Title: The Evil Within
Developers: Tango Gameworks
Publisher: Bethesda Software
Genre: Survival Horror
Platforms: Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, PC
Reviewed On: Xbox One
Well, I am not going to forget some of the stuff I saw in this game. Don't think of that as a negative, it's a positive for some absolutely awesome art direction and work. While Alien: Isolation leaned more towards the sterile, metallic atmosphere of the 70's Alien film, The Evil Within thrives on showing the stuff of nightmares. If you have a weak stomach for gore, I would not advise this, it goes all-out on the horrifying gore factor. For the rest of you, and you fans of Resident Evil 4, you definitely need to consider this one.
The Evil Within has a strong pedigree. Directed by the man who is considered the grandfather of survival horror, Shinji Mikami, the creator of the Resident Evil series, he has done a great job bringing his brand of survival/action horror to the next-generation of consoles, despite a few flaws that can hamper the game. He is helped by the people in his studio, Tango Softworks, many of whom worked at reputable companies before, including Platinum Games, Clover Studios, and Capcom.
The strongest part of the game is the atmosphere. It seems that The Evil Within wants you to feel trapped in the nightmares of an insane man, and it has done this perfectly. You will travel through mental hospitals, forests, medieval villages, and crumbling cities, all brought to life beautifully. The forests are dark, the hospitals are dirty and bloody, and it all creates the feeling of being trapped in a world of Insanity brought to life. There is some great sound design that really helps too, from dripping blood, to roaring chainsaws, that completes the nightmare.
The gameplay present here will feel instantly familiar to fans of the acclaimed Resident Evil, and third-person shooters, with a few tweaks and enhancements present. The game plays as an over-the-shoulder third-person shooter, with guns used for combat, and a basic melee attack. The main strength of the gameplay is that it truly feeling like survival horror. Ammo is limited for your weaponry, and creative use of both it and the environment is a must. The game is usually fair about this however, and there is always a way to survive through the clever use of the environment. Traps litter places where fighting is the only option, along with enough ammo littered around to get by, and if you are smart with using both of these tools, you will survive. Fire is an important weapon as well. Matches can be used to burn both corpses on the ground, and enemies on the ground, allowing for some quick kills, if you are creative enough.
The gameplay is not perfect however, with one of the negative sides also being the lack of ammo. There are sections where you are forced to fight, and the game will be very stingy with its ammo. This can lead to some very frustrating trial-and-error tactics, which are never fun to do. Thankfully, I found that these sections are quite rare, as there are usually alternative tactics to use then just straight shooting. There is also the core control scheme of the game. The game does control like an improved (except for the aiming) version of Resident Evil 4. This works great when enemies are at a distance, and starts to break apart when enemies are close to you. The aiming is the main problem here, with its awkwardness showing at full force with enemies in close range. So then just melee the guy! Melee in this game is a very last resort type of attack. It doesn't do much damage, and really only serves to get enemies away from you. This can lead to a lot of frustration, although it is an understandable decision made by the developer. You are fighting monsters, how much good can punching them really do.
Stealth is also an available tactic, but this aspect of the game feels a bit tacked-on. You can crouch to stay out of sight, throw bottles as a distraction, and even perform stealth kills on unaware enemies. When this aspect works, it works well, and allows you to clear out large portions of enemies with little to no resource use, if you are skilled enough. But many times in the game, stealth will not be an option for you to use. This is partially because of forced combat sections, and because of the AI of the enemies in the game. The AI can feel cheap at times, and immediately turn around when you are just outside of the stealth kill range, and ruin any plans you have. While this can feel like a screw-up on your part sometimes, there are quite a few times when it just feels like the AI has a sixth-sense for sneaking detectives.
The variety of metal-shooters in the game is great. There are close to 6 or 7 types of different weapon types within the game, with different unlockable and findable weapons for each type.The sound and feeling of these guns are great too. Pistols feel like pistols, with several rapid pops, and shotguns go off with a loud and damaging bang. The standout weapon of the game, however, is the Agony Crossbow. Parts can be found in the world, and collected from disarmed traps, and can be used to create ammunition for the Agony Crossbow. The disarming traps aspect allows for depth and choice, do you use the traps against your enemies, or use the parts to create powerful ammunition for your crossbow? The Crossbow itself also has a variety of ammunition, from exploding bolts, to harpoon bolts, and with some creativity, can be one of the most powerful weapons in the game.
As for the storyline, it starts off great, with you having no knowledge of what is causing the horrors you see, and you slowly discover this over time. It loses some of its steam later on in the game though, and while not terrible, the story is average at best. The characters, by far, are the weakest aspect of the story. Sebastian Castellanos is any average, gruff guy detective, although slowly discovering his backstory over the course of the game is interesting at least. The side characters are a bit more interesting, although not much time is spent with them. The villain, however, is the best character. He is not the most interesting character, but his backstory is well told through play, rather than cutscenes, and this allows for a more interesting character to develop.
All in all, Shinji Mikami has shown with The Evil Within that he and his group of developers can still pull off great survival horror games in this next-generation. There are flaws in the game, mainly the storyline, some awkward controls, and frustrating encounters, but there is a lot of good here. The atmosphere here is top notch, and the gameplay, when it works, is a lot of fun. The Evil Within gives me a lot of hope for the future of Tango Gameworks, and I hope that they continue to improve and perfect their future projects.
Final Score: 7 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment