RE5: “Lost In Nightmares” Review

Resident Evil 5 offers players a thrilling action game complete founded on tense survival horror mechanics. Available for both Xbox 360 and PS3, the latest piece of DLC for Resident Evil 5, entitled “Lost In Nightmares”, allows players to further explore the expansive and detailed universe following Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar as they explore zombie ridden Africa.

“Lost in Nightmares” is the first of two new pieces of downloadable content to be released for Resident Evil 5. It adds a new chapter to the game which will take the player around an hour to complete. Logistics aside, the enjoyment of the new content depends solely on the player’s level of immersion in the Resident Evil universe. If you love the story behind Resident Evil, then you’ll most likely enjoy it. However, if the Resident Evil back-story holds little interest to you, then this content does not offer enough to be worth your money.  Don’t expect more of the same, as this new chapter in the ever-expanding world of Resident Evil brings a few new game mechanics to the table in comparison to RE5, due to its “retro” nature.  Describing these new mechanics will force me to give away some of the events that take place, so be warned that the following may be considered a spoiler.

“Lost in Nightmares” covers an event which precedes the main story of Resident Evil 5. During the man campaign, Chris has a flashback of a mission he previously undertook with his former S.T.A.R.S partner Jill Valentine. The two have teamed up again to hunt down the man responsible for the creation of the Umbrella Corporation, Oswell E. Spencer. During the main game, small portions of this aforementioned mission are shown via cut scene flashbacks.  The scenes show Chris and Jill, sporting attire reminiscent of their clothing in the series’ original outing, infiltrating a mansion.  Sound familiar to anyone? This content is meant to bring back some of the classic Resident Evil style and moments.  The mansion is reminiscent of the mansion from Resident Evil 1 while the mode reintroduces several game mechanics from the original entry. Some of the original (and unforgettable) score has been amped up to today’s sonic quality and reused, which adds to the overall atmosphere of the game.  The gameplay is mostly puzzle and adventure based, forcing players to start with little equipment and relying only on items found within the mansion (unlike other modes in RE5, equipment doesn’t transfer over).

The recreated Resident Evil 1 mansion

Unfortunately, the thrilling experience provided by RE1 is not recreated. These mechanics were groundbreaking in the older games, but over the last decade the franchise and it’s core mechanics have evolved.  After spending time playing RE5, players have become accustom to the action the game delves out in spades.  But this content strips all of that away, leaving the player to complete mundane and trivial tasks in order to move deeper into the mansion.  These “puzzles” are very easy, requiring the player to merely look in several corridors for passwords and a crank. Some new information is presented about Oswell E. Spencer’s whereabouts over the last few years, but is doesn’t really provide a wealth of new information to overlook the shortcomings of the gameplay.

The next section of the game introduces you to a new enemy type, The Guardian of Insanity. As the name suggests, these enemies require a lot of ammunition to kill. Unfortunately, the lack of available equipment and items makes the task more frustrating than need be. This was a design decision made by the developers to recreate certain survival aspects from previous entries in the franchise. But, once again, this mechanic doesn’t transfer well to this new section of the game. RE5 is different from the other entries in the franchise as the survival elements are less profound. If you strip the player of the equipment needed to initiate this action it disturbs the delicate gameplay balance achieved in RE5.  Unlike the zombies of the original mansion, the enemies in this mansion are much larger and more difficult to defeat and the player simply doesn’t have the necessary arsenal to adequately deal with such difficult foes.

Only a couple of shots?! Oh common!

The biggest problem with “Lost in Nightmares” is the archaic mechanics. Capcom managed to recreate a nostalgic atmosphere from RE1, but at the same time, disrupted the core enjoyment derived from RE5′s combat.  Poor puzzles and unbalanced survival elements are inferior replacements for the suspenseful and thrilling components in RE5.  Completing the new chapter felt more like a chore than anything else. Therefore, this piece of DLC cannot be recommended to anyone besides fervent fans of the Resident Evil series.

Written by Casey Corrigan, Edited by Doug Buffone