Resident Evil 7 Gold Edition, the test! (Xbox One)

Resident Evil 7 was released on January 24, 2017 and published by Capcom, for PC, Xbox One, and PS4. But the Gold Edition version was released on December 12 with two new DLCs. Given the number of tests on the subject, I will give my opinion on the game before moving on to the topic that interests us, Not a hero and The end of Zoe!(If only the DLC opinion interests you, you can skip the upcoming part)

Resident Evil 7, the revival of the series?

When I launched the game, I was particularly disappointed not to hear " Resident Evil SEVEN" with the big voice characteristic of ALL Resident Evil! Frankly, on this point, it is a disappointment without name… Have you also noticed that the 7 is very little visible on the cover of the game? As if to announce that this Resident would be the beginning of something…

So yes, it is the beginning of something, the first time this license would be in FPS view. If we agree that this can make the fear more intense, it is no less objective to think that Capcom plays on the momentum of Outlast, Alien Isolation or the demo of P.T., too bad the game needs to go into first-person view to push the limits of fear. But unfortunately, this is not the only subterfuge of the studio to arouse fear and tension… You play as Ethan, a man looking for your wife, who disappeared 3 years earlier. And Ethan, although slender (in the eyes of his shadow) runs almost as fast as he walks… In short, it is not by running that you will avoid enemies, very often you will take blows since ALL enemies are faster than you. Also to believe that the whole first half of the game Ethan is barely more scared than a mouse being eaten, the character clearly lacks charisma and real fear reactions. It is by advancing in the adventure that Ethan will prove to be more talkative.

Regarding the graphics, there is too nothing negative to say, the light effects are very successful, the vegetation or puddles are generally of the same ilk. If I'm not a fan of faces that are sometimes a little too smooth for my taste, the rendering of beards of a few days is rather realistic, just like that of the hands! There are very few bad textures, and when they do, it's just time for the texture to load. Moreover, speaking of successful things, the French dubbing is also very good, we believe in it and we appreciate the excellent work of the voice actors…The Baker family is really well promoted. As for the sound environment even if no music should stay in your head, some are rather stressful and make the atmosphere particularly scary …Especially if you're half in the dark with your flashlight flashing.

In terms of history, it's the return of documents to read, and that's pretty cool, we missed it a lot in RE 6, but at least there, there are quite a few. If once again we are not confronted with zombies (yes basically, that's still what we're fighting against brothel!), it's a rather deranged family who attacks us in a lost shack we do not know where, and we must do everything to get out alive. For once, the initial speech is not about Wesker, but for all that we do not really have the feeling of being in a Resident Evil, we are still in mental manipulation and frankly, this is a little what lost the series with RE 4 and RE 5. The 6 had been able to catch up a little more with the essence of the license with the campaign of Leon, without transcending it but at least we were a little closer to the truth, and what was so appreciated in the ancients. In this one, you will also have monsters that will arrive on your face without warning too much but hey, we are still not in the zombie pure and hard, but rather stuff a little disgusting and shapeless that will tend to remind us of the rubbish of RE 4. If at the limit, we can accept it, the bestiary is still very restricted and we relaunch on mental manipulation …Frankly, it's nothing innovative, and it's a shame. We would have hoped for better, especially that Ethan is not charismatic for two cents and that even Joe (the character embodied in the DLC End of Zoe) is more interesting in 1h30 than Ethan in ten hours.

If in addition you take into account that all the tension and fear that you can feel in the game most of the time is due to the fact that your character is extremely slow as an asthmatic obese (Thanks to a friend for this description full of truth!), and that in addition he clearly does not know how to shoot …You have the winning combo to take free damage, and miss your only two shotguns. It's relatively annoying, aiming is clearly not easy even after 12 hours of play, we still miss shots. For me, this is the false difficulty to generate fear! And, it doesn't take at all! As a general rule, I never play horror games (although I love the Resident Evil license), except for co-op horror games, I can't stand the tension of some games… If at the beginning of the game I was rather tense, especially with the passages in the dark (I hate black, long live the light!), there are many passages where I literally forgot the atmosphere to focus on my shots… Yes, in addition to creating in me only frustration instead of fear/tension sought, there was no more immersion. Besides, speaking of immersion, the blood stains that remain on your screen although your life is green…Well, that too, tends to break the mood! We will still regret the absence of real puzzles, because yes, that's what also makes the essence of the series. Oh, and the choice that we will offer you 2/3 of the game, the worst false choice that we could offer you is there, too bad because it could have been clearly nice that there is a real impact, but instead it's just to give you a DLC (End of Zoe).

