The Evil Within game, reviews of which are very mixed, was released in 2014. The developer is Tango Gameworks, and the European publisher is Bethesda, which many people know from Skyrim. Nevertheless, the game resembles Resident Evil to someone, and Outlast to someone. But not Skyrim. More details in the article.
About the game in general
Shinji Mikami, who valiantly worked on the Resident Evil series, worked on the project. To this person, many gamers owe the fact that the spirit of true survival horror does not die from one project to another and continues to tickle the nerves of fans of the genre.
In the media, reviews of The Evil Within note the stunning atmospheric component of the game as a positive side and template gameplay as negative. But the second aspect should not be understood as something bad, but as a kind of cliche that has managed to establish itself well in other projects. Simply, the developers were not able to invent something newer and more interesting.
The real minus of The Evil Within, according to players, is some technical problems associated with bugs, places that occur in black bars and out of sync texture loading while playing screensavers.
Both parts are distinguished by a high level of complexity: enemies cause difficulties already at the initial stages, the number of rounds is strictly limited. Therefore, one has to be content with the stealth mode in order to either bypass the enemy or inflict a fatal blow, crept around the corner.
Additions
According to reviews, The Evil Within did not receive particularly high ratings at home in Japan, but commercial success is on top in the US and Europe. The same can be said of the sequel. The plot of the first part was continued in the framework of three DLC:
- " Assignment " (The Assignment).
- “ The Consequence”.
- "The Executioner " (The Executioner).
The first two additions tell the story of the protagonist's companion , Julia Kidman . She has to complete a series of tasks, run away from enemies, hide and try to survive. If in the “ Destination ” of the weapon there is only a flashlight, then in the “ Aftermath ” a gun and a sawn-off shotgun are added. But this “ holiday " did not last so long. More than half of the supplement, the heroine will still have to be content with a flashlight and stealth mode.
The Executioner allows you to look at the project’s universe through the eyes of a “ safe-headed ” monster known as the Guardian . Reviews of the game The Evil Within mark this DLC as one of the most interesting. Firstly, because of the third-person view, and secondly, because of the opportunity to learn more about the Mobius Corporation , about the creature itself and about the nature of everything that happens around. Let the passage take only two hours.
The plot of The Evil Within
" Inner Evil " starts when the protagonist of the series - Detective Sebastian Castellanos - arrives with his companions in the psychiatric hospital " Mayak " , from which an alarming call came.
As the numerous player reviews narrate, The Evil Within immediately reminded Outlast of it - the same atmosphere of abandonment, suspense, lots of corpses and blood-stained walls. However, suspicions of copying the aforementioned survivor were very quickly dispelled by the first mystical event - the appearance of a certain Ruvik, whom Dr. Jimenez mentions. A man in a hoodie quickly cuts down the main character, after which he finds himself in a certain chamber, then escapes from a psychopath with a chainsaw, and also periodically falls into another reality filled with zombies and creatures incomprehensible to the normal human consciousness.
At first glance, missions and locations do not have any logical connection. The plot in places simply breaks the brain, and it begins to seem that the developers did not pursue the goal of creating a survival horror, but some kind of old-fashioned meat chopper from the distant nineties (like Creatures on the Sony PlayStation). But as soon as the protagonist finds himself on the field of sunflowers, as all the details of the puzzle begin to gradually line up in a more or less understandable and even intriguing plot.
Mysterious Ruvik
The plot tells the story of the estate on this field, where the prosperous Victoriano family lived. Envious peasants once burned a barn where there was a brother and sister - Ruben and Laura. As a result, the sister died trying to save her younger brother, and he received serious burns. The boy stood out earlier from the whole family with an inquiring mind and thirst to learn everything new and unusual.
It so happened that the guy got the treatment specifically to the aforementioned Dr. Jimenez, who talked about his experiments with the human mind and attempts to create a mechanism that unites people's minds into a single network. The project was named STEM.
The Victoriano family sponsored Jimenez's research for a long time, but then, under mysterious circumstances, all its members died. Ruben Victoriano ( Ruvik ) also began his research, for which he needed experimental living people. The material was supplied by the doctor. Later, there was a discord between them, and Ruvik was forcibly brought to the clinic, where his brain became the core of the STEM system. Jimenez lost control of his brainchild, and all of Ruben Victoriano’s nightmares were embodied in his reality: fire, monsters, dead peasants, as well as a terrible many-armed monster with long black hair, reminiscent of the girl from the movie “ Call ” - the sister of the boy Laura.
