The Resident Evil 3 remake tosses players into the zombie-ravaged Raccoon City, taking them through the Raccoon City police station from Resident Evil 2's remake. Resident Evil 3's police station has some key differences from the second game, however, with changes and updates to distinguish the two locations.
Resident Evil 3's story begins one day before Resident Evil 2's, but it actually ends after the second game's. This overlap ties the events of the two titles closely together, but players won't run into Resident Evil 2's Leon or Claire - or that game's Mr. X bioweapon - in Resident Evil 3. That's because players visit the police station in Resident Evil 3 before Leon or Claire even arrive in Raccoon City. Capcom used this to its advantage, including events in the Resident Evil 3 remake that explain certain design decisions in Resident Evil 2.
Unlike the original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis on PS1, Resident Evil 3's Carlos enters the police station instead of Jill. Since the Nemesis bioweapon is pursuing Jill, that also means there's no run-ins with the big monster inside the police station in the remake. Players speculated that broken walls in Resident Evil 2's police station were meant to show Nemesis' impact on the building, but Resident Evil 3 gives a different explanation.
Resident Evil 3's Raccoon City Police Station Changes
The biggest difference between the police stations in RE2 and RE3 is the number of locked doors. The layout of the station is largely the same, complete with details like the security computer and "Welcome Leon" decorations in the same places, but many of the rooms from Resident Evil 2 can't be accessed in Resident Evil 3. Capcom actually used this to poke fun at RE2's progression, with Carlos saying, "You want me to keep out? I'll keep out," when approaching the door marked "Keep Out!" that Leon brazenly opens in RE2. Later, Carlos finds a Spade Key door. In order to leave it unsolved for RE2's protagonists, Carlos' partner tells him to ignore it when he says, "Here's a weird f***ing door!"
Capcom also included a few clever references in Resident Evil 3 to unsolved mysteries in the Resident Evil 2 remake. In the original Resident Evil 2, it was possible to encounter a zombified version of Brad Vickers, the S.T.A.R.S. pilot who assists Jill at the beginning of RE3 before becoming infected. The RE2 remake left Brad's zombie out, and the RE3 remake reveals he's nowhere to be found because Carlos already killed him outside the station. It's also revealed that Brad is the one who bit Marvin, the police officer who helps Leon at the beginning of RE2, just before Carlos kills the zombie. Finally, the Resident Evil 3 remake reveals that the hole in the shower room wall was actually made by Carlos - not Nemesis - who blew it up with C4 in order to progress through the area.
Resident Evil 3 released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on April 3, 2020.