Resident Evil 3 (2020) | Relentless Regression

Serving as a companion to Resident Evil 2 (2019), Resident Evil 3 (2020) boasts sharper combat and technical polish, yet a linear story and a less dynamic Nemesis strip away much of the tension fans remember.

At a Glance

Release Date

Apr 2, 2020

Developer

Capcom

Platforms

Genre

Third Person Shooter, Survival Horror

Rating

Mature

Price

$59.99 (Release)
$39.99 (Current)

Proton

Experimental

Reviewed on: Linux, Normal through Inferno difficulties completed

Time: HLTB 14½ Hours (Main + Sides) | My Clear Time: 19hrs 12min (100%)

Resident Evil 3 (2020) Background

Resident Evil 3 launched on April 2, 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, later receiving next-gen updates for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC on June 13, 2022. It arrived on Switch on November 18, 2022 and macOS on March 18, 2025.

Development took roughly three years, partially overlapping with Resident Evil 2 (2019). Capcom producer Peter Fabiano explained that this allowed the teams to share RE Engine technology, AI improvements, and graphical tools while still working independently. The goal was to adapt the original while creating a fresh experience for both newcomers and longtime fans.

Raccoon City was rebuilt using photogrammetry and modern graphics, giving environments, lighting, and character models a photorealistic quality. Jill Valentine’s design was updated to fit seamlessly into the world while keeping her recognizable, with IGN noting that the redesign aimed to show her resilience and ability to survive extreme situations. Story and dialogue expansions emphasize her character under pressure.

Fabiano noted that Live Selection and multiple endings from the original were removed in favor of a single, focused narrative. This streamlined approach highlights key character moments, including Jill’s partnership with Carlos Oliveira, and supports Nemesis’ redesign as a distinct, urgent threat. The remake preserves the essence of the original while modernizing presentation, pacing, and characterizations.

The development team for Resident Evil 3 (2020) includes:

Resident Evil 3 (2020) Experience

I’ve been playing the Resident Evil series since the Dreamcast era, starting with Code: Veronica, and have completed nearly every mainline entry. Resident Evil 3 (2020) was originally finished shortly after release, making this my first full replay since launch.

Replayed immediately after Resident Evil 2 (2019), it reads as a companion reimagining built on the same foundation, prioritizing faster pacing and constant forward motion.

Resident Evil 3 (2020) Impressions

Introduction

Set during the same chaotic 48 hours as Resident Evil 2 (2019), this reimagining follows Jill Valentine, a former S.T.A.R.S. member and survivor of the Spencer Mansion incident. As Raccoon City collapses under the weight of a T-Virus outbreak, Jill attempts a desperate escape while being hunted by Nemesis, a bio-organic weapon designed specifically to eliminate her team. Joining forces with Carlos Oliveira and a squad of Umbrella mercenaries, Jill must navigate the burning streets of a city that feels significantly smaller than fans may remember.

Gameplay & Mechanics

Combat
Weapons swap instantly via the D-pad, with four quick-access slots for self-defense items. The aiming reticle tightens with focus for precision shots, and reloads can be manual or automatic. Combat feels faster and more fluid than in RE2, reflecting the game’s constant forward motion.

Map
The map shows explored and unexplored areas, helping navigate corridors, streets, and interiors. Turquoise marks cleared zones, red indicates remaining items.

Key Items
Fuse boxes, keycards, and other essentials are needed to progress. Once used, items can be discarded to free inventory space.

Status & Healing
Health is displayed from Fine to Danger: green for full, yellow for caution, red for critical.

Puzzles
Classic puzzles unlock doors or trigger events. Most autosave on completion.

Weapon Parts
Parts improve recoil and damage for shotguns, pistols, and magnums, offering incremental upgrades.

Item Box
Items can be stored and retrieved across areas. Inventory starts at 8 slots and expands to 14 with hip pouches.

Story & Writing

Resident Evil 3 reimagines Jill Valentine’s escape from Raccoon City as a relentless sprint under constant threat. The game leans heavily into her trauma from the Spencer Mansion incident, making PTSD a defining part of her character. This sharpens her personal stakes, but Jill often comes across as abrasive, with emotional strain reading more as mean-spirited than hardened.

Structurally, the game is far more linear than the original. The Live Selection system, which let players make split-second choices that altered routes, encounters, and access to items, is removed. Progression is fixed, with no branching paths or scenario-based decisions.

Several locations and encounters from the 1999 version are absent, including the Clock Tower, Park, Dead Factory, Cemetery, City Hall, and Gas Station, along with the restaurant and newspaper office set-pieces. Nemesis’ tentacle forms and some evolution stages are cut, and the Grave Digger boss fight is gone. These omissions reduce the sense of scale and remove layers of strategy.

The remake prioritizes momentum and constant pressure. The story delivers a tense, cinematic experience, but much of the original’s agency, variety, and layered progression is lost.

Art & Audio

Resident Evil 3 (2020) continues to showcase the RE Engine with detailed surfaces, expressive character models, and strong lighting contrast. Downtown Raccoon City is alive with neon signs, burning streets, and emergency lights, giving the game a more immediate and dynamic visual identity than Resident Evil 2 (2019).

Familiar locations return with new purpose. The R.P.D. feels tighter and more claustrophobic, the Sewers introduce added enemies, and the Hospital stands out as the most intense section, using harsh lighting and maze-like design to heighten tension and limit visibility. Revisiting these areas in a new light adds both visual variety and constant pressure.

