Resident Evil 3 Mercenaries Mini Game Nicholai Survival Guide Version 3.5 11-20-99 thru 04-09-00 ----------------------------------------------- Resident Evil and subsequently mentioned characters are the property entirely of Capcom. Capcom is the Lord of the "Holy Trinity." Capcom, Konami and Square. Don't mess with them. ----------------------------------------------- J.R. Kerr wrote this faq. I am a professional writer. This is my intellectual property. No one may edit any version of this faq that is to be shared. For your own personal use on one computer, you may edit out all this jargon or select bits of the tips you need. I will not profit from this faq in any way. Anyone may distribute or post this faq anywhere they like provided my name remain on it. I will use powerful internet voodoo to eat the soul of anyone who posts my faq without my name on it. I will only answer e-mail with no attachments and sizes of under 6k at : jrkerrbomb@evil.co.uk I will update this Guide as I find out more. I am also at geocities.com/jamesrkerr --------------------------------------------- CONTENTS: --------------------------------------------- [0] Why is Nicholai so Cool? [1] Prerequisite for Reading this FAQ / Walkthrough [2] How to Run down a Hall [3] General Rules [4] F.Y.I. ~ What Do I Get For Saving the People? [5] -I am Ready! Let's Go!- [6] insanity: hunter beta swan lake [7] Notes from Correspondents [8] By The Way [9] Saved the Best til Last [10] Special Thanks and Credit ------------------------------------------- WHY IS NICHOLAI SO COOL? ------------------------------------------- [1] For starters, you will feel much more macho for finishing with a character that only starts with 15 rounds and a knife. [2] Nicholai will do something that none of the other characters seem to do so well: I do not recommend that you try to make this happen, but here is a description: When near the hunter betas or hunter gammas, "activate" them with a "hello" shot. Hopefully, the hunters in question are off-screen. Take one walking step backward and then mash down: R1+L1+X+DOWN and Nicholai will drop to one knee and begin firing rounds from his SIGPRO faster than rounds fire from Carlos' Eagle. Because he is on the ground he does not miss his 2nd/3rd/4th/5th shot at the hunters, and they will die almost instantly. [3] IFF you feel the need to try and rescue the office room merc, this skill is the only way to survive. If you do this incorrectly, the hunter gammas will have you rolling in a corner until you are swallowed. [4] Oops. I later found out that Jill with M92F and also Carlos with the EAGLE 6.0 will do the same "dodge"/"knee-shot" but it is still cooler when Nicholai SIGPRO's it. It only lasts until the clip goes dry, so make sure you are reloaded! [5] Many people e-mail and say: "I wind up shooting at the ground" If you target the ground, don't shoot! Release and then depress all afforementioned buttons again! I get the knee-shot every other time I want it. ----------------------------------- PREREQUISITES FOR READING THIS FAQ: ----------------------------------- [0] You just want to finish with Nicholai. Getting an "E" or "D" rank is okay with you. You will only save Dario. Later, you'll be able to string it all together for routinely saving 4 people and getting C ranks. Apparently Japanese players are pulling all 6 hostages, killing Bus Nemesis and scoring "A" Ranks; I have less luck than that yet. [1] Find Alvin Webcraft's FAQ and read it first. He is more broad in his treatment of gameplay than I. His FAQ helped me get better at playing Res 3. [2] Also look for either Redfield or Merken's upcoming speed/rank guides. I can show you a waltz with the hunters. They can teach you to lambada. Some of their incidental kills/patterns are also different, which may help you form a strategy that you like better before you start. [3] You have already finished the Merc game with Mikhail and saved at least 4 people. [4] You have a cursory knowledge of what beating the 4th survivor scenario in Res 2 is like. ie: hard. Hopefully you mastered run-then-step-back-once to let lickers Jump over Hunk~ you need this skill for Hunters. (muchas gracias A.Redfield!) [5] You are prepared to see Nicholai die over and over as you attempt to pull off the most insane stunts in any Res Evil game ever! [6] You are willing to: SELECT ~ RESET instantly if you miss any of the KEY milestones (listed below). [7] You have a colorful repetoire of swear words to cast at the undead ankle biters who are in your way. [8] Do not laugh when I say: (a) run past the dog (b) let the zombie bite you (c) do not let the zombie bite you (d) "stumble" the first zombie and "domino" the rest. (e) fake out the hunter betas and run past them. ---------------------------------------------------------- HOW TO RUN DOWN A HALL HOW NOT TO RUN DOWN A HALL ---------------------- -------------------------- I ^ I I ^ I I / \ I I/ \ I I / \ I I \ I I L_______J I I _ / I I I I/ I The