Resident Evil 5 - Lost in Nightmares Hands-On
By
Shaun McInnis, Editor
What started as a flashback in Resident Evil 5 is now a full-fledged downloadable episode. We've got hands-on impressions.
Resident Evil 5 came out last March to widely positive reviews, with critics praising your ability to unleash deadly haymakers on zombies, alligators, and even boulders. Nearly a year later, Capcom is still at it with a pair of upcoming downloadable episodes that seek to shed some light on the events that were only alluded to in Resident Evil 5's main narrative. (In other words: Those alligators can finally rest easy.) Dubbed Lost in Nightmares and Desperate Escape, these episodes will be released first as downloadable content, then bundled with the original game shortly after that when Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition arrives in stores. We recently played through select chapters from both, and though you'll have to wait a bit for our impressions of Desperate Escape, here's what you can expect from Lost in Nightmares.
If you played Resident Evil 5, you may recall the flashback sequence when Chris Redfield tells Sheva about the fight he had with Albert Wesker back in the Spencer Mansion. This fight is memorable for two things: the mighty choke slam Wesker delivers to Chris, and the fact that it ends with Jill Valentine and Wesker crashing through a window into almost certain doom. Lost in Nightmares will tell the story of the events leading up to that pivotal choke slam (and the subsequent potential deaths of two primary characters) as you assume control of Chris and Jill through the treacherous Spencer Mansion.
I played through a chapter that had me and my teammate working our way through a prison--what mansion is complete without one?--while occasionally dealing with anchor-wielding maniacs popping out of jail cells and crumbling walls. While not as massive as, say, the executioner you meet early on in RE5, these guys were every bit as intimidating due to the fact that their anchors could kill us with a single hit. It was a tense scene made even tenser by the relatively scarce amount of ammo and green herbs scattered around.
Lost in Nightmares is meant to look and play like Resident Evils of old, back when you had to maneuver your way through dank indoor corridors rather than brightly lit African villages. This prison sequence had that vintage Resident Evil feel to it, with narrow, curving hallways leading you toward suspicious groaning sounds and doorways that could only be opened after finding the requisite puzzle pieces. There was also an element of isolation, too, because those anchor guys were the only enemies we encountered--it was mostly atmospheric tension, dimly lit pathways, and an overwhelming sense of dread over what might be around the next corner. This, combined with RE5's cooperative mechanics (assist jumps, sharing items, and the like), made for a pretty interesting experience.
At $4.99 on the PlayStation Network and 400 Microsoft points on Xbox Live Marketplace, Lost in Nightmares is fairly cheap by DLC standards. According to Capcom, you can expect to get about an hour and a half to two hours' worth of play time from each episode depending on your skill level and playing style. The DLC will arrive February 17 on the Xbox 360 and a day later on the PlayStation 3, while Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition (which won't be impacted by the delay of a similar package in Japan) will hit a bit later on March 9.
By
Shaun McInnis, Editor
Shaun McInnis has always dreamed of an a open-world driving RPG based on Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Outside of video games, he enjoys photography and learning impractical coffee brewing techniques.
199 comments
I'm glad to see there's still love for the old style Resident Evil games. Hopefully, this is a trend Camcon is willing to explore again, otherwise, the best survivor horror franchise will continue to be "Dead Space."
YES we go back to the old ways of the original Resident Evil games! Plus again we get more gameplay and Jill Valentine. Can't wait to get GOTY edition.
before posting stupid comments about this game people should take about two minutes to catch up on things that are all common knowledge about RE5.... -Both chapters are coming as DLC. just because they do not mention the other one in this hands on impression of Lost i Nightmares, doesnt mean it is not coming. -RE5 is $30 new ($25 used) and the DLC are $5 a piece so it is cheaper than buying the Gold edition unless you are only doing it for mercenaries reunion and the costume pack. -Also, this game came out almost a year ago (not a couple months) and the gold edition wasnt announced until about 2 months ago so that would be why people werent willing to wait a "few" months to get the cheaper edition with extras.... people should not post on forums unless they know what they are talking about
so only one chapter will be a DLC? or will the other chapter be a DLC too?? because if only one is a DLC i'll have to buy the actual gold edition game, i don't know is just that i have to play every RE game and chapters there is
Whats the point of buying action games when they are first released, when you can wait a few months and gat the same game with extra dlc on the disc for $10 dollars cheaper then orginal release!!
