Official Review Computer Updated

Resident Evil Village: Winter's Expansion DLC (Computer)
Official GBAtemp Review

Name: Resident Evil Village: Winter's Expansion DLC
Item: Resident Evil Village: Winter's Expansion DLC
Rating: 6
Author: RyRyIV

Product Information:

Release Date (NA): October 28, 2022
Release Date (EU): October 28, 2022
Release Date (JP): October 28, 2022
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Genres: Survival Horror, Action
Also For: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

Game Features:

Single player

Local Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Co-operative

Review Approach:

(WARNING: As the core of this DLC pack is a sequel to Resident Evil Village's story, there will be unavoidable instances of Resident Evil Village spoilers. Read on at your own risk)

Fans of Resident Evil can rejoice, as the long awaited Winter’s Expansion DLC is finally here! How does this long awaited expansion stack up?

attachFull335232

It’s no secret that I loved Resident Evil Village. The finale of the Winters duology was met with some criticism as it strayed further from the core of the Resident Evil franchise, but taking the game on its own merits, I thought it was a perfectly fun title that offered something fun and new, without totally abandoning the primary themes of Resident Evil. And where the previous installment, Resident Evil VII: Biohazard offered much more in the form of expansions and DLC to keep the game going after release, Village has been left mostly on its own until now, with the first and seemingly only major expansion for the game finally being released, the Winter’s Expansion DLC set. Bringing to the table a new expansion for the story, an often requested third-person camera mode, and new content to bolster the Mercenaries game mode, this is an expansion I’ve been looking forward to since its announcement. But how well does this new content hold up? Let’s dive in, and take a look.

Shadows of Rose

We’ll start with what I consider the core of this DLC expansion to be, the story side mission “Shadows of Rose,” which takes place 16 years after the main Village story, putting the player in the shoes of Rosemary Winters, the now grown-up daughter of Resident Evil VII and Village protagonist, Ethan Winters. Rose’s story sees her seeking a way to rid herself of the supernatural mold powers she was born with, as a result of her conception when (MAJOR RE VILLAGE SPOILERS) Ethan was dead, and made entirely of Mold recreating human DNA. To achieve this goal, she ends up entering the consciousness of a surviving fragment of the Megamycete, the Mold supercolony that Ethan and Chris Redfield destroyed at the end of Village’s main story. Rose travels through this consciousness Inception style, using her powers as well as some good ol’ fashioned firearms to traverse the plain in search of a Purifying Crystal, which can remove Rose’s mold powers and make her normal.

attachFull338725

On the gameplay end of things, Shadows of Rose makes use of the newly added third-person camera view, offering a look and playstyle much more reminiscent of the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes, and setting it apart from RE7 and Village. While Rose does make use of the typical over-the-shoulder gunplay that the third-person RE games have become known for, Rose has her own abilities that set her apart from her father. Gone is Ethan’s block ability, making way for Rose’s mutamycete powers that allow her to stun enemies and clear mold-blocked areas of the map to progress and solve puzzles. One note about Rose’s new abilities, if you had control tutorials turned off prior to starting the story expansion, most of Rose’s powers will go unexplained, and require you to learn them alone. This is fine for the most part, with the major exception being the final boss of the game. In this battle, Rose gains some incredible new temporary powers… that go completely unexplained without those tutorials turned on, and led to a lot of confusion when trying to finish the storyline. It’s pretty annoying, but becomes trivial once you know what to do. At first glance, Shadows of Rose definitely brings a more “traditional” Resident Evil experience; beyond just the third-person gameplay, a heavier emphasis is put on resource management, puzzle solving, and the general horror atmosphere. The story expansion begins in the castle level from RE Village, which really does help set the scene and atmosphere, and call back to what has been Resident Evil’s go-to gameplay since 2005. It’s not a perfect survival horror experience, but definitely something that should satiate fans looking for less first-person… for a bit.

