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Resident Evil 3 (2020)

Resident Evil 3, the great remake that could have been. I was one of the fools who pre-ordered this game on PS4 thinking it was going to be bigger than RE2R. For someone who holds RE3 Nemesis as one of my top RE games, I have a lot to say here.
To make things clear: as an action horror game, it's okay; there are issues here and there but it works about 80% of the time at least. As a Resident Evil game AND a Resident Evil remake, it's pretty terrible. There are a couple of ways to tackle this game so I'll be reviewing it from the perspective of one who's grown up playing the original 1999 game.
That being said, this is probably my least favorite RE game and I didn't have that much more fun outside of my first playthrough.
Story + Characters (Possible Spoilers!)
Most people will mention a lot about how improved the storyline is in the remake compared to RE3 Nemesis and I can see why: it's a lot more focused and streamlined. The plot for RE3R is almost like the original plot, except there's a plotline switch that focuses from escaping the city to getting the vaccine to stop the missile strike from blowing up... Raccoon City?
The issue I have with this story is that, halfway, it goes absolutely nowhere. Jill makes the vaccine to "save the city" and the vaccine gets destroyed anyway (Jill couldn't care less about RC at the end). Also, aside from other reasons, Jill already has the T-virus antibodies from being cured so this plotline with the vaccine was pointless.
It's like the RE3R team read a synopsis of the RE3 plot and decided it needed a human main antagonist to show that, "oh, it's not the monsters that are actual evil, it's human greed that's actual evil" except the original already showed these points much better without Nicholai being such a blatant villain with actual subtlety.
As for the characters, almost everyone in this game has been dumbed down to a certain degree. Jill is snobby and acts way too hard to be a badass, Nicholai may as well be wearing a big white mustache to twirl whenever he's going to do something evil, Mikhail's despair over the loss of his subordinates under him is replaced by a generic disgruntled leader character, Dario is turned from a survivor struck with overwhelming grief over his daughter's death to a complete noodle of an idiot, and Nemesis is turned into an incompetent goofball that only tosses Jill around even when he's got her dead to rights. The only characters who improved from the original were Tyrell and Carlos who is by far the best character out of everyone; anyone who plays this game will LOVE Carlos.
Gameplay
This game is short. That could be confusing considering that most RE games are short, but RE3R is one of the shortest Resident Evil games I've ever played due to the fact that it's the most linear RE game yet. The reason for why this game can be completed so quickly is that there's not really much to explore compared to other RE games; you never have to backtrack that much because what you leave behind is relatively insignificant and you never have to go back to places for more puzzle solving. My first run was a little under three hours on PS4 and I explored as much as I could.
Given that the gameplay is derived from RE2R, it's still solid. Aiming and shooting feels good, controls are responsive, dodging is fun to do but is situational because enemies will sometimes rush you down from behind which makes dodging based on luck at that point. However, that's basically all there is to say that is good about the gameplay because the pacing that this game goes at does not work with the mechanics.
Many new enemies you meet are either long ranged or agile which results in you trying to spin your camera to see where they're at and attempting to dodge them. They also range from being insignificant to defeat or being outright drivel. Ne-α Parasites can hit you from nearly across an entire room, Drain Deimos are relegated to one section and are never seen again, Hunter Gammas are almost free enemies considering that one shotgun blast to their mouths stuns them and one Flame Round will kill them, Pale Heads are lazily reused from RE2R's Ghost Survivors, and Hunter Betas are armored and can now randomly one-shot you at ANY condition of health with almost no warning. Dispatching enemies is easy because the game will give you the resources right next to the enemy that is weak to it (example, the Sewer section) and you are given so much ammo in this game even on harder difficulties.
Nemesis T-Type is the titular enemy that made RE3 Nemesis as memorable as it was. Although he's much stronger than any enemy you will encounter, compared to his original, he is an absolute joke. Mind you, this was basically Umbrella's peak tyrant who could tank 10 Freeze Rounds. take two Rocket Launcher missiles, three Red Barrels, and would still come after you 11 times in the original AND follow you in most areas of the Raccoon City streets. In the Remake, up to Hardcore difficulty, a single Hand Grenade or Red Barrel can down him the fastest. Nemesis only ever truly stalks you in the Downtown area once (after the Power Station). For him to be anywhere as tough, you basically have to amp up the difficulty to the point where his attack patterns become unfair (final boss, anyone?).
There is no reason to think about item management at all. There are few key items that are used to progress forward and those that you do get are quickly / twice used (at most) to progress because it's so obvious where to use them. Puzzles are laughably easy to complete (with one puzzle at the end requiring a tiny bit of thought) and are almost non-existent; most "puzzles" that require you to progress will simply be installing key items, unlocking doors, or turning on switches.
It's never a good sign when there are challenges in a Resident Evil game that make you grind hundreds of kills in a series that EMPHASIZES on saving resources, running past a majority of enemies, and killing only what you're required to especially in an action horror game as short as this one. After beating the game, you're left with playing the game on harder difficulties and completing records to unlock rewards, but the replay value is short; I was able to 100% the game within a day and a half.
Graphics & Sound
I will admit at least that the graphics on RE3R are as beautiful as usual for a game that uses the RE engine. However, I couldn't help but feel that RE2R had much better use of shadows and gore to emphasize the horror aspect and rarely was I ever tense playing this game. Many of the character designs are great; I liked Carlos' design the best and Jill's design is good enough for people to make mods for her.
The sound effects for the guns, explosions, and the chaos of the city are decent as well. Nothing sounded out of place or as if I was shooting out anything weaker or stronger than what the gun looked like.
Conclusion
Like everyone else mentions, there's an insane amount of cut OG content. In short, about 70% of RE3 has either been changed or outright cut from the remake. To name a few: no Enhanced Ammo, no Clock Tower, no Park, no Cemetery, no Incineration Disposal Plant, no Grave Diggers or Brain Suckers, no complex mixing of Gunpowders and Grenades, no Nemesis-dropped weapons like the STI EAGLE.
It's a damn shame because newer fans will never know how much better this game could have been. Such aspects matter if taking them out removes a lot of depth from the remake and given how easy it is to complete this game in under an hour without speedrun strats, it only goes to show. I would only buy this game on discount and would recommend to RE fans just so you can say you've played it.
4/10. Would rather play RE6 over this.