If you're looking for a good scare to get you in the mood for spooky season, then PlayStation Plus has you covered. This week, we're getting two of Capcom's most frightening PlayStation games – the much-hyped sequel Resident Evil 2 and its 1999 follow-up, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. That's cool news, but are either of these games actually worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, PSM, Computer & Video Games and more classic magazines that reviewed these games when they first came out. Have that green herb handy, because you're going to need it for this brain-eating episode of PlayStation Plus Review Crew.


From the moment it was first introduced, there was a feeling that Resident Evil was going to be a hit. However, few predicted just how big the game would end up being. It was a cultural moment for the games industry, reshaping a whole generation of horror games in its wake. So, with the hype at an all-time high, gamers couldn't wait for a sequel that promised to be bigger, grosser and even scarier than the last. A game that would take you out of a creepy old mansion and force two different protagonists to survive on the deadly streets of Raccoon City. In a year full of big games, Resident Evil 2 was many people's most anticipated sequel. But did it live up to the hype? Let's see what the critics said.

We're going to start off with Electronic Gaming Monthly, who is once again right in the middle of the pack when reviewing Resident Evil 2. They gave the hotly-anticipated sequel an average score of 9.4 out of 10, which was enough to make it their sixth highest-scoring game of 1998. John admits that he wasn't a big fan of the first game, “but Resident Evil 2 is everything the first game should've been and more. The cinemas are great, the story is very interesting and suspenseful, and the scare factor is unbelievably high. The control is still a bit annoying, but it's improved, and the whole atmosphere more than makes up for it.” Kraig liked the game even more, arguing that “if any software developer wants to see how a sequel should be done, they should look at this game. I didn't like the first Resident Evil, but I absolutely adore this one. Just about every major problem in the first game has been corrected – save the fact that it's still hard to see objects like ammo in rooms. The graphics and gameplay are excellent, and a masterful job was done to create the ominous and frightful mood of the game. A must-have.”

With a 9.4 score, you might expect EGM to be towards the top of the rating scale. However, they are actually in the bottom third, as, believe it or not, the basement for magazine reviews of Resident Evil 2 was 90%. That's the score GamesMaster gave the game, while PlayStation: The Official Magazine went with the equivalent 9 out of 10. You also saw a 9 from Edge, who noted that “the biggest compliment that can be paid to Resident Evil is that, in the two years that have passed since the original's release, not a single title has even come close to matching it. And this will probably hold true for its absorbing, frightening and sumptuously detailed follow-up – a sequel that clearly points the way towards a future where games and films aren't mutually exclusive entities. So, it's official, the ‘interactive movie' is no longer something to snigger about.”

As we make our way back up the scale, we see Game Informer give the game a 9.5 out of 10, up slightly over the 9.25 they gave the original. Game Fan liked it a bit more, with their average going as high as a 97%. Hambleton loved it, gushing that there's “more gore than ever before, bigger beasties, more convincing environments, more controllable characters, truly outstanding CG and mutating polygons deviants combine in perhaps the most polished PlayStation product of the 90s. Great voice acting, unbelievable tension, marvelous zombie shuffling and the most inhuman of demonic writhing await every single PlayStation owner in the land.. An utterly absorbing trek into terror, with huge replay value and a couple of hidden surprises for those willing to play the game over and over again.” Knightmare agreed, explaining that “after many delays, the sequel to one of the best PlayStation games in recent memory finally hits home – and it's every bit as good as we had hoped. More creatures, more action, more weapons, more scares, more gore and more game make RE2 a great way to kick off the new year. Resident Evil 2 is a masterpiece.”

Now, when it comes to the perfect scores, there are actually a lot to choose from. By my count, six different English-language magazines gave the game a score of 5 out of 5. This includes both the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine and Computer & Video Games, as well as Next Generation. However, the one I want to focus on is PSM, which concluded that “Capcom has always been a company known for its quality products, and Resident Evil 2 is a testament to that reputation. It manages to reinvent all the elements that made the first game special, combining them with better puzzles, more monsters and cooler weapons. Resident Evil 2 is a landmark achievement, and it will long be remembered as one of the PlayStation's finest games. Congratulations, Capcom, you have made a lot of people very happy. Again.”

With so many perfect scores, you already know that the overall average is going to be sky high. In this case, we're talking about 96%, which is right up there with another 1998 classic – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. For many, Resident Evil 2 ranks high among people's favorite games in the series, and even though there is a fantastic remake of the game already on the PlayStation 5, this 27 year old classic is still worth playing. This is easily one of Capcom's best 32-bit games.

