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Buying a monitor might seem like a frivolous purchase if you only have a laptop and primarily play your games on a 4K TV, but these desk-bound screens are more helpful than you would think. For one thing, looking at a monitor at a desk is much more ergonomic than hunching over your laptop on the couch. Not only that, you also get a ton more screen real estate to work with, which means you can have more windows open at the same time and you don’t have to squint to see everything on your screen.

The good news is there’s a wide variety of budget monitors you can buy on the cheap and they’ll often fulfill your every need. Whether you’re looking for a basic task monitor or something higher-resolution, HDR-ready or even an ultrawide screen, there’s an affordable display out there for you. Like budget gaming monitors, the chance of running into a complete lemon is high, which is exactly why we’ve done the homework for you and found budget monitors that are guaranteed to be great and all cost under $500.

TL;DR – These are the Best Budget Monitors:

• Dell UltraSharp U2415
• Asus EyeCare VZ249HE
• Samsung 27-inch Space Monitor
• Philips P-Line 272P7VUBNB
• Monoprice Vivid Monitor 
• LG UltraWide 34WL750-B
• Viotek LinQ Touch

1. Dell UltraSharp U2415

Best Budget Monitor

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• See it on Google Shopping
• See it at Newegg
• See it on Walmart

The Dell UltraSharp U2415 is a staple monitor in offices and homes all around the world. It’s not surprising considering that it’s one of the best all-around monitors with good brightness, contrast, and color. Best of all, every one of these screens are color calibrated at Dell’s factories so you’ll get the same picture if you decide to go for a multi-monitor setup.

The monitor’s Full HD (1,920 x 1,200) resolution looks sharp enough given its 24-inch screen size. That said, the 16:10 aspect ratio gives you just a little more vertical real estate so you can see your webpages, emails, documents or what have you at a glance.

2. Asus EyeCare VZ249HE

Ultra Cheap Monitor

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If you’re looking for something truly cheap and still good, look no further than the Asus EyeCare VZ249HE. This $180 monitor features a decently sized 24-inch screen and a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution in a slim, slim-bezel design. Better yet it utilizes an IPS panel so you get wide viewing angles and great color reproduction too.

The EyeCare in this monitor’s name refers to the four levels of blue light reduction it features. Essentially you can set the monitor to produce increasing levels of warm light depending. Level 1 and 2 are good for viewing web pages and media in a well ambient lighting situation. Meanwhile, you’ll want to bump up to level 3 and 4 if you’re looking at documents all day or working in a dimly lit situation.

3. Samsung 27-inch Space Monitor

Best Budget 1440p Monitor

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• See it at Newegg

The Samsung 27-inch Space Monitor (SR75) is an incredible display that not only gives you a larger screen for a budget price but also an integrated monitor arm. The coolest thing about it is by far its space-saving design. Rather than utilizing a base with large feet, this display comes on a stand that clips to the back of your desk. Meanwhile, the monitor arm that lets you change how close it sits from you as well as its height.

The monitor itself is no slouch either. For starters, you’re getting a large 27-inch screen and a sharp QHD (2,560 x 1,440) resolution. The IPS panel on this monitor also comes with a surprisingly fast 144Hz refresh rate and 4ms response time, which makes it a little more gaming-capable than the other displays on this list.

4. Philips P-Line 272P7VUBNB

Best Budget 4K Monitor

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• See it on Best Buy
• See it on Walmart

The Philips 272P7VUBNB  is one of the few monitors that let you max out your screen resolution without breaking the bank. This 27-inch monitor features an IPS panel with a 4K resolution and the ability to produce 1.07 billion colors. It’s peak brightness only sits at 350-nits so it’s not a true HDR monitor – but we have an option below if that’s what you’re looking for.

One other thing that’s great about the Philips 272P7VUBNB is it comes with a built-in USB-C docking station. So if you have a laptop equipped with a USB-C port, you can plug in a single cable to carry the video signal, connect any USB peripherals you have connected to the monitor and power your laptop all at the same time. Note that the USB-C port can only supply up to 65W of power, so it can only recharge devices like Ultrabooks and Chromebooks.

5. Monoprice Vivid Monitor

Best Budget HDR Monitor

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• See it on Newegg
• See it on Walmart

If you’re looking for an extra splash of color and brightness, then check out the Monoprice Vivid Monitor. This monitor features a 27-inch IPS panel from LG that colors a wide range of colors including 100% of the sRGB and Adobe RGB spectrum as well as coverage for 97% of DCI-P3. With a peak brightness of 400-nits, this display is full HDR-ready.