point is: you lose time if you put your nose into a wall, so learn the course and then run straight without bumping the wall! Losing time means that enemies will be "activated" when you get to them, whereas if you are quick: the dogs may still be laying down and pointing the wrong way as you run past. Play as if you are inside a 2D Pac Man game. You are a triangle running thru a maze of right angles, being attacked by enemies who are squares. You should be able to do this if you ever "moved" while in the map screen inside "DOOM." ---------------------------------------------------------- GENERAL RULES: ---------------------------------------------------------- [1] DO NOT USE ANY FIRST AID SPRAYS UNTIL YOU ARE IN ORANGE CAUTION. (unless you have to run past the first rocket-nemesis ) [2] THE CLOCK PAUSES WHEN YOU ARE IN THE MENU BUT YOU NEED MOMENTUM SO KEEP YOUR FINGER ON RUN WHILE YOU USE ANOTHER FINGER TO ACCESS THE MENU. [3] WHEN YOU CHANGE WEAPONS: you should not hear "boop boop boop boop" You should hear "bloopidity-bloopidity" This means your fingers are fast enough. [4] NEVER TAKE YOUR FINGER OFF THE RUN BUTTON UNLESS TOLD TO DO SO. YOUR KNUCKLES WILL GO WHITE. [5] KNIFE HITS: Have the longest "reach" with R1+X+D, hold til you hear two cuts, then quick turnaround, run two steps, repeat. You should be able to drop multiple zombies in a long hall without really looking, but listening instead. When using a chair for cover Just use R1+X: the "up" hit is worth more, but the straight hit has better range. The knife hurts worse in the face, so try to keep your knife hits at where their heads are on the ground. ----------------------------------------------------------------- F.Y.I.~ ----------------------------------------------------------------- [0] WHAT DO I GET FOR THE SURVIVORS? ONE Dario = 60 rounds TWO Girl = 60 H gun bullets E THREE Brad = 60 rounds FOUR Marvin = 60 rounds FIVE Carlos = 60 H gun bullets E SIX Mikhail = 60 rounds [1] Dario Rosso: Better details are available deeper in this Guide. [2] The girl in the newspaper office: BEST details are below at "swan-lake." You COULD run-then-step-back to get up the stairs without a hunter hit. Later, it is easy to use the Special Bullets to fire down each flight of stairs, thus dropping hunters you cannot see. [3] Brad Vickers: Run from inside the kitchen door one camera angle run-then-step-back-once to have the beta jump over you. Run past and thump x to go down the drain. In the drain alley the immediate cop gets shot to death. Run 2 angles in and use knife and down and stumble/dodge to kill the nicely grouped zombies. Advanced knife techniques are difficult here, because you will always hit the wall unless you aim down. When you come out of the drain, 3 hunters will "pin" you and you will be rolling in a corner continuously dodging until you die. I have only escaped the kitchen once, but with special rounds you can clear all the way through to Marvin. Not much farther than that however. [4] Marvin: Run-then-step-back does not fake out Nemesis very well, but it is possible. If you zig zag up the steps, then run past all 3 spiders and 2 roaches w/out taking a hit (Not as hard as it sounds) You have special rounds for your gun, right? Use rounds to drop both immediate zombies. Step into their room- the high voltage room.The camera angle changes so that you can see all the zombies advance toward you through the doorway. Rounds to soften, knife to kill. You need to pick up some time here. To hit-free dodge Nemesis on the way down, wait at the corner of the top stair landing on the bottom left of the screen. When he gets to the top of the steps, run to the right corner of the stairs and down. He'll get hung on the corner behind you. [5] Carlos: Crossing the worms is easy. At the crank/sack angle fire a hello stumble shot at the first poison roach that you cannot see. This slows him down a second. Run a J turn to get into the office (look at the map). The first zombie is poised to bite you already, furiously hit all buttons to try to stumble "dodge" him. Inside the office there are three advancing zombies, if you domino them it is quicker than if you try to shoot them. Hairpin the desk and you should get into the store-room with a max of two bites. YOU SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST ONE FAS LEFT. Run one step forward facing the wall. R1+X ONCE. Then run into the next angle. You see the hunter gamma #1. MASH R1+L1+X and TAP DOWN. Nicholai should hit the hunter a second time, which annoys him and he will jump over and behind you. RELEASE ALL BUTTONS THEN MASH ALL BUTTONS AGAIN. Nicholai will turnaround and drop to one knee and pelt the Hunter faster than Carlos does with an Eagle. IFF you are back at the first angle~ Repeat, because Hunter #2 is at the end of the hall now. IFF Nicholai did not do his "knee-shot" the hunters around the corner may not be activated. YOU WILL NEED YOUR FAS MIDWAY THRU HUNTER 2. IFF you get the gammas jumped