Mini Review: Resident Evil 5: Desperate Escape

Just when you think you have seen all you have of Resident Evil 5, Capcom adds in yet more to the story. Well at least they expand on the story by showing you what some of the other characters were up to while Chris and Sheva were off saving the world from the Zompocalypse. This time around, it is what happened to Josh, Sheva's militant mentor, and Jill Valentine, after you emancipate her from Wesker's mind control. It explains why they are flying the helicopter at the end and how they got out of the exploding compound while you were off hunting down the tanker.

While like the other DLC and addition for the Gold Edition of Resident Evil 5, Desperate Escape only adds story, new characters to use in Versus Mode and a few more trophies/achievements. So don't go looking for any new features or functionality. That is not say that this DLC is not a great addition. The small chunk of story mentioned above would be enough, but the larger addition here is the challenge added to the game.

I would have to say that this additional level/chapter to the game has to be one of the hardest to play. Even the Amateur mode is filled with loads of enemies rushing you and quickly draining your ammo. I would even venture to say that the difficulty for Desperate Escape is cranked up a level higher than what you select in the Options menu. It truly felt like I was playing on Normal mode even when going though on Amateur - Normal mode actually playing like Veteran, etc. This to me was awesome because I found Amateur mode in the main game to be a bit too easy. It is like Capcom recognized this and upped the ante in Desperate Escape to actually give a challenge.

I will say that Desperate Escape has to be the better of the two story additions to Resident Evil 5. The story fits much better in the grand scheme of things and it fixes, at least to me, the difficulty issues with the main game. I do recommend purchasing this hour long addition. It is well worth the $4.99 if you did not pick up the Gold Edition of the game. It adds a great side story and level, not to mention two new characters to go online and pwn noobs with in Versus Mode.

Resident Evil: Desperate Escape was developed and published by Capcom for the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 2nd. Requires a copy of Resident Evil 5. (Desperate Escape and another new downloadable scenario are both be included in the March-slated Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition version of RE5. Desperate Escape retails for about $5.00 USD on XBox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network. A code for the DLC was given to us by Capcom for reviewing purposes. I played through the new content in about an hour.