Tomorrow a game is released that iv'e been waiting intently on for a few years now, the sequel to Shinji Mikami's amazing The Evil Within, a gem in the survival horror genre that was needed to breathe new life into a very stale jump scare laden genre that was becoming nothing more than a youtube reactions device.

I can't even begin to claim i'm objective with this game it has every thing that i love and more so the perfect blend of horror, action, game play and story line, so make sure you burn every corpse on the ground and scrounge around for ammo as we take a trip back into the world of STEM in The Evil Within.

Setting and Plot.

The Evil Within comes from horror legend Shinji Mikami most noted for his work on the original Resident Evil and is set in a place called Krimson City, somewhere in the Americas, it's important to note that the game revolves heavily around the story so there may be some minor spoilers as we continue.

You take control of Sebastian Castellanos, a vetern detective whose life has been beset by problem after problem, you are flanked by your partner Jospeh Eda and rookie Juli Kidman, as you start the game you're being called out to Beacon Mental Hospital where reports of a mass murder and loss of communication have sent investigators and half of the police force there, you're not even given a few minutes before the games roots show as you enter the lobby, soaked in blood and littered with corpses, in a back room you find an injured doctor who is incoherent, deciding to check out the video cameras you arrive at them just in time to see a white hooded figure supernaturally kill 3 police officers and stares directly at you and disappears, before you're given a chance to react the figure is behind you and stabs a needle into your eye.

This begins the game, you awake in a basement somewhere, suspended upside down surrounded by mutilated corpses and a butcher that is preforming a crude autopsy on a corpse nearby, this should give you the general sense of the game so far and what it will become, now you find yourself in a strange nightmare world inhabited by violent monsters and where things can change very very quickly seemingly always for the worst, the world of The Evil Within is desolate and violent, confusing and hostile to anyone who is inside it.

Story Line and Direction

The Evil Within is a Linear game and as such has an overarching story line throughout it's entire game, the story itself revolves almost entirely around Sebastian making his way through the world meeting survivors along the way but even they may try and kill him eventually, the game focuses mainly on tracking the white hooded figure and finding out how you came to exist within this nightmare realm but someone or something keeps pushing you as far away from the truth as they can and standing in your way are hordes of mutated and grotesque monsters intent on killing you.

For anyone who isn't accustomed to Japanese horror, this is a crash course in it, Japanese horror revolves around not giving you a rest and making you fear just as much what's on the screen as what's not on the screen while there isn't many jump scares there's still enough there to make you recoil from your screen as Japanese horror and Shinji Mikami work on the basis of lulling you into a false sense of security, that part you think is a jump scare? it's not, the part that isn't a jump scare? it is, and then it's completely reversed til the point you're paranoid about doing anything and that's what really makes the Evil Within a great game while you're progressing through the story line you have no idea what comes next, even jaded veteran horror junkies can't figure out the plot until it's explained to you.

And as such it's very gripping as you can't really foresee the events that will come in implores you to keep progressing through the story to find out what exactly is happening and even when it's explained it often leads to more questions that push you even further to get to the end all the while trying hopelessly to become use to a world that can change at random at any time it really is a great experience if you just immerse yourself in it rather than trying to rationalize what's happening as you literally can't and helps to put you into the mind of Sebastian as he tries to figure out what's happening in real time as you are.

Graphics and Sets.

The Evil Within won't win any awards for best looking game however this is a design choice to drag you into the game, it's pale and dreary until your screen is covered in blood and gore and as such it helps to offset a familiar feeling and keep you wondering, even things like parks and buildings have this drab grayish tone to it so that everything stands out better and it's right in your face, however the game does a great job of someone alerting you to dangerous and enemies while also keeping them somehow concealed, so that when you are attacked it's easy to identify what's happening but you can literally walk right into an enemy without realizing it.

