The Evil Within Reviews
It may not be for the faint of heart, but if you're looking for a hardcore and pure survival horror experience then look no further than The Evil Within.
As a horror experience, The Evil Within completely misfired.
A solid adventure and a music for horror fans out there who want to play a game which could be described as RE4's spiritual successor as mentioned earlier.
The Evil Within loves to give the player a challenge in various different ways with the lack of ammo being one already mentioned, but even the normal enemies in the game will give you a challenge.
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.
Started badly and with the spectre of failure that emerged after the first rehearsals, The Evil Within is a game that has been able to surprise us. The mixture of old and new works, and once again demonstrates Mikami's ability to create balanced products capable of entertaining without alienating too much classic gameplay.
Review in Italian | Read full review
While The Evil Within won't make as big of an impact on the medium of video games as its spiritual predecessor, there's a few design choices that hold the experience back and the story is more on the side of "what the hell" than offering a satisfying tale, it's still a great game for a trip back to that atmospheric, tense, semi old-school horror that manages to stand out in this current age, because big budget action horrors aren't created anymore and no one creates an action horror like the father of the genre, Shinji Mikami.
Where BioShock Infinite aggressively tugged on heartstrings, The Evil Within tears them from your chest and crucifies you. It strangles you with your own tendrils and feeds you your own beating heart, mouth locked shut and tied with entrails, forcing you to chew and swallow. But when the last sliver slides down the back of your throat, you'll look up and smile a sadistic smile before asking "more, please".
The Evil Within marks Shinji Mikami's triumphant return to horror, cementing his status as a mastermind of the genre. Smartly aiming for psychological horror over cheap jump scares, it gets under the skin and effects the psyche. Unfortunately, it falls into the modern trappings of boasting too much firepower at the cost of stealth and intelligence.
It's not easy for a game with the name Shinji Mikami attached to it to live up to the hype, but The Evil Within does a nice job of staying true to its roots.
If you like the idea of Resident Evil 4 crossed half-and-half with Silent Hill then The Evil Within is the game for you. Just be prepared to put up with 30 FPS.
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.