Hello there, Gameologerinos, and welcome to our weekly thread for the discussion of weekend gaming plans and recent gaming glories. This weekend, I’m finally going to clear out some time to dive back into Resident Evil 7 and check out its second set of downloadable content, Banned Footage Vol. 2. The first suite was a bit uneven, with the clear standout being “Bedroom,” a new scene that has you playing as one of the Bakers’ kidnapping victims as he tries to escape a puzzle-filled room where Mama Baker is feeding him “dinner.” It channeled every bit of what made the main game’s first few hours so great—the manic humor, the satisfying old-school puzzles, the dread of being watched and hunted—into a compact little nugget. The other modes in Vol. 1 leaned more on the game’s gunplay, challenging you to survive some extreme conditions with seriously limited resources.
Vol. 2, which was released on PlayStation 4 this past Tuesday, is another suite of three activities, with two expanding on the events of the game and a third being a goofy mini-game. As someone who was a fan of the Lucas Baker section, which had players getting through Saw-inspired booby-trapped barn, I’m looking forward to “21.” This one starts as a simple game of Blackjack against Lucas and, of course, devolves into something far more gruesome. There’s also “Daughters,” which sounds like the most straightlaced of the Banned Footage so far and will give players a better view into what exactly went down at the Baker house that turned this Louisiana family into a bunch of invulnerable monsters. And finally, there’s “Jack’s 55th Birthday,” where you gather food for big papa Baker’s b-day feast while racing the clock and dodging mold monsters. I’m sure he’ll respond quite rationally if you disappoint him.