Released only one year after Resident Evil 2, this third installment, although hyped, was met with a slightly more muted reception. Some of that can be attributed to the quick turnaround, but a big part of the problem is that this final 32-bit installment was largely overshadowed by Code: Veronica, the next-generation Resident Evil that haunted the Dreamcast just three short months later. Still, there was a lot of excitement surrounding Resident Evil 3, especially coming off of the reviews (and commercial success) of the last game. Capcom leaned into their promotion of the new Nemesis creature, promising horror-junkies a new twist to the series. Let's see where the critics landed on this third installment.

This is not one of those situations where everybody turns on the sequel, but it's clear that the outlets that were so high on Resident Evil 2 were not feeling the same passion for Nemesis. Just look at Electronic Gaming Monthly, who went from giving the 1998 sequel a 9.4 out of 10 to giving Resident Evil 3 an 8.6. That's down nearly a full point. John sums it up this way: “On one hand, Nemesis is a beautifully-crafted example of its genre, with excellent presentation and wonderful set-pieces that'll make you jump. On the other hand, it's a collection of lost opportunities. There are no Back to the Future-style crossover scenes with Resident Evil 2, and the storyline is pretty schlock-horror sci-fi at best. There's a bad guy after you, and, er ... that's it. Still, it has plenty of replay value and there's more action than in previous games.” Chris agreed, though had his own suggestion: “Capcom should've kept Nemesis as a side story. While Resident Evil 3 is perhaps the most visually stunning entry in the series yet, I kept wishing there was more of it. Dino Crissi has also really spoiled me on real-time environments. It's strange to get attacked and knocked into the next ‘scene.' Capcom has stretched the PlayStation to the limits, and playing RE3 just makes me wonder what they're going to be capable of on next-generation platforms.”

It wasn't just EGM that was disappointed, as you also saw Edge reduce their score from a 9 out of 10 to an 8. Something similar happened with Next Generation, which went from a perfect 5 out of 5 down to a 4. You could tell that they were getting sick of some of the series' more tiresome cliches: “Unfortunately, most of [the puzzles] are solved by items you find in the same room as the puzzle (we wonder if the designers were afraid that real puzzles would turn off gamers?). Still, you get a much better feel for being in a real-world situation than the puzzles in the last two games. At the end of the day, though, while the Resident Evil series is still fun, the real problem is that we're just not scared anymore. Sure, things burst through windows and startle you, but there's so much available ammo that you're never really defenseless. In a sense, survival is not really an issue anymore, and with the loss of this tension, the game loses a little of its immersiveness.”

As we climb back up the scale, we continue to see that most outlets dropped their scores by around a point. That said, it still managed to score well across the board. Game Fan gave it an average of 88%, while the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine went with a 4.5 out of 5. They argued that, “on a purely aesthetic level, Resident Evil 3 definitely represents the height of the series. Animated fire, water, steam, and other effects breathe life into the already insanely detailed backgrounds, and the subdued, creepy music and excellent sound effects hold up their end of the experience perfectly. This is one of those games you can really lose yourself in. About the only area RE3 comes up short is in its storyline – what's there is great, but I was left wanting more. Otherwise, Nemesis is another awesome trip through Capcom's survivor horror spookhouse.”

When it comes to the perfect scores, we once again have a few to choose from. GamePro was one of those magazines that gave both Resident Evil 2 and Nemesis the same 5 out of 5 score, which is also true of Computer & Video Games. While the Official UK PlayStation Magazine went with a 10 out of 10 score, it's actually Incite that I want to talk about. In the same issue where former That ‘70s Show star (and current prisoner) Danny Masterson gives Pac-Man World a 3 out of 5, professional critic Ryan Lockhart gives Resident Evil 3 a 5 out of 5: “Of course, a hail of bullets alone won't protect you from the newly transformed citizens of Raccoon City; you'll have to rely on a bit of luck and a ton of skill, not to mention some crafty puzzle solving techniques to survive. That was always the magic behind Resident Evil games – a perfect marriage of suspense, horror, blood splurting action and brain numbing puzzles – a tradition that carries over to this incarnation. Can a survival horror game actually be better than Resident Evil 2? In a word, yes.”

In reality, most of the critics disagreed. Oh sure, they liked Resident Evil 3, but the scores (and reviews) suggest that they did not like it more than the previous entry. You can see that in the overall overage, which sees Nemesis with a 90%. That's still a good score, no doubt about it, but it's also down a full six points over Resident Evil 2. Obviously, you should play both, especially if you're a horror fan who somehow missed out on these PlayStation classics. These are two great games that are guaranteed to put you in the mood for Halloween.