Shadows of Rose, the single player expansion to Resident Evil Village, leaps ahead 16 years from the events of the main game. With her immense power blighting her youth, Rose, Ethan’s daughter, searches for a way to rid herself of these abilities, finding herself in the consciousness of the Megamycete where all hell breaks loose.
The segment I played certainly throws you in at the deep end. In this new realm, Rose is plagued by memories of the past, turning her surroundings into a warped hellscape. After only a few steps, a returning Duke sets his sights on Rose and dispatches some lovely Mold creatures to take you down and literally suck your face off. What he wants exactly is a mystery.
My muscle memory was instinctively trying to take me down familiar paths, but I soon discovered that it wouldn’t be that easy. Nightmare Mold blocks a lot of the areas until Rose discovers a way to cleanse the filth. Initially, I felt like I was being directed down a linear path, but as soon as I unlocked that power, the level started to open up, a little like the Resident Evil’s you are used to.
I got some real Alan Wake vibes while traversing through the demo, with words appearing in the environment, creating items out of thin air. One of the first was a handgun which came in handy for the many spawning Mold creatures that came my way. Other things like bullets and chem fluid would also appear, assisted by the mysterious entity conjuring the words to summon them.
Handguns are not enough and I quickly found myself running out of ammo and overwhelmed. Luckily enough I soon unlocked one of Rose’s abilities, letting me freeze enemies in place while I shot them to pieces, making encounters a little easier.
The switch to third person feels quite natural, especially if you’ve been playing the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes, aligning them with the style of Resident Evil 4. This extra story gives off a very different vibe and the third person angle fits well. Personally I didn’t find the shift back to first person in Resident Evil Village to be as impactful as it did for Resident Evil 7, with that game focusing more on horror and panic, and Village definitely being more action oriented. With that in mind, the inclusion of a third person mode for the main campaign also makes a lot of sense.
Part of me hopes Shadows of Rose goes a bit End of Zoe. The RE7 DLC was fun because it took what you knew from the regular game and flipped it upside down, giving you a slightly overpowered protagonist and some real nonsensical fun moments, with Joe Baker punching his way through enemies.
Right now, it remains to be seen how the direction of the story will go, but at least we know we are getting some cool powers to mess with, and a slightly deranged looking Duke. Who knows, Rose might get to punch some enemies as well.
Shadows of Rose is one part of the Winters’ Expansion DLC, this extra helping of story coming alongside the aforementioned third person mode for the main story in the game, as well as Additional Orders for the Mercenaries mode. I’m hopeful that having Lady Dimitrescu and Heisenberg both be playable in Mercenaries, and getting some wild abilities (or just a giant hammer) will help draw me into the mode more.
Overall, Shadows of Rose looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. With it being set so far in the future, it will be interesting to see how this affects the REverse as a whole. For now though, it’s nice to have more action in the Village, with a slightly different take from the survival horror we are used to. I look forward to seeing more this October.
