Finding worthwhile ways to build on a horror video game is no easy task. The nature of this genre is that its stories tend to be self-contained. It’s not that there isn’t room in their painstakingly crafted virtual worlds to allow for new stories, it’s just that these tales aren’t always worth getting told.

Even the most critically lauded games have trouble getting their DLC right. I’ve spent enough time on the subject already, so rather than retread that ground, let’s talk about one a select few games that’s actually getting it right.

There’s a lot to love about Shinji Mikami’s The Evil Within because it gets a lot right. It’s the rare sort of video game that’s consistent enough in what it aspires to be that it makes enduring the occasional stumble as it works toward that goal easy to forgive.

Continuing where The Assignment left off is The Consequence. This add-on immediately sets out on a quest to answer our lingering questions in an effort to wrap up Juli Kidman’s story before the third, and potentially final, expansion arrives later this year.

The story picks up where The Assignment left off, with Juli sticking it to the man — in this case, Mobius — as she quickly gets to work scouring every inch of the nightmarish landscape Ruvik has created in an effort to find Leslie.

Much like the first half of Juli’s side-story, The Consequence once again puts the emphasis on stealth and strategy over giving players anything that might make them confident in their chances of survival. A competent throwing arm and a purposeful smattering of bottles are the only allies a clever player will need to make it out alive.

Mikami and Co. have, mercifully, sprinkled about the expansion’s three-ish hour running time a few levels in which Juli is gifted with a handgun. Going so long without an actual arsenal made those woefully brief sections exponentially more enjoyable, because they made up the only battles where I felt even a modicum of confidence in my ability to stay alive.

Stealth has always been an option in The Evil Within, it’s just that many of us, including myself, didn’t recognize it as an option. Arming a powerful crossbow with exploding bolts before a fight does wonders for one’s confidence.

This confidence, it seems, is the one thing that these add-ons are trying so hard to dispel. Being scared is damn near impossible when Sebastian is carrying what amounts to a Navy SEALS team’s arsenal on his person at all times.

This is why I’m so fond of this DLC, because it did what good DLC should do: it improved the core experience. Shifting the focus to the game’s fantastic stealth mechanics makes each enemy encounter significantly more intense.

I gradually grew anxious of what I thought would be waiting for me around every corner, behind every door. I was paranoid of any sound that I didn’t make, even when nothing was happening. For any other genre, these feelings would be seen as negatives, but for a game of the horror persuasion, there’s no higher compliment.

These things kept me immersed in what was going on. It didn’t take long before I realized I was scanning each room I entered, looking for something, anything, that might give me an advantage or a means of escape should something with baby hands for eyes suddenly materialize on the other side of the room.

There is something that the first DLC had going for it that The Consequence does not, and that’s its novelty factor. The Assignment mixed up the gameplay a bit, gave us a new character to play as, and that went a long way in keeping what Juli’s doing from becoming repetitive.

This DLC doesn’t share that benefit, and it won’t take long for you to feel it. I was roughly an hour in before started to feel like I had done all of this before. It would’ve been nice to see some additional tweaks to Juli’s capabilities and weapons, because there are only so many bottles I can throw before I start hearing the Siren’s call of the myriad games in my library I’ve been neglecting.

The Evil Within had some memorable bosses, but there are a few here that give them a run for their money. The final boss is just good enough to make me think the whole point of Juli’s story was so Mikami could swoop in and finish it off with a bang.

The storytelling can get a little clunky at times. It can get especially bad when the game tries to weave Juli’s story with the main game. These scenes felt like they were rushed. In fact, the entire expansion has a rushed quality about it.

Even though her adventure was spread across two add-ons, Juli’s time in the spotlight ends sooner than I would’ve liked. It’s a good thing that it doesn’t completely wrap up before leaving players with an idea of the direction a totally hypothetical sequel might take.

Pacing issues aside, The Consequence is a more than satisfying conclusion to Juli’s story that will prove challenging even for adept players. Coming up next is the third (and final) DLC, The Executioner, which I’m sure we’ll hear from soon.

The Final Word: The Consequence is a solid addition to the Evil Within story that wraps up Juli’s story in a satisfying enough way, even if it loses some of the momentum built by The Assignment.