Resident Evil Village Reportedly Has A Hard Mode With Randomized Enemies And Items

Resident Evil Village is shaping up to be a series entry packed with content far beyond a single one-and-done campaign experience.

Similar to last year’s Resident Evil 3 remake, next month’s continuation of Ethan Winters’ story will come bundled with a standalone multiplayer mode titled RE: Verse. Billed as celebration of the franchise’s entire 25-year history, the online experience will let fans play as their favourite characters, including a vast array of abominations created by Umbrella such as Mr. X, Nemesis and William Birkin. This, however, seemingly won’t be the only feature present on the disc intended to hold your attention long after seeing the credits roll.

According to AestheticGamer, a prolific and reputable leaker wherever Capcom is concerned, Village will ship with an unlockable extra mode intended to give even the most hardcore of survival horror fans a challenge.

This currently unnamed hard mode will reportedly only be unlocked upon completion of the story with default settings and shares several similarities with Resident Evil 7‘s “Ethan Must Die,” which was introduced with post-launch DLC.

That means, among other things, that difficulty will be ramped up not only by increasing damage caused by enemies, but by randomizing placement of specific items. These roguelike elements will make each playthrough feel different to the last and even makes the game as a whole “more open,” What exactly this final statement means isn’t clear, though we imagine it alludes to areas not being restricted by key items and/or story progress. As far as rewards go, this type of bonus content in Capcom titles often unlocks weapons and bonuses for use elsewhere, so expect the same deal here.

With any luck, we’ll hear more about all of the above at a planned Resident Evil Village showcase later this week, but if not, fans only have to wait until May 7th to get their hands on the full game.