Leon Must Die Forever is an action-oriented roguelike add-on for Resident Evil 9: Requiem. Unlocked after beating the main campaign, it tasks players with racing against the clock to navigate branching door pathways, slay randomized hordes of zombies, and defeat the final boss, Victor.
The Gameplay Loop: Fast-Paced But Heavily RNG-Dependent
Instead of a traditional linear narrative, this mode embraces a pure arcade, roguelite structure. You guide Leon through interconnected areas, choosing your route via glowing red doors. Each door increases the difficulty, but also offers different weapon caches and enemy types.
The Timer: You have a strict time limit, which can be extended by finding “golden spiders” and clearing out areas. Buffs & Upgrades: As you kill zombies, you earn meta-injection points that let you equip random buffs and upgrades. Enemy Variants: You’ll face red flashing zombies (which require explosives or melee finishers) and blue flashing zombies (which require a perfect parry with your axe to break their defenses).
What the Community Thinks
Opinions from the community on this DLC are mixed, as seen on Reddit and the Steam Community Forums.
The Praise: The fast, arcade-style blasting offers a great reason to jump back into the world of Requiem and test your skills. Figuring out optimal door pathways and unlocking fun modifiers (like “wolf ears”) adds some addictive replay value. The Drawbacks: Players widely agree that it heavily reuses campaign locations and that the weapon/buff drops rely too heavily on frustrating RNG. Many users have also expressed frustration over the brittle nature of Leon’s axe and bullet spongy enemies on higher tiers.
The Verdict
While fans were generally hoping for a traditional Mercenaries mode, Leon Must Die Forever serves as a solid, free distraction. It’s a high-score chase mode that’s fun for a few runs, but its lack of true map diversity and heavy reliance on luck hold it back from being a series-defining extra.