over you and facing the corner by the door and Nicholai will begin another "knee-shot" then you can kill Hunter #2 and #3 without them being able to turn around, and you won't have taken even one hit. I've only got it perfect once. Carlos now gives you 60 H Gun Bullets E . [6] Mikhail: Rocket Nemesi will totally miss you if you run without bumping the walls. Down the stairs clean means the rocket goes over your shoulder. Then you run along Nicholai's right / Nemesis' left up the second stairs. Sounds like the Nemesi fight behind you. The Bar Jack has all the zombies at the mouth of the bar. [I suppose it is possible to stab them over the top of the bar~] Immediately run towards the pay-phone zombie, and give 'im 4 for a drop. Follow with 3/4 knife hits then turn and repeat for the advancers behind you. Remember to use D+X+R1 for 2 hits, quick-turn, run 2 steps, repeat. You have enough running room to get all knife-kills out by the pay-phone. Mikhail gives you 60 rounds. --------------------------------------------------------------- I AM READY ~ LET'S GO ! --------------------------------------------------------------- KEY MILESTONES: their number is suffixed with "KEY" if you miss or mess up any of these: you MUST press "Select" then "Reset" and try again! [1] Check: am I frosty? Get off the first train with the knife equipped and at least 1:58 left on the clock. (best here has been 1:59:36) [2] When I run from the door/black screen~ I do not hit the wall in front of me~ I am able to run continuously, but swerve/curve to avoid the wall. [3] Cross the first boxes at the sacks, drop off and during the blink of blackness cut back in toward the zombie I saw earlier and escape this room without hitting any zombies or firing ANY shots. (best time 1:52:12) [4] When I press "open" at a door while running at it~ I see a weird vacuum pull me toward the door (for an instant). [5] You know what the room looks like before you see it~ therefore you are already squeezing "up and left" to make Nicholai run to his left. The first zombie here is Clyde. He is hiding in an alcove. Run along, not run with your nose into~ the east wall. The second zombie is Fat Boy. With your knife equipped try to stumble ("dodge") him by mashing "x" and "R1" when you get close. You may stumble him down, if you "dodge" him twice in rapid succession but he is a big boy and will probably bite you anyway. IFF (If and only If) he bites you "Chun Li" out of his hold then run over him. BEST: as you are running down the alley on Nicholai's left time it so that you step ONE STEP backwards when fat boy lunges. Then turn and run toward the right wall, hit the wall and run past taking no hits. [6] The next zombie is "sleeper." LET HIM BITE YOU! You have the knife equipped and YOU WILL GET 24 SECONDS! [7] IFF you stumbled fat boy and let sleeper get you in such a way that the screen juggles back and forth between shots while you try to stomp his head~ then the following two jokers will begin advancing. They are staggered. Run next to the first, cut in and behind then run along past the second. IFF one gets you, struggle and domino them. keep running. BEST: If you delay when you let sleeper bite you so that the advancing two are close enough to "wait their turn" to bite you~ you will get an extra 2 seconds (it will say +26 seconds) for this dodge which works every time if you release the X button and hold Up+Run while you are crushing sleeper head. [8] Cross the crow hall with the knife equipped. Leave the room by mashing x with your thumb AS YOU RUN. You should see a weird vacuum pull you into the door. While the door animation happens, begin furiously tapping your square/menu button. [8] KEY: The first zombie cop past the crows: I can stun/drop him while he is facing me, with four shots and NOT hit the barrel. otherwise: S>Reset [9] Run over the zombie cop~ who is not "dead" and as soon as the screen blinks to where I can see the first barrel stop and press R2. [10] The zombie cop will stand up, but facing the wrong way. Cops will advance toward you~ they cover the camera~ you cannot see yourself or the zombie cop behind you. Be cool. He is pointing the wrong way and cannot get you yet. [11] When ALL the cops get into view: shoot once~ it may look like a zombie is blocking your line of sight on the barrel. If you took aim with R2 before that happened, the bullet passes magically through the zombie(s) and hits the barrel anyway. [12] You will know you got everyone if the time you get is 69 seconds or sometimes 82 seconds. I think you get fewer points if the flying pieces of burning zombie do not knock the other zombies down. TRICK: If you release then tap auto-aim again to drop/kill the first zombie cop who stood up the wrong way behind you you can get 92-99 SECONDS! (at first I thought it was in additon to; but it just adds 10 seconds to your barrel total) It does not always work with Nicholai~ he shoots a little slower, but with Carlos~ it always works and