The Evil Within Reviews
The Evil Within is almost pitiable in its need to recapture the fresh tension and anxiety of Mikami's best work.
Overall, though, The Evil Within is a solid survival thriller game that will likely satisfy fans who lament the more action-oriented direction that titles such as Resident Evil or Dead Space ended up taking as of late. If the idea of of gameplay in the vein of Resident Evil meets Silent Hill is something you find appealing, then you'll want to give The Evil Within a shot.
When the game works, it is fantastic. Unfortunately, the rest of it feels average and frustratingly built to make players fail. While obsessive collectors might see replay value in New Game+, the story and gameplay simply aren't compelling enough to warrant more than the original 20 hours for completion.
If you loved Resident Evil 4 and you're looking for more of that style of game, The Evil Within will probably push the right buttons for you. The game is a clear success in a throwback sense to that earlier title, though its lack of innovation, strategic depth, or an engaging story are all marks against it.
The Evil Within feels like a the worst kind of throwback--one that feels stale, uninspired and most disappointingly, boring.
Even with its issues The Evil Within is a solid survival horror experience. It brings back the best of what this genre was built on.
At its best, The Evil Within offers a few scares and decent, if bland and predictable, combat; at its worst, it's unoriginal, uninspired and plodding. If you're looking for something scarier, try playing through two other recent current-gen horror games, P.T. or Outlast. Heck, I'm betting my nephew's skeleton costume this year will be spookier.
There's little of that symbiosis here, as The Evil Within's more serious tone and greater reliance on non-interactive cutscenes leaves the player disengaged from the rollercoaster of action.
While The Evil Within doesn't quite reach the iconic Resident Evil 4's level of brilliance or scariness, this is a satisfyingly gruesome adventure. Playing on Survival difficulty or higher is a true challenge, and you need to make quick decisions about which enemies to take out first, when to run and hide, and which crossbow bolts to make in semi-real time. The story is pretty convoluted, and you don't really become attached to most characters, but ultimately this is a very well-done survival horror game with stealth elements mixed in for good measure. The Evil Within is a great game for the Halloween crowd, and has some added replayability in the form of a New Game+. This is an easy buy for all horror fans, and is a game that should not be missed by those who want a challenge.
A masterful demonstration (perhaps a little too gory), both from the point of view of the realization as well as the narration, the atmosphere or the playability, even if it is not always the most accurate.
Review in French | Read full review
The Evil Within is the most impetuous realization of Mikami's creative vision. Finally autonomous, yet so careful to recover fragments from the game designer's other hallucinate visions, the title tells a story that mixes alienating moments and oppressive clashes, strange hermetic symbolism with brutal violent exaggerations.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Evil Within has its fair share of weaknesses (some are patchable), but on the whole, as is, it's a powerful survival horror experience that I won't soon forget.
A throwback to survival horror's heyday, The Evil Within's story is daft and convoluted, featuring a mad scientist who might as well be Krieger from Archer. Frustrating and entertaining in equal measure, The Evil Within falls short of offering any proper scares.
Fans of the original Resident Evil will be happy to know that while The Evil Within does have a few kinks the game is as fresh as Resident Evil was all those years ago. Shinji Mikami has proven that he can still weave a captivating story and flesh out an interesting protagonist who just about everyone can relate to.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.