No, Barighm. You're not spoiled. Think about how much bigger/longer of a game RE4 was at release than RE5 was. We just aren't getting the same value out of games these days, and it pays to wait a while to see what happens after original releases.
I wish I knew about gold edition before I got RE5. Gold edition sounds a lot more complete than RE5 was, but to be fair, I was coming off RE4 for PS2 which had a lot of extras in it the original game didn't have. Perhaps I'm just spoiled. Either way, hope to rent a copy and get my fill of the new maps that way.
@case_eagle_rb32 You may be right. I forgot about Code Veronica where you fought the Alexander twins in that mansion. That may be the same mansion. But same here, it's been soo long since I've played Code Veronica I would have to go read up on it
i wonder what's gonna end up cheaper... the RE5 Gold edition or buying RE5 then downloading the 2 epidoses..
thanks capcom will buy been wating 4 this some of yall groaning bout $5 bucks shoot man!!!!
...didn't they blow the mansion up in the first game? And darnit... spoilers much? Yea sure, most people looking at this probably beat RE5 already... but there are some of us who um, either couldn't get to play... or decided "hey, why not wait for all the Gold Edition?" =/ Course, people do have a habit in RE of um... not dying. Pun wasn't originally intended. >_>
i love all the resident evils some are better than other but really cant wait any longer for this to come out' i wish it would just HURRY lol :)
Looks fun i hope theyve cleaned out all the bad glitches this looks really fun though knowing re5 i know this will be good ill buy this for sure
yeah I agree I've had enough of the new zombie, lets go back to resident evil 1 remake style
@freestyler_85 what should the price be then.....20 cents...jeez if its too expensive for you then dont buy it
"...narrow, curving hallways leading you toward suspicious groaning sounds..." What's the groaning sound this time? It couldn't be another anvil guy! wait, yep it is.
RE 5 was cool but it didnt scare me like the RE 2 and CV. This better make me piss my pants!
The other episode is not coming as a DLC? Oh man! But i know we will just have to wait some time and than it will come too.
i would get this if i still had my resident evil but i sold because i felt the story was really stale and they just put new avatars an the resident evil 4 charicters... but also cus capcom felt they needed to keep up with modern games and gamers playing cod and gaylo so they implemented a co-op theme that can be fun but on paper is baddddd, so in conclusion being a classic fan this dissapointed me cus they couldnt keep it like this for the original game and that i sold it... wen will developers stick to fans and what work rather than media and popularity they still would make a lot of money :( so sad
Only anchor guys eh? I wasnt expecting a whole new cast of enemies but they could have thrown something else in there. I guess i'll still get it.
I love resident evil i hope this new chapter has zombies and those mutant frog things along with some other familier enemies.:)
Very nice, I was worried that the DLC might only come bundled with the Gold Edition, and in all honesty I wouldn't trade in my CE for it or own two copies so I was kind of bummed. Good news all around though! I am very excited!
Oh man my time was running when I wanted to read about this! but it looks really interesting I guess I will have to check up on it later.
I would rather just download both of the episodes. Hopefully by then that will be an option.
hmmm that i would rather download both the new mission as i have the game already but it sounds like one of the new missions is only gonna be on the gold edition disc by the way the man put things on the vid. then again i am sure they will both go up on xbox live. one other thing why is this story in the ps 3 section they need to get a section that is like for multi format which is what this game is.
i thought in code veronica they said that the owner"Spencer" modeled that estate in CV after his estate in arklay mountains(RE1)....
Gears of War is sold at gamestop for $10! These DLC going for the same price sounds like a bad deal to me all it does is nearly double the length of an already amazing game and bring a more traditional RE feal with additional depth, what a terrible deal!
Thank you Capcom, I wasn't sure if we were gonna' get anymore out of this game, but apprently you care for it like many of us out here do! Looking forward to it!
to all the people who said its a bad deal he also said the mercs was expanded with this dlc. i think 5 bucks is a good deal. And if the other part comes out for only 5 then that should be abot 4-5 hours worth of new content for 10 dollars plus more mercs. im sold.
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