Tech Talk

Your trusty handgun can be made extremely versatile and effective with these upgrades.

It may not be as flashy and iconic as the shotgun or magnum but the handgun in Resident Evil 3 is almost certainly the weapon you'll be using the most. Plentiful ammo that's easy to find or craft (at least in comparison to the other guns) means that when you combine the handgun with the action dodge, you can be quite an effective undead killer. Here's the full list of upgrades you can find throughout the game to improve the handgun.

All handgun upgrades and parts in Resident Evil 3

There are three handgun parts to track down that'll increase the utility of the most ubiquitous ammunition in the game. One of these parts can be found early on by solving a simple puzzle. The other two are a little more challenging. Click or tap on any of the images below to enlarge them.

Dot Sight

The Dot Sight makes aiming far more precise, which is a simple but certainly useful improvement. You'll need to solve a puzzle early on to grab it though.

1. Go to the Pharmacy and check the back.
2. Look for the large advertisement for Aqua Cure, with a woman in a bathing suit.
3. The safe combination is circled in red at the bottom of the ad.
4. The combination is different every time.

5. For me, it was Left 9, Right 1, Left 8.

   

6. Head to the safe in the Downtown building
7. Now enter the code.

8. The safe will open and reveal the dot sight.

   

Extended Magazine

This useful part does exactly what you think: It extends the magazine so you can hold 33 rounds before needing to reload. Unfortunately, there's no precise place to pilfer it. For this upgrade, you'll need to temporarily bring down Nemesis.

1. Get Nemesis to chase you.
2. Deal enough damage to cause Nemesis to temporarily fall over.
3. For reference, one frag grenade at point blank range does enough damage on Hardcore.

4. When Nemesis falls over, quickly find the Umbrella Supply Case that he dropped.

   

Moderator

This handgun part has a twofold effect. It reduces the sound of the gunshots, which can help you avoid attracting more zombies. It's also reduces the firing spread, making it easer to land critical precisision shots and remove legs or smash heads. To get it you... need to bring down Nemesis again.

1. You can't immediately just frag Nemesis a second time.
2. Some time needs to pass, so wait until you lose Nemesis and he starts chasing you again.
3. At this point, deal enough damage to bring Nemesis down again.
4. If you're out of frag grenades, shooting a red barrel right next to Nemesis should also do the trick.

5. Quickly grab the second Umbrella Supply Case that drops.

   

While you are free to keep knocking Nemesis down, he stops dropping weapon parts after giving up the Moderator. Future Umbrella Supply Cases will have useful supplies like shotgun shells.

Resident Evil 3 is a tense game not to be missed

With Resident Evil 3, Capcom has brought another of its older games to modern hardware in a meaningful way, with gameplay that balances tension, horror, and action as Jill Valentine is pursued by Nemesis. If you're a fan of the series or just looking for a new horror game to try out, we highly recommend picking it up.

Shining S.T.A.R.S.

Resident Evil 3

• $60 at Microsoft Store
• $60 at Best Buy
• $60 at Amazon

Get out of the city

Resident Evil 3 takes Jill Valentine's escape from Raccoon City and brings it up to modern standards, with tight gunplay and action merged with tense survival horror.