In my mind, there are two aspects that hold Shadows of Rose back more than anything; the length of the storyline, and the near-constant recycling of content.I don’t want to dive too deep into the unadvertised portions of Shadows of Rose, but the classic-feeling sections don’t last that long at all, and they’re followed by two other chapters that, while good in their own right, borrow heavily from the base Resident Evil Village game both in content and themes. In fairness, these sections are well done, and playing through them with Rose adds its own twists, but there isn’t a ton that separates them from the content in the base game… and, in fact, seems like it could feel redundant and repetitive if playing the expansion immediately after a playthrough of the main game. This would be a bit less egregious if it weren’t for the other primary issue I have, being the length of the expansion. In total it took me just under three hours to play this DLC from start to finish, and that was with taking my time and exploring each area fully. It’s easily able to get through in a single sitting, which I did admittedly enjoy given that my first playthrough was during the Halloween season, so it was a fun little thematic run. But on subsequent playthroughs, the length just helps to make this expansion feel more like a chore to get over than something to enjoy. Comparing this to the last Resident Evil game’s DLC, RE7 also had short little story expansions like this in the form of the Not a Hero and End of Zoe DLCs, as well as the nearly bite sized expansions we got in the Banned Footage bits. So while this isn’t new or overly egregious, it’s an ultimately disappointing end for the Winters’ story.

Third-Person Camera Mode

One of the more interesting additions coming from the Winter’s Expansion DLC is the application of the third person camera angle to the main RE Village story, allowing players to journey through Ethan’s quest to find young Rose in that same third person, over the shoulder camera angle that Shadows of Rose uses, harkening back to the more recent action-based RE games. It’s a fun addition that definitely helps add something different to a replay of the main story, but ultimately it feels a bit shallow; the game was clearly designed for a first person perspective, so there’s a few pieces that just feel awkward after getting lost in the transition. Combat, while still entirely fine and playable, felt less fluid to me than the first person counterpart. In addition, a lot of the tension and any semblance of fear that the game had from the levels being designed for first person sort of disappears as well, which shouldn’t really be a problem if you’re doing a replay, but definitely could affect someone experiencing Village this way for the first time. Finally, all of the cutscenes transition you back to first person, which makes sense given that re-rendering an entire game worth of cutscenes would be a monumental ask for a $20 DLC pack. The transition itself from third person, to first person and back, for cutscenes is relatively smooth at least, but serves as a further reminder that the game really was designed to be played in first person. But, with that said, this new camera angle is a welcome addition that adds even more replayability to the game.

The Mercenaries: Additional Orders

Finally, we have the Mercenaries: Additional orders, an update to Village’s Mercenaries game mode that brings new items, maps, and characters to the game mode. The previously exclusive participant in Mercenaries, Ethan Winters, is now joined by three fan favorite characters; Chris Redfield, Lord Karl Heisenberg, and Lady Alcina Dimitrescu. Each character comes with their own playstyle, new weapons, and special abilities to help you slaughter your way through the onslaught of Lycan that Mercenaries throws at you. Chris is a very gun based character with the added benefit of a boulder-worthy punch, and offers some of the best guns in the game to help bring you to victory much easier than Ethan offered. From a playstyle standpoint, he’s very much in line with how he was handled in the main story of the game. He’s also the only character available upon installing the DLC. Both Heisenberg and Lady D need to be unlocked through gameplay; Heisenberg requiring A ranks in the main maps of the Mercenaries, and Lady D an S rank in the final map of the game mode, the newly added Bloody River. I have a personal gripe with having to grind to unlock characters you paid for, but it does admittedly offer new goals to work towards for those looking for a bit more reason to play through Mercenaries.

Setting themselves apart from Chris and Ethan, Heisenberg and Lady D are both very melee based characters. Heisenberg of course uses his iconic hammer primarily, as well as his control over metal to send scrap and slicing saw blades at enemies. Lady D, meanwhile, towers over her competition and uses her talon-like fingernails to slice and dice her way to success. Honestly I'm glad to see characters with a bit more of a melee focus added here, as despite Chris' punch attack, he and Ethan are both very gun-centric characters. Having to master a different playstyle not only adds extra replay-ability, but offers a new challenge and more options on how to play. Each of the three new characters have a variety of upgrades that can be purchased from the Duke between rounds, and new abilities added to the game mode’s blue orbs that are exclusive only to them. Having these extra characters available for Mercenaries is definitely a boon to the game, offering those who may have gotten bored with simply sending Ethan into the slaughter over and over again something new to try and work towards. And while, as I mentioned before, I’m personally a bit annoyed that characters who were purchased have to be unlocked, there’s no denying that the new Mercenaries content is a net gain.