The monitor’s 4K resolution is just the cherry on top of this affordable display. Just be ready to do a little color calibration as Monoprice usually skips this step to give users an incredible panel for an affordable price.

6. LG UltraWide 34WL750-B

Best Budget Ultrawide Monitor

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• See it on B&H Photo
• See it on Walmart
• See it on Newegg

The LG UltraWide 34WL750-B sits right on the cusp of our self-imposed $500 budget but it’s all so worth it. This 34-inch ultrawide monitor sports a 21:9 monitor for the largest amount of screen real-estate on this list. Of course it doesn’t hurt that the monitor sports a sharp 3440 x 1440 resolution that gives you plenty of room to work and play.

It also happens to meet the HDR10 spec with a color depth of 1.07 billion and a peak brightness of 430-nits. You can also use this monitor as a USB-C hub for any laptops or smartphones you plug into it.

7. Viotek LinQ Touch

Best Budget Portable Monitor

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The Viotek LinQ Touch is the perfect portable monitor if you’re looking for a second screen you can tow along with your laptop. It might only weigh 1.7 pounds and measure less than a half-inch thick, but it’s a sizable 15.6-inch touchscreen you can take on the go.

The 15-inch IPS panel sports a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution and you’ll be able to use all 10 of your fingers on its capacitive touchscreen. The monitor also comes with a pair of integrated speakers, FreeSync support, and a magnetic folding leather cover that doubles as a stand.

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Kevin Lee is IGN’s Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam

Disney has announced that an updated version of The Simpsons in its original 4:3 aspect ratio will be available on its Disney+ streaming service by the end of May.

When Disney released Disney+ with every available episode of The Simpsons, viewers soon discovered that the series was formatted in 16:9 widescreen. This wouldn’t have been so bad if it didn’t actively ruin certain visual gags that The Simpsons is known for.

Comedian Tristan Cooper tweeted a famous example of how the widescreen format removed a sight gag from one of the classic Simpsons episodes.

All the classic Simpsons episodes on Disney+ are in cropped widescreen format — this means you miss out on tons of great visual jokes, like how Duff, Duff Lite and Duff Dry all come from the same tube. pic.twitter.com/cTy9adulFl

— Tristan Cooper (@TristanACooper) November 12, 2019

In November 2019, Disney announced that it would roll out a feature in 2020 that would allow users to choose a 4:3 viewing ratio for the first 19 seasons of The Simpsons, as well as some episodes from season 20.

The feature will now roll out at the end of May, which is a bit more specific though no actual date has been announced yet.

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The Simpsons aired in a 4:3 aspect ratio since its premiere in 1989. In 2010, partway through the 20th season, The Simpsons switched to a widescreen format. Although the original aspect ratio was available when streaming The Simpsons on the FXX app, that option didn’t carry over to Disney+.

For more on streaming, check out IGN’s review of Disney+. Also, check out some recommendations on what to stream while staying at home.

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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

240Hz gaming monitors are the new hotness when it comes to ultra-competitive play, but until now they’ve been limited to TN panels with poor viewing angles and less-than-stellar color accuracy. But Asus has finally broken the mold with the TUFGaming VG279QM, which features an IPS panel with a 240Hz refresh rate – or 280Hz with built-in overclocking – along with HDR, G-Sync, and a fast response time to keep motion smooth.

Design and Features

At $400, this display may not look too flashy, with a quarter-inch bezel around the edges and a mostly-unadorned stand. The stand has a cable routing hole in the middle, but it’s too small to easily fit cables through, which makes it kind of frustrating compared to more typical designs. The stand is, however, very adjustable, with customizable height, swivel, and tilt – you can even rotate it 90 degrees for a vertical orientation. On the back you’ll find one DisplayPort, two HDMI 2.0 ports, and a headphone jack – unimpressive, but not offensively bare. There are no USB ports, and the built-in speakers are, as you’d expect, not great.

But all that’s okay, because Asus nailed the important specs. The VG279QM is aimed at competitive, high-speed gaming, with a 1080p resolution and 240Hz refresh rate – overclockable to 280Hz through the on-screen menu, making this the fastest refresh rate monitor you can buy today. Asus warns that overclocking may introduce screen flickering or other issues, but it worked flawlessly for me, apart from an occasional black screen when disabling it (which I easily solved by turning the monitor off and on again). If 280Hz causes too many problems for you, there’s also a 270Hz overclock setting that’s more stable and still plenty fast.

