Best Resident Evil game, period.
GAMEPLAY - This follows the style of the older Resident Evil games, so you RE4 and RE5 fans probably won't appreciate this as much. What's cool is that, unlike the older games, this game doesn't have a static camera. It actually pans and angles around as your character moves. The core gameplay remains the same tried and true formula, which is not a bad thing by any means. - 10/10
STORY - I really wish this would have been given the honor of being Resident Evil 3, and for RE3 to be just Resident Evil: Nemesis or something like that. The reason being is because this game continues almost immediately after Resident Evil 2. Claire is on the search for her brother, Chris, when she stumbles upon the Island controlled by the Ashford family. This ultimately leads her to a research base similar to something from Umbrella in the antarctic. Following that, you play as Chris who's trying to rescue Claire who becomes trapped at the antarctic base. I could go into this more, but the story is so great and so twist-turning that I'll leave that to you to discover. - 10/10
GRAPHICS - The graphics are on par for what you'd expect for the time it was released. It doesn't look quite as good as Resident Evil Zero or the REmake, but I feel the gameplay is more advanced than those two. One thing I will say is that the graphics here are almost...different than the other early Resident Evil games. In almost every case, you're not going to be going through a dark and eerie setting with bad weather going on outside. This game is more action-oriented than the other early Resident Evil games, but still this follows the old style of gameplay for the most part, and the graphics are just as good as ever. - 9.5/10
SOUND - The voice acting in this one is a little weird. I don't know if it's more the fault of the cast or the characters you play, but let me just say that the Ashford twins are a little out there. This isn't to say that every Resident Evil game has had great voice acting, but this one is good enough to the point where it isn't cheesy. As for the music, I think this one has the second best Resident Evil soundtrack, right behind RE2. I especially like the music during the final boss and the bewitching melodies of being inside the Ashford Mansion and in save rooms. - 10/10
LENGTH/REPLAY VALUE - This game is longer than the other old-school Resident Evil games, and surprisingly retains the value of wanting to play it over and over again like its predecessors. Unfortunately this makes this game a fairly lengthy adventure, and not something you can just breeze through in an afternoon. Luckily, however, Mercenaries Mode unlocks after one playthrough. Both that and the main game are fun to play through, even if it is a little difficult to gauge a good grade while playing through the main story. - 9.5/10
BOTTOM LINE - I have no idea why this game got such poor reviews. Maybe at the time of its release everyone was tired of the same formula, but looking back I think we can all agree that sticking with that formula was the best thing they could have ever done. Instead we got lame Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 4, which, despite being totally different from its predecessors, was actually a fun game in its own right. Still, I think it's the older Resident Evil games that are the most fun, and if you haven't given this one a try then I highly recommend it. It might be hard to find, but when you get your hands on it be prepared for a fun and wild ride. - 10/10