Resident Evil franchise is one of my favorite gaming franchises of all time. I still remember coming home with the OG resident evil 2 PS2 disc and playing it everyday day and night to make sure I was able to finish it in one go. The setting, level design, gameplay and graphics at that time really appealed and shocked me to my core and thus increased my expectation from the video games industry as a whole from that moment on as I kept waiting for more sequels for this series.
On 24th March 2023, we received the remake of one of the most beloved resident evil games of all time in the entire franchise i.e., Resident Evil 4 remake. The original game came with the separate ways DLC as well and was not a paid DLC unlike right now. However, just like the base game, this DLC is also build from the ground up adding some new layers and gameplay elements to the game compared to the OG DLC which makes this paid DLC worth looking at.
You play as Ada Wong in Separate ways, who is being tasked by Albert Wesker to retrieve a substance called “Amber” by any means possible. When she reaches the village on her journey, she comes in contact with the base game’s protagonist, Leon. S. Kennedy who has been tasked to retrieve the president’s daughter from the clutches of the villagers. Both of their journey’s co-insides with each other during which we get to see some minor and major changes from the Original DLC game.
These new changes effect not just the DLC but also the base game in a lot of ways which has helped modernize the level design and story-telling to a lot of extent. This new DLC plays very loosely to the character of Ada and few set pieces are kept out due to strong reasons which is being affected by the direction of the base game. Thankfully, new elements that are introduced in this DLC further strengthens this new modern take on the story and also by the end will expand on the upcoming sequels.
The gameplay remains the same as the base game with fewer twists and with a new weapon which we won’t name or show keeping this review as spoiler-free as possible. These new changes in story and gameplay elements are a welcome addition even though the beginning of the game follows almost the same path as the original DLC did.
You will find the usual treasures and not so difficult to do puzzles that reward you with jewels that you can later sell for credits and so on. Ammo is plenty in this DLC and you will never run out of ammo in the normal mode.
We also get to use Ada’s Grapple Gun that was introduced in the base game during the encounter with Leon and we get to use it for smoother traversal around the map during fights and reaching inside locked areas during cutscenes. It can also be used to melee stunned enemies where Ada can flip kick and make space while in combat.
Performance has been a solid 60 FPS all the time on the PS5 with loading screens not taking more than few secs to load. Same can be said about the loading screens during death as well.
The suitcase bonuses, map design, enemy variation and even the weapons remain the same from the base game thus maintaining the uniformity of the entire game while adding new stuff including a new weapon and new boss fights to experience.
Traversal remains the same though there isn’t enough to backtrack here like the base game and you keep moving forward here instead. Almost all the areas are reexplored again but from the viewpoint of Ada this time around with new entrances and exits and you will get to visit the village, castle, church and the famous island as well not to mention the lab as well with the famous laser sequences and then some more. We also see how Luis helps Ada this time around which also completes his side of the story as well.
Capcom has stayed true to the original content while making some changes here and there to give it that modern take on the franchise as well as sticking to the base remake of the game. All the run-ins with Leon are now explained and complete as well bridging the gap between both stories.
We also get to see Wesker first hand properly albeit for small moments during the entire DLC. The duration of Separate ways is also decent and was more that what I expected given I played the original one and this entire package makes the price tag worthy of recommending to everyone.
Disclaimer: Thanks to Capcom for sending us the game code for this review
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Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways DLC PS5 Review
Conclusion
Capcom has yet again outdone themselves with the Separate ways DLC for the base Resident Evil 4 game. Staying true to the original version is hard when you have to give it a modern twist but capcom has done it by not only adding new items and encounters that interconnected perfectly to the modern remake of the base game but by also staying true to the lore and story that made the Original version so good.
