The Evil Within Reviews
A game that fails to live up to it's hype, despite some good action.
Check out our interview with Shinji Mikami to hear what he had to say about making Resident Evil and why he wanted it to be like beer.
It's not Mikami's best game, but The Evil Within's excellent gameplay, incredible atmosphere, and the sheer variety of enemies and environments on display make up for occasional frustrations, a overly grimdark plot, and pointless stealth sections. It's a great game, and a return to form for Mikami. It's not Resident Evil 4, but you know what? There's nothing wrong with that.
The best thing to say about The Evil Within is that it is a good survival game with some decent mechanics, the worst thing I can say is that it is a poor horror game that doesn't live up to its design or the talent of the director. I'm not angry, I'm just very disappointed I'm not scared.
The Evil Within is absolutely sure to appeal to those obsessed with the original Resident Evil games. That said, it's a real shame that the developer didn't take this fresh start as a chance to reinvent himself and horror games in general.
The Evil Within is an odd beast of a game that straddles the line between helpless atmosphere horror and zombie action shooter. It is certainly a huge step above the Michael Bay-esque Resident Evil 6. If not for the unfortunate frustrating points, which really take you out of the bleak atmosphere, I would say this would set the bar for horror excellence. Unfortunately, these small drawbacks will cause you to frequently put the game down, and that simply doesn't mesh with a horror tone. Overall, The Evil Within is a horror game that outdoes other horror offerings by leaps and bounds, but just isn't perfect. If you want a game to scare the crap out of you this Halloween season, then The Evil Within is a safe bet.
In this sense The Evil Within becomes less of a game and more of a haunted house ride, where you just roll with the changes and wait for the scares.
Tango Gameworks have successfully ticked all the right boxes when it comes to the survival-horror genre and the game is beautifully presented on the PlayStation 4 from its exceptional opening sequence to the twisted and sometimes sickening story of Detective Sebastian Castellanos. The relationship that you form with the game is one of love and hate that I could happily recommend to any gamers that want a true challenge on the PlayStation 4.
The Evil Within eventually gives Seb a reason to soldier on, far too late into the story. At that point, he's the only one it helps.
In the end The Evil Within has undoubtedly been hand-crafted for survival horror purists, making no concessions to modern day expectations and the new breed of horror epitomised by the likes of Dead Space and Resident Evil 6. If you're going in hoping for a worth successor to Resident Evil 4 then you're most definitely in the right place. The Evil Within never quite succeeds in hitting those heights throughout its 20 hour or so length, but it does a damn good impression and, with Halloween approaching fast, we can't think of many better ways to frighten ourselves witless.
The Evil Within is, deep down, the work of an old industry master who has achieved a high skill in his art, but who cannot surprise us and catch us like his previous works. It's a cleanly executed game that will certainly give nightmare moments to those who aren't used to the countless series of stereotypes that make up it, but that doesn't bring something really new or memorable to survival horror veterans.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
At the end of the day, The Evil Within is a good Resident Evil game from 2005, but a below average third-person action adventure game in 2014. Silly design choices and just plain awful decisions manage to hold back what could be a fantastic experience.
While The Evil Within never quite terrifies, it has plenty of moments early on where it threatens to wrap you up in its gory world. However, it never really delivers a completely engaging experience and by the end goes totally off the rails.
For all the games' narrative themes of consciousness-probing, identity-subsuming science, the reordering of the psychic self for a greater application of the flesh, I needed to look no further than my own pathological gameplay in its honour. The rage quits, the restarts, the late nights, the infinitesimal adjustments to my thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth attempts, all part of my drive to survive to the end, no matter how many hours of hell it took. That is the essence of survival horror. Those are the roots around which The Evil Within is so expertly entwined.
I don't know how the developers did it, but they have the horror game experience down to a tee. One thing is for certain, no vido game is perfect, but for me this is as close as you can get in the horror genre.
I've been a fan of the horror genre for the majority of my life. From books and comics, to movies, video games, and board games, I'm always on the lookout for something to give me a good scare. However, I've never been a huge fan of the survival horror style of video game. Don't get me wrong, they're good fun, but I've always enjoyed those games that attempt to balance horror and action set pieces more. 'Dead Space 2', in my opinion, is nearly perfect. I was even a fan (albeit, in the minority) of 'Resident Evil 6'. While 'The Evil Within' walks a tightrope that straddles these two types of horror games, it occasionally leans a bit more toward the survival horror side of things. By mixing in some frustratingly difficult boss battles, the games veers off in the other direction. Although both styles of gameplay can be exceptionally fun and exciting, I would have ultimately preferred the game remain exclusively focused on one or the other. The gore and violence reaches a boiling point very early on and people who either take offence or have a weak stomach for such experiences should avoid 'The Evil Within' at all costs. Those looking to test their skills and enjoy an all-out blood bath need look no further.
The Evil Within is a good game, an assembly of Mikami's best work and a rather pointed lesson in classic survival horror that Capcom would do well to note, but it's also unashamedly rooted in bygone years. As such, it'll pleases nostalgic fans yearning for a shinier, bloodied love letter to the creepy classics of yesteryear, but it doesn't really deliver anything particularly new. Greatest Hits albums are usually stuffed with goodness, and The Evil Within certainly has its moments, but they're also usually put out by bands with nothing more to say, I can only desperately hope that's not true of Shinji Mikami and Tango Gameworks.
The Evil Within is an example of a great idea that lacks execution. There are scares a-plenty and very often, the fear factor is sky-high. The pacing and variety we see in this adventure are worthy of praise as well, and I appreciate how the atmosphere continually drags you into the experience.
Despite The Evil Within's attempts to mimic RE4, it plays like a game that preceded RE4 instead. It has many minor flaws, annoying problems and nagging issues that its spiritual predecessor didn't have. There are times it comes so close to brilliance, and those moments make the game worth playing, but the frustrating portions can easily eclipse the rest of the title. You have to be willing to work with it to see the good within. Many of the design decisions make the player want to give up rather than work past the frustrating elements to reach the fun.
This game is not what was originally promised, but that's not a bad thing. While many were hoping for the next Silent Hill 2, it became the next Resident Evil 4, instead. With The Evil Within, Mikami has taken the highlights of a number of his other games and combined them into one terrifying amalgamation of gore, horror and action. The Evil Within is a great game. Survival horror fans will find it a great addition to their collection, and even for those with little experience of the genre it's well worth a play.