In the original game, Jill Valentine and former Umbrella mercenary Carlos Oliveira fight their way out of the zombie-infested Raccoon City, but find their greatest obstacle is a pursuing bio-organic weapon named Nemesis, which acts as the T-800 Terminator to Valentine’s Sarah Connor. The Resident Evil 3 remake will introduce a Nemesis that’s more deadly than ever, in part by making A.I. improvements to the similarly relentless “Tyrant” which stalked players in Resident Evil 2 remake.
“We certainly took some elements that we learned from putting together Resident Evil 2’s Tyrant, but Nemesis is his own brand of terror and a relentless pursuer who can use weapons,” Fabiano said.
The use of weapons, in particular, could make the Nemesis a threat even at long-range, but the most powerful change from Resident Evil 2 is likely to be Nemesis’ freedom.
In RE2, the Tyrant, known as Mr. X, would appear at scripted moments, then relentlessly chase players through the halls of the Raccoon City Police Department. But Nemesis will have a little more agency and independence, roaming freely around Resident Evil 3’s more open take on Raccoon City. A Nemesis attack can come at any time: some encounters are scripted, while others will be organic.
A trailer for Resident Evil 3 (above) released during a December State of Play presentation highlights how this dynamic plays out in the remake.
“Resident Evil 3 has more open spaces, and one of the things that makes Nemesis so frightening is that he is relentless and you never know when or where he might show up,” Fabiano told the Official PlayStation Magazine.
The Nemesis pursues player characters throughout the game, acting as a recurring boss. Like Mr. X, your deadly pursuer in Resident Evil 2, Nemesis is a biologically engineered Umbrella supersoldier known as a Tyrant. In the original, Nemesis dodges gunfire, launches rockets and pursues his targets relentlessly.
Fabiano revealed that the gnarled monstrosity was modeled in real-life and scanned into the game using photogrammetry data for as much detail and verisimilitude as possible. Realistic sound will also be a crucial component of Resident Evil 3, which will put as much emphasis on spine-tingling sound design as the RE2 remake did, encouraging players to listen carefully to anticipate attacks and gain a tactical upper hand as they explore Raccoon City.
While the Nemesis will have more freedom than the Tyrant in Resident Evil 2, the overall story will have more linear results: the upcoming RE will not have the same multiple endings as the original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, with Fabiano answering simply “no,” when asked by the magazine whether the game would duplicate the branched path conclusions of the original or the previous Resident Evil remake.
In addition to the remixed and remade campaign, Resident Evil 3 remake will also include a multiplayer mode called Resident Evil Resistance.
The Resident Evil 3 remake releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on April 3, 2020.