YOU NEED IT. I've gotten as much as 106 here, but I don't know why. [13] Run toward the gas station gate inside the Y Hall. STOP. Check to see that you have: (a) nearly ten bullets in your equipped gun (b) only taken a maximum of two zombie bites: possibly less if you dodged fat boy correctly. (c) are now ready to run past dogs [14] Run along, not with your nose into~ the south wall. When you see the dog coming at you~ get ready.This is screen one of this dog running at you. At screen two of the dog running at you: put your nose into the wall BRIEFLY. from here, you are not allowed to "bump" off the walls. YOU MUST run a hairpin turn smoothly and tightly around the square sign. YOU may not bump the sign. Dog #2 will still be laying down when you reach the sign. Put a "hitch-in your step" at the sign~ meaning let your finger off the run button a split second. Dog #3 will run/jump past it and you. Dog #2 has not got a good line on you, because he just stood up. You will then see the path is clear to run to the garage door! Run for it! All three dogs should be like 6 feet away from you and pointing the wrong way~ but, a vacuum will pull you over the dogs if they are semi-blocking the door. [15] You still have the gun equipped from the barrel. Before you can see anything: squeeze the R1 and X buttons. The screen will begin with Nikolai shooting the nearest zombie. He may only have 4 bullets. DO NOT KILL HIM WITH THE GUN! as soon as he starts to drop: thump square and equip your knife. When he drops walk forward, then: hold R1 and R2 and X and DOWN to finish him and get 24 seconds. [16] You are standing in front of the soda machine. RUN to the crawling ankle biter and crush his head. 24 SECONDS! [17] Run forward to the wall perpendicular to the door. This will allow the 3 zombies inside to see you. Do a quick turnaround and run-step to the previous angle. Continue walking backward. Wait. When all 3 are visible: thump square and equip the GUN. Give each zombie 2 AND NO MORE THAN 2 BULLETS. You do this by holding L1 to toggle targets. [18] Run around the table: quickly and smoothly: NO BUMPING! IFF there are zombies "running" after you~ Face the wall by the soda machine, this may confuse the zombies who will walk away from you. Stab up at their heads when they face away. Two head shots from behind may drop them. IFF you are lucky, you got to the soda machine before the zombies could get around the counter. This means that they will line up on the wrong side of a little chair that they cannot cross. From the soda side of the chair~ stab using L1+R1+X. You will continuously stab at all three zombies and they will all die without being able to hit you. You will only get 24 seconds for each. IFF you feel BOLD, you may try to domino them and use knife hits down to save time on your total-time-so-far clock so that other hostages will still be alive when you get there. The girl is almost always rescuable, but Brad/Marvin can be elusive without the 49 second double knife kills. [19] Dario is now ready to give you 60 rounds. Most of these rounds are to be expended on the final room full of zombies. Some dog stunning is allowed, but not preferred. Reload your gun. Equip your knife. The next kill for you is past the first hunter beta alley in the "sleeper room." [20] Run to the garage exit door. Get ready for dog run number two. [21] Okay now you are mad. Focus on: I'm gonna "key" this Delorean then run up and kick that dog who was sleeping earlier. IFF from your entrance you turn HARD left and key the delorean and kick the dog you may find that all three dogs wind up standing confusedly at the door of the gas station and don't even run after you. You should never have stopped running thru the above. [22] Run smooth and straight to the door. Beyond is the nearly empty barrel room. [23] In the barrel room, only the first zombie cop who earlier got four of your bullets is alive. He is back at the door where you met and he cannot see you. Relax a little. IFF for some reason there is a lady cop still alive here~ walk backwards, not quick turnaround...two steps, equip the gun and drop her. Three bullets at CLOSE range should drop any zombie. --------------RECAP----------- You have 2 to 4 minutes on your clock. You have a fully loaded gun~ 15 rounds. You have 45 bullets leftover. You have at least two first aid sprays leftover. You have the knife equipped. You have saved your first and only person. You are laughing maniacally and are ready to run through two alleys full of hunters. BEST: you have taken only two sleeper bites and have all 3 First Aids. I have done this before. ------------------------------ [24] Run through the door to the street. Run across the street to the next door. You are now in the T-shaped dog alley. [25] Run straight into the wall. Turn and run straight on the left side of the dog that you see. This dog will not see you until you are next to him running past him if you do this correctly. If you have your nose