When it comes to the classic horror game series from the PlayStation 1 days, one of the first games that come to mind is Resident Evil. Of the original trilogy, I personally was a huge fan of the Director’s Cut and Nemesis over the second one. While Leon is a great character, there was something more believable and admirable about escaping a disturbing Mansion and surviving the undead filled city streets. That being said, I was super excited when we found out the Resident Evil 3 Remake demo was finally dropping and we would get the first taste of Capcom’s next Remastered title.

Before we begin, remember that Resident Evil 3 Remake officially launches on April 3rd for PC via Steam, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Gameplay

Using a more perfected version of the control scheme from the Resident Evil 2 Remake title, players will be able to do all the forms of combat and movement at the same time. While you are aiming with your weapon, strafing and backing up are able to be done while shooting your weapon, although this comes at the cost of your aim.

One of the best changes is that you can use your knife without the worry of it breaking, however, it is no longer able to be used to force zombies to let go of you once grabbed. This is kind of a give-and-take update, but overall I am happy for it because it makes more sense. I hope to see things like flash grenades later in the game so that we can use those to force zombies to let go by shoving them in their mouths when grabbed. Otherwise, we are left defenseless when grabbed and will have to accept the bite damage it will give us.

You can still do well-timed evade roll when you are about to get grabbed or punched by Nemesis. This will cause a light flash on the screen to signify that you performed an evade roll if the animation itself isn’t obvious. The usual animation when you do the evade move is a slight jump in the direction you chose, but when a successful evade is pulled off you will do an actual roll instead.

There are still plenty of items to find and combine throughout the demo, which I would imagine will be expanded on further in the full game. This includes the classic herb combinations including red and green herbs in the demo, along with ammo creations through gunpowder. I did manage to create MAG ammo on my second playthrough, which tells me that there is a submachine gun in the demo somewhere even though I never found it myself! Even this demo has secrets for the hardcore players to uncover mixed with lightly hidden items that can be found using their basic surroundings.

The last thing to mention is Nemesis himself. Mr. X from Resident Evil 2 has nothing on this bad boy because right from the moment you see Nemesis, things get real! My very first encounter with him was watching the short cutscene when you step outside the Donut Shop and then watching him charge at me full speed before I was even ready to get back into the action followed by death. It was incredibly intimidating, but I managed to test a few theories I have seen going around.

• Yes, Nemesis can follow you inside of buildings. The demo version is a little bit buggy when it comes to this aspect, but note that going inside will not mean you are safe from his wrath!

• No, Nemesis can NOT follow you into a safe room. Safe rooms will remain safe rooms no matter what moment is going on outside of them in the game. However, the moment you step out of that room he will know even if he isn’t next to the room himself.

• Yes, Nemesis does, in fact, reappear after you reach the demo ending gate with the fire behind it if you decide to turn back. Once you play the demo yourself, you will find that Nemesis seems to disappear once you get near that gate door, but if you go back down the stairs or even just down the street, you can expect him to jump right back into your life with plenty of energy to end it!

Expectations

As I mentioned before, with the removal of the knife being able to fend off zombies that grab you, I hope to see other options added to the game for players to use as a replacement. I remember being able to use flash grenades at one point, so that would be an easy choice.

With things hidden in the demo itself to be found, I would imagine that the city streets are going to be littered with multiple places to explore that would provide items and secrets to uncover as players progress through the storyline. These might not be needed to complete the actual storyline, but could be a way of getting better weapons, more ammo, or other valuables to aid our journey.

Since they decided to make it where a headshot doesn’t actually do a one-hit kill in this Remaster, I hope they include some form of instant down style. I know that people were shooting the legs to drop zombies and run around them, but there’s nothing more satisfying than landing a shot in just the right place to get an instant kill on an enemy. I would love to see something to this caliber included in the finished title.

Conclusion

If you are on edge about getting Resident Evil 3 Remake, then this demo will tell you everything you need to know about how you feel about it. Personally, I am extremely excited to fight my way through the undead filled streets of Raccoon City and find the level of intensity this game brings to be beyond my expectations! Easily a title I can see being worth getting on launch day.