Desperate Escape is the content I hate to love. The previous content, Lost in Nightmares, took a step back to the roots of survival horror leaving me both happy at this attempt at change and sad that there was something lacking.
In some ways Desperate Escape is similar to it’s predecessor: it lasts less than two hours; it suffers from clumsy gameplay; it offers minor additions to story; and two more characters are added to Mercenaries mode. In fact because of Resident Evil 5′s clunky controls I was sure that this DLC would be a step backwards. Cue another surprise.
Picking up from when you rescue Jill from Wesker’s mind control device, this chapter see’s Jill teaming up with Josh in an attempt to ‘get to the choppa’ via the Majini infested Tricell facility. With a name like Desperate Escape you would be expecting some kind of struggle and you wouldn’t be wrong.
Action oozes from the seams, throwing you against seemingly endless waves of enemies which in turn forces you to move forward or else risk being overwhelmed. You very rarely get the chance to peruse your inventory without a machete stabbing into your scalp. The variety of enemies is also a plus with equal helpings of most types of Majini from the chainsaw wielders to the gatling gun toters.
More impressive though is the map design which forces players to seperate to help each other. Having such situations makes it much more nerve-racking as you can no longer rely on each other for help, one of my minor gripes with the main game. At times you even find yourself needing tactics in order to traverse explosive gauntlets.
Despite all these praises there were minor issues. The partnering of Josh and Jill, for instance, felt strange. Capcom needed a second character for the multiplayer to work and Josh was pretty much the only character who could fill the role of buddy, but at times the conversations felt strained and awkward as if these two had practically nothing in common. It is a little pedantic of me, especially looking for depth in an action game, yet it ever so slightly cheapens the aspect of teamwork when all Josh’s lines sound like ’oh look it is Jill. She is awesome’ with the occasional interjections of ‘she’s so fine’ from the helicopter pilot Doug.
Before playing this pack I was so sure that this would be an awful Michael Bay-esque piece of content, lacking in both scares and enjoyment. Now I just hate the fact that I found it fun, intense and even scary at times. Resident Evil 5′s DLC seems to be improving with each release and for a measly 400 MSP you can’t go wrong. Failing that treat yourself to the gold edition offering all the extra content along with the original game.
