It's true that once the wheels of justice begin to turn, nothing can stop them. Nothing. It was Raccoon City's last chance and my last chance... My last escape. - Jill Valentine
I played this masterpiece so many times and it only gets better and better with each replay. I just finished yet another playthrough of the game on my Vita. This game never gets old. Hard to believe it started out as a spin off.
Everything about it is just awesome. Nemesis, the enemy variety, the sense of urgency, Jill and the mercenaries. I don't even know where to begin.
Let's start with Jill. She is so badass in this game. Jill's feats in this game and how she overcomes all the shit she faces in this game is really cool. She always feels confident and her interactions with Carlos and everyone in the game reflects that. In the first game she looked and sounded really confused about everything she saw. This game however shows how her experience affected her in the spencer mansion incident. She is a hardened badass who gives stars to any fool trying to mess with her.
Nemesis is the perfect antagonist for this game. The fact he is after Jill and only her makes him a very intimidating enemy. Each time you don't see him you just wonder where on earth he is. The longer it takes to find him the more you get paranoid. Running into him with low ammo and no preparation is intense and will most of the time mean your death. Something I love about the encounters with Nemesis is the loot he drops provided you play on hard mode. It ensures that it is worth facing him instead of running away like with Mr X in the past game. Speaking of Mr X, Nemesis destroys him interms of intimidation. The monster has a fricking bazooka and isn't afraid to use it. You can run away but if you don't find a way to shake him off then he will be right after you (infact he is even faster than you). You go into a safe room? Well Nemesis will stand outside waiting for your scared ass until you run away into a much furthur location or face him.
The Story. The story in this game is perfect for what it is. You are trying to escape and some monster is following you. You run into a merc squad who are all interesting and cool. You also get to see some of the experiments Umbrella are doing first hand and read more about what they are doing. Simple, to the point and just perfect for the theme of the game.
Gameplay. The gameplay in this is the most advanced of the classic RE games (aside from REmake 1 and 0 if we were to debate). This is where the ammo mixing is introduced. And it has so many aspects you need to be mind of as there lots more enemies on screen than the past games. You can actually run up and down the stairs without pressing the action button and you have a lot of mobility thanks to the quck turn and the dodge mechanic. The game is also the most action focused of the PS1 games and that is reflected with the ability to shoot stuff in the world that explodes enemies near them. Then we get to the live selection and choices in the game that could change up the playthrough. The live selection is very similiar to the sections in Teltale games where you have to choose an option before the timer runs out. When these happen you can usually have alternative routes or do something that helps you against all the different foes, and it will also change some of the story and even the endings depending on what you choose. Something else the game introduces is the mercenaries mod, which is similiar to the one in the later game but I actually like this one better. You play as three mercs who are from the main game story and you go around on a timer where you have to reach a point before the time runs out. You can kill zombies and enemies to get more time and you can also help civilians for more ammo and recources. It is like the perfect mariage of the forth survivor and the mercs mode of the later games.
Variety. This is another aspect of the game that I really like. It has really varied locations that remind me a lot of RE1/2 and RE4 (in some parts due to the "adventure" feel you get). It has some parts where you explore an area with you going all over to find parts to do some puzzles or something (Clocktower, the city section after you meet the mercs). And some parts where you just go forward blasting stuff in your way (the hospital). It is the perfect balance of classic RE with some more action based parts. It is the sweet spot. Enemy wise it has a lot of returning ones (especially from 1) and some new ones like the brain suckers (who I bet are going to make lickers feel like a bunch of apes interms of scare factors once the REmake comes) and the new hunters that can eat you whole.
One thing I hear people say about this game is how it shouldn't have been called RE3 cause CV "continues the story". To that I say:
The game is much more advanced mechanically and more impressive than Code Veronica it is not even funny. It started out as a spin off only to then get promoted to a full sequel which turned out to be the best move in the end. The tone still feels like a horror game compared to the weird matrix mess that is CV.
So yeah, I rambled enough and thanks for sticking with me. My passion for this game is very huge and I could ramble a lot more if I didn't have work tomorrow and I gotta sleep. Only 3 more months until the remake and hopefully HD Jill giving Nemie the stars!
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