Desperate Escape is a suitable title for DLC that is full of non-stop, bloodthirsty, zombie-blasting action!
Contains: Constant Strong Bloody Violence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Desperate Escape is the second story-based DLC for Resident Evil 5 which sees Jill Valentine and partner Josh Stone fight their way out of Kijuju's Tricell facility shortly after the first battle with Albert Wesker in chapter 5-3, after Jill recovers her memory having been freed of her mind control device.
It is, all together, one chapter that is approximately an hour and a half in length (depending on your skill and speed) filled with blockbuster action and moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat; the exact opposite to Lost In Nightmares, which revolved heavily on horror themes and puzzle solving with a suspenseful atmosphere.
Right from the opening you are attacked by a large wave of foes, and from this you'll suspect that it will continue in a similar way. In fact, Desperate Escape is filled with non-stop action where enemies seemingly respawn from everywhere and never give you a chance for even a brief break in item management. This can lead for an engrossing hour or two of entertainment because of the large amount of enemy variety that you'll know immediately from the main game, but it can also fall into repetition (something that never occurred in RE5 at all), and also feel a mighty challenge if you are struggling for certain ammo types or are bombarded by challenging mini bosses from all angles. However, these are only minor issues, and aren't flaws that are contagious by any means to infect the rest of this DLC.
Environments aren't as stunning to look at due to the night sky which prevents the extremely authentic light effects from making a mark on objects, but also because the level design just isn't as interesting as you would have wanted, or expected. Plus it's clear that the horror factor is largely irrelevant and absent from this experience, resulting in the atmosphere being omitted for the action which can be seen as disappointing as we know Resident Evil is notable and more memorable as a survival horror series as opposed to an action adventure-based one. Nevertheless, Desperate Escape has the same excellent audio that made a resounding presence in the main game, is visually strong, aswell as giving you a good sample of powerful weapons that get the job done capably. It may be a little bit repetitive because of the constant stream of graphic, gory violence filling the screen without much break in immersion, but it keeps you on edge as a threat is posed from just about every angle you could possibly view from, and overall this final episodic DLC for Resident Evil 5 is good bang for your buck for more of the same mutated zombie blasting action.
=========================
OVERALL SUMMARY - 8/10
=========================
Good Points: Runs alongside a recognisable part of Resident Evil 5's storyline, New hand-to-hand combat moves to unleash on aggressors, Non-stop gory action with lots of enemy types, Final set piece section under the threat of a timer is frantic entertainment.
Bad Points: Gets a bit repetitive, Insufficient variety in level design, Loses the horror factor that the series is so well known for.