That refresh rate would be impressive enough, but Asus is also using an IPS panel instead of the sub-par TN panels you usually see on high refresh rate displays. That means you get better viewing angles and better color reproduction, without the usual IPS drawbacks of slower refresh rates and response times. Asus puts a cherry on top with FreeSync support (that is certified G-Sync Compatible by Nvidia) and HDR400 (which, okay, can barely be considered HDR without local dimming, but it’s there). At 27 inches, 1080p is less sharp than I’d like, but it’s all in service of getting the highest refresh rates possible, so it’s forgivable for its target audience. I can’t decide whether I’d rather have a sharper 1080p image at 24 inches, or a more immersive experience at 27 inches.

You can adjust the panel’s settings via an on-screen display using a joystick-style controller on the back of the monitor. You get your typical brightness, contrast, and sharpness (which Asus calls VividPixel, for some reason), alongside presets for different types of gaming. Curiously, the default preset is named Racing, and it’s the most accurate of the bunch – Cinema uses far too cool a color temperature – so I recommend leaving it at the default, despite the confusing naming convention.

You’ll also find a few extra gaming features, like Shadow Boost (which lowers the contrast ratio but helps you see enemies in dark places), an on-screen crosshair, and a Sniper mode that zooms in so you can practice your faraway shots. Asus’ strobing backlight feature, which the company calls “ELMB Sync,” is unique in that it’s one of the only motion blur reduction features on the market that can be enabled alongside FreeSync and G-Sync – usually you have to pick one or the other. But it comes with its own drawbacks, which I’ll get to in a moment.

Performance

As with all monitors we review, I ran the VG279QM through a few of Lagom’s LCD test patterns to see how the panel performed. Gamma was a touch low on our test unit, hovering closer to 2.0 than the desired 2.2, and I found that black and white levels were just slightly crushed, meaning you might lose out on the darkest and brightest details in a given image. This is where that Shadow Boost feature can come in handy, as long as you don’t care about the loss in contrast ratio – which isn’t particularly great to begin with, due to IPS panels’ grey-ish blacks. Speaking of which, I also noticed some definite glow in the corners of the screen when it’s entirely black – again, typical of IPS panels, and well worth dealing with for the advantages IPS offers. But it’s still there, and still bothersome.

The rest of Lagom’s tests produced stellar results, though, with no visible banding in gradients, great viewing angles, and a fantastic response time. To test response time, Lagom uses a GIF that switches between two shades of grey – the slower your monitor shifts, the more flickering the GIF produces. With the default setting of Overdrive at 60, the VG279QM produced very little flickering, indicating a very low response time – a result backed up by Blur Buster’s UFO test, which showed almost no motion blur at 240Hz.

Note that Overdrive can naturally cause some “overshoot,” which manifests itself as visual artifacts around moving objects. At 240Hz, the default value of 60 was perfect, but if you’re gaming at lower refresh rates, you may need to lower the Overdrive setting to avoid those graphical glitches. At higher levels, the artifacting becomes too distracting for me to recommend. The same goes for the ELMB Sync setting, which seems to lock Overdrive at the highest setting. I wish Asus had left Overdrive user-configurable when ELMB is on, because with the right settings, this could be a killer combo. But thanks to the heavy artifacting, I recommend leaving ELMB Sync off. Feel free to give it a try, though.

Gaming

If you play highly competitive games, this monitor is a dream. Colorful, fast-paced titles like Overwatch look incredible with IPS colors and super-fast response times, and while 280Hz is a subtle improvement over 144Hz, it is noticeably smoother. Darting around the map feels effortless, and the complete lack of motion blur just makes each movement so smooth and precise that it’s hard to go back to displays with higher response times. Those kinds of butter-smooth framerates are tough to hit unless you have a pretty decent graphics card, though, even at 1080p. You may have to drop some graphical settings to get there, too, so make sure your PC is up to the task before dropping the cash to go all-in on refresh rate.

With more typical single-player games, like Battlefield V, the value add becomes a bit murkier. Sure, you still get the amazing colors of an IPS panel, not to mention the nearly blur-free response time. But you also have a lower contrast ratio than VA panels, barely-there HDR performance, and a lot of wasted refresh rate, since you’re highly unlikely to hit 240+ fps in high-fidelity titles. Couple that with the not-quite-sharp-enough 1080p resolution, and many gamers would probably do better with the1440p, 144Hz version of this monitor for a similar price – especially considering the advantages of higher resolution on the desktop. But unlike previous monitors in this space, the VG279QM acts as a pretty good all-arounder, without the larger sacrifices that 240Hz TN panels come with.

