Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways Review Cover

Image: Capcom

Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways review – A worthy DLC

Name: Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways review – A worthy DLC
Item: Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways
Rating: 8.7
Author: Anyka Pettigrew

A stellar DLC for this amazing action-horror remake.

Anyka Pettigrew

Published: Sep 25, 2023 02:13 pm

Back in March, I had done my very first review for this website, which was for Resident Evil 4 Remake. And now, six months later, I’m back with Ada reviewing the long-awaited Separate Ways DLC. Although it feels like it’s been forever since I played the remake, it didn’t take long to settle myself into the controls and feel of this world. Because of how much I enjoyed Resident Evil 4 Remake, I knew I was ready to hop on the Separate Ways DLC for a review.

Two missions, two colliding paths

While Leon’s mission to save the president’s daughter lent itself to around 15 hours of content, Ada’s mission to get the Amber is the perfect amount of content to feel like a tribute to the original game and original Separate Ways. Although I never played the original, hearing how Separate Ways added content missing from the remake like the QTE laser scene felt right. Separate Ways is like the last puzzle piece to a full story — you’d be missing out on the whole RE4R experience if you don’t play this.

Familiar gameplay led me to feel like I knew what I was doing, but there were a few new features that made this DLC unique. For example, Ada’s Grapple Gun was extremely fun to use, especially when using it to melee attack. I found it annoying when Leon would have to run close enough to melee, but instead, Ada can do it from afar with her grapple. There were also the familiar Requests but with their own spin and twists. When one moment felt a little too familiar, the game pulled me back to something a little more unique.

I also loved seeing the moments when Leon and Ada would cross paths. Everything started to make more sense, especially when she interacted with Luis. If you don’t play the DLC, you may not understand what Ada’s motives were. But after playing Separate Ways, you get to understand and empathize with her a lot more. She’s very much fleshed out and feels a lot less like a side character. I could even say that Resident Evil 4 Remake has two main characters, as both Leon and Ada are highly important to the plot.

Screenshot: PC Invasion

Short, but sweet

Of course, I can’t complain too much that a $10 DLC only gave us around 5 hours of content, it’s actually a lower price than I’d thought it’d be. But I do feel like I’m already missing my time with the game. Ada’s chapters are a lot quicker than Leon’s, which is fair, given what Capcom had to work with from the original. But in certain instances, I felt like the big moments could’ve been stretched further. My favorite boss fight happened quite early in the game, where Ada was swinging between buildings to fight this giant monster.

But her final fight felt a little underwhelming for me. Especially since it was more like the precursor to the final fight, which was meant for Leon. Without spoiling, your final gameplay moments with Ada are more about helping Leon on the side. While I understand that the final fight is for Leon, even Ada’s personal final boss fight went by pretty easily. I much more enjoyed the boss fight early in the game that let her use her amazing grapple tactics.

That isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy the combat. Resident Evil 4’s combat turns it up a notch from Resident Evil 2. There are a few horror moments that made me sweat, but most of RE4R is filled with fast action. Ada is a highly-trained mercenary, and she plays like it. She’s super enjoyable to control, especially with her Grapple Gun, as I’ve already mentioned. She used basically all of the same weapons as Leon, but it would’ve been cool to see her use a few special weapons that only Ada uses.

Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways Review Church

Screenshot: PC Invasion

More than you bargained for

Even after finishing Separate Ways, you unlock new things like costumes and New Game Plus. This makes the replay value extremely high, making the price worthy of trying this DLC out. If you’re looking for a solid eight-hour experience, playing through this DLC twice is worth it. New Game Plus with a game that isn’t too long makes you want to jump right back into the action.

I also feel like Capcom could’ve easily just slapped on a couple hours of boring content similar to the main game and called it a day. Instead, you revisit old locations, and also brand-new ones — and even returning ones Leon was supposed to have been at in the original. Capcom clearly cares about Ada as a character, and she matters a lot to the plot, more than you realize. You even get this new I.R.I.S. technology that allows Ada to scan footprints and fingerprints for clues. You only use this feature a few times, and I wish it was more prevalent within the gameplay.

Resident Evil 4 Separate Ways Review Lasers

Screenshot: PC Invasion

Challenging fights, but easy puzzles

The one thing I did wish for was more complex puzzles. While certain puzzles in Separate Ways made you think, most of them are solvable on the fly. Of course, it’s not advertised or designed to be a puzzle game, but it sometimes felt a little too simple for my tastes. To compare, RE2’s puzzles were complicated sometimes, and I appreciated how much it made me sit and think about the solution.

I can’t fault the DLC too much, since RE4R wasn’t the king of puzzles, either. Most of them were easy to comprehend, and you could complete them in a short amount of time. But there were those few puzzles that really stumped me, which never happened in Separate Ways. The puzzles here felt more like roadblocks I could kick over, instead of something my brain could chew on for a bit.

That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the parts that didn’t focus on combat. The pacing of this game allowed me to never feel like I was totally running out of ammo, and I never felt burdened by combat. You’d often go from a tense fight to a more calming puzzle. I yearned for a little more depth to the puzzles, but again, this is much more of an action and horror game. The genres it focused on were able to make this game as great as it is.

Screenshot: PC Invasion

A must-buy for any RE4 fan

I can promise you this: Resident Evil 4 Remake is not the same without playing Separate Ways. This DLC not only makes you understand the story and characters more but adds engaging combat and gameplay sequences that left me wanting more. Although Separate Ways was short, it was an amazing experience for a reasonably-priced DLC.

This game makes me evermore interested in what Capcom has to offer with remakes and new Resident Evil titles. They know how to crush a remake — in a good way, of course. Hopefully, this review was able to convince you enough to purchase Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways; you’ll definitely enjoy it if you loved RE4 Remake.