The Evil Within 2 Reviews
A worse game than the already flawed original, whose poorly crafted action is as ineffective as its clichéd attempts at horror.
Some monstrously lovely set pieces are let down by a bit too much padding, some broken mechanics, and an overwrought story.
I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was surprised when Bethesda announced a sequel to the so-so Evil Within. But announce they did and here we have The Evil Within 2. Can it fix the flaws of the first? The FingerGuns review;
If it's possible to preserve a sense of tension and genuine horror in an open-world setting, The Evil Within 2 hasn't discovered how. In an attempt to introduce a more contemporary gameplay style than that of Shinji Mikami's classics, this game ends up diluting its best qualities by filling your time with tedious milling about and resource-gathering.
There's no mystery to Union, which is grounded in exactly the way that the Beacon Mental Hospital was not.
The Evil Within 2 is just like its predecessor: a mixed bag. While it had the potential to be something absolutely brilliant, Tango Gameworks has attempted to both cram too much in and offer too little at the same time.
Castellanos pushes through the twisted world in the hunt for Lily, encountering new faces, old faces, disgusting nightmare faces, and a semen monster. By the end of it all, I couldn't remember half of what happened and had no desire to explore STEM for a second time on a higher difficulty. Reducing the amount of bullets is not going to make the experience more compelling.
"The Evil Within 2 is a pretty average horror game. It's just fine, it's not offensively bad, it's not earth-shatteringly original. It's just serviceable, though the dialogue and writing leaves a lot to be desired."
The Evil Within 2 doesn't have anything new to offer the franchise. It fails to be frightening, the narrative is a mess, and it only manages to keep its head above the blood water with some decent survival-action mechanics.
One thing that The Evil Within has done right so far? Improved with its second game. Let's hope that's one element of the formula that repeats with the inevitable third installment.
If you thoroughly enjoyed the first Evil Within, chances are you've already picked up this sequel. However, if you're like me and found the original to be a lot of bark with no bite, this installment is worth the ride. Just be ready for some cringe-inducing dialogue and some tonal whiplash along the way.
The real issue with The Evil Within 2 is that it has tried to marry too many foreign gameplay elements to the genre, whilst not addressing a lot of technical annoyances that, if remedied, would have provided enough refreshment to the third-person horror experience alone. Whereas Resident Evil 7 shifted the perspective into first-person, and re-discovered its core emphasis - much to its advantage - The Evil Within 2 has expanded mechanically without really acting on the criticism of the first game. The controls are sluggish, the camera doesn't react fast enough, and it has the habit of limiting player perspective in an obnoxious way. Even though this experience is quite different to the original, and far more compelling and successful, it's disappointing that the abstract mind games it pulls couldn't be left to speak for themselves. All the same, this is a solid survival horror title, although in the end it borrows just a bit too much from Resident Evil 4.
The Evil Within 2 is not a step forward. On the contrary, if it were not for an open world and a prettier picture, it would be a step backwards. Nevertheless, that core basis, which was in the first game, is still working, and it's because of it you will not drop a sequel halfway.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Chapter 3 was our highlight with the game, but it failed to maintain the element of surprise and the joy of exploring the unknown to the end. also, the gameplay mechanics didn't improve as they should over the first game. there is special moments to be found, but it doesn't reach the brilliance of the first neither in art style nor game design.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
The Evil Within 2 is a more coherent and purposeful journey, strengthened by its voyage into non-linear level design, while at the same time reinforcing the foundation with which the original's gameplay often shined through on.
Atmospheric, psychological horror requires new things to think about. Things for the player to ruminate on after turning the game off. Things that stay with you. The Evil Within 2 almost gets there.
The Evil Within 2 will certainly hold your attention during its 17 chapters, with flashes of brilliance sandwiched in among the game's various flaws and less memorable sequences. Ultimately, as a sequel, it doesn't quite deliver, but nonetheless, The Evil Within 2 is a survival horror that's just about worth persevering with.
When compared to other games in the horror genre, The Evil Within 2 seems a few steps behind its contemporaries, both in terms of storytelling and execution. However, what it lacks in genuine scares and creepiness it makes up for in atmosphere and gore, especially during the final chapters.
Mixing open-world and linear survival horror is a brave experiment that largely pays off for this enjoyable, schlocky stealth-action horror title.