Still, there’s a place for those TN panels – if you really want 240Hz but don’t have the budget for Asus’ display, check out AOC’s AG251FZ2. At $279, it’s more affordable, albeit with a less impressive TN panel and a slightly smaller 25” size. But if you can swing the $400, trust me: the VG279QM is a big step up from its TN predecessors.

Purchasing Guide

The Asus TUF Gaming VG279QM is available on Amazon and Newegg with an MSRP of $400

HBO has announced that it will be making over 500 hours of its original programming available to stream for free to help “provide some entertainment relief for those doing their part to keep everyone safe and healthy in this time of social isolation.”

Starting Friday, April 3 for a “limited time” (the specific length of the free screening period hasn’t been announced) you’ll be able to stream some of the most iconic HBO series – like The Sopranos, Succession, Six Feet Under, The Wire, and Barry – on the HBO Go and HBO Now apps and websites for free, without a subscription. Additionally, HBO is making available a handful of films like Detective Pikachu, The Lego Movie 2, Crazy. Stupid, Love, and more.

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Below is a selection of the content coming to HBO Go and HBO Now for free, including nine full series and ten documentary series:

• Ballers (5 Seasons)
• Barry (2 Seasons)
• Silicon Valley (6 Seasons)
• Six Feet Under (5 Seasons)
• The Sopranos (7 Seasons)
• Succession (2 Seasons)
• True Blood (7 Seasons
• Veep (7 Seasons)
• The Wire (5 Seasons)
• The Apollo
• The Case Against Adnan Syed
• Elvis Presley: The Searcher
• I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter
• The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
• Jane Fonda in Five Acts
• McMillion$
• True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality
• United Skates
• We Are the Dream: The Kids of the MLK Oakland Oratorical Fest

If you’ve ever wanted to catch up on classic HBO shows like The Wire or The Sopranos, or more recent offerings like Barry and Succession, now would be a good time.

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If you want to take a break from streaming shows and movies, be sure to check out our list of the best games to play while you’re stuck at home. And here are some easy ways to stay safe and help prevent the spread of COVID–19.

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Andrew Smith is a freelance contributor with IGN. Follow him on Twitter @_andrewtsmith.

Thanks to a weekend trial of Predator: Hunting Grounds, I got to follow up on the couple of matches I played of Illfonic’s upcoming multiplayer shooter last fall to find out if the experience could stand the test of time. And I’m happy to report that after a few hours of play, several matches as both humans and the Predator, I’m eager to jump back in and find out if it still bleeds, so I can kill it.

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Hunter and Hunted

I broke down a bit of the difference in playing as either the Predator or the elite, human squad out in the field during my PAX West 2019 Predator: Hunting Grounds preview, but as a brief recap: Predator pits four humans on a set of various missions (find drugs, find bad men who probably sell drugs, kill men and their drugs) while racing against both the clock and AI enemies. All the while, the dreadlocked alien has one goal — kill this group of soldiers.

To steal from my coworker Tom Marks, Predator takes the smart approach that other recent asymmetric multiplayer games do — by giving the humans a mission other than killing the big bad, the added purpose makes every role feel vital even when you’re not the obviously very cool teched out alien. The missions, at least in the trial, are often samey and rather boring, moving you and your team from one pertinent location to the next while mowing down relatively simple AI enemies. But the hook of having something to do other than fear the Predator adds a nice cadence and purpose to matches that made the Predator’s hunt more unpredictable match to match.

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And that unknowable fear is key to the experience — the Predator is out there in the jungle, somewhere, and I often scanned Illfonic’s lush jungles (which look beautiful from afar but don’t quite hold up when close up against a tree or decaying structure) fruitlessly hoping to catch a glimpse of my foe running amongst the trees. Illfonic has captured a really intriguing blend of constant dread and the player’s need to compartmentalize that dread until it can’t be helped. For my first few matches I was a skittish, unhelpful squadmate, and I’m sorry to all of the strangers I played with. I feared the Predator could be behind any tree, around the corner of any dilapidated building, and I often met my end because of that. An unseen batch of AI foes, or, more commonly, the Predator finding me because I strayed away from the group.

