A clear love letter to Resident Evil, it should be no surprise that Evil Within comes from the mind of Shinji Mikami, who directed multiple RE entries such as RE1 and RE4. Being the first entry in the series, Evil Within is best described as a relatively difficult, surreal action-horror with an underlying theme of eldritch torment, sorta like Inception on Adderall if it were directed by David Cronenberg. Like many RE games, ammo-hoarding is encouraged, boss fights are intense and regular, and things are not as they seem.
Unlike Resident Evil, The Evil Within implements a unique “cinematic” mode by default which adds black bars and a film grain to the screen, likely to invoke the nostalgic feeling of watching an old-horror flick on Pa’s CRT TV where the formatting doesn’t always match the screen. Luckily they eventually made the mode toggleable for people who preferred a more traditional presentation. I didn’t really mind it and kept it on throughout the whole game for the sake of experiencing it as it’s meant to be played, but I can understand why others would turn it off. I enjoyed it enough for the novelty of it, plus it added to the suffocating theme of darkness in the game.
The story is mostly straightforward after the initial cacophony of confusion, with narrative elements drip-fed between bookended action and travel sequences. My favorite of which being the mansion flashback mission, which felt the most reminiscent of old-school exploration games while also providing some of the most important information of the story. The story’s a bit disjointed at times, yet even that kinda plays into the narrative framing so I won’t harp on it too much. When all is said and done by the end you get the gist of the overall conflict and timeline, but I feel like there’s a lot more tertiary questions raised than answered by the end of it, even after the Kidman DLC. Hopefully not too many of them go unaddressed in the sequel.
Not to be overlooked, the gameplay submits its own share of challenges to make it noteworthy too. After playing the game in full it becomes clear that Mikami employed a more unorthodox approach to preparing the player. A slight swivel when aiming, high enemy health pools, confined spaces, limited ammo, and a trial-and-error approach needed to defeat certain enemy encounters offers a higher level of challenge yet a more rewarding triumph. The player is far from powerless, but you’re no Rambo in this world. Though not without frustration (there’s so many traps and one hit-kills), I ultimately appreciate the balance the game struck between intuitive progression and taxing gauntlets.
Evil Within isn’t necessarily scary in the normal sense, however its enemy designs perfectly encapsulate the aesthetic of nightmarish horror. The barbed-wire wrapped and glass shard embedded mountains of fleshy monsters are some of the best designs I’ve seen to date. Altogether Evil Within is certainly worth its admission, but don’t expect an easy ride through its tunnel of terrors.
Unlike Resident Evil, The Evil Within implements a unique “cinematic” mode by default which adds black bars and a film grain to the screen, likely to invoke the nostalgic feeling of watching an old-horror flick on Pa’s CRT TV where the formatting doesn’t always match the screen. Luckily they eventually made the mode toggleable for people who preferred a more traditional presentation. I didn’t really mind it and kept it on throughout the whole game for the sake of experiencing it as it’s meant to be played, but I can understand why others would turn it off. I enjoyed it enough for the novelty of it, plus it added to the suffocating theme of darkness in the game.
The story is mostly straightforward after the initial cacophony of confusion, with narrative elements drip-fed between bookended action and travel sequences. My favorite of which being the mansion flashback mission, which felt the most reminiscent of old-school exploration games while also providing some of the most important information of the story. The story’s a bit disjointed at times, yet even that kinda plays into the narrative framing so I won’t harp on it too much. When all is said and done by the end you get the gist of the overall conflict and timeline, but I feel like there’s a lot more tertiary questions raised than answered by the end of it, even after the Kidman DLC. Hopefully not too many of them go unaddressed in the sequel.
Not to be overlooked, the gameplay submits its own share of challenges to make it noteworthy too. After playing the game in full it becomes clear that Mikami employed a more unorthodox approach to preparing the player. A slight swivel when aiming, high enemy health pools, confined spaces, limited ammo, and a trial-and-error approach needed to defeat certain enemy encounters offers a higher level of challenge yet a more rewarding triumph. The player is far from powerless, but you’re no Rambo in this world. Though not without frustration (there’s so many traps and one hit-kills), I ultimately appreciate the balance the game struck between intuitive progression and taxing gauntlets.
Evil Within isn’t necessarily scary in the normal sense, however its enemy designs perfectly encapsulate the aesthetic of nightmarish horror. The barbed-wire wrapped and glass shard embedded mountains of fleshy monsters are some of the best designs I’ve seen to date. Altogether Evil Within is certainly worth its admission, but don’t expect an easy ride through its tunnel of terrors.