Resident Evil: Nemisis

If there's one thing in life I love above all else, it's a legion of zombies ripe for slaughter. It seem there are never enough zombies out there just begging to be shredded. The problem with zombies is they always bring their demonic pals. Time and again my massacre of the undead is thwarted by enormous lumbering hulks who seem to have a full plate of armor underneath their rotting flesh, able to shrug off bullets and grenades like they're made of candy.

Resident Evil 3 is no different in this respect. I suppose every game needs a villain that you don't just fight, you outsmart, but I was hoping for more. Why doesn't anyone ever make a game where the struggle for survival is demonic enough? Why do we continually have these trite boss battles that test our reflexes instead of an excellent story line that tests our soul? I'll tell you why: bad voice actors. Capcom can spend millions in making the game pretty, but comes up a little short in making the game good. So what we get instead is a predictable story, giant monsters with rocket launchers, and predictable puzzles.

Don't think for a second I don't like the game, the Dreamcast version is a blast. I've always been a fan of the Resident Evil series, I've just always hoped for a bit more. The same old thing will do fine for now, because no other game seems to rival the sense of impending danger this game delivers. At about twenty bucks what horror fan could resist?

The third in the Resident Evil series takes place about midway through the second; Raccoon City is infested with beasts of all shapes and sizes, and they're all hungry. Your job as Jill Valintine, zombie killer extraordinaire, is to make it out alive. You're not without help either, soon enough you'll run into some mercenaries from Umbrella who are more than willing to lend a helping hand in the fight for survival, Carlos especially. It won't be easy, however, as you have a tremendous amount of opposition to face, from the game’s title character Nemesis especially. If you are ever hurt, out of ammo, or just think you're safe to move to the next screen, expect a not-so-friendly visit from him. To tell you the truth he gets on my nerves, but there's never been a better dressed monster (I wonder who his tailor is). It's a pretty standard line up for a Resident Evil game; all you favorites from past games make a triumphant return, like the decapitating hunters, the acid-spewing spiders, and who could forget those vicious zombie dogs? The monsters haven't really changed at all, and there are even a few missing. I was horribly disappointed when I beat the game only to find out that there are no plant monsters at all in this game. Your arsenal hasn't really changed much either, except for the addition of the assault rifle; the only real change in zombie stomping weaponry would be the ammo loader. This miracle device really belongs on the Home Shopping Network. Handgun bullets, shotgun shells, grenades, you name it, you can make any kind of ammo necessary, if of course you have the proper gun powder. It's definitely a welcome improvement over the past ammo stingy Resident Evil games.

The standard control system makes a return from every other Resident Evil game. There are a few improvements to mention, though. Now you no longer have to press the action button to walk up stairs, which should have been a feature from the beginning of the series. Would it really have been that hard to implement in the first game? The dodge move is another huge improvement, making the frequent Nemesis battles a lot easier to survive. Precise timing is required with this, as it takes lots of practice to dodge a missile. You have no idea how many times this feature will save your life in this game; whoever implemented it deserves a large pay raise. The thoughtful designers also included a 180 degree quick turn making overall movement a lot swifter, and saving you a lot of time and energy if you need a quick get away. Another interesting twist to the gameplay is the live selection feature. Basically there are in-game events that give you a choice, usually between fighting now or later. Sometimes you even get the choice of killing Nemesis in new and interesting ways. While this is a very neat feature, the choice you make never really affects the story line; hopefully this will be improved in later games. Best of all the additional features, you can now target explosives, so with a little timing you can take out a dozen zombies with one bullet.

If there is one thing I don't understand about this game, it's the city layout. Why are there so many doors in the alleys? Have you ever in your life had to open a door to move from the alley to the street? I didn't think so. Loading times need to be masked, but I just wish they had chosen something a bit more realistic, like a fence or something. The way things are now, it makes me really worry about the sanity of the city designers. Logic flaws aside, most of the maps and buildings appear very realistic and intelligently designed with all of the chaos and eerie destruction fitting an outbreak of hideous mutations.

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