Well, after all these negative points, and after 12 hours spent to finish the game, there are still positive points, a new story in a closed environment. It almost feels like RE 1 for once, and that's pretty cool, we have 3 really distinct environments, even if the last one is probably the least interesting, we must admit that the house is very unhealthy… Especially with all these sounds of doors or floors creaking, with a good headset you will hear everything and I assure you that it will tend to freak you out. Even for nothing. Moreover, this is where the game reconnects with fear, the suggested fear, there is a little bit in this title, and it is for me the best fear. Whether it's the audio atmosphere, enemies who make rounds in a restricted environment, or those who show themselves to you without you knowing if it's bacon or pig. There are still good points, including the fact that our enemies are not really enemies, they are not strangers, they are victims above all. We can finally feel some compassion for them (not for you Lucas, you just crazy!). The lifespan is pretty decent too, and the back and forth is not too disturbing. The bosses are also pretty nice to beat, even if the last one is very very disappointing and kills itself in normal with 5 bullets of 44. Magnum and 3 incendiary grenades, a shame because the game ends on a boss too easy and what's more with an air of déjà vu with that of Ada's campaign in RE 6.

Not a Hero, play as Chris in this Free DLC!

Yes, free, you read that right. So if at the beginning, I was rather in mode, " yes I do not like the DLC where they amputate you the original game, in addition it's disgusting because you have to pay behind to have it" Mea culpa, it is free. This is already a point that makes me review my note. Even if I'm still not a fan of DLC that burns you a part of the game to exist, the fact that it is included for everyone is already a good point.

So you play Chris, and luckily…This one already moves much faster, and its aim is more fluid, on the other hand say goodbye to your shadow, you do not have any, you are redhead. On top of that you are equipped with rather powerful weapons, and that too is frankly pleasant. The gameplay is slightly improved but nothing very transcendent to tell the truth, it does not bring much compared to the original game. And unfortunately, we find ourselves in a recycling level and necessarily it is the least interesting level of the game! But hey, we're not going to complain, it's free, and we have a little story not unpleasant, which answers some questions but also leaves some unanswered… (Hello Umbrella) And it's nice to be able to play Chris again. On the other hand, we regret not to recognize him …Only his voice! Yes, because Chris looks like I don't know who, but not Chris Redfield. Quite frankly, this is the big black spot, and I admit that playing it in FPS view, it was not the big trip either. That's what it's like to play it in TPS…But on reflection, given its trunk, it is not necessarily worse.  It will take you about 1h30 to complete this DLC, it's not very long, but even if the adventure will not leave you with an imperishable memory, it still completes the story of the game. It's really to play for the story more than for the content itself, a little bonus not unpleasant but that we will only do once. If you're wondering where Lucas went, he's gone to play hide and seek with Not a Chris.

The end of Zoe, play as Joe, Jack's brother and Zoe's uncle!

Priced at €14.99 (or available with the season pass), End of Zoe, will offer you to play Joe, who lives in the swamps, and a few weeks (month? ) after what happened in the Bakers' house, he eventually found Zoe on the ground and in bad shape, surrounded by two armed soldiers. Neither one nor two, Joe attacks them bare-handed to defend his niece. So he will do everything in his power to save her and the solution is of course to give her the cure (which our kind Ethan refused him if you made this choice in your part of the original game). Regarding the negative points, you still have no shadow, that's a shame and the DLC is quite short…And it's even shorter when you're having fun! And this is also the big positive point of this DLC.

You will have a lot of fun and enjoy the gruff side , especially if with Ethan armed to the teeth you never feel safe, with Joe it will be just the opposite. Even bare fists, it is formidable and there you will take a crazy pleasure to make this DLC. It is quite short about 1h20, barely shorter than Not a Hero. To tell the truth, we feel very quickly that the progress of the DLC is fast, and that we are getting closer and closer to the end, but bursting from the cradle monster with fists is a real romp… It is clear that you will probably be tempted to do it again in several difficulties, just for fun. The gameplay is more nervous, and attractive, you feel strong, you are not afraid of anything and you really feel invested with a real goal, to save Zoe. Joe is charismatic, and may even be a caricature of the man of the woods, but no matter!Pleasure above all, and there is, Capcom could have been a little more generous on the lifespan or the price when we see that it still costs alone 14.99 €. Difficult to recommend you to wait for a promo or to recover the season pass as it brings a glimmer of hope in a very dark game where you have decimated more than half of the Baker family. It's a DLC that closes the story of the Baker family, because after all, it is mainly their story that is told to us in the base game, much more than that of Ethan.

Resident Evil 7 Gold Edition, offers you content that will give you all the cards in hand to understand the story as a whole. Not a Hero does not revolutionize the game but allows to give answers, and End of Zoe is a success, although a little expensive. If you do not yet own the game but you really want to do it, take it with its season pass, in addition to End of Zoe you will have the forbidden videos that will reinforce your discomfort with the Baker family, with two game modes (Ethan must die and Jack's birthday), enough to extend the experience a little more. We can not say that this is still the title that will restore the already damaged license, but we can not say that it is a bad game, and when we go after the 6, we can hardly say that the 7 does worse. It may not do much better, but for a first in FPS if you discard the flaws and the non-risk-taking the game can give you a more positive than negative experience. Not perfect, can do much better, but this is not the expected disaster. And if we forget the arrival of Chris, not sure that we could also have named the game Resident Evil. It may be named after it, but that's not what makes the identity of a game.