on the wall, the dog will get you. Keep running. [26] This is a semi-safe room. Try not to hit the street lamps just outside your entrance or just before the exit. Nemesis awaits beyond. [27] The first available door puts you in sight of Nemesis in a T shaped hall. Run straight toward him~ you cannot see him but you can hear him walking. When you first see Nemesis, turn immediately while running RIGHT into the intersecting hall. If you do this correctly you will only see Nemesis once on screen and you will not see him running up behind you. [28] YOU ARE NOW IN HUNTER ALLEY NUMBER ONE. YOU WILL DIE HERE MANY TIMES BEFORE YOU LEARN THEIR PATTERN. At the moment you see yourself here you should be running forward towards a hunter who is 2 feet away from you. 1 foot from him, stop running and step backwards. Hunter #1 will swipe lazily at you and miss because you have stepped backwards. Then he will start to jump at where you were because now you are running to where he was and curving right. Hunter #2 is running at you. Curve hard left running. Run toward hunter #3. He will jump at you to TRY and take your head off. Hunter#1 and #2 are now right behind you and may hit you for moderate damage. It is not as bad as you think. If 1 or 2 hit you, 3 may be unable to land his jump hit. Jog hard toward the trashcan, then back toward the police car. Holding run start to thump the X button with another finger as you near the office door. It is possible to clear this alley without taking a hit. It is permissible to be in light yellow caution after clearing this alley. [29] Check: you are in the sleeper room. STOP RUNNING. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR KNIFE EQUIPPED BEFORE YOU MOVE. The sleepers bite you when you step past them~ so they can get you from behind. There seem to be two that are really dead~ notice that they do not turn their heads to look at you. The sleepers bite you in pairs... DO NOT USE YOUR FIRST AID SPRAYS UNLESS YOU ARE IN ORANGE CAUTION BEFORE YOU TAKE A PAIR OF ANKLE BITES. I believe there are 5 live sleepers. For stomping their heads with the knife equipped: YOU GET 24 SECONDS A POP FOR A TOTAL OF NEARLY TWO MINUTES. BEST: you cannot really avoid the first sleeper bite, but the subsequent four, you can set Nicholai to the side of each and begin stabbing down at their rear-quarters. They take a long time to turn all the way around, so you can still get your two minutes bonus time and only suffer ONE sleeper bite and not FIVE. Taking the bites is faster than knifing however, so it is up to you. [30] Before leaving the sleeper room, equip your gun. Run straight out the door two steps then curve hard left so that you do not snag on the parked car. You will run past two zombies who are not chasing you yet. They do however, block the camera~ so you need to know what is there without seeing it. [31] At the angle that shows a parked van on the right covering half the screen, STOP RUNNING. Walk slowly forward, but not off the current angle. Press R2 to auto aim at a barrel you will never get to see. Fire. You may only get 14 seconds for dropping 2 zombies, but you may get 27 for dropping 3. why, you ask? --THE BARREL COUNTS AS A KILL-- [32] Mysteriously, the other four zombies did not hear their friends blow up and when you run into their camera angle, they should all be standing still. IFF they are walking you may drop one of them with up to 5 bullets but not more. Otherwise run directly into the middle of them and straight thru them to the door beyond. You have WAY MORE THAN 2 MINUTES! BUS NEMESIS IS COMING! [33] Run cleanly and continuously. Bus Nemesis is jumping down. Do not stop. Run along his left side. Hit the door quickly. SPECIAL NOTE: I have recieved an e-mail from GhaleonX who has dropped Bus Nemesis here by using the three present barrels. It is attached at the end of this. (but not his e-mail address). I have only been able to "drop" him the once, but not kill him so far. [34] THIS NEXT ROOM IS VERY SCARY, BUT IT IS VERY EASY ! This is Rocket Nemesis / Firehose Alley. ------------RECAP------------- at BEST you have taken only 3 ankle bites and have all three first aid sprays with 2-4 minutes on the clock. USE A FIRST AID SPRAY JUST INSIDE THIS DOOR IF YOU ARE NOT "FINE" You will run a little faster if you are in "Fine" shape. at MINIMUM you have used only 2 FAS and are in perfect health now, and you still have not used up your second clip of rounds so that you still have a box of 45 rounds left. ------------------------------ Recapping now is okay, because the first step is: [35] Just inside this door to firehose alley: STOP AND WAIT A SPLIT SECOND. The zombie you can see starts to walk at you. You hear Nemesis running. NOW RUN to Nicholai's right. Run along the wall just enough to clear the first zombie, then cut back (Nicholai's left). If you don't run right, Nemesis can see a clear path to run at you. If you do, Nemesis tries to run THROUGH the other zombies. However, you