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| Overcoming the past. |
2014's The Evil Within was a great survival horror hit from Resident Evil mastermind, Shinji Mikami and his game studio, Tango Gameworks. As a huge fan of the original's disturbing story and Resident Evil 4-like gameplay, The Evil Within 2 announcement came as a surprise after ambiguous teases from publisher Bethesda at this year's rather underwhelming E3. This time around, Mikami steps down to executive producer and advisor, though that's not to say that The Evil Within 2 is bad in anyway. As a matter of fact, it's a significant improvement over its predecessor as it hosts a slew of new gameplay improvements and easily stands among one of the year's best horror titles as well.
STORY- Years after the conclusion of The Evil Within, protagonist Sebastian Castellanos has left the Krimson City Police Department in an effort to track down and locate Mobius, the ambiguous corporation responsible for the Beacon Mental Hospital incident of the first game. Drunk and down on his luck, he is eventually approached by Mobius who task him with venturing inside the nightmarish world of STEM again, this time saving his presumed to be dead daughter, Lily, and prevent a catastrophic incident. New and old faces are in store for Sebastian and this time around, most of the cast received additional background, including Sebastian himself. The overall narrative was satisfying as focuses on Sebastian's struggle to overcome his inner demons and guilt. It also does a good job of addressing much of the questions the predecessor left and even throws hints at another possible threat.
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Sebastian is against all odds in the
search for his daughter.
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GAMEPLAY- The core gameplay receives a major overhaul in The Evil Within 2. The controls remain mostly unchanged and Sebastian is still controlled from a third-person view. The Evil Within 2 ditches the linear structure of its predecessor for semi-open environments to explore. Sebastian can choose to either face enemies head on or quietly work in the shadows, though his melee attacks are purely defensive. Stealth is at times optimal due to the miniscule amount of ammo the game hands out. By throwing bottles nearby them, enemies van be distracted and often times will leave a window for a sneak attack. Green gels serve as a means to upgrade Sebastian attributes such as health, stamina, and combat skill. They're hard to come by as they can be gained from enemy corpses and at times in hidden areas. Menacing as they can be, the enemy AI is often times jarring as they often tend to ignore Sebastian's presence when in plain sight. Additionally, there were a few instances of button input delay when attempting to sneak attack enemies from behind that led to failure and being spotted.
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| Gameplay receives some much needed refinements. |
Throughout the journey, Sebastian will navigate the dense town of Union in search of resources such as ammunition and crafting resources. Speaking of crafting, Sebastian can craft items to make ammo and health syringes, which are essential for surviving some of the game's tough encounters. Additionally, using the weapon bench, weapons can upgraded to feature extra firepower, reload speed, and ammo size. Using a device called the "Communicator", Sebastian can locate side quests to follow and weapon caches to collect throughout Union which provide an added incentive for exploration.
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Bosses are tough, but not as memorable
this time around.
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PRESENTATION- The Evil Within 2 is superior in production values compared to its predecessor in everyway. Thanks to a new engine billed as the "STEM Engine", character models, backgrounds, and textures are looking sharper and more detailed in The Evil Within 2. Textures that constantly pop-in have been significantly been reduced and there's little load times when going to another part of town. Nevertheless, there were some frequent technical issues that plagued the game such as frame-rate drops and stuttering that hindered the experience a bit. The voice acting is solid, despite boasting a new cast of actors. However, it's even better this time around with many great performances that add personality and emotion to the cast. Moreover, the music is good with a soundtrack that captures the eerie atmosphere of Union and heart-felt nature of the narrative.
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Despite some flaws, The Evil Within 2 is still an
overall solid package.
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OVERALL- With a touching story, robust gameplay mechanics, and impressive production values, The Evil Within 2 is a step above its predecessor. Tango did a commendable job with the sequel. It was satisfying and fun throughout its 15 hour runtime and is easily among the year's best survival horror titles. Fans of the original game and newcomers looking for some solid horror should give The Evil Within 2 a look.
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