Joelony 9

This review contains spoilers , click expand to view . I believe horror games should be scary, fun, or both. The Evil Within manages to (mostly) do both. Shinji Mikami's horror opus may play like a survival horror "greatest hits" but that's not a weakness but a strength. If you have played any recent Resident Evil games you will notice similar gameplay acting as foundation for a grittier, darker, and more punishing survival horror game.



I personally love horror games, but I assure you my love does not make me blind to this game's shortcomings. First, let's get some technical issues out of the way:



- There is significant pop-in (mostly at the beginning of a cut scene)

- There is clipping (most notably is being able to walk through AI allies)

- There are shadow glitches and the occasional low-res texture



I never had a game-breaking glitch or have my game freeze. The graphics are good for what they are. Although, you can tell this game's development was shared with "last-gen" systems too.



- The developers are dirty **** sometimes putting two boss battles back-to-back, pitting you against one-hit-kill enemies frequently, and forcing the player into "trial and error" more often than necessary. It borderlines (and becomes) frustration at times but the game is not as difficult as the Dark Souls series. The difficulty also stems from claustrophobic boss battles and annoying "chase sequences" that purposefully give you horrible camera angles.

- I don't know whether the playable protagonist, Detective Castellanos is a badass or a dumbass. I found myself laughing at his repeated lines and how stoic he is within such a messed up world. After the umpteenth uttering of "what's going on here?" and other stupid in-game lines, it can start to detract from the experience unless you accept it as cheesy and bad, have a good laugh, and move on.



That's it for the bad. Pretty minor actually. WARNING: below are tips and observations with generalized SPOILERS that should help to reduce frustration and make it more fun. There is nothing specific about plot, enemies, or locations. Skip to the bottom if you want to see my completion time and # of deaths.



- Enjoy the plot like you would a Jackson Pollock or Salvador Dali painting. Don't try to make sense of it.

- This is a survival horror game. Ammunition is limited but don't let your ammo stock get full. I had to leave ammo behind. That's not good when every bullet counts.

- Upgrade intelligently. You'll notice some things are a lot more useful than others.

- Your character gets more winded than a fat kid chasing an ice-cream truck. His stamina is awful. You may consider him an Everyman, but I have no idea how he passed his fitness test to become a police officer.

- The cutscenes are good, albeit they mostly make no sense. And the voice-acting quality is good despite frequent repetition.

- Sometimes you will have AI companions. They aren't completely worthless. Let them take the shot instead of wasting precious ammo. Be warned though, if they get swarmed it can be game over. You can however heal them up whenever you need to without using any supplies.

- This is a personal preference, but there are a couple failed scare opportunities. You'll notice them after you play a lot of the game. However, you will also be pleasantly surprised at how often they do take advantage of opportunities to throw scares at you.

- There is only one section of the game I absolutely hated. It breaks my "be scary or fun" rule. It was neither. You'll know it when you get to it because it is uninspired and boring. Fortunately it isn't too long.

- The game does have some obvious "let's drain their ammo" sections. Just focus on surviving, not conserving ammo. It will alleviate some frustration.

- The game does very little hand holding and I died like 5 times in the first 5 minutes of the game because they just get right into the trial and error aspects of the game.

- There are some amazing boss battles and some I dreaded that ended up being a lot more enjoyable than I thought they'd be.

- My pulse was pounding and I found myself begging not to die on many occasions. I also couldn't help myself from freaking out, jumping from a scare, yelling at my character to "go, go, go" it was a great experience!

- I'm glad this game makes combat enjoyable, but good luck with stealth kills. Enemies are practically omniscient, they'll turn around at the worst times, or you'll get spotted by another enemy.

- You're character has abnormally strong kicks and punches... when attacking crates and barrels. Otherwise, he might as well be slapping enemies with his glove; that is how impotent melee can be.

- Destroy the little white statues!

- You will learn to hate bombs.



Overall, if you like survival horror you shouldn't be disappointed.



True to form they make it worth your while to start a new game+. I completed my first play-through in less than 20 hours on standard difficulty with 49 deaths; better than the IGN reviewer but I hope you can do even better. Good luck! … Expand