The ending of the first part
According to reviews of The Evil Within, after all the intricate interweaving of the plot, the game leaves more questions than answers. All because of the unusual ending. The fact is that the protagonist woke up in the STEM capsule and saw a partner standing above him - Julia Kidman . It becomes clear that she is not who she claims to be and, most likely, is related to everything that happens. The hero switches off again and wakes up already outside the capsule, waddles to the exit, where mutilated bodies are still scattered, as at the beginning of the game, special forces burst into the building, and after Castellanos sees one of the patients - Leslie Withers - freely passing through the cordon of the police. And no one sees him, he is like a ghost.
During the game, it becomes clear that this man attracted the attention of Ruvik because of a similar way of thinking and similar brain activity. Therefore, according to reviews of The Evil Within, there are two options that explain what happened:
- The protagonist sees the real world, headaches are explained by a long connection to STEM, and Ruvik is now in Leslie’s body and is going to take revenge.
- The second version says that Sebastian Castellanos was always connected to the system long before the start of the game. All that he sees, including the ending, is an illusion . The only moment where he looked at the real world was when he saw a “ partner ” standing above himself.
The positive aspects of the first part
Due to the growing fashion for " survival horror movies ", which contributes to the fact that created projects are increasingly appearing in the gaming industry market, it becomes difficult to find a really high-quality product. Therefore , conditional markers such as Bethesda and Shinji Mikami say that a truly worthy creation was published.
Positive reviews of the game indicate that the game is in the best traditions of Resident Evil or some Silent Hill. This is a game that keeps you in suspense from the first moment, does not forgive mistakes, makes you think about every step and really survive.
The plot keeps in suspense, the line between reality and the delirium of the patient of the psychiatric hospital " Mayak " is lost, where the main character turned out to be. The constant failures from reality into a painful nightmare are an inhospitable, often changing world, somewhat reminiscent of the film " The Beginning " with Leonardo DiCaprio .
At every step, there are traps that can harm the health of the protagonist if they are not detected and neutralized in time. Especially if Sebastian stumbles upon those in the heat of battle. It's silly to engage in mine clearance during a fight with a monster - you can catch an ax in the back.
There is a craft of arrows of a crossbow: freezing bolts, igniting, explosive and dazzling. If you think carefully, such a system has already been used in Resident Evil 2 and 3. And the flame is also very effective (this is understandable, due to nightmares from the past of Ruvik ). Due to the limited supply of ammunition for firearms, it is recommended to bring the enemy to the ground and set fire to it.
Negative sides
Reviews of The Evil Within say that some players perceive not very well numerous references from other games:
- It is clear that the first meeting with zombies is a direct reference to the " Resident " in general;
- crumbling city - to Alone in The Dark;
- the village with the dead is very similar to Resident Evil 4, and the mansion of the Victoriano family is on that of the very first part of RE;
- the abundance of blood, viscera and medieval spiked mechanical traps is somewhat reminiscent of Clive Barker's - Jericho, although it is not known whether the talented Japanese participated in the development.
Nevertheless, these " grievances " are not a trend, because the features of the genre were not impudently stolen, but adapted to the world of " Evil Inside. " But the discontent did not end there, because in the game there are an abundance of really significant mistakes. And the point is not even in poor-quality optimization of the game process and the picture as a whole and not in the texture desync mentioned above.
Big inconvenience is caused by pop-up icons, activation of which contributes to the selection of the subject. The thing is that the object itself and the label do not fit on the screen, because the gamer has to contrive and dodge in every way to select the desired viewing angle. Especially when it comes to ammunition, of which there are so few.
Another omission is the narrative. The plot initially develops vividly and smoothly, but then abruptly “ slows down ” and gets lost. Any reminder of the further development of the storyline and clarification of secrets begins with about the ninth chapter.
The history of the protagonist's family, information about which emerges during the passage in the form of notes periodically falling in the way, has not been fully disclosed. The ending is oiled, does not give comprehensive answers.
But overall, the game deserves the highest score.
The story continues in The Evil Within 2
Reviews of gamers do not cease to praise the ingenious author's idea. The tree of the plot roots grows straight from the events of the first part. But this time, the scale of what is happening is fully shown. It turns out that Jimenez’s experiments were carried out on a whim of the Mobius organization , whose goal is to create a single virtual space uniting people from all over the world. And if in the first part of “ Inner Evil ” it was required to connect to the “ Matrix ” by integrating a person into a special capsule, now the technology has reached a new level - chips are being implanted in the neck that connect the person’s consciousness with the STEM system.
Fans of the series were satisfied, judging by the reviews. The Evil Within 2 game includes a brief retelling of the plot of the first part, which was especially liked by those who did not play one. This time everything revolves around the family of Sebastian Castellanos. After the fire in their family nest, the wife left the family, accusing the detective of the death of her daughter. Family drama led the protagonist's life to go downhill, and all his free time he drowned sorrow at the bottom of a glass of whiskey. And so begins the second part of "Evil Inside."
