Hiya!

I’m honestly amazed there isn’t some negative press that Capcom is pushing through with their release of Resident Evil 3 Remake. Considering the situation now about this global pandemic, releasing a game that’s all about a virus that turns the population into the living dead, I was expecting some doofuses to say it’s in poor taste to put this kind of game on the market during this trying time. You know there’s going to be someone in the world who’s butthurt about it.

Capcom is still going with bringing out Resident Evil 3 Remake to gamers in just a couple of weeks. I’m especially hyped for it because I positively loved the Resident Evil 2 Remake! When I learned they had a demo for Resident Evil 3 Remake, well, I just had to play it! I do find it hilarious that Capcom put out a trailer to inform everyone about the demo, though. I appreciate the thought, though.

The Demo itself is very brief. You can finish it in just around 30 minutes or so. I know I did during my first playthrough. However, I did get a good feel of what the game has to offer by playing it. While I did like it overall, there are some things I didn’t like or, more precisely, I need to get used to.

First off, somehow, Capcom managed to make a game that looks much better than Resident Evil 2 Remake. It’s kind of hard to explain but it just does. Resident Evil 2 Remake’s character models already looked stunning and even realistic without breaking the fourth wall but Resident Evil 3 Remake’s demo makes Resident Evil 2 Remake look dull by comparison. I guess it boils down to 2 factors: the art style and how they designed the character models.

In Resident Evil 2 Remake, things do look rather drab because of the locations Leon and Claire explore. You walk around a museum that was converted into a police station, a sewer and a laboratory. The areas look phenomenal but definitely not really exciting to look at. In the Resident Evil 3 Remake Demo, you take control of Jill Valentine and explore a tiny portion of Racoon City in disrepair. However, being a city setting, the areas are much more colorful. There are many neon signs and out of control fires that illuminate the areas. There are even poster ads which hint at older Capcom games. It looks more like an area that’s been really lived in… before the zombie apocalypse happened.

Somehow, Capcom managed to squeeze out some more graphical power from the engine they used in their other Remake game. The character models look much better but I can’t really figure out why they look better. I have to praise how they designed Jill Valentine as, although she looks incredibly pretty, she doesn’t have that unrealistic model look other games with female leads have. She does look like she can be a cop and not an actress.

There are still some graphical issues, however. I can’t say they were lazy but the zombie models look exactly like the ones from Resident Evil 2 Remake. Not that I’m really complaining and I do realize that you can only do so much with “disheveled shambling zombie” models. It’s just disappointing that they didn’t even adjust the clothing or swap the faces on some of them. I guess they had that one zombie with a hat you can shoot off but that’s not really saying much.

Of course, when you talk about Resident Evil 3 Remake, you do have to talk about Nemesis, the new hulking creature that stalks you all over Racoon City. Sorry to say but I don’t like it. It’s not a bad character design and they do a lot of neat things, like having his mouth all distorted so you see his teeth all the time. Also, is it just me or is he wearing trash bags instead of a trench coat? I know it’s just me but it looks dumb. Horrifying… but dumb.

Most of the gameplay elements from Resident Evil 2 Remake do carry over to this game but with some changes here and there. Some of them I like, others I don’t.

The biggest change is Jill has the ability to dodge attacks. By pressing the Quick Step button, you can have her shuffle in a direction like a quick side step. This is probably going to be one of the most important things you will have to get used to if you want to get far in Resident Evil 3 Remake and I’ll explain why in a bit. Anyway, it can be difficult to figure out when to actually dodge as there isn’t really a telltale sign the demo tells you when to dodge. The reward for dodging an attack perfectly is very high, though. When properly done, you get into this little slowdown mode and you can quickly do a more powerful attack with your knife or rapid fire baddies with your guns.

More often than not, however, I was still grabbed by incoming zombies whenever I tried to use the Quick Step to avoid attacks from both regular zombies and Nemesis. Thankfully, there are much better gamers out there in the world that have figured out how to properly use the Quick Step to do the perfect dodge consistently in the demo but it’s not a reassurance that the timing won’t change when the game is actually released. Even so, I can see some speedrunners just using the Quick Step to blast through areas without taking any damage in the future!

Now, because of the new Quick Step mechanic, Capcom did have to take away another mechanic to force players to use and get better at using it. What they removed are the secondary weapon system from Resident Evil 2 Remake. In the previous game, secondary weapons were basically consumable armaments your character carries with you. You can use them like a regular weapon but they can also be used to escape from a zombie’s grasp before getting bitten.

Now, removing the secondary weapon system means you can’t play it like Resident Evil 2 Remake for several reasons. For one, there isn’t a separate quick weapons menu for things like grenades or knives anymore. You’ll have to manage your arms in the same 4-way menu. This means that you’ll have to frequently change the loadout on the quick weapons menu now since, not only will you have to make sure you have your guns at the ready, you’ll have to also make sure that you have things like flashbangs and your combat knife in the same menu. Yes, it’s nice that the combat knife doesn’t break anymore but I would’ve preferred it to not occupy a slot that should be reserved for guns. I do understand why they did it, though. They needed gamers to feel more in danger when grabbed since there isn’t a quick escape anymore. I just don’t like it.

The Resident Evil 3 Remake Demo also gives you a taste of environmental attacks. You can shoot a red barrel and it’ll explode, taking out anything around it, including Jill if you’re too close to it. You can also shoot electrical generators to send electricity on the floor to cause zombies and even Nemesis to freeze for a moment. These are going to definitely be useful in the final game since it does seem there are more zombies running around this time and Nemesis seems to be much more formidable than Mr. X.

Nemesis already looks like he’s going to be a huge pain in the neck based on the demo. He’s really fast and can catch up to you by either running after you or jumping in front of you! He also can shoot a tentacle at you and drag Jill towards him if he doesn’t feel like running or jumping. Oddly enough, Nemesis is much easier to dodge than regular zombies when up close because of the wind up before his attacks. Still, I got hit by his attacks more times than I dodged them. I just realized that the trailers actually show Nemesis carry his own set of weapons… oh no.

I really enjoyed my quick romp through Racoon City in Resident Evil 3 Demo. Sadly, after playing it, my excitement did drop for the full game as, basically, it does feel like Capcom made it much more difficult than it needed to be, especially when I got so used to the secondary weapon system. Still, my expectations are still very high that the full game will be fantastic.

Byee!

Have you played the Resident Evil 3 Remake Demo? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments section below!