DLC Special: Resident Evil VII - End or Zoe & Not a Hero

braini (61)in #gaming • 7 years ago (edited)

It has been almost a year since Resident Evil VII was terrifying. With that title Capcom did what was considered almost impossible up to that point: a franchise that for years had denied fans with a more action-oriented approach back on the right path. Resident Evil VII was simply murderous at times. The game varied smoothly between subtle nail biting and a grotesque gorefest, and succeeded in winning even the biggest skeptic. Now Capcom completes the whole adventure with the most bizarre move they could have imagined: a return to the action-packed gameplay from the previous parts. Guess what? It is actually not that bad.

End of Zoe was promoted in advance as a sort of epilogue, a final turn to the main story that the unfortunate Bakers - the family infected with an experimental virus in Resident Evil VII and thus turned into samples - would definitely be buried. That the expansion would explicitly choose the medium of the wrong B-film, I would not have dared to predict immediately. The DLC introduces us to Joe Baker, the hitherto unmentioned brother of father familias Jack, who bumps into the swamp on the heavily infested and hardly living body of his niece Zoe. Furiously he goes out to find a medicine. And woe to the one who dares to put him in a straw.

Anyone who had thought that Zoe - the only member of the Baker family that put a helping hand in the main game - would claim the spotlight in this DLC, is therefore disappointed. Zoe plays a special guest role as a mummified ice queen, but he never takes the law into his own hands. That role is assigned to Joe Baker, a hillbilly pur sang with a long, greasy beard and - I suspect - a more than above-average dose of alcohol in his blood vessels. He does not need weapons; he is fearlessly attacking the infected snoods he encounters on his path with his bare fists. Is he injured? Then he pats a centipede in his mouth without blinking to replenish his life bar.

We will not soon find our videogame protagonists more masculine than Joe Baker. With a firmer body odor, I fear. Anyway, you are behind the joysticks and may, maliciously laughing, take a path of destruction through a swamp full of zombies. That the enemies you encounter are mainly variants of the colorless tar samples from the main story is a disappointment, but not insurmountable. Those greasers deserve to be beaten up and that makes the fights at times very satisfying. And it has to be said: the controls are damn good, especially when you consider that first-person mêlée combat is still a problem in many games.

The abrupt switch to a semi-comic tone is one that I can not understand. In separate modes, something like that can still happen, but when you release DLC that extends a direct follow-up to the main game, you should at least create the same atmosphere. If only to respect continuity. The environments still look semi-photorealistic (and therefore deliciously dirty), although we have already seen this kind of levels. The quickly thrown-out army base that Joe crosses on his adventure does offer variety, but there is no real outside of the lines of colors.

Chris is back in town

The emergence of Chris Redfield will undoubtedly have cheered up Resident Evil fans at the end of the main game. The second DLC package picks up the thread immediately after that last cut scene and sends you - in the boots of Chris Redfield himself - behind Lucas Baker, the psychopath and that hard Saw fan who is still in the Resident Evil VII. from the net managed to slip. For this, Chris pulls the mines up to the teeth and is allowed to pop himself by a small army, while he will, in gratitude, become a pawn in Lucas' latest, explosive game. Spectacular plot twists or surprising revelations are not to be expected here. However, a straightforward Resident Evil adventure, which once again focuses on a more action-oriented approach.

In the first instance, Not a Hero disappoints. You start with a backpack full of weapons and thus never feel the threat that made the main game such a memorable experience. In addition, the mines formed the least-inspired background of Resident Evil VII by far, so this is not exactly a hearty reunion. Soon, however, you find out that Chris Redfield is absolutely no push, as Ethan was. His steps are a lot more self-assured and the aiming is a lot more intuitive, so you will soon be the top agent from the previous games. The enemies remain relatively boring and colorless, but the way in which you can literally pop a path through them is not at all.

And at Capcom they try to provide variation at least. They do this by introducing certain environmental elements, which still manage to raise the heart rate here and there. For example, certain underground corridors have been filled with a poisonous gas, which means you have to look for an exit quickly, otherwise you change yourself into such an infected creep. Also nice is the helmet that Chris puts on during the game. This conjures up a lot of information on the corners of your screen, which gives this extension a unique look. You almost think you're damned in an Aliens movie. Admittedly, Capcom does not reinvent the wheel anywhere, but those few extra hours offer enough entertainment.

Conclusion

Resident Evil VII, but less frightening and more action-oriented. This way I can describe both End of Zoe and Not a Hero. The first one emphasizes melee confrontations, while the latter goes more towards a standard horror shooter. Initially this is pretty disappointing. The main game was supposed to have its subtle scares and a mood that slowly but surely crawled beneath your skin. If that main game is a meal in a five-star restaurant, then these expansion packs are the burgers that you will get in the McDonalds afterwards, because you never ate enough with those small portions in top restaurants. Nowhere do you get the quality you were served before, but damn if it is not tasty enough in itself. Let part 8 come.

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