Resident Evil 4 Remake graced our consoles back on 24 March 2023, and in 6 months we’ve had a few small updates here and there to fix glitches and cheese speedruns strats, alongside the addition of Mercenaries as a free mode. Now that half a year has passed we’re finally treated to the other campaign found in all base editions of the original past the first Gamecube release, Ada’s Separate Ways campaign for Resident Evil 4.
Complete Global Saturation
Similar to the base remake game, Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways keeps mostly to the same paths taken in the original release. However, it feels the most changed and lengthened when compared to how Leon’s story was handled. Instead of the base 5 chapters Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways had, it now has 7 with a few additional sections to clear.
Ada’s mission is that of retrieving the Amber that started most of the mess in the main story, and a means to control the parasites for later entries in the franchise. With more aim towards stealth, espionage, and retrieval when compared to how Leon goes about his own business.
A drastic change from the original, in the remake of Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways, Ada also gets her own form of infection that you will have to deal with. Ada will also team up with Luis as well as meet Wesker in person far more often. Among other additions and changes, Separate Ways still walks the tightrope that is authenticity.
Your first run of the Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways DLC will last around 5 hours long, including all 7 merchant missions and some side content. If you don’t care too much for all of that, you won’t be much faster, probably only down to 4 hours. There is also a challenge to complete it in under 2 hours.
The way the maps are cordoned off, you won’t be sightseeing as much as Leon. Just like the base game, you have several challenges to interact with, 49 in total. With professional difficulty unlocking after a completed run, there is quite a bit of replayability to be found.
We Love Grapple Hooks
Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways introduces only a few new alterations to the gameplay of the base campaign. Ada comes equipped with a grappling hook, or hookshot, which allows you to swing around parts of the map to get the high ground or attack bosses’ weak spots. It feels rather constrained as you can only use it on certain points, and often requires strange angles to fire, but is fun nonetheless, especially when you get a charm to rip shields from foes.
Ada has the same sort of weapon progression and upgrades as Leon, though she barely finds any guns in the wild and must buy most of hers. You can’t even find a shotgun out of the shop. Charms are also minute, as you can only buy a few with the lack of a gun range.
Ada will face some of the cut content from Leon’s story, one of them being the U3 boss fight, the gondola ride with sniper fire, and the laser hallway. This could be seen as Capcom seeing the backlash for certain aspects being omitted in the base game, or their plan all along to pad out Ada’s runtime. Either way, it was nice seeing them back in the game, even if Ada had more QTEs in her story.
The new campaign lacks any real form of backtracking or hunting, instead creating a linear path to follow with nary a sidetrack to be done. If you’re going back on yourself, it’s to reach a new area, rather than explore old ones. Ada can open and loot all she finds herself, without the need for Ashley.
Ride’s Here. You Coming?
Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways continues the wonderful OST of the base game, with energetic drums and synths for combat joined by more silent tracks for traversal. Ada also has a few remixed tracks that sometimes sound better than the original, such as a new version of the safe room theme.
Ada’s story isn’t that much more difficult than Leon’s. You are a bit more constrained on money for gear and upgrades, but Ada packs enough punch to not really need them. You don’t get to experiment as much with all the shop’s options with the lesser amount of pesetas, so another run might be needed to enjoy new firearms.
For only £8 on launch, the Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways DLC is very cheap for what it offers. The base game only costs £49.99 right now, so you can get the full package for under 60 quid. At 5 hours for a full run, you easily get your money’s worth, though many fans are annoyed it wasn’t free as it was in almost all releases of the original game.
Sadly, as this follows the main story of Resident Evil 4 Remake, the attention paid to the antagonists is lacklustre. Saddler and Salazar don’t even really factor into Ada’s path. I think they get a combined half hour of screen time including their boss fights. If anything you saw more of U3 than the evil masterminds.
Combined together, Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways feels very rushed and full of purpose. Ada has one job, and she goes to do only that job. With a 5 hour runtime, you’re only getting a quarter of the base game with just as little story details and mechanics. Players who loved the remake should also enjoy the DLC, but just know it’s just a little bit more, rather than anything groundbreaking.
Overall, I give Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways a 7/10. The gameplay continues to be engaging and smooth throughout, with new forms of traversal and counteracting enemies’ abilities. It adds onto the base game which was already great gameplay-wise, outside of some dodgy hitboxes and firearm accuracy, but does little to improve the wonky story that felt like half of it was ripped out.
Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways Video Review
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