Resident Evil 3: Beginner Tips & Tricks

After the success of last year’s Resident Evil 2 remake, Capcom has certainly wasted no time in pushing out yet another remake of another one of their classic games from the PS1 era. The brand new Resident Evil 3 remake is out this week, sending players back to the wrecked Raccoon City in the shoes of Jill Valentine. Before you jump in, though, here are some beginner tips and tricks to help you get started in Resident Evil 3.

Get Used to the Quickstep

A new mechanic introduced in Resident Evil 3 that wasn’t in the RE2 remake from last year is the quickstep. Yes, in Resident Evil 3, you can actually actively dodge away from enemy attacks, and it can come in extremely handy in tight situations.

Whereas in the RE2 remake where a good strategy for dealing with enemies was by dismembering them (still a good tactic in this game), Resident Evil 3 allows you to be a little more fancy. By hitting the R1 button, you can get Jill to perform a quickstep in any direction that your left stick is tilted towards.

While this doesn’t work very well with large groups of zombies, it can work wonders when you’re just dealing with one or two at a time. It allows you to save ammo, which is a huge deal when you eventually start playing on Hardcore difficulty.

What you want to do is try to bait an enemy towards you and lunge, then quickstep to the side or past them. Even if you do get grabbed, this game gives you a chance of wiggling out of their grasp if you can mash buttons fast enough.

You Can’t Kill Nemesis

This probably goes without saying, but just in case you’re completely new to Resident Evil 3, Nemesis can’t be killed. Similar to Mr X from the RE2 remake, Nemesis is a hulking, enhanced Tyrant who chases you relentlessly all throughout Raccoon City.

In comparison to Mr X, though, Nemesis is much faster and more aggressive. He can wield weapons, trip you up with his arm tentacles, and leap into the middle of your path in just a second. He also can’t be killed, so our best advice for dealing with Nemesis in the city is to just run.

Make sure to check your map frequently to know where you’re headed, then equip the shotgun to get there quicker. You’ll want to take care of any zombies in your way fast with the shotgun, clear your way, then sprint towards your destination.

The only time you can stop Nemesis is when you’re in a scripted boss fight with him; if not, don’t bother trying to fight him. It’s a waste of resources, and it’s far better to just run.

Don’t Underestimate the Handgun

There are tons of cool weapons to collect in Resident Evil 3, and once you get the shotgun, it might be tempting to just rely on that to get you through the game. For the most part, the shotgun will carry you to the end. However, the handgun can be extremely handy, and I recommend carrying it with you at all times. In fact, you can leave the knife behind once you’ve got enough handgun ammo on you.

The handgun is good for stunning enemies and allowing you to run past them, shooting explosive barrels and generators, and it’s also surprisingly good for boss fights. Resident Evil boss fights are typically riddled with “shoot this weak spot”-type mechanics, and you’re usually far better off aiming with the handgun, instead of trying to deal extra damage with your most powerful weapons.

Keep the handgun on you for all occasions, and save the high powered weaponry for really sticky situations –when you’re surrounded by regular zombies, or when you encounter a particular tough enemy.

Backtrack a Lot

This is also pretty self-explanatory, but this is a Resident Evil game, which means that you’re going to want to backtrack a lot. I don’t just mean backtracking to solve a puzzle you left behind a couple hours, though; I’m talking about backtracking to open up any locked boxes or pick up any resources you may have left on the floor before forging onward.

This is particularly important in the early hours of the game, as you’re immediately tossed into Raccoon City, which is a pretty large map on its own. There are so many yellow locks to break, and so many resource crates to keep an eye out for. You won’t be able to get past those locks until a little later in the game, but once you do manage to do so, it’s highly recommended that you go back to open all those locks immediately.

The reason for this is that the Nemesis trigger only occurs when you progress through the story. You’ll still be spending a considerable amount of time in Raccoon City, and it’ll be much harder to collect resources with Nemesis chasing you down. This doesn’t just apply to Raccoon City, of course; always try to pick everything up and put it in your inventory box at least.

Be sure to search for Twinfinite or check our guide wiki for more tips and information on the game.