The familiar yet intimidating halls of Castle Dimitrescu are filled with a recognizable foe. The walls are molding, dripping with blackened sludge that threatens to pull at my feet. Stepping in it slows my movement and agitates it, causing the slime to throb and vibrate with energy, seemingly excited to take me away. But this isn’t the only stratum Rose Winters must explore while guided by a guardian angel.
I didn’t come away from Resident Evil Village feeling like I needed more from the ending, and it’s impossible even to begin discussing the new Shadows of Rose DLC without addressing it. Ethan Winter’s journey through the plagued European village climaxed with a battle against the primary antagonist, Mother Miranda. Miranda’s plan to revive her late daughter using the bioweapon Eveline, and later Rose Winters, were all ruined thanks to Ethan’s meddling, and a sacrificial explosion at the end of the game really should’ve been the end of things.
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But that’s only the end in theory. As you might expect, Rose has been blessed with some strange powers, causing her to sweat a white substance which has made fitting in difficult, and when given the chance to make herself “normal,” she’s willing to take it. But instead of being a simple medical procedure, she ends up delving deep within her own psyche, and the mutamycete origin or her abilities, in order to cure the real problem.
Rose’s inherited powers have also connected her to the mutamycete hive mind, so she has vivid memories of everything Ethan undertook to save her, and even traces of others infected by mutamycete. Her mind recreates Castle Dimitrescu, which is now filled with the molded creatures that are linked to her abilities. A sacred crystal represents the ability to free her of her abilities, and in traditional Resident Evil fashion, she must find three masks before she gets her prize.
It’s taking the Resident Evil storyline one step further, and setting up Rose to be the protagonist of her own mainline game in the future. But in terms of gameplay, it’s more of a creative retread than a truly new experience. Past Resident Evil DLCs have been short, story-focused experiences that often explore new areas or play with new mechanics, but Shadows of Rose feels more like a unique short campaign, even if it does cover too much familiar ground.
Castle Dimitrescu is just the first area that’ll be familiar to those that finished the main game already, but it does a great job of making things feel relatively fresh. The main hall still acts as a relative safe zone, but many doors and passages are blocked off by the mutamycete, new puzzles have been injected into the rooms, and the molded enemies are fairly unpredictable in where you can find them.
It doesn’t take long before Rose finds a pistol, and yes, eager explorers can even earn a couple of attachment upgrades for more firepower and ammo capacity. This is a pretty traditional Resident Evil experience, and the way the castle slowly opens up to you mimics the main game, with each area unlocking a key or item that’ll bring you closer to the next mask.
It’s tense, too. Rose is far less armed than Ethan is in the main game, and the slow, shifty movements of the molded creatures make for tough targets that require quite a few shots to take down. Although you can craft ammo and health, supplies are still scarce, and you sometimes need to avoid enemies instead of fight. This is easier thanks to Rose’s mutamycete abilities – she can clear pools of mold by focusing her abilities on a core, and when focusing on a molded enemy, she can use a limited resource to stun them, giving her the chance to move past or reposition before letting off shots.
As Rose moves through the castle, corpses of Rose clones are everywhere. These dark versions of Rose seem to represent Eveline, and have all been killed or captured while undertaking the same task Rose is currently attempting. Village’s merchant goads Rose over a PA system and traps her multiple times while unleashing all manner of vicious beasties to hunt her.
In full, Shadows of Rose manages to blend both tense action and slow-creeping horror very well over the course of its campaign, and pulls off an explosive climax that made me surprisingly optimistic about the future of the series in the process. But Shadows of Rose isn’t the only addition that Resident Evil Village has received in its Winters Expansion, as the new third-person perspective has been added to the main game too.
Previously first-person only, the new viewpoint makes Resident Evil Village feel a bit closer to the recent Resident Evil remakes, though with a few caveats. It still very much feels like a first-person game, in the sense you can’t look behind you while running – your view must match where you can aim to, after all. This makes backing away from enemies tougher, and the distance odd to gauge at certain ranges. Ultimately it feels like a compromise between the first-person controls of Resident Evil Village and the modern third-person style of the remakes, sitting squarely between the two.
The Mercenaries has also been fattened up, with Additional Orders adding – you guessed it – extra missions. You can now play as more characters, giving you many more chances to slay enemies and rack up high scores while chasing that coveted SS rank on each stage. Mastering each mission requires linking together kills into combos, and not dropping it, which is easier said than done.
It’s a decent offering, but whether the Winters Expansion is worth it for you really depends. Shadows of Rose is a great way to return to Resident Evil Village – and thanks to those familiar areas, it really does feel like a return instead of a unique experience. Additional Orders is nice, but ultimately will only appeal to a fairly small selection of fans that adore The Mercenaries. Third-person mode is cool too, but whether or not it justifies a replay of the main game is for you to decide.
Shadows of Rose is clearly the main selling point here, one which shows fans a glimpse of how the next Resident Evil protagonist could play, but at around three hours long, with several familiar areas, it’s a tough sell, even if it is a very good three hours.
Resident Evil 8 Gold Edition and the Winters Expansion are a great way to experience Resident Evil Village for the first time, while returning fans will adore Shadows of Rose while it lasts, and just might dip into The Mercenaries for completion bragging rights. While the expansion as a whole doesn’t feel like a necessity, it’s a nice slice of creepy horror arriving just in time for Halloween.
Written by Dave Aubrey on behalf of GLHF.
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