Among the many monsters that have haunted the nightmares of Resident Evil fans, it is without a doubt that Nemesis from Resident Evil 3, remains to be one of the most memorable creatures in the franchise's 23-year history. When Nemesis was introduced back in 1999, fans of the survival-horror series have never encountered anything quite like him. Unlike the original Tyrant and Mr. X, Nemesis has a far superior intelligence, given that he can take commands and use weapons to defeat his foes.
Now, the highly-anticipated remake of Resident Evil 3 has been released worldwide and will once again allow players to experience Jill Valentine's harrowing escape from the hands of Nemesis. Similar to the original game, Nemesis is still terrifying and menacing, perhaps more than ever. However, the common consensus now between fans who have already completed the remake is that Nemesis is far too similar to his original counterpart, and here are the reasons why Resident Evil 3 Remake's Nemesis is a missed opportunity.
Nemesis is Relentless But Predictable
During the months leading up to the release of Resident Evil 3, Capcom provided a wealth of trailers and gameplay footage to showcase just how much menacing Nemesis will be in the remake. The playable demo also gave players a glimpse of just how much heart-pumping every encounter with Nemesis will be like. Of course, although Nemesis is terrifying in the remake, many commented on how his appearances are predictable and how every encounter with the monster appears to be a scripted event once the game began.
When Mr. X was re-introduced in Resident Evil 2 Remake, players were blown away with how relentless the tyrant was in pursuing players. Yes, there are scripted appearances especially towards the end of the game, but during the player's time in the police station, Mr. X can be found continuously roaming the area. Additionally, Capcom introduced a smart AI for Mr. X, who is able to determine the location of the player through loud footsteps and gunshots. This awesome mechanic that introduced a terrifying cat and mouse chase between the tyrant and the player is one of the renowned qualities featured in Resident Evil 2 remake.
Now, when Capcom finally confirmed Resident Evil 3 Remake in December of 2019, many assumed that Nemesis' AI would be similar to that of Mr. X. Some players got excited with the thought of outmaneuvering Nemesis by carefully traversing the area and avoiding shooting down enemies just as they did in Resident Evil 2. However, in Resident Evil 3, every appearance of Nemesis is scripted, and to be honest, predictable especially to veteran Resident Evil players. After finishing a key objective, players will find themselves anticipating the sudden appearance of Nemesis, taking out the element of surprise most of the time.
However, this is not to say that Nemesis is not scary in Resident Evil 3 Remake. As previously mentioned, the monster is much more menacing than his original counterpart given that he is now able to hyperjump in front of players, and unlike Mr. X, Nemesis can actually run faster than Jill Valentine. Every encounter with the monster is a fight for survival and players must always find the balance of engaging in combat and running away. Of course, given that Resident Evil 3 was always designed to be more action-oriented than Resident Evil 2, it is understandable that most encounters with Nemesis are scripted and over-the-top.
However, one missed opportunity that Capcom failed to deliver is to include at least one non-scripted Nemesis encounter in the game, where players must hide and run away from the tyrant, similar to the Mr. X sequence in the police station part of Resident Evil 2. It would definitely be a fun experience for players to find themselves hiding in one of the stores in Raccoon City, hoping and praying that Nemesis wouldn' find them.
Still No In-Depth Nemesis Origin Story
During the period leading up to the launch of Resident Evil 3, Capcom released a trailer that showed a group of scientists in the process of getting Nemesis ready to be shipped to Raccoon City. This scene gave some players the impression that Capcom will be delving into the origin story of Nemesis in Resident Evil 3. Given his overall superiority over the previous tyrants that were introduced to players so far, it would be interesting to see how he was developed, the specific parasite that was used on him, and how he was programmed to seek and assassinate Jill Valentine.
In the original game, Capcom did not provide any insight into the story of Nemesis before he was sent to Raccoon City. Most of the lore surrounding his creation was revealed outside the game, but in the remake, Capcom did provide a tiny bit of an insight into the creation of Nemesis. After arriving in NEST, which is a secret Umbrella laboratory beneath Raccoon City, Jill will find a file entitled "Expression of Concern" in the incubation lab. The note is authored by Dr. Nathaniel Bard, who congratulated his colleagues in Umbrella Europe for successfully creating Nemesis. However, Bard immediately expressed his concern with Umbrella Europe's use of a parasite to develop the tyrant, instead of the traditional virus that has become standard practice at Umbrella. Bard warned his European counterparts that unlike a virus that can be countered with a vaccine, a parasite is uncontrollable and could set a "dangerous precedent." After reading the note, Jill would comment "So it's called the Nemesis."
Apart from this note, Resident Evil 3 Remake did not provide any in-depth origin story for Nemesis. It would have been nice for fans to finally know more about the monster such as who is the human host that was used to create the tyrant, and what specific qualities did this human have that allowed it to bond with the parasite, which of course resulted to Nemesis as we know today. Another question that was left unanswered is whether Umbrella has created other tyrants similar to Nemesis because immediately after Resident Evil 3, it appears that the Nemesis project was abandoned by the company.
Of course, it is easy to say that the reason why Umbrella decided to abandon the Nemesis project was due to the failure of the first Nemesis to accomplish its mission, which is to kill the surviving members of S.T.A.R.S. left in Raccoon City. While that argument makes total sense, it is important to remember that Jill barely escaped Nemesis in both the original and the remake. Given its brute strength and superior intelligence, it is a waste for Umbrella to just ditch the Nemesis program just because it failed to kill a well-trained elite police officer. Maybe the company did find other flaws in Nemesis that wasn't shown in the game. It is possible that Dr. Bard was right in saying that the parasite is unpredictable. Did something else go wrong that contributed to Umbrella's decision to abandon the Nemesis project? Sadly, there is no way to find out now given that Resident Evil 3 is the only game in the franchise that features Nemesis.
Resident Evil 3 is available now for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.