"Yes, that is a Knife!" - Tofu
Released back on February 15th, the Ghost Survivors was a free DLC pack for the recent remake of Resident Evil 2. Following in the style of the 4th Survivor and Tofu Survivor, Ghost Survivors offers a few glimpses into 'what if' scenarios of characters that die during the events of the main game. These would-be survivors are Robert Kendo, owner of the local Kendo Gun Shop, Katherine Warren, daughter of the City's Mayor, and Ghost, another member of Hunk's Alpha Team.
In following the footsteps of the 4th Survivor, each character has to run a gauntlet of zombies, monsters, and other things going bump in the night and will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. The trick is, each character has their own unique problem zombies to handle: Robert has to contend with zombies that expel poisonous gas upon death, Katherine has to figure out how to handle 'Pale Head' zombies that can survive all but the strongest of attacks, and Ghost has to deal with some of his own former brothers-in-arms as bullet-proof armored zombies.
That's the bad news. The good news is, you start with some specific gear in your loadout, but you can get more. Notably in the form of backpacks certain zombies are wearing, as well as from vending machines (these look like candy dispensers, promoting the city's icon of 'Mr. Raccoon'). The trick to the vending machines is you have a selection of three items, but only get to pick one.
This limited selection on the machines offers a variety of ways to approach challenges, and can offer a variety of ways of handling situations. Because you can choose which item to get, you can experiment...if you're doing well, maybe you don't need that healing spray; but if you're injured, that just might be the thing to see you through to the end.
The Ghost Survivors was certainly designed with those who have already mastered the game in mind, and is a fair challenge even if you've mastered the 4th Survivor. But to help even things out for those that aren't quite up to that challenge yet, the game offers a difficulty marked as 'Training Mode', which allows you to get more items to start with, less punishing enemies, and even removes a few of the trickier ones. This way, players without as much experience in the game can play through these offerings as well.
As a bonus, a fourth 'Ghost' mode can be unlocked, where you play a doomed sheriff. His story is a real challenge, even for those familiar with difficulty in this game, as he has to hold out from an onslaught of zombies within a tiny, three lane convenience store. Yes, the fourth chapter is a kind of horde mode, and you will have to contend with all three of the unique zombies from the other three chapters at some point. The upside is, you're given an unlimited pistol, but can get better, stronger weapons from backpacks the zombies bring in. Knowing when and how to use your inventory is crucial for survival in this mode; I've only made it just past halfway, and it will only get harder from there.
Overall, it was refreshing to see some new content added to the game that wasn't just revising previously covered ground like the main game is. Getting a chance to play other characters from that fateful evening, to change their fate even in just a 'what if', is a fun idea, and one I hope Capcom thinks of continuing. Lord knows I've seen folks demanding one for Marvin, who is suspiciously absent from the list of 'Ghost Survivors'.
I've spent the better part of this week running through not only the Ghost Survivors, but becoming brave enough to tackle the Tofu Survivor mini-game. They're hard to be sure, but at an overall length of 10 to 15 minutes means that even if you fail, you didn't sink so much time into it, and it encourages that 'one more try' mentality, because even just a bit of knowledge goes a long way.
It honestly amazes me at how tightly balanced these really are, because as I was saying before, there's a variety of ways to tackle challenges. Me and a friend compared notes, and while we did some things similarly to get Katherine to her beloved, we did some things VERY differently; some he did better, I think, and some I did better. But it's interesting to see that, and gives me thought to maybe approaching it again, and trying out a different tactic from the one I found.
Overall, I give the Ghost Survivors a 5 out of 5. They are indeed very challenging, but they offer up enough choices in difficulty and weaponry and characters that it's well worth seeking out, especially if you thought 'Boy, I really liked Tofu, but there's just not enough of this here!'. Hopefully the next content update for RE 2 will offer up some more interesting ideas.
