Resident Evil 3 Remake: PS4 Review

Resident Evil 3 Remake: PS4 Review

Delivered by Capcom
Platform: PS4

Resident Evil 3's desire to shock is there from the very beginning.

Early on in the remake, Jill Valentine stands before a mirror, her face and skin suddenly blistering in a bloody outbreak and fading to zombie infestation.

It's a stark horror message and one which shows the schlocky edges of the Resident Evil series - yet, bathed in a glow of some truly impressive production values, Resident Evil 3 looks stunning, building on Biohazard's near-realism of what an outbreak would look like.

And yet, underneath it all, Resident Evil 3 is still just simply a zombie outbreak game that flips between protagonists - albeit a polished one that delivers what you'd expect.

Flipping between Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira, you have to explore Raccoon City, and avoid the evil Nemesis as you try to discover the way to beat them and take down the Umbrella Corp.

Level design is fairly simple, and to be honest, you're on a guided path as the jump scares come your way as the remake of the 1999 survival horror lumbers on.

Dwindling resources make matters difficult but trains your brain to realise when the best moments to attack are, and gifts you a sense of paranoia not knowing where the next hit will come from.

The game's brief campaign offers some tantalising hints and horrors, and when Nemesis is stalking you in the open streets, it's akin to what a great horror movie can offer - a lumbering creature taking you on with no desire to go anywhere fast and continuing to follow you regardless of what you do.

It may be brief, but Resident Evil 3 Remake offers a good jolt out of coronavirus gaming times - and while there are parallels to the current global situation, the game's schlocky edges feel more akin to a horror movie blockbuster which is there for a good time, not a long time.