Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - Banned Footage Vol. 1 Tips

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - Banned Footage Vol. 1 is a DLC bundle built around three separate extra modes: Nightmare, Bedroom, and Ethan Must Die. Treat it as a set of focused challenges, not as another chapter of the base campaign. Nightmare is about scrap economy and wave survival, Bedroom is about puzzle memory and room resets, and Ethan Must Die is a harsh bonus mode where traps and random supplies punish careless movement.

content warning: This mature horror add-on includes blood and gore, intense violence, and strong language.

Essential Tips

1. Pick the Mode for the Skill You Want to Practice

Vol. 1 works best when you understand what each mode is asking from you. Nightmare is the combat mode. You survive waves in the basement as Clancy, run compactors for scrap, buy gear, and use the room itself to stay alive. If you want shooting, crowd control, and economy decisions, start there.

Bedroom is the opposite pace. It is a locked-room puzzle where progress comes from touching the right objects, remembering where everything belongs, and getting back into bed before Marguerite notices. Ethan Must Die is the pure challenge option: limited safety, randomized supplies, enemies, and traps. Rotate between them when frustration sets in; each one trains a different habit.

2. Build Nightmare Around Scrap Income First

In Nightmare, scrap is your real lifeline. Activate compactors early, keep routes to them clear, and collect between pressure spikes instead of waiting until the room is already out of control. Weapons help, but steady income lets you replace ammo, buy healing, open locked options, and build the defenses that stop later waves from snowballing.

The common beginner error is spending everything on immediate comfort. A stronger gun feels good for one wave, but extra scrap flow and access to more tools pay off across the whole run. Once you can reach another compactor or useful locked area, invest in the economy before overbuying ammunition.

3. Let Traps and Turrets Save Ammunition

Nightmare rewards players who use the basement as a defensive layout. Traps, turrets, and explosives can soften or finish enemies while you reposition, reload, or collect scrap. Do not treat them as decorations. Put enemies through prepared lanes and let your purchased defenses do work that your ammo supply cannot afford.

This matters most when Molded arrive in groups. If you spend bullets on every target at full health, the later waves become much tighter. Use standard shots to steer enemies, then commit traps when a cluster is worth the cost. Save your cleanest tools for the moments when Jack or a dangerous wave forces direct fighting.

4. Prepare for Jack Before the Wave Turns Ugly

Jack’s appearances are where a comfortable Nightmare run can collapse. Before a boss wave fully takes over, check your healing, reload your main weapon, and make sure you know which trap or lane you want to use. Scrambling through menus while Jack is already pressuring you usually costs more than preparing thirty seconds earlier.

Do not tunnel on Jack so hard that normal enemies surround you. Keep moving through known safe paths, use the environment to split attention, and spend heavy tools when the wave is actually threatening. If you are trying Night Terrors, expect less scrap income and tougher enemies, so your preparation has to start even earlier.

5. Reset Every Object in Bedroom Before Marguerite Checks

Bedroom is a memory test disguised as an escape room. Every time you take the lantern, move a painting, open a clock, slide the bed, or disturb the side room, mentally mark what has to go back. Marguerite’s visits are not just cutscenes; they are inspections. If the room looks wrong, Clancy gets punished and your progress loses momentum.

Build a reset routine. Close what you opened, return paintings, move the bed back, hang the lantern, get into bed, and secure the shackle. Do that in the same order every time. The timer feels less stressful when your hands already know the cleanup path.

6. Solve Bedroom in Clean Puzzle Loops

Bedroom has several reliable puzzle beats. Early on, avoid the food, collect the spoon and lantern, free yourself, find the lighter, and use the broken clock hand. The painting wall uses the B, C, A order, and the clock is set to 5:00 to reveal the passage mechanism. Later, the combination uses Snake, Fig Leaf, Apple.

The trick is not only knowing answers; it is sequencing them without leaving proof behind. Use the stove and solid fuel for the corkscrew, combine the lantern hooks into the iron statuette, use the knife at the projector, match the shadows, take the Snake Key, then move quickly to the passage under the bed. If Marguerite is about to check, pause the puzzle and reset the room instead of forcing one more interaction.

7. Treat Ethan Must Die Like a No-Margin Challenge Run

Ethan Must Die is not a normal replay of the Baker house. Supplies can shift, traps are a constant threat, and Ethan’s low durability means a small mistake can end the attempt. Move slowly enough to read the floor, walls, corners, and crates before committing. A tempting pickup is not worth it if you sprint into a trap to grab it.

Because item placement can change, memorize principles rather than a single perfect script. Check danger before opening things, keep escape routes in mind, and use strong supplies for situations that block progress. The goal is to reach the greenhouse challenge with enough health, ammunition, and discipline to finish, not to clear every possible enemy.

8. Do Not Carry Base-Game Habits into Every Tape

The base Resident Evil 7 campaign teaches caution, but Vol. 1 keeps changing the rules. In Nightmare, you can and should spend scrap aggressively when it improves the next wave. In Bedroom, combat instincts barely matter because the mode is about observation and concealment. In Ethan Must Die, familiar rooms are more dangerous because the mode rearranges pressure around traps and randomized supplies.

Before each attempt, say what the mode values most: economy, room memory, or survival discipline. That simple reset keeps you from trying to shoot your way through a puzzle or casually exploring a challenge mode built to punish routine movement.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Do not spend Nightmare scrap only on short-term ammo - income, access, and defenses keep the whole run alive.
2. Do not ignore compactors after activating them - uncollected scrap does nothing while the wave gets harder.
3. Do not fight every Nightmare enemy with bullets - traps and turrets exist to preserve your supplies.
4. Do not wait for Jack to appear before preparing - reload, heal, and plan your lane before the boss pressure starts.
5. Do not leave Bedroom objects out of place - Marguerite checks the room and punishes visible changes.
6. Do not eat Marguerite’s food in Bedroom - it damages Clancy and wastes your limited margin.
7. Do not rush Ethan Must Die pickups blindly - traps can make a good item a failed attempt.
8. Do not confuse Vol. 1 with Vol. 2 or other RE7 DLC - this pack is Nightmare, Bedroom, and Ethan Must Die only.

Summary

Category	Top Tip
Scope	Focus on Nightmare, Bedroom, and Ethan Must Die; other RE7 add-ons play differently.
Nightmare	Build scrap income early, then convert it into traps, turrets, ammo, and boss prep.
Bedroom	Restore every disturbed object before Marguerite returns to inspect the room.
Ethan Must Die	Move slowly, respect traps, and adapt to randomized supplies instead of memorizing one route.
Mindset	Reset your habits between modes because each one rewards a different skill.