Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - Not a Hero Review - Screenshot 1 of 2

Ex-BSAA agent Chris Redfield is back, but before you feel yourself getting flustered, be aware that this isn’t the beefcake from recent instalments. Instead the hunk has returned to his PSone days, trading rippling biceps for a silky soft quiff and designer stubble. Sure, you’re not going to find the veteran fighting any boulders here, but he’s still more of an action man than Resident Evil 7: Biohazard’s primary protagonist, Ethan Winters.

That’s evidenced by the fact that free add-on pack Not a Hero allows you to punch Molded square in their inky jaw. New combat mechanics equip this two hour adventure with a slightly different flavour to the main campaign, as combat is once again brought to the fore. In order to augment some difficulty, Capcom instead raises the stakes, introducing a new regenerating enemy type that, in the early exchanges, can’t be killed.

This is a fraught 120 minutes for sure. Employed by Umbrella – hilariously, the franchise’s twisted lore explains that this is the same shady pharmaceuticals firm once helmed by Wesker, but it’s now rebranded as a private military company, with its goal being to repair its damaged name – your task is to track down Lucas Baker, the missing link from the core storyline. Traps and tricks take centre stage, as you pursue the crazed kid through a series of mines.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - Not a Hero Review - Screenshot 2 of 2

The expansion’s eye-narrowingly dim from start-to-finish, so don’t expect to be soaking up many luscious views. A new military-grade helmet adds air filtering and night-vision technology to your repertoire, while later unlocks include a new form of ammunition which can help you to deal with the aforementioned regenerating rotters. It makes for some entertaining-ish combat encounters, even if you’ll have seen large chunks of it before.

As alluded to earlier, the thing this DLC does best is successfully keep you on the edge of your seat. Whether it’s bulky behemoths that refuse to fall, a lack of oxygen, or imminent explosions, the adventure’s a white-knuckle ride from start-to-finish. And while it does feel like an extension of Resident Evil 7’s finale rather than a return to its superior opening hours, the tension is still strong enough to carry you through to its grisly conclusion.

Conclusion

It’s hard to complain about an additional two hours of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard – especially when it’s free. There’s some fun lore for fans to soak up here, and some pretty tense scenarios, too. While it never really has anything to rival the main game’s best bits, it’s worth the bandwidth for Redfield’s masterfully manicured mane alone.