Audio is tuned to the faster pace. Nemesis’ heavy, rapid footsteps signal imminent danger, turning sound into a cue for urgent action. The presentation remains polished, but it favors momentum and immediate threat over the slower, atmospheric dread that defined Resident Evil 2.

Standout tracks:

The City of Ruin
A somber, atmospheric piece that captures the scale of the tragedy. It effectively uses low-frequency drones to create a sense of lingering dread amidst the wreckage.

Save Room (Secure Place)
It sounds like a memory of safety that is slowly fading away. It takes the iconic, comforting piano melody of the original RE2 theme and slows it down significantly, wrapping it in thick, cavernous reverb.

Final Metamorphosis
A chaotic, orchestral swell that accompanies the game’s climax. It emphasizes scale and power over the original’s creeping dread, fitting the remake’s shift toward high-octane action.

Unique Features & Mechanics

Nemesis
Unlike Mr. X in Resident Evil 2 (2019), Nemesis is mostly limited to scripted set-pieces and specific trigger zones. His speed and weaponry make him dangerous, but his predictable behavior removes the persistent threat element. Rather than carefully planning your route to avoid him, you wait for the next cinematic chase.

Emergency Dodge
Jill’s signature move from the original 1999 game returns. By timing a button press as an enemy attacks, she performs a roll that briefly slows time for a counter-shot. The generous window can make combat feel closer to an action shooter than a survival horror encounter.

Extra Shop
Not entirely a new feature, Resident Evil 3 builds upon the series’ weapon unlocks by letting you purchase extra weapons and items with the completion points. Hip pouches, modifier coins, special weapons like a knife imbued with flammable properties can be purchased with these points obtained from completing challenges. These change the overall tone of each run offering more replay value than Resident Evil 2 (2019)‘s main scenario.

Adaptive Difficulty
Resident Evil 3 (2020) uses a dynamic difficulty system first seen in Resident Evil 4 (2005). The game tracks your performance through a hidden Game Rank, adjusting enemy durability, aggression, and damage to match your skill.

Seiyuu Performances

The Japanese voice cast in Resident Evil 3 (2020) delivers a cinematic experience, though the script pushes characters into more aggressive territory than before. Jill’s performance is technically strong but often comes across as perpetually agitated. Carlos, in contrast, has more depth than his 1999 counterpart, balancing mercenary grit with genuine concern for survivors.

Performance

Performance on Resident Evil 3 (2020) was significantly better than on Resident Evil 2 (2019). Average FPS was 240, with a max of 285 and 1% lows at 195. I used the DirectX 11 build, set most graphics options to High or off, and disabled frame generation and upscaling. The game ran without crashes, frame drops, or visual glitches, and no Proton version selection was required.

Resident Evil 3 (2020) Verdict

Resident Evil 3 (2020) is a technical marvel that highlights the best and worst of Capcom’s modern “reimagining” philosophy. If you are coming to this directly from the dense, atmospheric hallways of Resident Evil 2 (2019), the shift in tone is immediate. It replaces the slow-burn dread of the RPD with a high-octane sprint through a neon-soaked Raccoon City.

As someone who has been with this series since the Dreamcast days, the “gutting” of the original’s scope is the hardest pill to swallow. The removal of iconic locations like the Clock Tower and the Park doesn’t just make the game shorter; it makes the world feel significantly smaller. Nemesis, the titular threat, is the biggest casualty of this streamlined approach. In 1999, he was a persistent, unpredictable nightmare. In 2020, he often feels like a scripted animatronic waiting for his cue to start the next cinematic chase. He lacks the dynamic, roaming “presence” that made Mr. X so terrifying in the previous year’s remake.

There is also a noticeable shift in characterization. While Jill’s design update is fantastic, the writing often confuses “hardened survivor” with “perpetually abrasive”. Her interactions lack the layered tension found in her 1999 portrayal, making it difficult to connect with her journey as she navigates the city’s collapse.

Ultimately, Resident Evil 3 (2020) feels less like a full-numbered entry and more like a high-budget companion piece or an expansive DLC. While it lacks the structural depth and player agency that defined the original, it finds a unique rhythm in its Extra Shop system. By allowing players to purchase game-altering modifiers and weapons with completion points, Capcom has created a meta-game loop that offers more immediate replay value than the main scenarios of Resident Evil 2 (2019). It is a polished, 200 FPS thrill ride on Linux that delivers genuine fun in short bursts. Whether this “sprint” is worth the admission depends entirely on if you value technical polish and replayable action over narrative and environmental scale.

Resident Evil 3 (2020) TLDR

Tested On
CPU: Ryzen 7 5900X | GPU: AMD RX 9070XT 16GB | RAM: 64GB DDR4 | Storage: Crucial P5 Plus NVMe SSD
OS: Nobara Linux | Resolution: 1440p | Settings: High/Custom | Framerate: Uncapped

References

Interviews

• Lucas White, Resident Evil 3 Interview: Capcom’s Peter Fabiano Talks Nemesis and This Adaptation, Siliconera, June 1, 2020. Live | Archive
• Matt Kim, Resident Evil 3: How Capcom Redesigned Jill Valentine Into an Action Hero, IGN, Feb 25, 2020. Live | Archive

Music

• The City of Ruin – Kota Suzuki. Live | Archived
• Save Room (Secure Place) – Kota Suzuki. Live | Archived
• Final Metamorphosis – Azusa Kato. Live | Archived