I quickly had to get the idea of the Predator’s might out of my head — it would eventually come to kill us, and that’s when I could worry about its superior strength. Instead, I focused on being a more present player, and a more active teammate, and I often saw more success because of it.

Hunting Grounds rewards teams working together. Any time myself or someone else strayed from the pack, it was almost always to our detriment. But even when playing with strangers, and omitting voice chat, we could still complete our mission, or even take down the Predator, by sticking together, pointing out trouble with a quick ping system, and responding quickly to call in all our firepower when the Predator appeared. Whereas fighting the human AI is a matter of getting the jump on them and using cover well, the Predator can move so quickly, and so unexpectedly, that it’s often about finding the ideal window to unleash hell on it.

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And when playing as the Predator, how you respond to those firefights often determines the flow of a match in an instant. You can try to fight from afar, shooting down from the tree branches and using camouflage to avoid being spotted. Or, you can jump right into the fray, using melee attacks to swipe at foes while also opening yourself up to a lot more potential damage. Though trust me, few things have frightened me like being a human player inside a room as the Predator speeds in through the doorframe. There’s no way to win, then.

Finding balance is the key to winning as Predator, both in when to go full force on attacking or hang back in the shadows like a forest Batman, especially when you don’t know whether humans are packing grenade launchers or pistols. And all of your abilities are tied to a single energy gauge, so while firing off a few full-force blasts from your shoulder cannon could knock an enemy out, you might have no energy left to turn invisible and flee afterward. The Predator is, no doubt, a strong opponent to best, but at least with my time so far, it feels like there is enough in balance that defeating it feels achievable in every match, at least at first.

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Ranking Up

The biggest change from playing two matches of Hunting Grounds to playing a weekend of it was getting a chance to understand how progression works. With an overarching level tied to XP gained from both matches played as the Predator and humans, I unlocked “field lockers” — Predator’s version of loot boxes, that come with a host of weapon and character skins for customization. You’ll unlock more boxes as you level up, and can use currency to buy them as well, both in-game and real world. But for now, it seems these loot boxes are cosmetic only, and I obviously hope they stay that way.

But there is progression to characters as well. While I unfortunately didn’t get to play around with the different human characters, I was able to add perks and change loadouts for both humans and the Predator as I leveled up, with a clear bit of additional armament ready to be unlocked at higher levels. Keeping up with those upgrades is essential, as they can change how quickly a Predator’s energy reloads or improve the ability of muddy camouflage to hide from the Predator as a human. I noticed a marked improvement in my ability to handle the unexpected as I outfitted my character with more perks, and was eager to see what else I could unlock at higher levels and how it might make matches more varied, especially when so much can hinge on the more boring human AI enemies.

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I’m glad Predator: Hunting Grounds had this trial weekend, because the entire weekend was saddled with disappointing queue times, with it sometimes taking over four minutes to kick me into a match. The first day of the trial I was being matched with only a single human squadmate as well, too, or even having to go it alone against the Predator. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t do too well in those first matches.

By the end of the weekend, match load times were down, but I still waited a couple of minutes before getting kicked into a match, and had to back out to the menu a number of times as the Predator because I was not being matched with any opponents.

Of course, this being a test weekend, I’m glad Illfonic is taking the time to see how Predator works out in the wild. I think there’s a strong core in the matches — everything playing to its source material as being a Predator game still feels fun and worth diving into match after match. I do hope Illfonic can find a better balance to making the other objectives a bit more interesting, but outside of its technical issues, Predator shows plenty of promise by sticking to its franchise guns.

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Jonathon Dornbush is IGN’s senior news editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

The Nemesis in Resident Evil 3 Remake is nigh unstoppable, and you’ll spend a lot of the game fleeing as he stalks you relentlessly. Like Mr. X in Resident Evil 2 Remake, you can’t kill him–but you can slow him down, if you’re willing to fight. Running away is usually the better option, though, and it can be tempting to just bail on the Nemesis and conserve your ammo. But there are two moments in Resident Evil 3 Remake when you want to stop and hold your ground, even though you don’t have to, in order to snag some big rewards.

As in the original Resident Evil 3, if you hit the Nemesis with enough firepower or explosives as he’s sprinting after you through the streets of Raccoon City, you can knock him out for a few moments. Do that, and he’ll drop a Supply Case. There are two important handgun upgrades you can only get by fighting the Nemesis at key moments, and if you miss your chance at them, you’ll never receive those items. Without them, you can’t complete one of the bonus Record objectives for Resident Evil 3 Remake’s post-game; you’ll also want all the firepower you can get, especially on RE3 Remake’s tougher difficulties. Here’s what you need to beat the Nemesis, what you’ll get for doing it, and most importantly, when to take him on.

