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The Terror Never Ended

The season of fear is upon us and what better way to start the Horror Game Icon-series then looking back at when gamers had to once again survive a night in Raccoon City.

Resident Evil popularized the genre and the sequel established the legacy of the series, meanwhile the third installment demonstrated that their is room to expand the story. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis was the third game in the series and one of several that focused on the Raccoon City outbreak from an alternative perspective.

As with Resident Evil 2; Nemesis attempted to take players into a nightmare while trying to stand out from previous entries. This is a look at how Resident Evil 3: Nemesis gave the series one last nightmare along with the impact it had on future titles.

One Night In Raccoon City

Starting 24 hours before the events of Resident Evil 2, Raccoon City is in the midst of the T-Virus outbreak and all attempts to contain it have failed. Jill Valentine is fighting through the outbreak in an attempt to find other survivors and a way to escape. However, the situation is made worse when a new Tyrant (Nemesis) has been deployed with the task of killing all the surviving members of S.T.A.R.S.

After several encounters with Nemesis, Jill is able to meet up with Carlos Oliveira and the survivors of the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (U.B.C.S.). Despite her suspicions of the squads motive, she works with Carlos to meet up with a rescue helicopter. However not everyone in the squad is interested in rescuing survivors and may have ulterior motives.

A New Nightmare

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis has a very interesting development cycle as it started of as a spin-off title while Code Veronica for the Dreamcast was in development. Due to their obligations with Sony, Nemesis instead became part of the main series. At the time, the development team was not happy about this but looking back now it was for the best.

Nemesis did everything it could to not be the same game while introducing elements that would become staples of the series going forward. While Code Veronica did take advantage of the Dreamcast hardware, it was a step back in terms of gameplay and story.

One of the first significant changes in Nemesis was that there was no A and B scenario. Instead the entire game was played from Jill’s perspective with one moment were players took on the role of Carlos. The next major change were moments in which players had the choice in what narrative path they wanted to take (which resulted in diffrent endings). New gameplay elements included the ability to dodge enemies and use gunpowder to make ammo (a popular feature that would not return until the Resident Evil 2 remake).

The game was also the first to introduce The Mercenaries mini-game and the Beretta 92F Samurai Edge. The Mercenaries mini-game has been a staple of the series and the first version was featured in Nemesis. The Beretta 92F Samurai Edge would go on to appear in future titles as the standard handgun of the S.T.A.R.S. team or as an unlockable weapon.

The Last Escape

Following the success of the Resident Evil 2 remake, fans have now been pushing Capcom to Nemesis. Given its popularity among fans and how it redefined the series, hopefully it’s only a matter of time before a big announcement is made.

Resident Evil 3 Nemesis took players out of their comfort zone and tossed them into a nightmare presented on a grander scale. It set foundation for the series to grow while also introducing many of the gameplay mechanics that would be staples of the series.

Did you ever play Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and what are your thoughts on it? Let us know in the comment section.

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