April 3rd, so tantalisingly close and yet so frustratingly far. Then is the drop of the Resident Evil 3 Remake and thus the end of a white hot obsession that was struck inside me over a year ago. (Okay, maybe not 'the end' but surely a dulling to the flames.) In that time there has quite the exciting development for hopeless folk like me in that the Resident Evil 3 Demo has come out, as the hungry and eager masses are likely already aware of and have played through. And yet, so have I, and I want to talk about it. So I will. And, of course, I should obviously preface this by saying both that there are some mild spoilers to the early moments of the game in this Demo as well as the fact that it's out now on all platforms if you're curious. (Why not, right?)
To start of, Resident Evil 3 (Demo) is not a demo in the vein of Resident Evil 2's 'one shot'. That is to say, players aren't limited to one time-limited playthrough of the game wherein a single death spells the end of the run. (Thank god, because I got pretty unlucky at one point.) Nope instead this is a standard issue, run-of-the-mill, play as much as you want, white bread Demo, just like Mother used to bake. And with that reassurance comes a lot more callousness on my part to test all the core and fundamental differences that mark this title as a decidedly distinct title from it's predecessor. Yep, this isn't just a 'sideway' story with a new character anymore, this is something 'new' now!
One of the first things that players will likely become aware of once they start playing is how the gameplay is similar to, but feels fundamentally different to the Resident Evil 2 'Remake'. By that I mean that all the basics are there, the camera clung to your back, the aim'n'shoot formula and everything that entails, but Jill herself is clearly more capable to control in a manner that feels right. Remember, Leon was a rookie cop on his first day of the job and Claire was just a college student, their struggles through the apocalypse made sense given their background; Jill, on the otherhand, is an elite operative working for S.T.A.R.S. who has encountered zombies before and even destroyed a Tyrant, so it makes sense for her to know what's up.
This translates to a certain mobility in the gameplay wherein Ms. Valentine has a powerful 'quick step' which she can use to roll out of the way of zombie lunges. Time this perfectly and Jill will perform a badass tactical combat roll that puts her clear out of danger and can be used to completely push past entire groups of Zombies. In fact, I did a 5.59 speedrun wherein I literally just combat rolled past everything and can confirm it feels really good to nail down. However, those extra seconds were due to the fact that this requires pinpoint timing, so you can end up getting an unfortunate bite if you're not careful. (Which I personally look on as a positive because I wouldn't want such an ability becoming insanely overpowered.) She also has a knife that doesn't appear to use up durability like all the one's in RE2 did, and she wields it more like a trained specialist, with stabs and cuts rather than the wild slashes that Leon and Claire pulled off. All this makes Jill an actually exciting character to play as, which I really wasn't expecting to be fair.
This is all in the aid of the more 'action oriented' gameplay, which is strikingly evident even in this brief snippet of the game. Whereas Leon and Claire's journey focused more on creeping terror with long dark hallways, scarce ammunition and strategically placed zombies, this demo is more about an abundance of ordinance, getting up close to the enemy and being slightly outnumbered at all times. There's even handy red barrels scattered across the map which can be used to vaporise groups that get too close, feeding on the action aesthetic of it all. Of course this adds to the feeling of chaos the accompanies Jill's early story which takes place during the breakdown of society rather than in it's aftermath, which is the vibe that the last game coveted.
With this shift in tone comes a more open map with a heavy theme on initial exploration, over coming back to the same locale over and over. (Although the Demo did feature several doors locked behind a suspiciously notable yellow lock) There are many places that seem more designed in aid of a 'moment to moment' gameplay experience rather than building terror for the next go around. So less of the hallways with zombies knocking on windows trying to get in, and more dark rooms with zombies hiding behind shelving units trying to jump on the first person to get in their way. Admittedly this isn't exactly my first choice for horror game design, as nothing can ever top the sheer terror of trying to navigate the labs as Claire with two active Lickers in the area, but I have faith we'll see a return to the traditional formula once the Hunters start coming into the gameplay.
Of course, there are the staples of every decent Resident Evil game that one should expect, including but not limited to Item management. As this demo hits players with an influx of items for them to shift through, that also means that unless you stay on top of things there will be more tough decisions to make. (What do I leave behind in order to stay as lean as possible.) Also, as far as I can tell there are no 'poach expansions' in this demo, meaning that you have to make use of another returning feature in order to stay on top of things; the item box. And of course there are the series staple environmental puzzles to go through, although I will admit the example from this demo was hardly a head scratcher let alone a brain teaser.
Finally, there is the namesake of this whole Resident Evil game (or at least, for the original RE3) Nemesis. Yep, you come across the big fellow here, and I suspect that he's a little purposefully underpowered for the player's benefit. That isn't to say that he can't kill you if you aren't careful. (I should know from first hand experience.) Nemesis seems to have the ability to power up the undead with the same 'tentacle head' powers that informs the entirety of Resident Evil 4's plotline, which means that head shots become redundant which should up this title's difficulty as you go along. You can put enough damage in the big man to force him to take a knee if you're quick, although he does seem to be quite quick too, so I'd imagine he'll become quite the foe as the game goes on. (One might even go so far as to call him your 'nemesis'... Okay, I'll stop.)
After getting my hands on Resident Evil 3, even for a little bit, this has done nothing to alleviate my obsession and rather just inflamed it. With two short weeks to go I just know that I'm going to be absolutely torn apart by the prospect of persisting this real-life quarantine in anticipation for entering a virtual quarantine. (When I said I was practised at social distancing, I wasn't lying.) Admittedly, I am less sold on the whole 'Project Resistance' side-game, but it comes along with Resident Evil 3 so I might end up giving it a try at some point. (You never know. Could be fun.) Until then allow me to hibernate for one agonising fortnight. Adieu.
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