Chris Redfield has spent decades walking into disasters and emerging with fewer teammates than he started with. An abandoned version of Resident Evil 7’s Not a Hero DLC briefly offered him something rarer: a successful rescue operation.
TL;DR
A recovered pre-release build of Resident Evil 7: Not a Hero gave Chris a different mission, let him save all three captured soldiers, and kept Lucas Baker alive. Kempy161 has now ported that April 2017 build to PC as a mod, offering a playable look at the DLC Capcom rebuilt before its delayed release.
The pre-release build, recovered from a PlayStation 4 development kit, has now been ported to PC by Kempy161. It supports both the original and ray-tracing versions of Resident Evil 7, requires the released Not a Hero DLC, and installs through Fluffy Mod Manager.
That turns a fascinating piece of development history into something players can compare directly with Capcom’s final version. It also explains why a DLC announced for spring 2017 vanished for most of that year.
What Was Not a Hero?
Not a Hero is the free post-game chapter Capcom made for Resident Evil 7. It swaps vulnerable civilian Ethan Winters for series veteran Chris Redfield, then sends Chris beneath the Baker estate to hunt Lucas Baker through poisoned tunnels full of Molded creatures and trapped soldiers.
The final DLC arrived on December 12, 2017, alongside End of Zoe and the game’s Gold Edition. Capcom described it as a more action-focused take on survival horror, with Chris using specialized weapons and equipment to pursue Lucas.
Its story is miserable even by Chris Redfield standards. Lucas captures three soldiers sent ahead of him, and Chris fails to save any of them. Lucas eventually mutates into the final boss and dies during the confrontation.
The Version Where Chris Actually Wins
The recovered April 2017 build keeps the broad setup but changes its emotional center. Chris can rescue all three soldiers. His mission is to capture Lucas alive and question him about The Connections, the organization behind Eveline and the bioweapon disaster. Lucas survives the operation rather than becoming the DLC’s final monster.
A mutated researcher named Alan occupies the major boss role instead. The build also lacks the explosive bracelet and countdown that force Chris through the released mine sequence. Item locations, puzzles, dialogue, laboratory records, and room layouts differ, while Lucas’s underground playground leans further into a grubby psycho-funhouse atmosphere.
Two Versions of Not a Hero
The recovered build changes the mission more than the scenery.
| Element | April 2017 Build | Released DLC |
|---|---|---|
| Mission | Capture Lucas alive | Stop Lucas after his mutation |
| Captured soldiers | All three can be saved | All three die |
| Major boss | Mutated researcher Alan | Mutated Lucas Baker |
| Mine pacing | More room to explore | Explosive-bracelet countdown |
Why Capcom Delayed It
Capcom originally promised Not a Hero for spring 2017. On April 25, the company delayed it. Director Koshi Nakanishi said the team had concluded the DLC was “not good enough” to meet the expectations created by the main game’s reception.
Kempy161’s account says HexaDrive had initially been contracted to develop the expansion before Capcom took the project back internally. The recovered build represents the work several months into that rescue effort, before the story received its largest rewrites. Capcom then spent the rest of 2017 turning it into the version players eventually received.
The final DLC is tighter, meaner, and more decisive about Lucas. The discarded one gives Chris something his stories rarely allow him to keep: everyone he came to rescue.
Featured image: Capcom, from its official Not a Hero announcement.
