Here’s how Capcom redesigned Nemesis to be scarier, grosser and iconic in Resident Evil 3

If Resident Evil 2’s glorious remake had one thing to prove, it was that Mr X was definitely going to give it to you. What it was, was pain, terror and a sense of constant dread as you never knew exactly when the hulking zombie would bust through a wall and hound you across a room. For Resident Evil 3, Capcom is looking to raise the bar with its signature undead Hulk, the Nemesis who chased after Jill Valentine so many years ago in Raccoon City and who happens to have been given a horrendous makeover with this return to the infamous Zombie capital.

“The fact that he’s this hulking mass constantly chasing after you makes him pretty scary,” producer Peter Fabiano said to Game Informer.

The fact that he can use weapons, the fact that once he appears he’s going to be constantly in your face trying to get at you, and the fact that he can use his tentacles to grab you all makes him incredibly formidable. We wanted to make him feel imposing and I think that comes through in his movements and his appearance. His appearance is something that we put a lot of time and effort into, trying to get just right.

Nemesis needed more than just a new bag of tricks to drive home the fear factor in players, he needed to look the part as well. The original design of an undead monster with ripped flesh and a face frozen in eternal pain was already a good start, but it was a look that Capcom art director Yonghee Cho wanted to improve on. Going back to the original concept drawings from the 1990s, Cho and his art team set out to redesign Nemesis as something more grotesque and unstoppable. “It just felt like more of the same, so we went back to the drawing board,” Cho explained.

The first thing I saw was the clothing. It felt strange to be creating a bioweapon and have it wear clothes. Rather than having him wear clothes, we had him wear something synonymous to a bodybag, something that made him feel like a restrained weapon. At the same time, I wanted to stay true to the original, so the silhouette of the Nemesis still has that iconic look.

The end result is something that makes me want to reach for a bucket and dry heave. Good job, Capcom!

Last Updated: March 25, 2020