The set pieces of Krimson City and the "Hell world" are done amazingly, even familiar settings feel mysterious and dangerous as you make your way through cavernous waterways or scale down destroyed buildings to the ruined streets below the game looks tailor made to Sebastian as if someone or something is forcing him down these paths(because they are) but these things can change extremely quickly, sometimes you may be walking down a hallway of a skyscraper, turn a corner and find yourself in a rundown village on the ground, it may be disorientating to some people but as i said, if you immerse yourself in the game you can find this enjoyable as it adds a surprising level of detail to the worlds and levels you are a part of.

The game however isn't beset by "set piece mania" instead focusing on minimalism, as the places you go to are often destroyed or decaying or in the process of being destroyed, don't expect to see massive sprawling areas as far as the eye can see remember, this is a close knit horror game and even small levels can be a challenge to get through some times and as you may have to run and hide it limits your choices of attack, defense and retreat and adds to the game play as a whole instead of just sprinting to the back of a level and hiding in a bush.

Game Play

If you have played survival horror games before like resident evil you know the drill here, you'll start with nothing and work your way into gear to survive, The Evil Within however take's it a step further punishing you for being scared and wasting ammo, as some enemy set pieces will see you flooded with enemies it's a good idea to preserve your items until you have no other choice but to use them, remember, it's a SURVIVAL horror game, if you're just blasting your way through hordes monsters you aren't really surviving, more so you're hunting and being a bad ass, but the game comes with numerous ways to play and weapons, lets break them down.

• Gun Play
  
  Guns are the main weapon in The Evil Within once you've been discovered by enemies, these weapons are powerful and can be upgraded and come in all shapes and sizes, but there's a catch, ammo is scarce especially on higher difficulty levels, sure it may be easy to break through the front lines and kill every monster in sight with a shotgun but who knows when you're going to be trapped and need those bullets?

There is however an alternative, as you can't craft ammo for guns in The Evil Within, you're given the agony crossbow, a crossbow that comes with a myriad of different ammo that can be crafted on the fly with salvage you find find traps and the like this is usually what you want to use as they can take a while to reload and require dead on accuracy to be effective most of the time, i'm a giant douche so i run through the game with a shotgun and then panic create bolts to use, but the great thing about the crossbow is that it's silent and you aren't going to alert enemies with loud gunshots.

Overall the gun play in the game is pretty satisfying and enjoyable as you aren't running through buildings with Machine guns the feeling of an accurate headshot is very rewarding.

• Upgrading
  
  Sebastian requires constant upgrade to continue to be effective, or not depends on how you're playing, either way you will acquire green gel throughout the game that can be used to upgrade everything from his health, weapons, carrying capacity and many more it's very unlikely you'll have enough green gel in a play through to max out everything so you'll have to pick, not the best with weapons? it might be helpful to invest into more health, sprint and melee damage on the flipside however you may choose to focus on weapons and ignore your motor skills in favor of higher damage and more ammo, either way you'll be sacrificing something for an upgrade.

This is pretty much the scope of the upgrading game but it works very effectively even into late game with numerous items and mechanics around to churn out more green gel to keep you going.

Critical Review

To some they may not enjoy the direction or style of this game and it's understandable, this game works as a realistic survival game as opposed to pure survival or horror action and as such some people may get a little bored or upset with the game as it's not what they're looking for, however it is a great offering in the survival horror game as personally i feel it blends together the perfect amount of survival, horror, action and story to give you a complete offering as well as some puzzles and collectibles thrown in there, overall it's a great start to a franchise that i personally felt was becoming incredibly stale with jump scare galore or games that trick you into thinking you have a chance if you have a weapon but instead just act as a playable movie.

The Evil Within is a personal favorite of mine so i'm very biased however i still think people not fans of the survival genre can find something they enjoy in the game and may be pleasantly surprised as the story line progresses, it's also one of the few games where i happily paid for DLC as the DLC is actually worth your money to expand on the world you are in, either way don't just take my word for it, grab the game and test it out and hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Thanks for taking the time to read my review of The Evil Within, feel free to up-vote or resteem, have a comment or question? leave it below and i'll get back to you as soon as possible, thanks a lot!