If you need more Resident Evil 3 content, we’ve got you covered. Check out our full Resident Evil 3 Remake walkthrough for help on everything. We’ve also got a complete list of Resident Evil 3 lockpick locks, as well as safe locations and codes, a guide to finding every Hip Pouch, a full rundown of weapon upgrades and where to find them, and a guide to finding the jewels for the Kite Road Railway Monument puzzle.

Nemesis Fight No. 1: The Power Substation

Resident Evil 3 Remake introduces you to the Nemesis right away, but you’ll slip away for him for a good chunk of your time in the game’s first big area, Raccoon City Downtown. That changes once you turn on the power to the subway in the Power Substation. As you leave, the Nemesis will come after you, and from here on, he’ll chase you around Downtown.

This is your first opportunity to fight the Nemesis in an open area, so knock him down here, either with an explosive like a grenade or exploding red barrel, or by firing away at the black mechanical heart on his chest. Do enough damage and the Nemesis should writhe in pain and drop a supply box. Add it to your inventory, then Examine it to open it.

Note that you must down the Nemesis once before you head to the Kite Bros Subway Office, or you’ll miss your chance.

Reward: Handgun Extended Magazine upgrade

Nemesis Fight No. 2: After The Mutated Zombie Cutscene

The second time you can down the Nemesis for a big reward is almost immediately after the first. Once you’ve programmed the subway route at the Kite Bros Subway Office, you can leave and head back toward the subway by traveling through the Donut Shop. When you exit on the other side, however, you’ll see the Nemesis again, using his tentacle to mutate a nearby zombie.

This cutscene serves to separate your first encounter with the Nemesis from this one–if you downed the Nemesis more than once after encountering him at the Power Substation, you would only have received one drop. The cutscene resets the drop, allowing you to down him again to get another item.

To knock the Nemesis out here, shoot the sparking generator left of him, or throw a grenade his way. There’s also a red barrel at the top of the stairs beyond the Donut Shop, if you didn’t already use it to kill zombies there.

Be sure to down the Nemesis for this item drop before you enter the subway, or you won’t be able to get this item.

Reward: Handgun Moderator upgrade

Other Item Drops: In The Subway And After The Demolition Site

There are two other opportunities to knock out the Nemesis for benefits, but they’re way less useful than the first two–you’ll only get ammo for your trouble, so you can skip these.

Running In The Subway

Right after you reach the subway after restoring the power and programming the train route, Jill will distract the creature so Carlos can escape. The Nemesis will chase you down a concrete hallway underground, which will lead you to a yellow vent cover you can pry off so Jill can get away. Look nearby for a couple of explosive barrels you can use against the Nemesis. Knock him down and he’ll drop a case containing shotgun ammo.

After The Demolition Site

Later, you’ll face the Nemesis again, only this time he’ll have a rocket launcher. Flee from him until you get past the Power Substation and back into the more familiar Downtown area, near the Donut Shop and Toy Shop. When you reach the stairs up to the Toy Shop, you can down the Nemesis to get him to drop a case with grenade launcher flame rounds.

In Resident Evil 3 remake, there’s quite the army of zombies and deadly bio-weapons threatening protagonist Jill Valentine’s effort to escape the infested streets of Raccoon City. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a hulking monstrosity known as the Nemesis hunting her every step of the way. If that sounds overwhelming (it can be), then we’re here to offer you a helping hand to guide Jill through the game’s terrifying challenges. Below you can find links to our a step-by-step walkthrough offering insight into surviving Resident Evil 3, as well as some tips guides to ensure you’ve got everything you need to come out of this mostly unscathed.

Be sure to let us know how helpful our walkthrough has been in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you! Otherwise, you can dip into our Resident Evil 3 remake review for our full thoughts about Capcom’s latest remake.

Resident Evil 3 Full Walkthrough

Resident Evil 3 Tips & Guides

We’ve also prepared several guides focused on specific puzzles and optional unlockables below. If any of them have perplexed you, then jump into our guides to find the answers!

Safe Code Guide: Every Location And Solution

There are plenty of weapons around the city to help you survive its final hours, and upgrades to make them more effective–especially if you can find and open the several safes located throughout the game. Here’s everything you need to know about where the safes are, what’s inside them, and how to find their combinations.

