We tried Evil Dead: The Gamethe new title survival horror by Saber Interactive inspired by the king of horror of the 80s, Evil Dead by Sam Raimiand we’re ready to tell you what we think with this one review. The title, primarily conceived as multiplayer video gamealso features a small single player campaign. Are you curious to know more?
Our test took place on PlayStation 4.
Evil Dead: The Game review – homage to Sam Raimi
Let’s start by saying that Evil Dead: The Game it doesn’t have a plot – as you can imagine. The title is similar to video games of the likes of Dead By Daylight and Friday the 13th. Here, four players they take on the role of survivors while a fifth player plays the big bad.
There are at our disposal 13 survivors to choose from and each of them has one class e skills different: Support, Leader, Soccer player e Warrior. Our advice is to try them all until you get to master a character for each type of classso as to make your gaming experience more complete ed immersive.
To win as a survivor you need to complete five goals. The first is to find the three parts that make up the map, then we have to collect the Kandarian dagger and finally the pages of the Necronomicon. Later, after finding these objects, we have to defeat the dark Ones e protect the book of the dead from swarms of creatures until time runs out.
Victory or not depends not only on you but also – and mostly – from your comrades. It is a video game multiplayer e cooperativeso keep that in mind teamwork is essential to complete the mission.
Do not think about yourself and collaborate with your teammates: only in this way will you be able to win. It is also necessary stay united because, as you progress forward, the fights will always become more challenging. Also, if survivors are alone for too long they get scared, becoming so easy prey to own.
The title comes with a leveling system which allows us to rise temporarily in-game level, that is only during that specific game. Once you have finished and started a new one, you will have to again increase your character’s skills.
You will be able to temporarily upgrade your character through pink soda bottles; thanks to them you can increase the resistance to fearthe physical endurance but also the salute and the way you fight.
One of the aspects that struck us most is the map: is extremely vast and we have the opportunity to explore it far and wide. However, this positive aspect is also rather negative because, simply, we don’t have time to do it. The game matches of Evil Dead: The Game are in time; this means that we must hurry to complete our objectives or the Demon who wanders through the dark woods will become Too strong.
The fights
One of the main problems of the game is the combatwhich turns out to be a lot approximate and often trivial – despite the wonderful animations and thesplatter element always and in any case present.
At first you will seem to find a lot of ammunition but it is all appearance; most of the fights will in fact body to bodyin which we have to clash with enemies who though they appear a little out of nowhere. We often hear them utter unsavory verses but we struggle to find them; when we then notice them, they are already dead on the ground.
Another big problem is be able to recognize them. We explain better: both in the multiplayer and in the single player mode (which we will talk about later), the characters do everything possible to stay close. But it is often difficult distinguish your mate from the enemy ready to tear you apart. Then pay attention to the friendly fireit could make it even more complicated.
Last but not least: there are no checkpoints. This means that we always have to start over from the beginning every time we die. Rather unnerving and annoying in the long run.
Evil Dead: The Game review – as the Kandarian Demon
You can take on the role of the survivors but also take on the role of the Demone Kandariano and chase your friends until you take them out. Our goal, as the demon, is to wander around the map at full speed e collect spheres that will allow us to to level up and perform certain actions in hopes of killing the heroes. For example you can set traps like trees that come to life and hands that jump out of crates; moreover you can possess the survivors as soon as their level of fear will exceed a certain limit.
We admit, master the role of the Demon it’s not very simple at first but after a couple of games – four at the most – you will become an expert. And maybe the most exciting part of the whole game since we have available numerous interactions and then, let’s face it: being the bad guy is always more fun.
Furthermore, depending on the type of demon chosen, you will have the opportunity to take on the role of a boss: you will have at your disposal Henrietta the Evil Dead 2 e Evil Ash from Army of Darkness. We also enjoyed it very much the balance between survivors and Demon. There is no category easier o more difficult than the other: both are very balanced and demanding.
However, we would like to reiterate that the gameplay of the Demon is by far funnier than that of the survivors.
“Disappointing” single player campaign
The painful notes arrive. Although Evil Dead: The Game mainly presents itself as esperienza multiplayerhowever, one is available campagna single-player. Here the player takes on the role of one of the main characters, as he would in the co-op campaign, but he will be flanked by the AI during his mission.
Don’t expect who knows what because this experience is not remotely comparable to a multiplayer or online game. The first big flaw is the lack of attention of bots, as you can imagine. During this campaign it is almost impossible to communicate with them and they will often find themselves from opposite side of the map compared to us.
Sure, you can use the single-player mode to “test the waters” and improve your skills before a real online match. However, in the long run, this campaign will become rather repetitive.
On the one hand, however it was also to be expected because the title was conceived as multiplayer.
Le five missions for single player to complete will allow you to unlock some charactersamong which Pablo e Amanda by Ash Vs Evil Dead. One aspect we liked about this single player campaign is the settings. Each mission, in fact, recreate specific moments of each movie and allows you to explore some of the most iconic places of the series.
It needs to be stressed though: no matter how much Evil Dead fan you are, this one it is not a video game designed for single players. We know, it hurts to hear that.
Attention to detail and tradition
What is immediately striking, however, is the meticulous attention to detail and to Evil Dead lore. The initial screen, characterized by artwork faithful to the entire franchisethey are able to move even the heart of the hardest.
But it is within the game that the show really begins: the cellar door chained present in the original hut; the use of mini-Ashes as traps in the boxes of objects; L’appearance of the characters and gods enemies; le weapons and the much loved chainsaw in Ash.
In short, Evil Dead: The Game is one wonder e will make you proudat least from an aesthetic and graphic point of view, all the biggest fans of Raimi and the franchise.
The dubbing was also entrusted to Bruce Campbell that never ceases to amaze us with some awkward joke e dirty “Ash-style”. We can consider it one of the more loyal products to a certain movie franchise.
Evil Dead: The Game review – the final verdict
Evil Dead: The Game is the title that every fan of the franchise e you Sam Raimi has always dreamed of seeing – more or less. If the graphic side is surprising why true to the franchise e full of surprising detailsthe gameplay side disappoints a bit.
The multiplayer mode is Interesting e fun, a great way to spend the evening with your friends with a chainsaw and shotgun; after a while it becomes repetitive. The most interesting aspect is the possibility of take on the role of the Demonthe only role that allows us to move the waters e have some serious fun thanks to the various interactions available – many more than the survivors.
Additionally Saber Interactive could have offered one secret surprise with single player campaign, given the excellent conditions, but this was not the case. We know that the title was conceived as a co-op experience but we would have liked to see something more in the single player campaign. Maybe even an experience slightly different from the online one, to vary.
All in all though Evil Dead: The Game does its job: entertain the player and his friends. There are some flaws, like every game, but if you are looking for one innovative game and with sense of humorif you want killing supernatural entities to the sound of a chainsaw with your friends, …