- Original release
- PlayStation, 22 September 1999 in Japan as Biohazard 3: Last Escape. Ports followed on PC, Dreamcast and GameCube; see the Versions page.
- Developer
- Capcom, which also published it in Japan and North America; one release list names other publishers for some European and PC releases.
- Difficulty
- Easy or Hard in the Western releases, picked when you start a new game.
- Saving
- At typewriters, using Ink Ribbons.
- Endings
- Two final scenes, decided by a choice near the end. See Endings & Unlockables.
What the game is
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is Capcom's 1999 survival horror game, the third main entry in the series. You play Jill Valentine, who has left S.T.A.R.S. and is trying to get out of Raccoon City as the T-virus outbreak overruns it. The story takes place at almost the same time as Resident Evil 2. A new bio-weapon, Nemesis, hunts Jill through the whole game: he turns up in scripted scenes, in timed choices and in boss fights, and two guides say he can follow you from room to room. This page covers the original game, not the 2020 remake, which has its own guide.
Easy or Hard
🟢 Easy
Jill starts with an Assault Rifle and finds extra weapons waiting in the Item Box, and ammo pickups give more rounds. Nemesis drops nothing when you knock him out, and the Mine Thrower never appears. Two guides add that Jill starts with ten inventory slots instead of eight.
🔴 Hard
Jill starts with only the Handgun, and the Knife is in the Item Box. In exchange, Nemesis drops an item case each time you knock him out in one of his optional encounters, and the Mine Thrower can be picked up in the Clock Tower.
🇯🇵 Japanese releases
One guide explains that the Japanese versions use different, easier modes, and that the Japanese Dreamcast port added an Arrange mode with the Western difficulty settings. The Versions page has the details.
Controls and the dodge
- The game uses tank controls: Up walks Jill the way she is facing, whatever the camera shows, and Left or Right turn her on the spot.
- Hold the run button (Square on PlayStation) with Up to run. Down plus Square is a quick 180-degree turn.
- Hold R1 to aim at enemies. R2 aims at objects as well, such as explosive barrels and the acid valves in the last area.
- Pressing the aim button just as an enemy attacks makes Jill dodge. The timing is hard to learn, and one guide warns that it also triggers by accident.
- L2 opens the map.
Live Selections
- At set moments the screen flashes and the game offers two choices on a short timer. These are Live Selections.
- Letting the timer run out counts as a third choice. It usually means Jill gets hurt, and in a few cases it leads somewhere neither button would.
- Your picks change which way you enter some areas, where Carlos and Nicholai turn up, where some items lie, and which of the two final scenes you see.
Surviving Nemesis
- Two guides say that in his stalking scenes Nemesis follows you through doors for a while. You can always run instead of fighting, and one guide says running is often the better choice.
- One guide says he is faster than Jill when he sprints and that his tentacle grab can kill outright when Jill is already hurt. Mash the buttons if he lifts her.
- Two guides say that, knocked down once, he gets back up, and that a second knock-down keeps him down; on Hard he leaves an item case, and the items always come in the same order.
- Freeze Rounds from the Grenade Launcher are the guides' first choice against him.
Gunpowder and saving
- Gunpowder A and B are the only powders you find. Mix them into other powders, then combine the mix with the Reloading Tool to make ammo. The Weapons page has the recipes.
- Saving needs an Ink Ribbon and a typewriter. How often you save, how much you heal and how long you take decide your rank at the end.
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 24 October 2026 against the GameFAQs guides by MrSensible, peach_freak and CVXFREAK, IGN's guide to the game, Evil Resource, StrategyWiki, and the Steam and GOG store pages for the game. The ten inventory slots on Easy come from MrSensible and IGN; the Japanese modes, and how they unlock The Mercenaries and the costumes, from CVXFREAK alone; Nemesis following through doors from MrSensible and IGN; his sprint and his tentacle grab from MrSensible alone; and the advice that running is often better from IGN alone. Not from a playthrough: nobody here has played it.