Lockpick Guide: Every Lock Location And Reward

In Resident Evil 3, you’ll have to hunt around to find the ways to open all locks you find. As you explore Raccoon City’s Downtown section, you’ll come across a Lockpick that can help you get a host of useful goodies. Here’s a complete rundown of where to find the Lockpick and every single lock you can pick.

Puzzle Guide: How To Find All The Jewels To Unlock The Kite Bros Monument

One of the first puzzles in Resident Evil 3 is also one you can easily overlook. The Kite Bros Railway Monument is found right at the exit of the Subway, and requires you to find three jewels scattered around the Racoon City Downtown. Though there are only three jewels, they can be tough to track down if you don’t know where to look–and if you wait too long and advance too far, you can get cut off from ever finishing the puzzle. Here’s everything you need to know to find the jewels for the Monument puzzle and get the goods.

Hip Pouch Guide: Where To Find Every Inventory Expansion

As in most of the old-school Resident Evil titles, you’ll have to manage your space carefully in Resident Evil 3, deciding what items to pick up and what items to leave behind. Hip Pouches can help–they expand your inventory capacity so you can carry more stuff. Here’s everything you need to know to find every Hip Pouch in the game and maximize your carrying capacity, as well as your ability to fight the Nemesis.

PSA: Here’s Why You Should Fight Nemesis At These Key Moments

The Nemesis is nigh unstoppable, and you’ll spend a lot of the game fleeing as he stalks you relentlessly. Like Mr. X in Resident Evil 2 Remake, you can’t kill him–but you can slow him down, if you’re willing to fight. Running away is usually the better option, though, and it can be tempting to just bail on the Nemesis and conserve your ammo. But there are two moments in Resident Evil 3 Remake when you want to stop and hold your ground, even though you don’t have to, in order to snag some big rewards. Here’s what you need to beat the Nemesis, what you’ll get for doing it, and most importantly, when to take him on.

Working your way through Raccoon City in Resident Evil 3 Remake can be tough as you work to balance weapons, ammunition, herbs for first aid, and the items you need to solve puzzles and open doors. As in most of the old-school Resident Evil titles, you’ll have to manage your space carefully, deciding what items to pick up and what items to leave behind. Hip Pouches can help–they expand your inventory capacity so you can carry more stuff.

You’ll get some Hip Pouches for advancing through the story, but more of them will require you to go the extra mile of unlocking safes or completing puzzles. Here’s everything you need to know to find every Hip Pouch in the game and maximize your carrying capacity, as well as your ability to fight the Nemesis.

If you need more Resident Evil 3 content, we’ve got you covered. Check out our full Resident Evil 3 Remake walkthrough for help on everything. We’ve also got a complete list of Resident Evil 3 lockpick locks, as well as safe locations and codes, a full rundown of weapon upgrades and where to find them, and a guide to finding the jewels for the Kite Road Railway Monument puzzle.

Downtown – Power Substation

Your first Hip Pouch is the easiest to get. You’ll find it in the control room of the Power Substation, sitting on a stepladder to the right of the controls and typewriter. You can’t miss it.

Downtown – Kite Bros Railway Monument

The second Hip Pouch in the Downtown area requires you to solve a puzzle to reach it. You’ll need to complete the Kite Bros Railway Monument in the subway by finding three jewels. Look for them in the Donut Shop, Grocery Store, and Toy Store–but make sure to get them before you return to the subway while fleeing the Nemesis. Check out our guide for finding the jewels for more details.

Downtown – Sewer Security Room

Once you have the Battery Pack in the sewer, take the ladder near the waterway ramp you first slid down to reach the area’s second floor. Kill the Hunter Gamma that jumps up to attack you, then use the Battery Pack to open the Security Room. You’ll find the Hip Pouch on the desk.

Raccoon City PD – West Office

You’ll need to open a safe to earn this Hip Pouch for Carlos. You’ll find it in the West Office area after fighting off a bunch of zombies. The code to open the safe is the same as in Resident Evil 2 Remake, if you remember it. If not, you can find the file with the information to unlock the safe in the Dark Room, or hover over this spoiler box to get it right now. The code is left 9, right 15, left 7.

Hospital – Lobby Breaker Room

After finding the vaccine as Carlos, you’ll be tasked with defending the hospital lobby against an onslaught of zombies. Midway through the fight, the power will go out, and a Hunter will break into the room through a chained doorway behind the reception desk. Once you kill it and restore the power, look for the Hip Pouch on the back wall of the newly opened breaker room.

