from G to A but there is also an S grade for only the best and quickest players.
Extras and unlock able: for your efforts, you are awarded with many extras, the main one being the Mercenary's mini game. This mini game stars the U.B.C.S from the main adventure, with a new mission. You have to choose a player and get to a certain destination within a set time limit, the only problem is, is that you have a bomb attached to you and it will kill you if you don't make it. You can earn extra time by killing enemies and saving survivors, when you reach your destination you will be awarded with money, to spend on special weapons and infinite ammo for Jill for the main adventure. The other extra is only for the brave, the epilogues are unlockable files of all the characters and what they did after the previous games. To get them all depends on your grade at the end of the game, the better your grade the more files you get, but they are only obtainable if the game is played on hard mode.
Where to find: I got my copy from my local second-hand game store; I got it for about £5. But I'm sure you could pick it up cheaper now, I've seen it for as little as £2. As for brand new I'm not sure but as it's a rare and collectible game now, it could cost a bit brand new. You could try Ebay or game, I'm sure they would have it.
Well I hope this helps, if I missed anything check out these links for additional information
www.ebay.com
www.game.co.uk
www.capcom.com
ww w.eidos.com
www.residentevil.com
Thanks for the read, I guaranty you will definitely enjoy resident evil 3 nemesis
G-virus
Summary: over all a excellent game, no faults!
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