Evil Dead: The Game – Review

Evil Dead is a franchise that started out as a series of B horror movies in the early 80s, ultimately gaining a cult status.  Decades later the series spawned some interesting videogames, as well as a continuation of the story in 2013. Fans were fearing that this would be the end of Evil Dead, as Bruce Campbell hung the iconic double barrel on the proverbial hook. A short time ago, there was a sudden announcement about a new Evil Dead game and many of us were really wondering what this new title would be. Now that it has finally been released, we delve into the co-op shooter that is Evil Dead: The Game and meet with characters from the different movies and series who are all working together to defeat evil once more.

Story

The main portion of Evil Dead: The Game comes without a true story, as the gameplay is rather focused on jumping into a game with other people and just enjoying an exciting match. In the multiplayer mode, your objectives are rather clear, as you’ll simply have to find the missing map pieces to locate the dagger and the missing Necronomicon page to seal the breach between the worlds. While the multiplayer lacks any story, there is some content in the single-player mode for those who want a little bit of background to the whole franchise. In missions, you can play various snippets of Evil Dead history and unlock data logs from the original researcher that started his experiments regarding the Necronomicon and Kandarian demons.

Graphics

First of all, the game looks really great, the many character models are nicely polished and give off a premium feel. Not only is the large map nicely rendered, but you will also find attention to detail even in the smaller items, animations, and character models. The animations are so smooth that finishing the many Deadites is a true spectacle. On rare occasions during combat, the animations of the characters look a bit wooden.

The game has a large map with many places to visit, which in performance terms never causes any slowdown or hiccups, even with four players exploring the furthest locations. At all times the gameplay is smooth, even during the most hectic fights. The only small downside to the visual spectacle is that the vehicle behavior can be seen as quite wonky, as there aren’t many details to the vehicle animations and this could be described as more arcade-ish.

Sound

Evil Dead is renowned for Ash’s great one-liners when he is fighting evil. What makes the game even more pleasant for the fans is that Bruce Campbell has decided to lend his voice to this project. You will find old lines from the various movies and the series, but there are also a bunch of new lines added to the mix. This adds a layer of authenticity to the equation. There’s also great music in the background which changes depending on what situation you find yourself in. During slower times, it is a softer tune player, but when things explode, so will the music and then you know it’s time to use your chainsaw and whip out that boomstick.

Gameplay

Evil Dead: The Game is a co-op shooter in which you and three others team up to defeat the evil Kandarian Devil. When first starting the game, it is advised to play the tutorial on both sides, as these properly explain to you how to play the game. Immediately you notice how well the game plays, as the controls respond nicely, but there is one small flaw in the controls. The game looks to be made especially for consoles, as the mouse and keyboard setup feels clumsy and not optimized. Once you start playing with a controller, you notice that the game is absolutely amazing and that the combat flows very smoothly. We even found gunplay very accurate with a controller.

This game is filled with content to keep you engaged for a long time. You have the single-player missions that upon completion will grant you extra costumes, characters, and spoken dialogue from the professor. These missions are tough as nails and it is advised to have some experience in the game before tackling these. If you are not in the mood to immediately play online with strangers, then you can just enjoy the game in the offline mode with bots. Once you are feeling ready to play with other people, you could go for a match with other players against the A.I. This is also a good time to try out the different characters and classes.

The match starts with the survivors selecting a character in one of the four classes, while the demon can be one of three demon types. Each character has unique skills, and the different classes will cater to different playing styles. Some are stronger in close-ranged combat while others excel at shooting while also having a larger ammo pool. Thanks to the many playable characters you will mostly be able to play with one of your favorite characters, but nothing is as funny as playing a match with everyone playing as one of the Ash variants.

If you think you are ready, you can go online with other people against a player who will take up the role of the evil presence. Of course, you can also play as the Kandarian Devil yourself. Each match follows the same format: the survivors need to loot, scavenge and find a bunch of items, while the opposition tries to stop them by spawning enemies and hopefully take down the survivors. The survivors start by collecting three pieces of the map to find the whereabouts of the ritual dagger but also the missing Necronomicon piece to find the whereabouts of the Necronomicon. Once you have done that, you’ll have to make it past the guards protecting the dreaded book, as you want to return the missing page and complete it to seal the breach between their world and ours. Deadites will try to stop you, and an experienced player will know how to flood the battlefield or take control of one of your team members in a final desperate attempt. Each match lasts 30 minutes, but players who get to the final objective faster will trigger a two-minute countdown, as having to defend the final objective for a long time could mean an instant win for the opposition. Teamwork is essential from start to finish, as the enemy will throw everything at you and will even utilize its most powerful weapon without a warning: fear. If you get separated from your friends and get tricked by the many evils, then your character becomes frightened, and thus it can become possessed by the enemy.

During your survival, you will need to find firearms, melee weapons, healing items, amulets for protection, and a special drink to level up your skills. This can sound like a lot, but in reality, it has been made so user-friendly that you just need to remember to use drinks for health, an amulet for armor, and the special juice for leveling up. The latter increases perks such as your character’s health and stamina, the ammo you can carry, and much more.

Conclusion

Evil Dead: The Game is an absolutely awesome game and a great addition to the Evil Dead franchise. It is a game that is amazingly fun to play with friends but is equally enjoyable with a group of complete strangers. All you have to do is scavenge for some weapons and take on the oncoming horde of Deadites that is spawned by the enemy player or A.I. Not only is it a visual masterpiece with the nicely polished character models, smooth animations, and attention to detail over the whole board, but the sounds are equally enjoyable thanks to Bruce Campbell and the cast recording new voice lines for this game. There is also some incentive to play the single-player missions as you can unlock new costumes and characters to use in the main modes. The only small downside we encountered on PC was that the game isn’t really made to be played with a mouse and keyboard, but it plays perfectly with a controller plugged in.

MC_JP

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Never give up on a dream. It might be a long nightmare, but one day it will change into a beautiful reality - MC_JP 2014

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