This summer has been a bit of a gaming slump for me. I've played various games through the past few months but I haven't had one truly pull me in. Then last week during Quakecon I decided to take advantage of the Steam Bethesda sale to grab a certain game I'd had a solid amount of interest in for a while...
I'd never played the original Evil Within, and honestly I've never really been a huge survival horror fan. Across the board the horror genre tends to terrify me way too much. But last year's E3 showcase by Bethesda revealed EW2 with one of my favorite trailers of the show:
The direction of the trailer, and the kind of enemies, environments, and themes it hinted at really intrigued me. So after putting that interest aside for a while I finally jumped into it last weekend.
And boy did I finally find a summer game to pull me in.
The thing that struck me first about the game was how intrigued I was by the story set up. Versus other stories in the horror genre the concept of this shadow organization that was overseeing what is effectively a Matrix-type of shared simulation feels nicely refreshing. That combines with your character's connection not only to the situation where it's popped up in the past (which thankfully the game provides enough hints on to give me enough to go on not having played the first game) but also having his daughter now trapped there too gives a really nice opening hook to the game.
I was completely in by the time I'd gone from being in a bathtub run by, effectively, the Illuminati, to falling into a rainy pitch darkness, to seeing this really well-executed opening title:
But one of the big highlights of starting the game up was realizing how much substance there was to dig into in this game mechanically-speaking. While I was willing to push through instances of horror I think the game would have been too much had it been a super linear horror showcase, but it really gives you a lot of interesting choice and exploration. Starting with the whole concept of you "Room" as a safe haven where you can save, upgrade and craft weapons, increase skills, look at little extras, and even read up on background info on different villains and allies. It's just the amount of breathing room I needed to allow me to put up with the more over-the-top scary segments.
And after a while I made the delightful discovery that this game is actually a nicely exploration-focused, verging on light-open-world, type of game! All the trepidation of the more scripted moments of horror, when I knew that whether I felt terrified was almost wholly in the hands of the designers, was fully replaced with a sort of enjoyable tension in the open world where I knew the degree to which I would be attacked or overwhelmed by monsters was fully up to my own approach to groups of enemies.
The game showcased itself as a really wonderful combination of survival, horror, and stealth/tactics. Using bottles to redirect enemies, lining up the perfect sneak attack or cover-based-kill is immensely satisfying.
And the world is packed with meaningful content to find! There's whole weapons you may never get if you aren't checking around Union (the simulated town in which most of the game is set). There's even a dedicated boss-type character (not necessarily a boss as you never directly fight her) who will straight up never be a factor in your game experience unless you seek out the optional areas that trigger her appearance! Not to mention an ally character who adds interesting context to the cast and plot who is never a required element of the story unless you find the situation in which to rescue him and actually succeed.
Needless to say, the open world-ish elements of the game were a very pleasant surprise, and let me space out the critical path's more grotesque and frightening sequences with exploration I could more reasonably take at my own pace.
The critical path yielded a lot of its own surprises though. While there were sections where I had to stop playing some nights or straight up play without sound to stop from being too scared of what was going on, the plot keep pulling me further in. The games cast, while in some instances more half baked than they might be, are compelling and interesting in the context of this simulated nightmare world. The idea of maniacs and sociopaths aiming to gain power in this distinctly more controllable world makes sense, and it lets the game showcase villains that, while not necessarily super deep or particularly subtle in their characterization, nonetheless are compellingly bold, unique, and serve as good foils to Sebastian.
The story is a bit meandering in the first half, but picks up to a really enjoyably fast pace in the second half, as villains rise and fall, new allies suddenly come into play, and twists about character loyalty and motivations are revealed. As much as I loved the more open elements of the game I actually got more and more compelled to just start moving down the critical path because of how excited I was to see what would happen.
Adding to this I found the boss cast to be quite nice. While there were some cases of really interesting and seemingly one-of-a-kind bosses later being reused as exploration-mini-bosses I think overall the different fights left a really positive impression, even if some were notably terrifying (look at you Obscura).
Honestly by the time I got to the last chapter of the game I was surprised I was as invested in the characters and story as I was. There were some cutscenes very very late in the game that succeeded in being fairly emotional, which is not something I expect from horror-genre stories. It's also worth noting that the game is complimented really well by a great soundtrack that hits a lot of the right emotional cues perfectly, like this one:
It's also worth noting that the finale to this game runs one of the smoothest two-part sequences I've ever seen in a game, transitioning really effectively between two parallel storylines that just keeps ratcheting up the intensity of the moment every time!
Anyway, all of this to say that The Evil Within 2 has gotta be the most I've ever enjoyed a survival horror game! I think the game is just an absolute blast from presentation to mechanics to plot and the cast. Couldn't be more happy I decided to take the plunge with this one.
A few stray observations:
- Sebastian Castellanos is a refreshingly unique protagonist name
- It's definitely a bit too easy to kill enemies with the "Sneak Kill" around corners when you unlock it, as I could use it even when enemies were running right for me
- Kinda weird we never learn (to my knowledge) why specifically Lily was the perfect child to be abducted and used as a Core.
