Okay, cards on the table – I think Resident Evil 3 is the weakest game out of that original, ‘90s trilogy. It’s still good. But Resident Evil 1996 and RE2 are much better. The problem is Nemesis. He’s a great idea, a seemingly unstoppable monster that hunts and plagues you throughout all of Raccoon City, and can appear any time, but ultimately, it means almost every boss fight in Resident Evil 3 is the same, and after enough encounters, Nemesis becomes less scary and more frustrating. Resident Evil 3 Remake is the better game (more on why later), but with rumors swirling about RE9 and a new version of Code Veronica, it’s very good news that the original Resident Evil 3 is finally coming to PC.
Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2, the original versions, have been historically hard to obtain on PC, at least until earlier this year, when they were finally ported over to GOG. The GOG version of RE2 has some smoothed-out textures and the option to skip the loading sequences between rooms, perfect for pushing your speedrun time down and down. All told, it’s a superb re-release, and now Resident Evil 3, the survival horror game that launched back in 1999 and has been, so far, equally hard to access, is coming to PC.
I’ve done the criticism so let’s talk instead about why RE3 works. Its vision of the destroyed, overrun Raccoon City is seriously atmospheric – the opening streets section, and later the hospital and the park, are some of the eeriest in the entire series. It has some of Resident Evil’s best weapons, courtesy of the magnum and the assault rifle, and there’s an extra dimension to combat via the ammunition crafting system.
It might seem banal by 2024 standards, but the opening cutscene in Resident Evil 3 is something extremely special, frightening, violent, and stark. It also has the water sample puzzle, which is a total pain, but worth experiencing for yourself firsthand, just so you can wonder what on Earth its designer was thinking.
I’ve written before about why Resident Evil 3 Remake is better than the original and also one of the most underrated games in the entire horror series. Nevertheless, it works a lot better if you’ve played the original. The Resident Evil 3 PC release date is confirmed for Wednesday September 25. The price hasn’t been confirmed, but both RE 1996 and RE2 are available on GOG for $11.37 / £8.99 each. Alternatively, you can buy the entire trilogy in a single $26.56 / £20.99 bundle.
You can also try some of the best old games that still run today, or maybe the best zombie games available on PC.
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