Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - Not a Hero

The new areas are a little more open than one might expect from the claustrophobic RE7, but they’re packed with enemies to blast with Chris’ new semi-auto shotgun, and the faster, more combat-heavy gameplay works just as well in first person as the main game’s slow and tense exploration does. There’s a about an hour of content in Not A Hero, including a boss fight and a truly jarring close-quarters battle that proved traumatic in VR. This is a stellar piece of bonus content, which has only one thing keeping it from being the definitive piece of Resident Evil 7 DLC – it’s not End of Zoe.

Not A Hero absorbs Resident Evil 7's discordant third act and recasts it in the mold of a conventional action shooter. While a sharp focus (and a welcomed protagonist swap) aid Not A Hero's general coherence, it's a vision of a life the seventh Resident Evil chose to leave behind. A safe move isn't often the strongest.

Despite an excess of action, the final two DLC episodes feel like a love letter to both the original games and Resident Evil 7 itself. It answers almost every question asked, but leaves a couple unanswered, probably to keep RE8 a possibility.

Not a Hero isn’t terrible. It’s a decent snack, but that’s all it is. This is exactly the kind of ponderous actionfest Resident Evil 7 was supposed to be the cure to. If you’re one of the dozen people who thought Resident Evil 6 was the series’ highpoint, you’ll love Not a Hero. Most everyone else will be glad it’s free.

Quotation forthcoming.