Resident Evil Village's Winters' Expansion DLC has a ton of new content for fans. There is a third-person mode that lets players control Ethan from an over-the-shoulder perspective (though this still prevents Resident Evil fans from seeing Ethan's face). The new Shadows of Rose side story is also present and gives players a fitting conclusion to the Winters' storyline. Finally, the Winters' Expansion DLC adds two new maps and three new playable characters for the fan-favorite Mercenaries mode by way of The Mercenaries: Additional Orders.
Alcina Dimitrescu and Karl Heisenberg are without a doubt the stars of The Mercenaries: Additional Orders. Both characters come with their signature supernatural powers that make players feel powerful - a stark contrast to the overall tone of Resident Evil: Village. While playing as a tall mutant vampire lady and Magneto-esque warrior is fun, the new playable Chris Redfield has his own bag of tricks that make him feel just as overpowered.
Chris Redfield Makes Due Without Heavy Weapons
Being a normal human being, Chris Redfield's default weapons are his USM-AI handgun and his Karambit Knife. The USM-AI is a good all-around option that lets Chris deal damage to opponents at all ranges, while the Karambit Knife does more close-range damage than Ethan's standard Knife. By interacting with the Duke at the start of each Mercenaries stage, players can upgrade Chris's arsenal and expand it even further. The purchasable Dragoon assault rifle is a weapon capable of rapid-fire attacks, while the Target Locator is an extremely powerful tool that lets Chris call down an aerial strike on a specific location.
To offset the Target Locator's strong damage capabilities, players can only buy three of them throughout a Mercenaries map playthrough. Chris also has access to flashbangs and grenades, with the former being able to stun groups of enemies and the latter dealing damage to a large area.
While the Target Locators, flashbangs, and grenades are powerful, they only have a limited number of uses before players revert to their regular weapons. Both the USM-AI handgun and Dragoon assault rifle are weak when players first get them, but with enough Lei (the game's currency), they can be upgraded to become powerful weapons. Still, this doesn't compare to Chris Redfield's strongest weapon: himself.
Chris Redfield has three powerful moves under his belt that come with infinite ammo. He has a far-reaching Straight Punch that damages enemies and knocks weaker opponents to the floor, leaving them open to a Stomp attack that finishes off most foes. Stronger enemies hit by Chris's Straight Punch will get staggered, leaving them open to follow-up attacks. His Left Hook is a faster, weaker punch that sweeps the area in front of him and staggers enemies at a wide angle. When used properly, these moves allow Chris to take on multiple opponents without ever firing a single shot.
Implementing hand-to-hand combat to fight Lycans and other monstrosities may seem like a bad idea, but it is the core tenant that players must follow if they want to master Chris Redfield. Unlike Ethan, Chris cannot block attacks or heal himself with health items. He must use a never-ending onslaught of attacks to overwhelm enemies and come out victorious.
Chris Redfield's Onslaught Gauge
Chris Redfield has a special Onslaught Gauge that fills up whenever he performs specific actions. Defeating enemies is the base method for charging the Onslaught Gauge, but players can fill it even faster by purchasing upgrades from the Duke, or acquiring upgrades found throughout the Mercenaries maps. Shooting guns and damaging enemies with a Straight Punch are just a few extra ways players can fill their Onslaught Gauge, and they can fine-tune these power-ups for a more personalized combat experience.
Once the gauge is full, Chris can activate Onslaught and go to town on his enemies. Onslaught grants a massive boost to Chris's movement, fire rate, attack, and reload speeds, as well as buffs his overall attack power. This puts players in a combat high and allows them to rapidly take down foes with a flurry of punches, stomps, and gun attacks. Onslaught does not give Chris any damage resistance perks though, so players have to be wary of getting into scraps they cannot handle.
Another downside of Onslaught is that it doesn't last forever. Once it is activated, the Onslaught Gauge starts decreasing and eventually leaves players itching for another chance. Capcom realized how much fun the mode is and included the option for players to increase its duration by defeating more enemies while Onslaught is active. Onslaught's duration can also be increased by choosing specific upgrades found throughout the Mercenaries maps, and by the end of a run.
Village's Chris Redfield Is Still Human
Chris Redfield is a monster of a character on normal Mercenaries stages, but his effectiveness takes a dip on the harder variants of the same levels. Since his Onslaught gauge is reliant on getting kills, fighting tougher enemies can ruin the flow of combat. Not only do enemies require more attacks to down, but their extra toughness means other adversaries can outnumber Chris when he is occupied with a single target. This might result in players mismanaging their Onslaught Gauge in areas with singular targets, forcing them to pay attention to the enemy variety and spawn points.
Chris may not be as strong as Karl Heisenberg or Lady Dimitrescu, but his aggressive style and close-combat moves let players experience a special kind of thrill that only a long-unkillable Resident Evil protagonist can provide. His gun gameplay is as solid as Ethan's, and his Onslaught Gauge lets players throw caution to the wind as they clobber thousands of monsters. Those who want something a little stronger but still relatively balanced in their Mercenaries gameplay should love Chris Redfield.
Resident Evil Village: Winters' Expansion is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
