RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE: WINTERS’ EXPANSION

With Resident Evil Village, Capcom had once again knocked it out of the park in the Survival Horror category. A quality production that was lovingly crafted and offered well-paced set pieces and one of the most interesting stories in the series. The franchise's resurgence was achieved, of course, a few years earlier with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, which reinstated the series to its former glory. So, a year and a half after the release of Village, the Japanese developers are back with Resident Evil Village: Winters' Expansion, a DLC that brings new content and additions to the base game.

The first and probably most important addition to the base game is the Shadows of Rose mini-campaign. In it we get to control Rose Winters, daughter of Resident Evil 7 and Village protagonist Ethan Winters. This story is sort of a wrap-up to the events of Village, and I say that because it answers some questions but not all of them. For the unresolved threads, we'll probably have to wait for the next installment in the series or a new spin-off title like Revelations. In Shadows of Rose, the now teenage Rose, is living a not-so-ordinary life due to some "unique traits" she inherited that she'd like to get rid of. An associate of Chris' informs her that there might be a way to accomplish this. With nothing to lose, they head to a lab where a part of the Megamycete, the fungus that was used to create the bioweapons in RE 7 and Village, is kept. Without wanting to spoil anything, Rose will find herself inside the collective consciousness of this organism where it acts as a huge repository of information and memories of those infected with it.

Under these premises, she will seek a possible deliverance in an inhospitable environment. Speaking of which, the context of the script allows for some very surreal settings, not too far from what you'd find in games like Evil Within or Silent Hill. For the most part, the areas are mostly comprised of assets from the core game, but there's also a few new ones in this roughly 3.5 hour adventure. Rose doesn't have access to the slew of weapons her father had, but by using her powers (they are uitlized in removing some obstacles in the environment) she can slow down her opponents a lot. Additionally, the supplies here are significantly less than in the main game. Therefore, Shadows of Rose puts an emphasis on avoiding enemies, resulting in some particularly stressful moments.

The second major feature of this DLC is the new content it introduces to The Mercenaries (The Mercenaries: Additional Orders after the DLC's implentation). Initially, the only playable character was Ethan and the available stages were eight, 4 normal and 4 harder versions of them. The roster expands by 3 characters (Chris Redfield, Karl Heisenberg, Alina Dimitrescu) and we have also two new maps, in normal and difficult versions, bringing the total number to 12. The characters are completely different from each other. Chris makes use of weapons like Ethan, but relies quite a bit on his fists to demolish his opponents (his experience of punching boulders certainly helped). If done in succession it fills up his Onslaught bar, turning him into a force to be reckoned with, for a while. Heisenberg uses both his hammer and his special a la Magneto powers to overwhelm his enemies (firing circular saw blades is fun), while Lady D, is very strong in melee combat, but if things get stifling she can use her "vampirc powers" to even things out. The current variety of this mode makes it perhaps the best incarnation of The Mercenaries in Capcom's long-running series.

The third aspect of the expansion is the addition of a 3rd person camera, both in the main campaign and in the game's various modes. The results are deemed to be mediocre. It's not that the new camera per se is bad. But the character control seems to have remained in the vein of an FPS. So while in a true 3rd person persepctive game, the character we are controlling responds and turns instantly to our inputs, regardless of where the camera is facing (e.g. we can run towards the screen), that's not the case here. Pressing A or D - in case we are playing with a keyboard - the character moves sideways without twisting its torso, aka strafing. Likewise if we press S, the character retreats with his back to the screen, i.e. as they would in a game with a first person camera. To anyone who has played any of the modern RE 2 or RE 3, this distinct feel is soon apparent. Changing the controls to be in line with the point of view might not be a simple process, but I think here Capcom chose the easy way out of zooming out the camera, giving us a different perspective only in name.

We don't have much to add regarding the visuals of the game. The result that the RE Engine displays is visual wonder, just like in the main game. Certainly a superior PC setup allows for even higher settings, with expectedly, more impressive results. The awesome optimization of Capcom's titles on this engine is not a secret anymore. Still, the capability of having all settings at their maximum level (FidelityFX Super Resolution gives a good boost to performance and HDR has been well implemented), with Ray Tracing active, while frames remain consistently at 110-120(!), is something beyond comprehension. It's a technological versatility that the vast majority of their competitors in the AAA industry only dream of.

In conclusion, Winters' Expansion offers a few more hours of entertainment to Resident Evil Village fans. The most interesting dish on tis buffet is without a doubt Shadows of Rose, but even with its length combined with the new The Mercenaries content, it doesn't warrant the 20€ price tag. I think that at 12-15 euros it would be a better value for money recommendation. However, being accustomed to the Capcom's pricing policy over the years, it won't be long before the price drops, so I would recommend patience