Resident Evil 7: Punch your way through the ‘End of Zoe’ DLC
By Devin Shea
Punch and curse your way through the swamps of Dulvey, Louisiana with the latest of the Resident Evil 7 DLC’s, ‘End of Zoe,’ but is it worth the price?
While downloading the new Resident Evil 7 DLC, I gave in and paid the cringlingly high price of $14.99 for the “End of Zoe” DLC to give it a try. Considering the cost of the “Banned Footage” volumes were $9.99 a piece with a good amount of content per volume, I expected the “End of Zoe” to have even more content worth the cost. I can’t necessarily say that it was worth it but it did have some attributes worth the buy.
via Capcom
The “End of Zoe” occurs between the time that Ethan rolls off with Mia until after Ethan has been found (although the timeline is a bit shotty). I had always been curious about what happened to Zoe after you left her standing on that dock. As we know, anyone who displeases or turns against Eveline gets the old “turn to stone/fungus and crumble” treatment and Zoe was an unfortunate victim. However, after she turned, she didn’t crumble and was found by some of Umbrella’s soldiers who called in her appearance for treatment.
While waiting for backup, a mysterious swamp man comes out of the shadows to knock the soldiers out and take one of them and Zoe to a cabin for questioning. It turns out the man is Joe Baker, Jack Baker’s older and wilder brother. Both had been in the Marines and if you thought Jack was a tough sumbitch, then get a load of Joe.
Courtesy of Game Spot
Tall with a head of stark white hair and beard, this guy can punch through barriers and 1-2 monsters bare-knuckled. While he eventually comes with a shotgun and finds homemade spears throughout the map, his best and most effective weapon is his hands and that makes him one big bad ass in this franchise. Thinking back to all the characters and their specialty weapons…Chris always had his knife, Barry always had his comically oversized magnum, Wesker had his Beretta and Joe Baker has his hands.
The goal in “End of Zoe” is to follow the instructions of the captured soldier to find the cure for Zoe. However, the first injection wasn’t full, so it’s off to find another but not before a monstrous creature steals away Zoe and Joe must find her before the infection kills her and spreads.
Like I said before, the timeline in this DLC doesn’t match up necessarily with the main game.
Small DLC spoiler, the massive creature is in fact Jack Baker, much to the surprise and sadness of his brother…which doesn’t make sense in the timeline. Right before you head to the docks with Mia and Zoe, you fight Jack Baker one last time and afterward he turns to stone like Marguerite Baker did but you don’t see him crumble. But this DLC takes place after that fight.
via Capcom
Not to mention this whole thing happens in one night. You leave Zoe on the dock at night then fight Eveline in the morning. That would mean that this should take place while Mia is having that flashback time on the ship that appears. BUT, and again spoilers, they may only know of Zoe being alive because Ethan told Chris about her surviving and being an assistance in his rescue. If that’s the case, then this DLC would take place during the day.
UNLESS this all happens the following night but with Eveline’s death having already occurred, wouldn’t her creatures and all those under her control be rendered dead or just turned like Zoe? If that’s the case, then how are there monsters in the “Not a Hero” DLC? Resident Evil has always had a way about it that sends me into rabbit holes like no other game franchise in the world.
Aside from that convoluted timeline, this DLC is pretty cool. It’s not much longer than “Not a Hero” depending on how you play and the graphics are main game quality, honestly maybe even better. The protagonist is a major bad ass and it does fill a big plot hole. What it doesn’t explain is how a massive military base shows up in the swamp with no warning.
via Capcom
Joe is a man that knows his swamp after living in it for who knows how long. You would think he would have noticed the large machinery it would have taken to build the place but he seems just as surprised as anyone with its presence. Wonky connections notwithstanding, I liked this. The atmosphere is gorgeous and spooky and the level up system is silly as you have to collect adorable effigies to make your character stronger and the healing system is hilarious.
Is it worth the $14.99 for the End of Zoe DLC? I’m not sure. If you’re a completionist like me, then it’s necessary for the collection. Or you can just watch a playthrough and get the story without spending the money. While I highly recommend the $9.99 each for the Banned Footage DLC’s, I’m still on the fence about this one.
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You can read my review of the free “Not a Hero” DLC here. Hopefully, Capcom will keep the games like this one coming and we will get more of the story in regards to Chris, Umbrella and The Connections.