It may have taken a year and a half for the DLC for Resident Evil Village to arrive, but it’s finally here just in time for Halloween. The Winters' Expansion has added meaningful content to Resident Evil Village as Capcom has eyed quality over quantity as players get a epilogue story, updates to the Mercenaries mode and a new way to play. WhileResident Evil 7offered an expansion as well,Villagebrings much better content that specifically impacts the original game to the point that it may alter how future games in the main franchise are designed. Players that have held off can purchase the Gold Edition of the full game or opt to pay only $19.99 for content that’s well worth the price of admission.
The first major addition involves the option of playing in third-person, which changes how the main game plays. First-person with this series makes the game feel more “tanky” and sluggish, which can be attributed to design. Adding the third-person option to the main story involving Ethan quickly shifts the game to even more action-dependent. Ethan’s body is seen full outside of the face as the director for the game stated during the recent Resident Evil Showcase that even changing the camera to view Ethan’s face will cause him to turn his head. The game plays at a much quicker pace as the animations for Ethan are responsive. There are times that the camera doesn’t play perfect when doing a 180-degree turn, but the view allows for a better sense of the environment. Movement is snappy and Ethan can also aim and move at the same time. It basically plays like the recent remakes do, but with the option of being able to play on current generation consoles up to 120hz, it allows the pacing to feel completely different than when playing in first-person. This will no doubt appease fans who prefer this and going forward, both options should be available in the games. It gives a reason to go back and replay the main story.
There is a caveat to the third-person mode that holds back the potential of this experience. This can be changed in the settings for the game, but the option is only available in the story mode to alter it back and forth. The updates to Mercenaries, which is now known as The Mercenaries Additional Orders, still forces players to play in first-person. While the pacing and overall experience has been improved with the mode thanks to the additions, I can’t think how it wouldn’t be beneficial to have the option to play the action-focused mode with camera view that opens up the action-related feel. To double down on this, the Shadows of Rose story forces players to play in third-person as that seems beneficial to have both options to play in it. I’m not sure why this isn’t just a global choice and it’s a mixed opportunity.
As for The Mercenaries Additional Orders, the additions open up the depth for the mode. While Ethan is still a playable character, he’s officially the worst character to play with. Chris Redfield is the only new character that is selectable to start as players will need to unlock Lady D and Heisenberg. Players can still upgrade weapons, but the purchasables are different for each one. For example, Chris cannot buy anymore weapons but can upgrade a meter that gives him a boost for a short time. Chris also includes punches (probably for oncoming boulders) and maps can be defeated with just melee. The melees can be upgraded along with the guns he has at his arsenal. He also has the ability to call in an air strike that can be used one at a time. It’s safe to say that immediately playing with Chris allowed me to basically triple my highest score.
Unfortunately, Lady D and Heisenberg are locked until the necessary task needed to unlock them is achieved. This is technically how this mode has worked in other games, but it’s different when paying for the character rather than having them included with the base game. There are more maps and areas that also up the difficulty. The AI was also addressed to be more aggressive compared to the base game, as players would find themselves hunting down a few remaining enemies so this helps the pacing and to open things up in the mode. Still, the fact that this mode lacks the third-person option, especially with more melee elements, is baffling.
Shadows of Rose is the epilogue story that takes place sixteen years after the events of Village. Rose is a teenager and has lived with powers that she does not want anymore. She has the opportunity to remove these powers and has to dip into the Realm of Consciousness to get a crystal that will complete that. This brings Rose back to the Castle in the game, albeit altered. The game includes the option to use powers as a defense or to solve puzzles. It’s safe to say that this isn’t overbearing during the game and balanced perfectly into the gameplay. What I can declare is that Shadows of Rose is pure Resident Evil. While there is exploration as the player will need to solve puzzles to progress and reach their goal, the survival horror element is on pure display here. Rose, herself, is extremely likeable and you feel for her and the frustration throughout the campaign.
The campaign for Shadows of Rose lasts about three to four hours on the initial playthrough. Rose is provided with only two guns during the entire campaign and ammo is limited. The main enemies are another form of the mold and they’re frankly terrifying thanks to their noises. These mold also dodge a ton and can lunge far towards Rose. On top of that, they don’t go down easy. Shadows of Rose keeps everything simple and offers a completely different dynamic than the main story. This is much more Resident Evil 7 in comparison, but forcefully in the third person. Running around in the Castle in third person almost feels like an update to the original game. There’s another main area that is revisited from the main story that focuses more on psychological horror. The pacing, atmosphere and degree of difficulty make this campaign fantastic for traditional Resident Evil fans as it is worth the $20 alone.
I can confidently say that the Winters' Expansion is not only the best DLC the series has seen, but that it doesn’t feel tacked on. The expansion stories for Resident Evil 7 feels like stories that were added after the fact whereas Shadows of Rose seemingly completes a story, changes game dynamics and creates a whole separate experience that wasn’t seen with the base game. The third-person mode should no doubt be an option in the future, but the option to play first or third should be a global selection and not forced in certain situations. The original Mercenaries for felt like it was added for the sake of being added, but The Mercenaries Additional Orders is what the mode should have been since day one. If you have yet to dive into Resident Evil Village, going with the Gold Edition is a must while paying only $20 for the Winters' Expansion is also a must for anyone that enjoyed the game.
