The Evil Within

The Evil Within is a thrilling survival horror game that excels in creating a terrifying atmosphere and delivering visually stunning environments. The gameplay is intense, with resource management and nerve-wracking encounters that keep players on edge. However, stiff controls can feel clunky in tight situations, and the difficulty sometimes spikes unpredictably, leading to frustration. The story, while intriguing, is layered with complex elements that may confuse some players. Despite these flaws, the game's ability to evoke fear and maintain suspense is exceptional, making it a must-play for horror enthusiasts. With its immersive world and challenging gameplay, The Evil Within earns a strong 8.5/10.

I'm not a big gamer these days like I used to be, and as far as the Survival Horror genre goes, it's always been hit or miss for me. I am most certainly a horror fan, especially when it comes to books and films. However, with video games, I've always had a hard time getting into the genre. I usually will love the atmosphere but have trouble getting into the headspace of the character I'm playing as.

For some reference, my favorite video game of all time is probably Silent Hill 2, a game most Survival Horror fans consider to be the greatest game of all time. I played Downpour and enjoyed it, and also loved Resident Evil 4. Almost every other excursion of mine into this genre ended in frustration; the controls and difficulty left me saying "Screw it, I'll just go watch a horror flick."

I had trepidation with this game, to say the least. However, I'm here to tell you that, if you're like me and have trouble getting into this genre (for any reason at all), you should still give this one a shot. The atmosphere, characters, story and enemy and level designs are ON POINT! And, maybe most importantly, the gameplay is easily accessible and a true pleasure to traverse. Never once did I feel like I was being held back by an archaic or difficult-to-learn control scheme/layout.

Will veterans of the genre enjoy this game? I'd like to think so. Will they consider it among their favorites? Probably not -- I'm sure most of what's here has been done before and, to the experts, better. For a casual player like me, though, this game was an absolute blast, and a pleasure to fall into. I look forward to trying out the sequel sometime!

Like horror movies I enjoy horror video games. Even if The Evil Within wasn't the scariest I've ever played, it was definitely a very good game. The detail in the story and the graphics were spot on, the feeling of dread and stealth was perfect, and the voice acting was tremendous. The game was very hard, for I was constantly wondering and asking myself if I was going the right way or doing the right thing, and sometimes the controls seemed a little sticky (not as bad as Resident Evil) but other than that the gameplay was very entertaining. The scares in this game were pretty good, although most of the 'scary' parts were mostly disturbing and morbid in nature due to the graphic violence and gory things you see and do. It was like playing Deadspace but a lot more interactive with the blood and guts and the intensity of survival and stealth. I think this is a very good game, but I would not buy it at first. If you have not played it I would rent it first, see if it's your cup of tea and then if you like it buy it. It is a good horror game, however not the best and every person is gonna look at this game differently than another gamer. It's a new story with different scares (same genetics as most horror games) but presented in a new way that kept me interested until the very end (when I finally got there. Like I said this game it pretty difficult), and I recommend this to anyone who likes survival horror, and see for themselves if it's worth the money or not.

I have played many survival horror games over the years, but the two franchises most people know are Resident Evil and Silent Hill. This game does have elements of both of those franchises, but has enough of its own charm to stand strongly on its own merits. Though not perfect by any means; however, neither are many of the games in the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series. I prefer Silent Hill, myself, and I would say this game has more elements from that franchise than Resident Evil. The horror is intense and it is simply crazy as you just do not know what is going to happen next or where you are going to emerge at. That being said, I kind of knew what was going on, I would compare it to a film, but then that would give away a bit too much about the plot so I will not say what movie this kind of is reminiscent of if said movie had a horror slant to it.

The story has a detective and his partner along with a rookie detective driving on their way to a mental institution. When they get there, they go inside only to find a bloodbath as many officers and doctors and nurses lay about the place, dead. Well, the detective goes into a room and watches security footage of what is going on and soon finds himself face to face with a strange hooded man who incapacitates the detective who then awakens to find himself in some sort of slaughter house type setting. He must flee a chainsaw wielding maniac and slides down a blood soaked slide finding himself in the sewer where the maniac again chases him and the detective soon finds himself getting out of the mental hospital only to find himself in a crumbling city! All this happens before the title is shown! You then have to help the detective through a warped world where things can change at a moment's notice and where at times you seem to be in the past or in a hospital where a strangely creepy but attractive nurse resides.

The game play is a bit like The Last of Us or the Uncharted series as you can do sneak kills are go in, guns blazing. You can also hide in lockers or under beds, but beyond the opening scene where you must escape the chainsaw guy, I really did not see much need to utilize this feature. Like a lot of games that auto save, sometimes it does it quite frequently while other times you have to go over a rather large area all over again. This does not happen too often, but it is annoying when it does. You can also save in the strange hospital area with the nurse and this is where you can upgrade your equipment and weapons and yourself using this green liquid that you sometimes find in jars and sometimes can collect from fallen enemies. The game does let you adapt to what you like doing most as by the end I was shooting the enemies in the leg and then setting them on fire as a match is almost better than a bullet in this one!

So it was a rather fun game, but like most horror movies and games, it just fails to be good enough to rank a 10. This one, I played through, win the game and still have too many questions left unanswered. I believe many of these questions can be answered if I purchase DLC packs, but I just do not think I should have to purchase anything else after buying the game! What was the deal with the creepy but cute nurse? What was the deal with the detective and his wife and daughter that you kept getting strange snippets of during the game? Just a couple of questions that the ending of the game just ignores and leaves you hanging. Still, it was a good game that annoyed me at times and startled me a couple of times too so it did its job for the most part.

Evil Within is in a way similar to Souls experience. Here too you will need to level up and take your time, to carefully explore everything, looking for items and ammo, and you need to be prepared for the boss fights. Just like in Silent Hill, you shouldn't waste your ammo on regular foes, and to enjoy it, you need to know how to play it the right way. Otherwise, you'll hate this game, finding it extremely hard, however, once you have figured out how to get the most out of it, it's so much fun, addictive and rewarding. The game masterfully combines the elements of Resident Evil, Silent Hill and my top favorite Dark Souls. It certainly is challenging but nowhere as hard as Dark Souls, and also has an appropriate auto-save system apart from the manual save. Evil Within provides a rich, long and brilliantly thought-out game play. It's absolutely top-notch. The level design/the atmosphere is amazing, the voice acting and maps are superb, and the plot is so fast paced you simply won't get tired playing. If you like games that require thinking and don't mind somewhat hard games, then get this masterpiece. Barely having beaten it, I bought all 3 DLCs since I had no doubt they will be terrific. A very nice addition to my 'Japan rocks' list and PS4 library. I just hope Evil Within 2 will be this great. Now it's one of my top anticipated games.