As was the case with last year’s terrific remake, Capcom’s upcoming reimagining of Resident Evil 3 is unlikely to be exactly how you remember it. Yes, Raccoon City will once again serve as the setting, and yes, Jill Valentine will be hounded by the monstrous Nemesis at every turn (i.e. core components remain the same), but beyond that? Well, we’re in somewhat uncharted territory right now.
Modern game design has come leaps and bounds since the late 90s, and with the Resident Evil 3: Nemesis now an impressive 20 years old, the studio will (and has) made numerous changes to improve the title where it sees fit. We’ve already seen evidence of such with both Jill and Carlos‘ total – and infinitely more realistic-looking – redesigns, but what of those tweaks that go deeper than ‘simple’ cosmetic changes?
Thanks to a recent feature published by Official PlayStation Magazine UK, we’ve finally been provided with answers to some burning questions.
Speaking to the publication, Capcom reveals that, similarly to the attention to detail lavished on its predecessor, every gameplay element is being scrutinized. Inevitably, this has led to some features found in the original not making the cut, most notably being Mercenaries Mode (more on that here) and different endings.
See below for a full summary of the major talking points:
- Raccoon City won’t be fully explorable as it would in an open-world game. Various sections of the city will be explorable, however.
- Sound design plays an integral role in signalling off-screen dangers and hazards to players.
- Nemesis will use an improved version of the AI created for Mr X in Resident Evil 2.
- Mutant Worm enemies from the original Resident Evil 3 will be returning.
- Carlos will be a playable character.
- No multiple endings will be present; the original’s action choice mechanism isn’t returning.
- Mercenaries Mode has been replaced with Resident Evil Resistance.
Nothing too surprising, then, though we’re somewhat taken aback by the lack of multiple endings. Whether or not their absence will hurt replayability remains to be seen, though we imagine Capcom is hoping bespoke new multiplayer mode Resident Evil Resistance will serve a similar purpose. We’ll see.
Resident Evil 3 is out April 3rd for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
