Resident Evil: Village came out in 2021 to critical acclaim. Fans everywhere were quite excited when Capcom teased more story DLC to come and now they’ve finally released it in the form of the Winters’ Expansion.
Resident Evil: Village – Winters’ Expansion contains 3 major aspects. The third-person camera mode for the base game. The second is a series staple, The Mercenaries mode. And lastly, the most anticipated part of the DLC package is the Shadows of Rose campaign.
Starting off with the third-person camera mode, players will now be able to swap to a different viewpoint in the base game’s main story. This allows you to play the game in a more traditional Resident Evil manner (Well, Resident Evil 4 style really…). It works for the most part but there are still some sections of the base game where the first-person view cannot be beaten for its immersion and horror aspects. Your mileage may vary with this viewpoint but we personally prefer the first-person style for Resident Evil: Village since that’s what the game was designed and developed for.
The Mercenaries mode is good clean fun as per usual and gamers who loved this mode in previous Resident Evil titles will love it here too. There are plenty of enemies to fight against and the addition of power-ups makes it quite a bit more fun. When you’re being chased by large groups of enemies, the action gets quite intense.
Now finally, moving on to the real reason players would purchase this DLC, Shadows of Rose. In Shadows of Rose, players will take on the role of Rose, Ethan Winter’s daughter. Without spoiling too much, at the start of the DLC you’ll end up back at the castle from the base game. Players will be locked into third-person camera mode for this DLC and you’ll have to use your abilities to survive while you solve puzzles.
The Shadows of Rose DLC introduces some straightforward gameplay mechanics and you’ll be able to breeze through it in slightly over 2 and a half hours. Rose has access to certain abilities but unfortunately, the DLC length is rather short and just when you’re getting into things, you’ll reach the conclusion.
The narrative-driven nature of the DLC is great though and the voice acting in the DLC was on point. The puzzles and design of this short campaign were enjoyable too with a certain area being quite creepy. There was at least one scary moment in the DLC but nothing that’s on the same level as the base game. It all felt very classic Resident Evil style though with less focus on combat and more on avoiding enemies and encounters due to limited ammunition and weaponry. Survival horror indeed!
Final Verdict
Overall, Shadows of Rose was a decent DLC experience but one that could have been a cheaper-priced addition to the base game. It’s short and recycles areas from the base game and the fact that it feels like it’s over way too quickly left us feeling a bit sour. Capcom, you could have done better here and it’s a shame that you didn’t expand upon Rose’s story a lot more. Some more story details and maybe a few more areas to explore would have fleshed this out a bit more.
The Resident Evil: Village Winters’ Expansion is quite pricey for what you’re getting right now and as such, we recommend waiting for a discount or a sale before picking it up. If you’re a hardcore fan of Resident Evil: Village though, you’ll still enjoy playing this DLC but be warned that it’s light on content.
Developer: Capcom
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows, Google Stadia
Reviewed on PC
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