If you remember Separate Ways add-on for Resident Evil 4 in 2005 as a short three-hour campaign with a few cut-scenes and few changes in terms of gameplay, then the new reading of this add-on in the remake of the four is a full-fledged sequel. Except that there’s one nuance. The original release of Resident Evil 4 for PS2 and PC and others contained this add-on, but its “cost” was already included in the price of the game. So, all the claims that Capcom is selling something that was once free sounds very strange.
Plot expansion and gameplay changes
Now, on to the plot. The story Separate Ways will tell you about the everyday life of mercenary Ada Wong, who is widely known in narrow circles Albert Wesker, sends to a Spanish village to get a sample of the Las Plagas parasite. Just at the same time, somewhere in the background Leon Kennedy rescues the kidnapped daughter of the President of the United States, of course not without the help of our heroine. The first thing to really note is the significant expansion of the cutscenes and story. Where in the original Ada crossed paths with the characters of the main story in passing, in the remake the story gets more development. Wesker, though still a typical cartoonish villain, is now much more transparent and clear about his motives than he was in the original.
In addition, the length of Separate Ways has been significantly increased, where the original ran for three and a half hours, the remake will take all six. Capcom also allowed itself not only to expand the story, but also to introduce elements that had no place in the original. For example, a new boss was introduced into the game – Black Mantle. Quite a cheater enemy, which quite often teleports to places where the player does not even have time to dodge. The battle with him is spread over the add-on into two stages and in the last one you will have to fight with U-3 cut from the remake. The developers definitely listened to player comments after the release of Resident Evil 4 remake. Also in the game added a new mode Mercenaries we have tips for players who want to pass this mode on 100%.
Old mechanics in a new interpretation
There were no significant changes in gameplay, as expected. The add-on, as well as the main game, confidently stand on the same rails of gameplay since the remake of Resident Evil 2. It is possible to criticise here, except for the clumsy system of parrying and dodging, which is screwed to the game with white threads, works every once in a while and brown trail stretches behind the series since Resident Evil 3 Remake, where dodges with the same percentage of efficiency were first introduced. Among other things, the cat hook has been fully introduced into the game, which in the original game could only be used to cling to places that were carefully approved by the game designer. Now Ada can easily pull the enemy or cleverly snatch the shield from his hands, which makes the gameplay more dynamic and allows players to choose their own style of passing.
Personally, the only thing that upset me in all this celebration of life was the almost complete absence of Quick Time Events. Perhaps, the original Resident Evil 4 is one of the few games where it was introduced to the place and allowed to open up many of the cutscenes – what is only worth the fight with Kreiser, which in the remake usurped to parries and periodic looking in the inventory in search of healers. By no means do I mean to say that QTEs are a great mechanic and it’s a shame we lost them. Not at all. However, it was one of the chips of the original game. And that in the remake of the four, that in the add-on to this remake QTE is reduced, literally, to the pressing of a single button.
Graphic component remained the same RE Engine – working for the benefit of nekst-gen for six years, copes perfectly, all textures are very high resolution, character models are detailed in great detail, and optimisation will please owners of not the most powerful computers.
Сonclusion
As a result, Separate Ways can be recommended to all fans of the original and the remake. If the usual gameplay of the series has not bored you yet, the add-on will give you at least six to eight more hours in the company of your favourite characters. If such DLC was released at the time of Resident Evil 2: Remake and contained the story of Jill Valentine from Nemesis, then there would be no complaints to Capcom at all. Still, it’s nice that the studio is listening to players. The DLC, unlike the three-hour snafu for the eighth part, doesn’t cost as much as a boeing wing. It contains a very interesting story, which will appeal to those who have already played the original in 2005, as well as new players. It will please with decent optimisation, good Russian dubbing and familiar gameplay, and you don’t need more from the add-on.