So overall, I think it’s safe to say that the Winter’s Expansion DLC offers a breath of fresh life into RE Village. The new story mode puts a decent bow on Ethan’s story, even if it’s a bit too short, and the new story mode and Mercenaries content offers plenty to increase the replayability of the game. With that said, Resident Evil games are already known for their need to replay through content, and I get the feeling that most of these additions are going to appeal primarily to those who would, and maybe already have, replay through the game anyway. I think there’s definitely some aspects that could’ve been handled a bit better, particularly in the Shadows of Rose department, but in the end it’s tough to say that this wasn’t a fine enough sendoff to Resident Evil Village.

Verdict

What We Liked ...

Decent value for the price
Offers a slightly more familiar Resident Evil experience
New characters for Mercenaries offers further replayability in an already fun mode
Third person camera mode a welcome addition

What We Didn't Like ...

Abysmally short story DLC
Interesting new abilities unexplained if control tutorials weren't turned on first
Paying for the privilege to grind for new Mercenaries characters
Third person gameplay to first person cutscenes a bit jarring
Story DLC still has far too many cutscenes

Gameplay

As an expansion to an existing game, there isn't a ton here that's new in the gameplay department. If you like the gameplay of Resident Evil 7, Village, or the RE2 and 3 remakes, you'll like the gameplay here. Rose's new abilities are a welcome addition... provided you actually know how to use them.

Presentation

The RE engine still looks and sounds as great as I've always thought it has. Despite recycling environments, the general creepy atmosphere is still well on display.

Lasting Appeal

With a core story DLC that can be completed in under three hours at a casual pace, a new camera mode for a game most who buy it will have already played, and 2/3 of the new Mercenaries characters locked behind a progress wall, the lasting appeal for the DLC's content has potential... if you're someone already prone to replaying Resident Evil games anyway.

out of 10

Overall

Resident Evil Village: Winter’s Expansion DLC offers plenty for Resident Evil fans to enjoy, from a short new story and more Mercenaries content, to a new way to experience the main story. Nothing here is without its flaws, but the overall experience is passable enough to enjoy.

Reactions: DrPerkeleeee, relauby, The Catboy and 2 others

eriol33
Nov 21, 2022

So the game is less scary during the third person view?

RyRyIV
Nov 21, 2022

eriol33 said:
So the game is less scary during the third person view?

I certainly thought so. The game already isn’t super horror focused, but what bits of it are were mostly built with a first-person view in mind, meaning you’re much more limited on both what you can see and the perspective you’re seeing it at. Because of that, I felt most of those sequences were lacking when you opened up the field of view.

However, one could argue that it was already going to be less scary because I’ve played this game before. And also, scary is so subjective that it’s hard to make definitive statements like that. But I sure found it to be less scary when I could see the back of Ethan’s head.

brunocar
Nov 22, 2022

I dont get it, how is 3 hours for a DLC bad? thats how long REmake 3 was lmao

Reviews

Hardware
MelGeek CYBER01 Magnetic Switch Rapid Trigger Gaming Keyboard

Today for review, we’ll be taking a look at the latest gaming keyboard from Meltek, the CYBER01 magnetic switch offering!
Hardware
GEEKOM XT12 Pro Mini PC

Claimed to be the world's most cost-effecient i9 Mini PC, we check out the latest from Geekom.
Hardware
Kospet Tank T3 Ultra

Tough enough to navigate and conquer the rugged wilderness.
PlayStation 5
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants

The Turtles are back for their umpteenth game outing, but is this one worth it?
PlayStation 5
Alone in the Dark (2024)

Alone in the Dark is a Survival Horror game available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X and PC.

More reviews

Product Information:

Game Features:

Review Approach:

Shadows of Rose

Third-Person Camera Mode

The Mercenaries: Additional Orders

Verdict

Overall

MelGeek CYBER01 Magnetic Switch Rapid Trigger Gaming Keyboard

GEEKOM XT12 Pro Mini PC

Kospet Tank T3 Ultra

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants

Alone in the Dark (2024)