REANIMAL: The Prisoner DLC – Review

First Impressions

After the main story of Reanimal comes ‘The Prisoner’, the first post launch DLC of three available to buy.

With a full review of the base game of Reanimal already done when the game first was launched (go check it out on the Complete Xbox website now, if you already haven’t), this review will obviously only focus on the DLC story and gameplay. As such, it will be a somewhat shorter review.

Plot

Without giving too much away concerning the plot, this DLC expansion is the first of three due to release post main game and opens with our protagonists, simply known as ‘The Prisoner’ and their companion, ‘The Soldier’ trying to survive a war-torn landscape.

As with the main game, story beats and plot are light as you begin. The game once again leaves the player to work out what is happening by playing the game and discovering collectables along the way. The game opens with a suitably cinematic set piece that, quite literally, dropping you into a war zone. With the backdrop of war being the main theme of the story, this DLC is dark, like very dark in both tone and visuals.

The same themes of fear of the unknown, fear of isolation and fear of the monsters hiding in the dark just out of sight you are still the driving forces of the narrative. But you slowly learn more about this world as you experience it.

Gameplay Overview

The controls and button layout for this DLC remains identical to the base game. With the DLC being accessed from the Main Menu of Reanimal. There is a new ‘DLC’ option within the menu which, at first glance, would be how you play the DLC. However, it merely serves to show you the option of the ‘Season Pass’ and the DLCs as they become available with no option to actually select any content from here, which I though was a little strange. Selecting either ‘Single Player’ or ‘Co-Op’ from the Main Menu allows you to start a ‘New Game’ and pick a ‘Save Slot’. Once selected, the game allows you to jump between the base game’s chapters that you have already played, and now the DLC via the ‘LB’ and ‘RB’ controller buttons. You can still jump between the original game’s story and the The Prisoner’s via the ‘Load Game’ option at any time also.

Once you begin, you’ll find yourself controlling ‘The Prisoner’ either as Player One in Co-Op mode or in Single Player, with ‘The Soldier’ as your companion.

As mentioned, the control scheme is the same as before, allowing returning players to easily get back into the dark and atmospheric gameplay. Which is the same mix of exploration, tense encounter moments and areas where you’re left to figure out the way forward. It’s the classic example of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. The game still encourages you to explore your surroundings and go off the beaten track for unlocks and collectables but still manages to give you just enough of a nudge forward.

This time around however, instead of ripping down posters as a form of unlocking concept art for the game, you’ll find yourself hunting for boards to actually put up posters this time for the same effect. There’s still masks you can find in the game world for both The Prisoner and The Soldier, and you can even use masks you’ve earned in the base game in this DLC too, which for me was a nice touch as a was running around for most of my playtime with a literal pumpkin on my head.

One new addition to this DLC over the main game is the introduction of a camera mechanic. You find a flash polaroid-type camera early on and it’s used for progress, taking pictures of the ‘portal bodies’ to open them up to enter or moving mannequins into new positions as two examples. Luckily it seems to come with unlimited film, or at least I never ran out in my playthrough. Pressing the ‘X’ button allows The Prisoner to quite literally, quick snap what’s in front of them. This is used to great effect for not just the story, but also for unlocks and achievements too.

Your companion gets an axe later on in the DLC for story progression and defence also.

Presentation

As with the main story, The Prisoner is dark, but to an even greater extent. To the point where I had to increase the game’s brightness to actually see some areas to progress. It’s clear now that the world of Reanimal is going through what can best be described as some sort of apocalypse. With the destroyed landscape and mutating creatures. The only ‘proper’ humans you encounter apart from our protagonists are the soldiers, which in this chapter, showcases how much the world is in chaos and ruin.

The war that runs through this DLC seems to be a literal civil war as in many places you see the soldiers fighting each other as well as hunting you. Death still comes easy if you’re careless and forces you to adapt on the fly as the story progresses. There’s always a way through, always a way past the next big ‘thing’, but it takes sometimes a lot of trial and error. Ironically, like a ‘Souls-like’ game, you’ll get frustrated in some sections, but once you work out what to do, the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment makes it all worthwhile.

Each area you enter makes you stop for a second to scan for threats and I personally often found myself moving around mostly in the crouch position in case something appeared ready to murder me. The developers have once again managed to keep the spooky, terrifying tone going as the original with tense atmosphere throughout. There’s even a creepy mannequin section near the start of the game that had me getting literal hair standing on edge feelings.

The body horror of the base game is still very much prevalent too. With one of the ‘humans’ (I’m using that term VERY loosely there) being deformed and grotesque. And the early sections with a cigar chewing, flamethrower heavy are genuinely tense and edge of the seat provoking.

Light still plays an important role in The Prisoner too, as some sections of the DLC are shrouded in almost complete darkness so the camera’s flash then becomes your only source of light. As in Alan Wake, the concept of ‘fight with light’ using the camera’s flash also becomes apparent later in the DLC as a form of defence in some surviving situations.

The Bottom Line

Reanimal’s first DLC builds upon the strong start and foundation of the base game, even helping to answer some of the lingering questions from it while then leaving some brand new questions open such as why is The Prisoner literally always so cold (freezing the air around them at times) and the DLCs slight obsession with the red triangle symbol. These are obviously to be answered (maybe) later, hopefully in the next two confirmed DLCs. The game’s creators have done a masterful job of creating this weird, dark and twisted world and now expanding on it.

However, if you didn’t like the original game and its tone and feel, there’s very little difference with The Prisoner DLC and nothing innovative from the base game, just more of the nightmarish encounters and eerie world and its inhabitants. Don’t expect any ‘happy’ moments in this slice of story as the bleak tone continues throughout which was fine by me. But once you complete this new chapter, you’ll realise there’s an arc to the story that will continue through all three DLCs.

The DLC itself clocks in at a few hours if you go collectable hunting and explore every nook and cranny, but speed runners can easily do it within 2 – 3 hours if you just want to get through it. However, I strongly advise you take your time and enjoy the ride as it were.

If this first DLC is anything to go by, then I’ll look forward to seeing what Tarsier Studios‘ second and third DLC will bring to the Reanimal universe and how they will round out the whole experience, story wise.

Still, I will highly recommend this DLC if you were, like myself, a big fan of the main game and want more. Especially now I’ve seen the end of this first one, I want to see how the whole story ends. The DLC itself only costs £8.19 which is a far price for the content offered.

Just, do yourselves a favour and bring a friend. Games like Reanimal deserve to be experienced with another in co-op.