In less than a month from now, Capcom's highly-anticipated remake of its classic 1999 title Resident Evil 3 will be released worldwide and will once again bring players back to the doomed Raccoon City. In the past few months since the remake's announcement last December, Capcom has been generous in showing fans RE3 gameplay previews to showcase just how awesome the upcoming remake will be.
In the days leading up to the remake's launch, players will also be able to experience a snippet of the upcoming game via a Resident Evil 3 playable demo. Although 2020's Resident Evil 3 will be the first full-fledged remake of the game, veteran Resident Evil players would know that the events that transpired in Resident Evil 3 were previously reimagined to a smaller scale in previous Resident Evil games. Now, for those who are unfamiliar with the other versions of Jill Valentine's escape from Raccoon City, here is every other time Capcom remade Resident Evil 3.
Resident Evil The Umbrella Chronicles (2007)
Back in 2007, Capcom released Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, which is a first-person rail shooting video game for the Wii. The game served as a behind the scenes retelling of major events throughout Resident Evil's timeline and is narrated by Albert Wesker, who exposed Umbrella's meddling of the Raccoon City incident. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is composed of five scenarios and covered the events in Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 3, and one original story that told the downfall of the Umbrella Corporation.
In the Resident Evil 3 scenario of the game, players saw the return of Jill Valentine who finds herself trapped in Raccoon City after just surviving the Spencer Mansion a few months prior. Although the scenario summarized most of Resident Evil 3's major plot points, it is deemed as non-canon given that it wasn't a faithful retelling of Resident Evil 3. In Umbrella Chronicles, Jill's RE3 scenario began when she was cornered by a group of zombies where she was rescued by UBCS member, Carlos Oliveria.
Jill and Carlos then head to the train station where they encounter the Grave Digger, which is a giant mutant worm that Jill defeated in the graveyard in the original game. The duo then heads to the RPD where they encounter groups of Hunters before finally facing Nemesis. After several encounters with the Tyrant, Jill and Carlos reached the police station's helipad where they had a final battle with Nemesis, before being picked up by the chopper to escape Raccoon City a few moments before it was destroyed.
Of course, given that The Umbrella Chronicles covered three major Resident Evil games, its depiction of events should only be considered as a summary rather than a reimagining. The RE3 scenario of the game did not depict most of the major plot points of the original game such as Brad's death, the other members of the UBCS, the Clock Tower battle where Jill was infected by the virus and the final showdown with a mutated Nemesis. Despite this, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles was the first time that players were able to see the events of Resident Evil 3 with better graphics, but unfortunately, its voice acting for Nemesis was considered inferior to the original.
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (2012)
Another game that offered another perspective of Resident Evil 3 is the 2012 shooter game, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. In this title, players are put in the role of one of the 12 characters that are divided into two groups. One group containing six members are from the Umbrella Security Service (not to be confused with the UBCS where Carlos is a member), and the remaining six are on the United States Special Ops team. Both teams are dispatched in Raccoon City where they encounter characters from the main series such as Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveria, Claire Redfield, Sherry Birkin, and Leon Kennedy.
During the first mission of the Spec Ops team, players would encounter Jill Valentine who is running from Nemesis. Players would then help Jill temporarily stun the tyrant, and after reaching a safe zone, she explains that most of the citizens are dead and that the only option now is to leave the city. However, the Spec Ops team refused to team up with Jill, and she explained that if they want to know more about Umbrella, they should investigate the city hall.
After the brief encounter with the former STARS officer, the Spec Ops team ran into Jill again, this time with Carlos Oliveria, in the city's clock tower. Unlike The Umbrella Chronicles, the events of the clock tower battle, including Jill's infection, was depicted in this game. However, after Carlos and Jill escape to safety, the Spec Ops team never encountered them again. Another problem that this version of Resident Evil 3 had is the abysmal voice over for Nemesis, which is significantly worse than the one used in Umbrella Chronicles.
Just like The Umbrella Chronicles, the events of Operation Raccoon City are deemed as non-canon. However, it did offer a different take on the Raccoon City incident and showed a glimpse of what could have occurred behind the scenes of Resident Evil 2 and 3. Additionally, Operation Raccoon City also showed players what Resident Evil 2 and 3, its characters and enemies, could look like in a much more photorealistic design and environment.
Now, we are merely days away from the highly-anticipated launch of Resident Evil 3, which is the true, full-fledged modern remake of the 1999 game. Just like last year's remake of Resident Evil 2, Capcom promised that Resident Evil 3 will remain faithful to the original game, while introducing new scenarios, and a reshuffling of some events, to offer players fresh gameplay that will offer tons of surprises even to those who have played the original game.
Resident Evil 3 is scheduled to release on April 3, 2020, for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.