But the acquaintance is interrupted by the already familiar Julia Kidman , who, it turns out, works for Mobius. The girl reveals a secret: in fact, the fire was set up , and the hero’s daughter is alive. She was abducted by the organization to serve as the core of STEM, but recently her consciousness has been lost somewhere in the bowels of the nightmarish Matrix , along with a search squad of the corporation in charge of the project.
In a voluntary-compulsory form, Sebastian is again a captive of nightmares generated by someone's painful imagination, among which he must find his own daughter. A good intriguing start, judging by the reviews of the game The Evil Within 2. The passage has become much more pleasant, but more on that below.
Project advantages
There are two ways to make a decent sequel. The first of them consists in repeating everything that the viewer liked in the first part. This approach is typical not only for game developers, but also for filmmakers. This is a rational grain, because if everyone liked it, then there is no need to change anything. Simply multiply the number of important key events that excite the imagination. The method works, but only until the viewer is tired. If you overdo it, then the developer will be accused of stereotyped, pipelined and self-plagiarism.
The second method is risky and consists in changing the approach to the development of the sequel, while maintaining the key features of the universe. It was along the second path that the creators went, making a continuation of survival horror The Evil Within 2. Reviews on Steam very enthusiastically welcomed the introduction of achievements for passing the plot. Including in different categories of complexity.
Lootboxes appeared in the game , which are opened not by donation , but by the usual click of a mouse. All errors of the first part were taken into account and corrected . Now, item icons do not pop up to the very top, but are located somewhere in the middle of the screen, which does not hurt the eyes and does not get on the nerves, for which many thanks to the developers.
Of the key features of the universe, the same hostile conditions have been preserved: a limited number of ammunition, dangerous opponents, a high level of complexity and the need to think through every movement. Moreover, according to reviews, the PC version of The Evil Within 2 (2017) is no different from PS 4 ( except for the control system, of course).
Of the nice improvements, you can see the corrected flight of bullets in the game - the dispersion of those has been removed, now they fly exactly where the player is aiming. The project appeared a full-fledged craft items using a workbench. You can make cartridges for firearms, bolts for a crossbow, as well as syringes and first-aid kits to maintain health at the right level.
And in order to make it more convenient to look for ingredients for the manufacture of the above “ snacks ” , the developers have made an open world. This does not mean that traveling through the back streets of someone’s painful consciousness has now turned into some kind of “ Skyrim ” and requires horses (or cheats ) to move quickly. No, it's just that the action is now taking place on the streets of Union.
This approach enthralled fans who completed the game as on a PC version. Reviews about The Evil Within 2 on PS4 are not much different: they note the absence of long empty locations, for which developers should pay tribute. However, not everything is so sweet and smooth.
Cons The Evil Within 2
Reviews of critics did not pass by and such a high-quality project. It is known that the post of the project manager was already held by John Yohanas , because many noted that without Shinji Mikami, the atmosphere in the game was no longer the same, although the talented Japanese was already in the producer’s chair.
In other words, the branded oriental gloomy atmosphere disappeared, the intrigue disappeared, more action appeared , and the horror acquired typical American features. But honestly, all this is reasonable and even justified.
Indeed, in the first part, the mystery of the whole game was revealed gradually. Even the ending remained incomprehensible to many. The sequel’s task is to put the final points in the story’s omissions, explain to those who still have something incomprehensible, those moments that were left aside, and bring the entire plot of the “ Inner Evil ” universe to its logical conclusion.
Alas, according to reviews of the game The Evil Within 2, most fans were waiting for the same plot intrigues and intricacies that were in the original. It is impossible to surprise for the second time with the same moments that were in the first part. Secrets have already been revealed, it remains only to deal with the consequences. Therefore, the second part is not the very survival horror, but rather a drama telling the tragic fate of the Castellanos family, which, unfortunately, was dragged into the terrible experiments of the Mobius company.
Verdict
Statements by skeptics regarding the second part of the series are in most cases unfounded . It is wrong to say that without Shinji Mikami, the developers lost all the gloss that was originally invested in the project. After all, if you look back at the Resident Evil series, you can see that this person occupied the developer’s chair only three times. In other cases, he was either a producer or a consultant.
Nevertheless, the general conclusion is exclusively positive. Owners of PC versions praise both parts of the game. Fans of consoles leave feedback on The Evil Within on PS 4 of the same positive nature as on the second part of the series.
Consequently, everyone liked the releases, which means that the spirit of survival horror is alive and will live. And no opinions of critics will spoil a really high-quality project.
Good luck everyone! And to developers - good ideas!