- It's cool to see such a warm and personal moment in a horror game when Sebastian appears in his house and forgives himself for all his guilt about Lily
- That Ordinary World cover is ACES
I'd never played the original Evil Within, and honestly I've never really been a huge survival horror fan. Across the board the horror genre tends to terrify me way too much. But last year's E3 showcase by Bethesda revealed EW2 with one of my favorite trailers of the show:
The direction of the trailer, and the kind of enemies, environments, and themes it hinted at really intrigued me. So after putting that interest aside for a while I finally jumped into it last weekend.
And boy did I finally find a summer game to pull me in.
The thing that struck me first about the game was how intrigued I was by the story set up. Versus other stories in the horror genre the concept of this shadow organization that was overseeing what is effectively a Matrix-type of shared simulation feels nicely refreshing. That combines with your character's connection not only to the situation where it's popped up in the past (which thankfully the game provides enough hints on to give me enough to go on not having played the first game) but also having his daughter now trapped there too gives a really nice opening hook to the game.
I was completely in by the time I'd gone from being in a bathtub run by, effectively, the Illuminati, to falling into a rainy pitch darkness, to seeing this really well-executed opening title:
But one of the big highlights of starting the game up was realizing how much substance there was to dig into in this game mechanically-speaking. While I was willing to push through instances of horror I think the game would have been too much had it been a super linear horror showcase, but it really gives you a lot of interesting choice and exploration. Starting with the whole concept of you "Room" as a safe haven where you can save, upgrade and craft weapons, increase skills, look at little extras, and even read up on background info on different villains and allies. It's just the amount of breathing room I needed to allow me to put up with the more over-the-top scary segments.
And after a while I made the delightful discovery that this game is actually a nicely exploration-focused, verging on light-open-world, type of game! All the trepidation of the more scripted moments of horror, when I knew that whether I felt terrified was almost wholly in the hands of the designers, was fully replaced with a sort of enjoyable tension in the open world where I knew the degree to which I would be attacked or overwhelmed by monsters was fully up to my own approach to groups of enemies.
The game showcased itself as a really wonderful combination of survival, horror, and stealth/tactics. Using bottles to redirect enemies, lining up the perfect sneak attack or cover-based-kill is immensely satisfying.
And the world is packed with meaningful content to find! There's whole weapons you may never get if you aren't checking around Union (the simulated town in which most of the game is set). There's even a dedicated boss-type character (not necessarily a boss as you never directly fight her) who will straight up never be a factor in your game experience unless you seek out the optional areas that trigger her appearance! Not to mention an ally character who adds interesting context to the cast and plot who is never a required element of the story unless you find the situation in which to rescue him and actually succeed.
Needless to say, the open world-ish elements of the game were a very pleasant surprise, and let me space out the critical path's more grotesque and frightening sequences with exploration I could more reasonably take at my own pace.
The critical path yielded a lot of its own surprises though. While there were sections where I had to stop playing some nights or straight up play without sound to stop from being too scared of what was going on, the plot keep pulling me further in. The games cast, while in some instances more half baked than they might be, are compelling and interesting in the context of this simulated nightmare world. The idea of maniacs and sociopaths aiming to gain power in this distinctly more controllable world makes sense, and it lets the game showcase villains that, while not necessarily super deep or particularly subtle in their characterization, nonetheless are compellingly bold, unique, and serve as good foils to Sebastian.
The story is a bit meandering in the first half, but picks up to a really enjoyably fast pace in the second half, as villains rise and fall, new allies suddenly come into play, and twists about character loyalty and motivations are revealed. As much as I loved the more open elements of the game I actually got more and more compelled to just start moving down the critical path because of how excited I was to see what would happen.
Adding to this I found the boss cast to be quite nice. While there were some cases of really interesting and seemingly one-of-a-kind bosses later being reused as exploration-mini-bosses I think overall the different fights left a really positive impression, even if some were notably terrifying (look at you Obscura).
Honestly by the time I got to the last chapter of the game I was surprised I was as invested in the characters and story as I was. There were some cutscenes very very late in the game that succeeded in being fairly emotional, which is not something I expect from horror-genre stories. It's also worth noting that the game is complimented really well by a great soundtrack that hits a lot of the right emotional cues perfectly, like this one:
It's also worth noting that the finale to this game runs one of the smoothest two-part sequences I've ever seen in a game, transitioning really effectively between two parallel storylines that just keeps ratcheting up the intensity of the moment every time!
Anyway, all of this to say that The Evil Within 2 has gotta be the most I've ever enjoyed a survival horror game! I think the game is just an absolute blast from presentation to mechanics to plot and the cast. Couldn't be more happy I decided to take the plunge with this one.
A few stray observations:
- Sebastian Castellanos is a refreshingly unique protagonist name
- It's definitely a bit too easy to kill enemies with the "Sneak Kill" around corners when you unlock it, as I could use it even when enemies were running right for me
- Kinda weird we never learn (to my knowledge) why specifically Lily was the perfect child to be abducted and used as a Core.
- It's cool to see such a warm and personal moment in a horror game when Sebastian appears in his house and forgives himself for all his guilt about Lily
- That Ordinary World cover is ACES
