While every Resident Evil release since the wonderful new RE2 has evoked varying degrees of disappointment, you never know if the next one will be exciting again. The remake of Resident Evil 4, released earlier this year, was quite good but also full of infuriatingly baffling decisions and most people were sure that Separate Ways mode won’t be added to it, if it wasn’t there on release. It was a remake, after all, and it made all the sense to include everything that was canonical to the original version, including the additional modes that the original game had. And even though Separate Ways were not part of the first release of Resident Evil 4, they were added since the PS2 version and were included in all of the newer releases.
Yet here we are, with the Separate Ways paid DLC that is released half a year after the main game. And to my surprise, I find it more entertaining than the main game itself.
To provide some context, Separate Ways was an additional mode added to the original Resident Evil 4 in later releases that contained the “other side of the story” in a way, showing what Ada has been up to during the events of the main story. It wasn’t anything like the “zapping system” from Resident Evil 2 and, in fact, was a rather quickly and cheaply put together mode that tried to reuse as much as possible, but it did add new layers to the story with all new cutscenes and voice acting. It was in this mode players got full picture of Ada’s involvement, Wesker’s role was openly shown instead of just talked about so players got more out of the RE4 story.
Almost all of the meaningful story content that was previously exclusive to that mode is now part of the main game, however, so what this DLC provides in terms of story is rather miniscule in comparison. You do get more Wesker, who is absolutely pathetic now as for whatever reason instead of a larger than life megalomaniac he tries to be cool, which he does by menacingly breathing over the phone calls. And you do get more Luis, who remains as charming as he was in the Remake. But you’re not really missing out on any vital info if you stick to just the main game.
However, where the DLC switches things up is in gameplay scenarios. While quite a few maps are reused from the main game and just recontextualized, with some areas not available and some new areas opened up, there are entirely new sequences and moments in the DLC that stick to what RE4 Remake is about far better than what the original version of the mode did for the original RE4. It’s so seamless, in fact, in not just fitting the main game but also continuing the reimagination of ideas from the original game that didn’t get used in the main story, that you can’t help but think that this was planned from the start. That the DLC was part of the development plan and for budgetary and timing reasons it had to be developed after the main game release instead of with it. But it still feels a bit off, because it feels like a remake sold in parts.
Nonetheless, the gameplay is mostly as good as RE4 Remake gameplay can be. The only big memorable idea from the original game that remained not reused with this DLC is probably just the truck ride. And although the aiming in this game is as stupid as it was on launch and controls are as floaty as they are for all of these newer RE releases, the more linear and directed structure of Separate Ways makes things less annoying in general. It won’t win you over if you absolutely hated the main game (and I can totally get you if you did), but if you liked the main title, you will like this DLC the same or even more.