cannot clear this hall on Nicholai's right because there is stuff that protrudes from the wall that will snag you, in which case Nemesis will rocket you to death while zombies munch you. You must only cut in and trick Nemesis into thinking you are coming down slightly to Nicholai's right. You should see him paste a zombie~ when this happens, cut back to the left-hand side (Nicholai's left) and run straight and smooth thru the rest of this alley. You CAN make it thru this alley without getting hit or even killing or stumbling anyone. Most of the time you will take one zombie bite at the door but Nemesis will only hit the zombies that you left alive behind you. [36] The roaches all seem to run up the walls when you enter this room. Run underneath them. If they do not go up the walls, run around them. This "dead merc" hall is wider than it seems. [37] Street of Crows. You will never see the crows. Run. [38]KEY: You must drop all but two of the zombies in your way with the next barrel. IFF you do not get all but two zombies that are in your way, Select > Reset. You are now in the Y shaped alley. Run forward on the left fork until you reach the angle where you can "activate" AT LEAST FOUR of the left fork zombies. Quick turnaround and run two angles. Begin walking backwards, but do not lose sight of the barrel. The right fork zombies seem dangerously close.... BUT You can still R2 aim at the barrel. Do so. WAIT. It seems that the zombies are blocking your barrel shot. WAIT. Fire. Drop the remaining right fork zombie. He will get you in the back if you do not drop him. [39] RUN FORWARD. There are remaining left fork zombies that were not activated. Hopefully, only two. H gun bullets to drop, but not kill them. [40] THREE DOG ROOM Run slightly forward then curl to the right. You should wind up standing on top of the dead cop who had photo A. From here with the dogs in front of you, begin pelting them. Listen for their final yelps. When at least two die, it is safe to run for it. (Some of you may feel bold enough to outrun these dogs entirely; but there is worse ahead, so I use this to catch my breath) [41] DOUBLE ROCKET-NEMESIS T HALL RUN, RUN, RUN ! Forward and then hook your left. Hit the door that Jill had to "unlock" and exit. You should never see either Rocket-Nemesi. The exit door is gray with a light above it. [42] You are now standing in an alcove of a street. There is a red "do not block bikes" sign. You are facing southeast if you look at the map. Take account of what you look like on the Map screen. What you are about to do is INSANE. [43] Run forward and count aloud: "one, two, three, four, five, six" You are counting the Camera Angle changes. YOU ARE RUNNING ! At seven: STOP RUNNING. [44] HUNTER ALLEY TWO From this seventh street angle where you can see the blue sawhorse that seperates the street from the alley~ YOU HAVE STOPPED RUNNING. You are in the center of the screen. Walk forward and count aloud SEVEN STEPS. Turn and walk one step to your right. The ANGLE CHANGES WHEN THIS HAPPENS. You are standing pointing at the sawhorse, next to a traffic cone. Turn to your left so that you are perpendicular to the mouth of the alley. Hunter #1 will be along soon. He will get snagged on the sawhorse, briefly. Hunter #2 will catch up. When they begin their beeline at you, RUN forward- you should be pointed away from them at a 30 to 45 degree angle. When they miss you, curve into the alley. Hunter #3 is still in the alley. He is however snagged on something briefly. He has not lept to hit you yet, which means that he will jump hit you for moderate damage as you are running past him. It is like "runner's high" if you make it to the crow hall door and you are still in "Fine" shape. [45] In a BEST CASE scenario what happened above is that all three hunters lined up in a row walking toward you and get hung on the sawhorse. When they do you curve past their right (your left) and run smoothly toward the exit door without them hitting you at all! This does not always work, because sometimes hunter number 3 is not "activated" by your walking. It works for me only every other time I do it. ----------RECAP-------------------- You have one FAS left because either Hunter Alley #1 or #2 got you bad. You need to use it soon, because you are in Caution. Do not use it until you are in Orange Caution. You have 20-30 bullets left. ----------------------------------- [46] Crow Alley. Run, but while running hit the menu button with another finger so that you never stop running and reload your handgun. Count what you have left. [47] FINAL ROOM squeeze R1 before you see anything. Do not fire unless you see yourself aimed at the aproaching zombie. Empty all remaining rounds at the advancing zombies. You will probably not be able to kill many of them, but the idea is to stall the ones in front UNTIL the ones in back and down the steps have a chance to catch up. You will run out of bullets before everyone catches up. You will have to "let the zombie bite you" then shake him off to domino the others. When the path is 'clear' run for the target point! [48] You may need to speed limp across the finish line. "Speed limping" is when you are in Danger and you rapidly tap your "run" button so that Nicholai seems to glide and you do not hear foot steps. This is not so much for moving faster, per se; but it handicaps the gesticulations that would otherwise increase your surface area and collision detection. In other words, it helps you to avoid "bumping" the wall or getting "snagged" on the corner of the stairs. THAT'S IT. You have earned your reward and your freedom. Save your game if you win so that other people will believe you were able to finish with Nicholai. It saves his "result" only if you finish. -------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL NOTE: HUNTER BETA SWAN LAKE -------------------------------------------------------- I have taken to routinely saving the newspaper office girl with Nicholai. I don't recommend this for people who haven't finished with Nicholai. But here you go: [1] In the street before the office where the crowd of zombies are~ run to the window and turn your back to the zombies. If you wind up in a camera angle where you can't see them~ walk backwards til the angle changes. The zombies will all bee-line at you. You are still facing away from them. At the last possible second~ run forward and "J-hook" around their side by the fire truck. [2] INSANITY: the 2 step/2 shot dance with 2 hunters. THIS IS THE MOST FUN THING EVER ONCE YOU HAVE LOST YOUR MIND. Imagine "Swan Lake" playing. With the melody you sway/curve forward 2 steps and shoot with the two notes "Na na na na nah" bang. bang. Then back 2 steps with "na na na na nuh" bang. bang. Repeat. You should be laughing hysterically if you can hear this melody in your head. This makes the hunters really mad. they always wind up jumping over you, facing the wrong way and shrieking as you peck 'em in the back. They don't hit me any more, it is possible for you to not lose health here. [3] HUNTER BETAS CANNOT DO QUICK TURNAROUND They can hop backwards or make a running u-turn. IFF you are lucky, they jump over you and face a wall, which should invite you to run directly up upon their backs~ once you do this: they are stuck! they can't move and they can't hit you~ you are blocking them from hopping backward and they can't run forward to u-turn! [4] Up the stairs and at the zombie copy girls: rounds to soften, knife to kill. [5] Collect 60 H Gun Bullets E from rescued girl. Try not to kill zombies with these rounds, they are strong enough to knock them back a foot, so give 'em three and then follow with R1+D+X for 2 more knife hits to drop and then 3 to 4 more to kill. [6] This is funny: When you exit (don't foget bonus 2 sec. spot at alley) the crowd of zombies are all "moon-walking" into the window of a store. window shopping? Very easy to run behind and past. [7] Finishing with these two and using all FAS is good for a "D." "B" may be possible if you drop Bus Nemesis~ see bottom. Pick up strategy from above at #24 -------------------------------------------------------- If anyone has done an easier "A" rank Nicholai without cheating, I would like to know how. Sincerely. Please e-mail me at: jrkerrbomb@evil.co.uk (under 6k~ no attachments) So far I can get Dario/Girl/2 Mercs on 2 FAS and finish with 3:30 and a reward of $950 for a D Rank which the computer decided was a "new record" and better than an earlier C Rank I had got with 4 rescues and times/reward money I didn't have the good sense to write down. ugh. I am shy about writing the FAQ to include the extra work: if anyone wants the rest of the dance steps here, let me know. ------------------------- SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR NOTE: ------------------------- -----Original Message----- >From : Ghaleon X To : jrkerrbomb@evil.co.uk Date : 11 December 1999 01:11:36 Subject : Re: WOW~Re: Nicholai: Mercenary mode >Took me a little while to do, with carlos i got a B also. Mikhail I got an >A, Mikhail rocks. >Well with Nicholai, I didnt kill any zombie unless there was a barrel >around. Also, in parts like when you need to save brad, i knifed all those >zombies. The funny thing was that when i started to stab the zombies, none >of them turned around to attack me so I killed them rather easily. I got >alot of time for that thing. The others were all routine. >I also killed Nemesis jumping off the bus although it takes a tough time >to do that. Just luring him to the barrels was a hard enough task, but >those >2 minutes helped. -----Original Message----- >>From :Valderrama To : jrkerrbomb@evil.co.uk Date : 11 January 2000 22:33:25 Subject : Nicholai guide >r u the one who made the guide? if so its great but if you escape the first >crows you meet you lose precious seconds, if you forgot any kill with a >knife is multiplied by eight, crows get one sec >with a normal kill. if you do the