DLC Review: Resident Evil 5: Desperate Escape
Game: Resident Evil 5: Desperate Escape
Format: Xbox 360
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Despite being about one year old, Capcom have recently released two large downloadable add-ons for Resident Evil 5. The first add on, Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmares, was a fantastic blend of old school Resident Evil survival horror with the more modern fast paced action and focus on the co-operative gameplay of Resident Evil 5. A mere two weeks later, Capcom have released Desperate Escape, which takes place towards the end of the main story of Resident Evil 5. Those that are outraged by spoilers may wish to skip over the next paragraph.
After Chris and Sheva rescued Jill Valentine, heroine of Resident Evil and Resident Evil Nemesis, from the mind controlling device used by Albert Wesker, Jill sends Chris and Sheva on their way, before promptly passing out. After a short time she is found and revived by Josh Stone, Sheva’s mentor and only survivor of the BSA team that helped Chris and Sheva. After some mildly inappropriate flirting Josh and Jill decide to work together in order to escape Wesker’s facility and reunite with Sheva and Chris.
With the spoilery bits out of the way, on to the gameplay. To say that Desperate Escape feels like a bit of a step backwards is an understatement. It is hard not to compare it to Lost in Nightmares, with the releases being so close to each other. Where Lost in Nightmares had Chris and Jill working together through the dimly lit corridors and dank under passages of the Spencer Mansion to solve one fiendish puzzle after another, Desperate Escape instead prefers to return to the realm of fast paced hoardes of enemies, and big explosion after big explosion.
Combat is the focus of this expansion.
The main set pieces of this add-on comprise of a canyon covered by numerous rocket launchers and a timed rooftop battle against an endless stream of enemies, much like the Mercenaries mode, as you wait for a helicopter rescue. In order to navigate the canyon you need to zigzag through the canyon taking out the turret controllers and using the turrets to destroy impassable objects. The rooftop battle merely requires you to stand your ground and defeat all the enemies that come at you for about 10 minutes or so.
There is a Mercenaries-esque section at the end of this add on that has different enemies depending on the difficulty
Much like Lost in Nightmares, this add-on is independent of the single player campaign. As such you cannot import any of your character’s weapons from your main save. In fact, you cannot save your progress at any point, which is a bit of a let down, particularly as the canyon navigation gets to be tedious after a while. Your characters have very limited resources in terms of health and weaponry but you do discover other weapons as you progress. Also, the sheer number of enemies means that upon defeating them, your foes tend to drop a lot of ammo for your default pistol or machine gun.
While you start out with little equipment, you soon pick up a lot of stuff.
Also included in the pack are two more characters for the Mercenaries Reunion mode. For those that did not read the review for Lost in Nightmares and are unaware of what Mercenaries Reunion mode is, Mercenaries Reunion is a score based time attack mode in which you run around small arenas fighting off the endless hordes of Majini. While there was a Mercenaries mode included in the retail version of Resident Evil 5, Mercenaries Reunion features new characters and slightly reworked levels and enemies. New characters included in Lost in Nightmares were Excella Gionne and Barry Burton.
Josh Stone and Rebecca Chambers are the final additions to Mercenaries Reunion
This time Josh Stone is added to the action, armed with a high powered pistol, a shotgun, and a rocket launcher. The final new character is Rebecca Chambers from Resident Evil 0, armed with a shotgun and a machine gun. Despite appearing to be one of the weaker characters in the game, I was actually able to achieve an S Rank with her without any real problems. Also available as a separate download – and an additional cost – are a new version of Chris and Sheva, both with new weapons in Mercenaries Reunion, and both playable in the main game.
Review Round-Up
Graphics: 5/5 The same graphical style from Resident Evil 5 remains intact. While the art style in the main mission is a little drab; mostly stone environments, coloured with dark blues and greys, the explosions look as spectacular as ever.
Sound: 4/5 The same actors that voiced the main characters return and perform in a way that is consistent with the rest of the Resident Evil 5.
Gameplay: 2/5 While the gameplay itself is not bad, it seems like a bit of a step backwards when compared to the recent release of Lost in Nightmares. Favouring the action side of Resident Evil, it isn’t exactly deep. Having said that, there are no real flaws with the gameplay, aside from the tedium generated by zigzagging between rocket launching turrets.
Longevity: 2/5 The story mission lasts about 45 minutes or so, but does not really offer much in terms of an incentive to keep playing. The new characters in Mercenaries Reunion offer a little extra replay value, but only if you particularly care about playing through each level with the new characters or achieving as high a score as possible.
Overall: 3 headless Majini out of 5 While there is nothing particularly wrong with this add-on, being released just two weeks after the excellent Lost in Nightmares makes this title seem a bit weak in comparison. If you found Lost in Nightmares to be too slow paced, then perhaps Desperate Escape will be more to your liking.
Desperate Escape is available to download on Xbox live for 400 Microsoft Points (£3.40 ish) and £3.99 on the Playstation Network.
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