Resident Evil Village: Shadows of Rose is Pared-Down Survival Horror and That's a Good Thing – Preview

It's safe to say that things didn't end particularly well for Ethan Winters in Resident Evil Village, but at least his daughter Rose made it out of the nightmare in one piece, albeit blessed/cursed with supernatural powers. In Resident Evil Village's 'Shadows of Rose' DLC, you play as the Winters' progeny, returning to Dimitrescu Castle (or, rather, a version of it that exists within the 'Realm of Consciousness of the Megamycete') on a quest to rid herself of the abilities granted to her by the 'mutamycete'. Sixteen years on from the events of Village, however, Duke the jolly merchant is no longer jolly, since he's acquired a scary new mask, and in Shadows of Rose he's the central antagonist. Or, at least, there's more to him than meets the eye.

While the merchant will only be selling you pain in Village's DLC, rather than weapons and other useful stuff, you'll have a helping hand through the familiar corridors and antechambers of the castle, meaning you're seldom alone. Mysterious glowing words will intermittently pop up as a guide, which at first sees items like a handgun and bullets being manifested out of thin air, before you'll be given the occasional bottle of healing medicine, box of ammo, or crafting material. The identity of this benevolent aid and spirit world calligrapher-of-glowing-words is being kept under wraps for now, but feel free to speculate anyway.

This upcoming DLC will also add a third-person mode to Resident Evil Village, enabling you to play through the base game while looking over Ethan's shoulder. Shadows of Rose is playable only from a third-person perspective, which makes sense as you'll frequently be using Rose's powers to destroy gloopy 'serotin mold cores' blocking your progress. Being able to access Rose's abilities in the first place involves locating pearly white booster flasks, the first enabling you to turn mold goo to dust, and the second granting the ability to temporarily freeze mold enemies in their tracks so you can waste fewer bullets on them.

It's this second skill that proves invaluable to buy yourself some much-needed breathing space when lumbering mold Face Eaters attack in numbers, as they often do. Using Rose's powers to dissolve mold cores unlocks new areas to explore, and attempting to traverse the blanket of living gunk covering the floors and snaking its way up the walls and ceilings will see you engulfed and dragged down to who-knows-where. Hell or something. With little ammo, only a handgun (don't expect to see Rose wielding a grenade launcher), and the occasional bottle of medicinal fluid, Rose has scant resources at her disposal, making this feel like a return to survival horror tension. It’s this that ought to make the DLC worthwhile, compensating for what we assume will be a slightly daft story, which, we're nonetheless looking forward to.

With scary Face Eaters looking to suck away her face and drag her to Hell, Rose will need to embrace her powers and learn how to handle a gun pretty sharpish. And with the promise of some fiendish puzzles, claustrophobic exploration, and a dark yarn to unravel involving the Duke and his army of mold monsters, Rose is going to have quite a fight on her hands. Resident Evil Village's first story DLC seems rather interesting, then, and with a new third-person mode for the base game and Mercenaries Additional Orders arriving at the same time, you'll have more than ample reason to revisit that eponymous eerie snowbound village once more.

The Winters Expansion, featuring the Shadows of Rose DLC, will be coming to Resident Evil Village on 28th October.