I played on: PS4
I paid: £0 (free DLC)
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Notes: This continues the story after the main game so it’s best played after you’ve finished that. This review will contain minor spoilers for Resident Evil 7 but not this DLC.
Not a Hero picks up right where Resident Evil 7 ended with Chris Redfield at the Baker estate having just rescued Ethan. His mission is to hunt down Lucas Baker, one of the last survivors of the Baker family. Although short on the plot we do get to learn a bit more about both the Bakers and Eveline. The thing we learn the most about is the reborn Umbrella corporation. This is a private mercenary group mostly made of ex-Umbrella employees trying to make amends for the Raccoon City incident. Chris is obviously very sceptical of them as was I. The BSAA trusts them however so he is sent in as a specialist for this mission. I like this because about halfway through after meeting a few of the soldiers and reading some documents I started thinking. During Resident Evil 1 the zombies you were fighting, they were employees of Umbrella. The research team working on both the Progenitor virus and the T-Virus among other things. Most of the really horrid stuff around the Trevor family was conducted in secret by Spencer, Birkin and Wesker. The other scientists were in a strange sense victims. I’ve never thought about Umbrella employees as anything more than the bad guys. I’m very impressed that after more than 25 years this game was able to make me question this. The question about Umbrella’s new motives is still unclear and I expect will be looked into more in the series future.
Chris is much more powerful than Ethan and can punch enemies when they’re staggered. This is a very powerful attack that reminds me a lot of Leon’s kicks during Resident Evil 4. It’s a great way to save on ammo which is limited. I found this harder than the base game but as it’s intended to be played after you’ve finished that this makes sense. Not much is changed from the original gameplay but as that was amazing on its own this is not a bad thing. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it as they say. We are introduced to a new type of molded. This new white variation is much stronger and requires you to use a new type of ammunition. These RAMROD rounds are extremely limited and it’s advised that whenever possible you simply evade and outrun these enemies.
Besides this there is not that much more to say, it’s more of a great game. I did miss the Baker estate as this is mostly set in a new area around the Salt Mines. Despite most the Bakers being absent we still had Lucas and he is once again great. He is a real evil son of a bitch always toying with his victims before he kills them. You will have many more traps and puzzles to solve which is great. If you liked Resident Evil 7 then you will like this and it’s free so what’s not the love. It’s not a great as the main story but it’s still very enjoyable.