Review for Resident Evil VII. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 24/01/2017 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 26/01/2017
A chainsaw, severed limbs, the word "evil" in the title: the last, terrifying, chapter of Resident Evil (the seventh in the series) has a lot in common with Sam Raimi's cult "Evil Dead". It is not even a coincidence that in our homeland the film has been localized as "The House": that of the last Resident Evil is decidedly larger and more luxurious than the cottage in the woods where Bruce Campbell's Ash Williams tore apart the loved ones as they were possessed by evil, but we're willing to bet that every fan of old-fashioned horror cried tears of joy as the Resident Evil reboot erased the missteps of recent years by bringing the brand back to the road of true horror.
It is therefore a real pleasure to return to wander in the swamps around the Baker house and re-immerse yourself - with or without Playstation VR - in the terrifying universe of RE with the DLC Resident Evil 7: Zoe's End.
The narrative of this additional content - downloadable for € 15 or free content in the Deluxe and Gold versions of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - begins at the exact moment when Ethan and Mia abandon Zoe at the dock, to venture into the swamps with the dinghy surrounding the house. So let's start by strongly advising you to play this content only after finishing the main adventure: only in this way can you avoid annoying spoilers and fully appreciate the characterization of the unfortunate Zoe, the only mentally healthy (at least, compared to the others) component of the deranged Baker family.
Zoe - let's not add too many details for those who may not have played RE 7 yet - after helping Mia she finds herself sick and unable to move. The player plays the role of Joe Baker, brother of the fearsome Jack and, in the two abundant hours required to finish the DLC, he is called to roam the area around the main house to defeat the enemies and find the ingredients necessary to synthesize a medicine that will restore Zoe to health. It's not a memorable storyline but, given the gameplay we will talk about shortly, surely the focus of this expansion is not wanting to tell an important story, but rather simply filling a small hole left in the plot and giving players some power. to take revenge on the monsters that made them suffer so much in the role of Ethan.
We can't find a better way to say it: Joe, in both manner and appearance, is a sort of Wolverine. Fights enemies with punches in the face and believe it, its hooks are as effective as a shotgun shot to the head. Add that it is even possible to enhance Joe's disruptive force with objects collected during the short adventure and you will understand our difficulty in judging what is the most innovative and distorting feature of Resident Evil 7: Zoe's End. While the DLC perfectly succeeds in refreshing the gameplay by offering a totally different approach than seen in the role of the other characters of the main adventure, finding yourself with the physical strength of the best Bud Spencer removes that feeling of terror and helplessness that in the role of Ethan made the player jump at the slightest noiseespecially when bullets and medical herbs were in short supply.
However, a minimum of survival component is still present, for the occasion revised and corrected to adapt to the rude survival tricks of a Logan-like man like Joe: if injured (with the strongest monsters it happens to him too) the latter can regain your strength by eating small animals and disgusting swamp worms instead of traditional medical herbs. Let's add a slight hint of crafting, necessary to make spears to defeat the alligators (among the very few enemies not recycled from the main game) and you will have the complete picture of what this content offers.
The technical sector is the same - and excellent - already seen in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Coming down to slight compromises to allow the usability of the game both in VR and in "classic" mode, the RE Engine offers good fluidity and excellent light management, which in the humid environments of the swamp sometimes recall the graphic style of Bioshock's Rapture, which certainly helps to bring back some of the mystery and fear that Joe's disproportionate strength does not transmit to the player.
Even the audio sector is treated as in the rest of the adventure, with a minimal but intense soundtrack at the right point, and a dubbing all in all well done, even if not particularly memorable.
Resident Evil 7: Zoe's End is an additional content for all those who loved Resident Evil 7 and who want to return to the Baker house, this time to do damage: forget the horror and helplessness of Ethan, because in the role of Joe can finally take revenge on the monsters in the game by literally slapping them. The new perspective certainly offers a different approach and partially refreshes the gameplay, even if doing so is missing the component of terror that this Resident Evil had laboriously brought back into vogue. It is up to you to evaluate the purchase based on what is written here, it being understood that if you are a buyer of the Gold Edition you have no excuse to miss these two hours in the company of Joe Baker.
► Resident Evil VII is a Horror-Survival-Third Person Shooter type game developed and published by Capcom for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 24/01/2017 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 26/01/2017
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