math 8 x 1 = 8 FRIGGIN SECS for a crow!!! >my time in that place was 2:46, oh and if you are worried walk down the >hall don't run. >just wanted you to know about this. my cheated time with nicholai was 10:56 >normal was 4:07 with 2 people saved -----Original Message----- >From : Vincent Merken To : jrkerrbomb@evil.co.uk Date : 12 January 2000 09:38:39 Subject : Resident Evil 3: Nemesis >There's a countdown for the 'hostages' >This countdown goes as follows: > >Dario: 2 minutes >Brad: 4 minutes >Marvin: 6 minutes >Promo Girl: 9 minutes >Nicholai: 12 minutes (you see Nicholai here if you play Carlos) >Mikhail: 14 minutes > >So for example, after 6 minutes of play (not the time on your clock!), >Marvin buys it, ditto for the other hostages. That's why when you play >Nicholai, you need to rescue the hostages in this order and no other, >because rescuing a single hostage takes a lot of time with him, even though >you bag big bonus times and have a respectable clock reading. > >Sticking to Nicholai, if you try for example to save Dario and then go to >get the promo girl, you'll most probably find Brad dead, so it's best to go >straight to Marvin. However, if you want an A ranking, you're going to (a) >save all the hostages (b) get Bus Nemesis, as you call him and (c) kill >loads of enemies. For even higher stats, you can grab the hidden bonus >points for extra time and $100 extra at the end. > ----------- BY THE WAY: ----------- [1] REWARD MONEY AND RANK: Oops. I said earlier that the reward money determines rank. I was wrong. They have a habit of being high together but after finishing a $1900 Mikhail run using 2 FAS, I got a "B." Likewise, it is possible to receive an "A" rank with Carlos for instance, with lower reward amounts. I got another "A" with only a $1400 reward. The other thing is that multiple Nemesi kills will pardon the use of a First Aid Spray, my initail Mikhail runs used all health but killed all 5 Nemesi for $1850 and an "A." Therefore, I believe money is determined/reflects only the number of kills. Thus an "A" rank is theoretically possible with way under $1000. [2] I am now also sure about the S rank Japanese = A rank in NA release. So the guides I read that say greater than $2100 = S rank uh, well...I don't think so. Credit to Merken for clearing that up. I am frustratingly at a best of $2076 with Mikhail. [3] I have read in other places about how Nemesis' rockets get stronger later in the game. I don't think so. I think the rockets are just like barrels. The damage is proportional to your distance from the explosion. In other words, if you are a long way away from Nemesis when he shoots a rocket at you, no big deal. If you are close/point-blank: instant orange caution. The merc game is the easiest way to prove this. Just experiment shooting rockets with Mikhail from different distances at (Bus) Nemesis Type II. -or- shoot at a barrel to hurt yourself from different distances. You'll see. ------------------------ SAVED THE BEST TIL LAST: ------------------------ [1] Oh lord. There are really cool action figures available now in Japan for the Biohazard series! look at: "http://www.mobydick.co.jp" click the whale picture and then any/all Biohazard logos. My favorite is the real shock action figure 2 pack with Nemesis type 1 vs. Carlos. Maybe if all of us petition Toy-Biz they will import/release the same figures and not make crappy smaller ones with bad paint (like they are want to do). [2] There is also a limited edition air-gun replica of the S.T.A.R.S. special custom M92F. I think it is made by Maruo or somesuch... check eBay for exporters of this thing~ you should at least see it. also titled "Samurai Edge." [3] From the capcom.co.jp site there are a bunch of really cool jackets for sale too. You gotta see the R.P.D. windbreakers~ they are so cool! [4] a good Japanese fansite: "http://bio.treasure.ne.jp" a good English fansite: "http://www.survivalhorror.com" This oughta prove I ain't in nobody's employ. I am just a fan like the rest of you. My thanks to all the other fans for continuing to buy ResEvil stuff because it keeps it available to me too! See you at Codename:Veronica! Or even Resident Evil Zero for N64!? ---------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL THANKS TO: ---------------------------------------------------------------- [01] Beth for letting me play. [02] Capcom for giving me love. [03] Alex for his years of video-game co-insanity. [04] Dave "my controller is broken" Wallin. [05] Ben "Pokum Taco" Groves for always floating me quarters. [06] A.RedField for coining the term "stumbling" in his 4th survivor FAQ. and also the new verb "decap"~ I love it! thanks for "coming out to play!" [07] Vincent Merken for his input and previous knife training! [08] Kao Megura for killing Ben Lansing. [09] Ghaleon X and his site "http://www.resident-evil.org" [10] Henry laPierre [11] CJayC [12] Amaloo [13] A. Webcraft [14] Old Man Murray [15] Whoever designed Notepad. Bless You.