Hospital Underground Storage – Warehouse Safe Room

The last Hip Pouch is another freebie. It pops up in your path as you leave the Hospital to enter the Underground Storage Facility. Look for it next to the typewriter in the room just before you enter the warehouse and start looking for fuses to restore the power.

There are a whole lot of locked things in Resident Evil 3 Remake–lockers, safes, weapon boxes, and gun cases–that all hold useful pickups to help you survive the T-Virus outbreak and fight off the Nemesis. You’ll have to hunt around to find the ways to open all those locks; as you explore Raccoon City’s Downtown section, you’ll come across a Lockpick that can help you get a host of useful goodies.

Getting the Lockpick is the easy part, but finding all the locks you can open can be tougher. Lockers, gun cases, and doors are hidden in almost every section of the game. Unlocking them all can earn you bonus points for Resident Evil 3’s endgame, as well as more resources to survive on any playthrough. Here’s a complete rundown of where to find the Lockpick and every single lock you can pick as you fight to escape Raccoon City.

If you need more Resident Evil 3 content, we’ve got you covered. Check out our full Resident Evil 3 Remake walkthrough for help on everything. We’ve also got a complete list of Resident Evil 3 safes and their combinations, a guide to finding every Hip Pouch, a full rundown of weapon upgrades and where to find them, and a guide to finding the jewels for the Kite Road Railway Monument puzzle..

Where To Get The Lockpick

You’ll run across lots of padlocks (marked as Simple Locks on your map) before you get the means to unlock them. The Lockpick will come to you as part of the story; you can track it down in the Power Station in the Downtown portion of Resident Evil 3, toward the beginning of the game. Find it in a case held by a dead body.

Downtown Lockpick Locks

Power Substation – Door, Locker

You need to pick the lock to get into the Substation’s maze-like area and reset the breakers, as part of the story. There’s also a locker on the first floor of the Power Substation near its entrance, which contains handgun ammo.

Garage – Locker

Pick the lock on the locker in the side-room of the garage to get a first aid spray.

Toy Uncle Shop – Door

Picking the lock on this door gets you a Charlie Doll bobblehead, the Your Charlie Doll file, and a Fancy Box, which contains a Blue Jewel used in the Kite Bros Monument puzzle in the Subway Station.

Donut Shop – Locker

A locker with a padlock is found next to the Donut Shop safe room; it contains a hand grenade.

Kite Bros Subway Office – Locker, Case

The room where you find the shotgun contains a locker you can lockpick to get a first aid spray. There’s a locked case in the control room, to the right of the control panel, which contains shotgun shells.

Subway Station – Case

Look for the case at the top of the stairs as you leave the Subway entrance. Inside are shotgun shells.

Sewer Lab – Case

There are two lockers in the back of the Lab room. The one with the padlock contains Explosive A, for crafting grenade launcher ammo.

House Behind The Gun Shop – Case

After going through the alley beside Gun Shop Kendo, you’ll enter a house with some stairs leading upward beside the front door. This is an optional stop, but you’ll find a padlocked case at the top that contains explosive rounds for your grenade launcher.

Spencer Memorial Hospital Lockpick Locks

Reception – Door

You’ll need to open this door to advance to the Underground Storage area; it’s the first lock you hit, but the last one you want to unlock in the hospital.

Hall Outside Courtyard – Case

On the first floor of the hospital, when you first approach the Courtyard from Reception, hang a left and go around the corner to find a locked case that contains MAG ammo.

Emergency Entrance – Locker

You’ll have seen zombies trying to break down the glass here several times before the locker becomes accessible, and then you’ll need to kill a Hunter to get to it upon your return. It houses handgun ammo.

Staff Room – Locker

Look for the locker around the corner to the left as you enter the Staff Room. It contains shotgun ammo.

Linen Room – Locker

This locker is located in the back of the room, between the various shelves. Open it to get MAG ammo.

How To Unlock The RE: Master Of Unlocking Record, Achievement, Or Trophy

If you check the Records menu in Resident Evil 3 Remake, you’ll find the RE: Master of Unlocking objective, which tasks you to “unlock all safes, lockers, strongboxes, and pickable locks.” There are 20 locks in total to complete the objective, 15 of which are pickable locks listed here. To complete the Record objective, you’ll need to open three safes and two dial locks. Use our Resident Evil 3 Remake Safes guide to find them all.