Wow, it’s been quite some time since spring and it’s felt even longer since we were promised some free DLC for the awesome Resident Evil 7. It’s not been that long of a wait, it’ll feel much longer for the eagerly awaited Resident Evil 2 Remake. But it’s finally here, Capcom’s promise of free DLC for Resident Evil 7 in the shape of Not a Hero. We return to the Baker estate as a most beloved, boulder punching hunk, Chris Redfield. He’s been tasked with finding and capturing the sinister Lucas Baker within the underground compound underneath the Baker mansion and stopping his evil plans involving a new strain of molded.
Is it worth your precious hard drive space and booting Resident Evil 7 again? Of course, it is, it’s free. Download now! But if you need to know the finer details then okay, I’ll go on just for you lucky people.
Not a Hero takes place within the mines underneath the Baker Mansion, where Chris is racing against the clock and fighting off molded in order to capture Lucas Baker. Chris is armed with an Albert-01 and Thors Hammer’s, (not the actual hammer) a trusty and powerful shotgun. Plus, he’s got his boulder punching fists to deal some damage to disorientated enemies. This feels like a big joke from the developers but actually comes in handy as a combat mechanic. Chris must save fellow Umbrellas troops from Saw-like setups crafted by Lucas while exploring the mines, solving puzzles and of course facing new nightmares.
While it’s a simple setup and ultimately a scaled-down version of a classic Resident Evil game, there’s plenty of depth and substance for a free expansion. Chris will have to explore a number of areas, find new equipment and tools that’ll allow him to progress further in the game. Chris will obtain night vision, a more powerful Re-Breather for areas filled with poison gas and special ammo for the new, white molded. Pacing is excellent as you fight through classic molded, death traps and of course deal with a number of more powerful enemies in harsher environments.
While Not a Hero has a stronger focus on action in certain areas, it’s clear that everything is balanced, thanks to the punching mechanic. This is used on dazed enemies after landing a headshot. While the game does present some interesting challenges and new, tougher enemies; overall it’s fairly easy. That’s not to say you’ll breeze through this as I did die a couple of times from carelessness and fighting a super powerful enemy without a plan. But this DLC will be a slight cakewalk for the veterans of the series.
The variation of events and gameplay elements is impressive for a small package. There are segments where enemies will ambush you, lateral elements and of course the large-scale death traps only Lucas or Jigsaw could think of. There’s plenty here to keep you invested and enough quality content within this expansion to bring you back once you finished it. The overall campaign will last just under two hours on the normal difficulty but there’s plenty of reason to jump back in once it’s completed. There are new items to unlock and plus there’s the professional difficulty which, to be honest is super tough and makes the Madhouse difficulty look like a walk in the park.
While I can’t complain too much about the length as this is free DLC, but the content is so good that I wish there was more. More extras would’ve been great too but there’s enough to sink your teeth into. Puzzles also never reach that highpoint and remain fairly straightforward for my liking. There are no layers or complexity to problem-solving and at times, the game does become too linear. However, I can express that exploration is meaningful and there were some segments in the game which do raise the tension to high levels. The gas-filled catacombs is a personal favorite and I loved finding the Ramrod ammo for the first time. There are some great elements to the exploration and even the more linear parts have some charm.
Overall I think this is a no-brainer. For free DLC this puts a lot of paid extra content, season passes and DLC to shame. I would happily pay for this and believe you can’t go wrong. There’s a healthy mix of survival horror and action in a campaign that introduces classic elements from previous games and of course Resident Evil 7. Download now and enjoy Not a Hero as it’s a clear sign that Capcom now what they’re doing and we should look forward to Resident Evil 8 and the Resident Evil 2 Remake.