In general, the Survival horror genre has been fading away for the past few years thanks to the numerous titles of action/Rpg, Adventure, First person shooters and so on. I remembered back in the late 90's early 2,000's when big names like Silent Hill and Resident evil racked the nerves of young gamer's and was a nightmare for my Mom and Dad's wallet. Thanks to a well renowned game designer ,Shinji Mikami, "Fear" was the greatest motivator. But not by modern day obstacles or unforeseen consequences called "Life", but fear of losing your life, fear of losing your chance not getting to know what happens next, fear of not letting that god forsaken monster/entity programmed to murder you, fear of the unknown, fear of not having the resources to carry on. Now that was survival horror back in the day for video-games and Shinji is back with his latest chapter of the horror genre. Will he have what it takes to rack our nerves one last time? Or shall this title stay amongst the dead? Well, lets dissect the innards of this game and take out/analyse the story, graphics and overall game-play to see what makes this project come alive!
"Oh, hell no!"
Before we get into the nitty gritty, we need to share some of the history of Shinji Mikami, who played a huge role in the days of Horror/Survival genre. He was involved since the beginning and peak of the Resident Evil series plus other projects like Dino Crisis and Outbreak. He's been doing other action packed games like Vanquish/Killer 7 and has been away from the "horror" Franchises since 2005 (Except for Shadows of the Dammed which he co-produced and does not count). He is definitely well known for the production and design of Resident Evil 4 which is known to be the "best" and "Height" of the RE series. His comeback resonates an echo throughout his previous work onto this current project and it shows.
"Evil Within" 2014
"Resident Evil 4" 2005
The story revolves around "Sebastian Castellanos" who is a veteran police detective accompanied by his two partners, Julie Kidman and Joseph Oda, who are at the scene of a mass murder taken place at the Beacon Asylum. Just minutes within the game a powerful, unmovable force strikes them hard and out of nowhere. They are hurled into a "nightmare" like rabbit hole and the answers seem to be spiraling downward into the unknown. The story does grab you from the beginning and it just forces you to move on because you really want to know what's happening in those "WTF!?" moments, and let me tell you, there are quite a few of those. Even though the story towards the end of the game kinda crumbles a bit, just the true horror in the beautifully crafted environments/enemies and traps truly take the cake.Its funny to also notice that the protagonist loves to state the obvious. Even when you are on chapter five and six when you slay various monsters and chainsaw maniacs, he states "there is something wrong with this place". No shit Sherlock. No wonder you are a detective. Anyways, if the story does no scare you or is of no importance, the monsters and environments with the situations they put you through are more than enough.
"I dont know...something in this place does not feel right...hmmmm,
the dead bodies perhaps?"
Now I have to admit. The graphics where horrible because I made the mistake of playing the game while it was downloading without the day one patch!!!! (This is with the PS4 and XBOX-ONE) Make sure that you download the game completely and if not, it will look choppy like a PS3 game, no kidding. I was greatly disappointed but I did not know until the game magically updated and installed the patch further down my play-through. Once that's done the game looks beautiful.The lights and shading give it the perfect dreary outlook in certain tense situations. The gore also has texture and it looks thick once you blow the head of any baddie while it sticks to your clothes.There are some beautiful levels with daylight landscapes which gives the feel that terror has no boundaries. Night or day, no matter what, you are not safe around any corner.
"Forget a shotgun, I need a lawnmower!"
The game play is a "over the shoulder" third person survival horror. If you have played RE4 like I explained earlier then you are right at home. The aiming is precise and the item swapping is pretty tight once you set that up.You can also upgrade Sebastian's abilities and weapons once you collect this green jar liquid which are scattered throughout all the levels. You must know that this game does not include the macho suplexes or spinning round houses (Like Leon Kennedy in RE4) once an enemy grabs you, it has the "get out of my face" action like when you are trying to push away your grandma when she tries to smother you with wet kisses. Simply, horrifying!! You just frantically try to wiggle your way out of any situation with the minimum ammunition that you have. I got to admit, some areas were tough. Once you reach that certain difficulty the game will test you. Every obstacle you overcome feels like a mini victory. Although there are some traps/puzzles/areas that have no sense and no way of knowing what to choose or do. You just die instantly from time to time. In these cases its just sheer luck or the processes of elimination to claim your victory.
"Not this time, Grandma!!"
The Verdict.
I thoroughly enjoyed this game. It can take 20 to 24 hours to beat which is a great length. Now if you are looking for a game that is innovative or raises the bar in game-play, then you will be very disappointed. This game does not have slow-mo shooting, multi-player, exotic gear, loot caves, nemesis system and so on. But if you are looking to return to the survival horror's roots and you want remember how it feels like to get your head ripped off with a chainsaw, then this is your game. And there is no one other than Shinji Mikami, who can hold the wheel and take you on a ride that you will never forget!! If you have any questions or comments, please leave a message or follow us on Twitter: @Reb00t_R0b0t or on FB: https://www.facebook.com/updowngamereviews.
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