This makes the character roster: Chris Redfield, Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, Hunk, Krauser, Albert Wesker, and Barry Burton. Surely it is only a matter of time before they announce Leon Kennedy as a playable character. Personally I am still holding out for Tofu…

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is due to be released exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS in Europe on 1st July. Our full review of the game will be going live shortly there after. In the meantime, why not read our preview of both 3DS Resident Evil games Reisdent Evil: The Mercenaries 3D and Resident Evil: Revelations?

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.

[starreview tpl=16]

With the arrival of this generation of consoles and the advent of paid for downloadable content, the life span of your average game has increased dramatically. While most games receive their additional content within a few months of release, Resident Evil 5 owners have been given a new piece of downloadable content nearly a year after the game’s original release.

While Resident Evil 5 had its detractors, I personally enjoyed sharing the intense experience the game had to offer with my friends via the cooperative campaign mode. As a long time fan of the Resident Evil series I was pleased to be playing as Chris Redfield, hero of the original Resident Evil, and found new character Sheva Alomar to be a well rounded addition to the Resident Evil series.

Of course playing through it with the computer controlled second character was not anywhere near as rewarding on account of the AI character being as dense as War and Peace soaked in concrete. While some lamented the evolution of the series from survival horror to intense action game I had come to accept it and loved the game for it’s own merits.

So you can imagine my surprise upon downloading this add on to find that this had more in common with the original Resident Evil games than Resident Evil 5. Gone are the hordes of enemies in large open spaces, and in its place a lonely mansion that oozes tension with it’s darkly lit passageways and tight corridors.

Lost in Nightmares is pure old school Resident Evil

Taking place before the events of Resident Evil 5, you control Chris Redfield and his partner Jill Valentine on the hunt for the founder of the Umbrella Corporation. Tracking him to a remote mansion that will look very familiar to anyone that has played either Resident Evil 1 or Code Veronica, you spend the majority of your time solving puzzles involving crests and cranks in the vein of the classic Resident Evil games. There are a number of nods to the original Resident Evil, including an amusing homage to the pant-wetting dog scene.

The interior of the Mansion will look familiar to long time Resident Evil fans

This isn’t to say that you will not be facing any enemies. About half way through the new content hulking acid-spewing axe wielders crop up, and are a real challenge to kill, especially considering the limited resources at your disposal. Those that complained about having too much ammo in Resident Evil 5 will be happy to hear that things have changed. The combat is far more tense, with really only a pistol and a limited amount of ammo at your disposal.

Your main enemies will be these deformed acid spewing axe men

Adding to the tension further still, the last section of the add on has you losing all of your equipment and having to face off against acidic, tumour-ridden monsters. Here you must use a series of well placed traps in order to gain crest fragments that will allow you to open a locked door. Classic Resident Evil, with a cooperative twist.

Does this look familiar to anyone?

That is not to say that everything about this add on is perfect. The final boss fight is a little cheap, as it requires you to shoot at your enemy until he leaves himself exposed to a punch. However, in order to get to the position to punch him you must engage in a quick time button pressing activity that has an infeasibly short window of opportunity. Sure, you are only ever required to press either A or X, but it soon becomes irritating when you miss out on performing the move because you pressed the button a split second too late.

Also included in the expansion is the Resident Evil Mercenaries Reunion mode. The two base characters that are available with this DLC are Excella Gionne, head of Tricell, and Resident Evil’s own Barry Burton. Rather than just adding Excella and Barry to the existing Mercenaries mode; a score based battle against the clock, Mercenries Reunion has it’s own menu and will require you to earn a B grade on each level in order to access all eight levels.

Excella and Barry make their Mercenaries debut in this expansion

Unfortunately there arn’t any new levels on offer, but each level has been slightly changed. For the most part the large boss enemies on each level are more rare, with more enemies appearing on screen at any one time than before. Also the time bonuses appear to be in different places, which can breathe a bit of life into the game for those of us that have worked out a set pattern for every level.

Review Round-Up

Graphics: 5/5 Anyone that has even looked at Resident Evil 5 knows that it is a good looking game. The character models are detailed, and the environments are suitably dark and foreboding. As an added bonus, without spoiling anything, I compel fans of the original Resident Evil to interact with the mansion’s front door several times in order to unlock a fun bonus.

Sound: 5/5 Menacing cracks of thunder punctuate the chilling music, which creates a wonderful sense of tension. Voice acting can be a little stiff, but for the most part is good.

Gameplay: 5/5 A near perfect blend of old school Resident Evil gameplay, with a focus on puzzle solving and limited resources, crossed with the cooperative focus of Resident Evil 5. The Mercenaries Reunion mode will be familiar to any one that has spent any time playing the original Mercenaries mode, with just enough changes to keep it from feeling stale.

Longevity: 4/5 Clocking in at about an hour long, with multiple difficulty levels and online leaderboards, the story mode is a fun experience that will be worth playing through a few times. The Mercenaries Reunion mode could potentially keep you coming back for hours and hours if you are particularly inclined to try and work your way up the leaderboards.

Overall: 5 shambling undead out of 5. This add on is a fantastic blend of old school Resident Evil mixed with the more modern action adventure co-op gameplay. There’s less of a focus on action and more on puzzle solving, as well as an expansion of the addictive Mercenaries mode, it is hard not to recommend this add on, especially to those that found the series recent shift towards action adventure displeasing.

[starreview tpl=16]

Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmares is available to download now for 400 Microsoft Points on 360 (about £3.50) and £3.99 on the Playstation Store.