I’m bringing you this instead of a review of Girl on the 3rd Floor, because that film sucked the life out of me and Resident Evil was actually scarier!

Let me start by saying that this game is GORGEOUS, the graphics are amazing, Jill Valentine is b-e-a-utiful. A review in the Independent claimed that Jill is a badass in reputation only and not shown in gameplay – they are so wrong! You don’t take on the big, bad, Nemesis without a flair of badassery.

Let’s quickly summarize the plot. It’s only been months since the Mansion Incident (Resident Evil 1), the T-Virus has spread into Raccoon City; Jill has been suspended from the force over her obsession with Umbrella and is privately investigating, and while running from Nemesis she bumps into Carlos Oliveira – a special forces soldier for Umbrella.

In the beginning, there are some nice little nods to the old game; you pass through the bar and the warehouse with the man locked in the back of a HGV to escape the virus, but from there the game strays away from old into new. The city design is great but liniar; previously, you spent a lot of time running around the zombie filled streets, going back and forth between puzzles until you reach the RCPD; however, once you get the train operational, that’s it for the city.

You spend a lot of time in the RCPD in the second game, so it can be forgiven that we only spend a few minutes here with Carlos and Tyrell, but it fills in some details about the state of the station: how the officers in the corridor were killed, how Marvin was infected and by which zombie, who made that giant hole in the showers to get to the S.T.A.R.S office. It’s short and sweet.

Back to Jill for a short stint in the sewers and a battle against Nemesis; this is the point where she’s infected – just like the previous edition – and Carlos takes her to the hospital for the vaccine. I was ready and waiting for the Hunters to make an appearance and they did not disappoint; their beta stages from the sewers are nothing compared to these guys and their one-hit-kill if they get too close…which happened to me…twice.

When you recover the virus and fight off a horde, we’re back to Jill for the rest of the game; this is the point where we learn the city is going to be nuked out of existence to contain the virus. The time spent in the underground Umbrella lab is simple: find two components for the vaccine, a puzzle that isn’t overly difficult, find fuses in the warehouse, Nemesis boss battle in two parts. The end.

It’s a short game. I managed my first run in under four and a half hours, but with enough practice I’m aiming for two; there are few puzzles, no weird light boxes to figure out (replaced by lockpicking lockers and cases) and no real sense of danger. Nemesis is scary when you’re cornered and have to face him, but he’s not chasing you around like Mr. X and you’re not constantly worried about running into him; the boss fights are a little tedious and simple, you don’t have to stress your brain trying to figure out a weak point – or even aim for one!

That’s my only real complaint about the game; it’s still a solid addition to the series as quickly as it followed Resident Evil 2, I’m looking forward to unlocking some new weapons by completing challenges and bringing my time down.