Is Resident Evil 3 Remake A Prequel?

Following in the footsteps of the original '90s releases, Resident Evil 3 Remake will release a year after Capcom's remake of Resident Evil 2. Though the third entry in the series, the plot of the game technically begins the day before the events of Resident Evil 2, making it a pseudo-prequel.

That said, protagonist Jill Valentine won't run into Leon or Claire as she dodges the dastardly Nemesis. She has returned to the city after having a horrifying adventure in an Umbrella-backed murder mansion. Jill and her fellow S.T.A.R.S. officers in the original Resident Evil discovered the Umbrella Corporation was carrying out some questionable experiments there, and that this friendly pharmaceutical company is to blame for the monster/zombie outbreak ravaging Raccoon City. To keep this secret from getting out, Umbrella sends Nemesis, a hulking Tyrant (think Mr. X on steroids) to destroy all the S.T.A.R.S.

Nemesis' signature line is, in fact, its own mangled version of "S.T.A.R.S.!!" The main overlap between Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 3 Remake is something of an Easter egg in the now extended demo of Leon's first exploration in the Raccoon City police department. Near the front gates, players have recorded that iconic, bone-chilling cry: "S.T.A.R.S.!!" But Nemesis is intent on its mission to take down Jill, who knows about Umbrella's connection to the T-virus. Leon and Claire are clueless (initially) and safe from its wrath. 

Resident Evil 3 kicks off in Raccoon City the day before Leon and Claire's adventures in the police station and the underground Umbrella lab. As the game progresses, the timelines unify, with the events of 2 and 3 unfolding simultaneously in different parts of the city. The story of Resident Evil 3 Remake will fill you in on everything that's happened to Raccoon City and beyond, so you can jump right into this pseudo-prequel without having played the other games.