Evil Dead: The Game Review

Our Evil Dead The Game Review describes that it is one of the best surprises of 2022 with its surprisingly polished multiplayer gameplay and great graphics.

Of course, in the run-up to its release, most people compared it to other asymmetrical horror games such as: Dead by daylight and Friday the 13th. Comparisons are appropriate, but Saber Interactive managed to create a unique experience rather than a lackluster copy of the BeHaviour empire.

It’s a loving homage to the Sam Raimi films and Ash vs Evil Dead TV series and it far exceeded my expectations.

“Give Some Sugar Baby”

One of the most surprising aspects of Evil Dead The Game is its stunning graphics. Each of Ash’s character models looks incredible from an action hero perspective Army of Darkness to the knucklehead with a father body from the tv show.

All other survivors and demons look flawless too. Kelly Maxwell’s sassy, ​​hot chick persona is perfectly recreated, while Henrietta is delightfully hideous with her rotting fat rolls and grotesque nudity. As for the setting, the cabin and forest are suitably spooky and hellish, as are the hidden caves and cellars, adorned with blood, rusty chains, and symbols of witchcraft.

Each of the survivors comes with voices and lines befitting their character. Bruce Campbell is reprising his most iconic role as Ash Williams, but sadly there aren’t enough of his famous zingers. Instead of “hail the king, baby” and “hey sheb**ch, come and get something,” he mostly repeats the same joke about light and primitive spirits.

The Ghostbusters

Evil Dead The Game is similar to dead by daylight and Friday the 13th how four players take on the role of survivors while one plays the big villain. There are 13 survivors to choose from, each with different classes: support, leader, hunter, and warrior. Mastering a character in each class type is a good idea, but we especially recommend supporting so you can heal teammates when they’re in trouble and overwhelmed.

You must complete five objectives to win as a survivor. The first is to find three notes scattered around the map, then you need to collect the Kandarian Dagger and Necronomicon pages. This will lead you to defeat the Dark Ones and then protect the Book of Dead from swarms of dead until time runs out.

Whether you win or not depends on your fellow Ghost Beaters. Teamwork is key, and you’re doomed from the start if your comrades are fools chasing the fight and victory alone. It’s imperative that you all stick together as the battles become more and more challenging and the survivors become fearful of their own accord, thus becoming vulnerable to possession.

“Every character model of Ash looks incredible, from the action hero in Army of Darkness to the father-bodied dimwit from the TV series.”

Playing as a survivor is an exciting experience. There are gory death animations for melee combat with spears, axes, knives, hammers, and bats, and each of the weapons available feels different. The only problem with the weapons and crossbows is that they take forever to reload and are a bit difficult to aim. Because of this, you’ll find that most of the time you’ll knock enemies away with a club instead of blowing them into the Middle Kingdom with the Boomstick.

A big problem with playing as a survivor is that the game opts for the same field of view as other third-person titles God of War. You’re always piggybacking your hero while looking over their shoulder, making it impossible to see dead bodies as they strike from the left, right, or behind. A minor issue is that dodging rarely works and a jump button would have been desirable. Ash and buddies can jump fences, but the ability to jump anywhere would help when stuck between rocks or running over land that’s not entirely flat.

However, instead of always running across acres of land like a community of headless chickens, you can instead drive vehicles like the iconic Delta. Trouble is, cars are ridiculously weak, as a scratch or two from dead leads to a complete collapse. Vehicles are also very slow, so shortcuts are always recommended, even if they’re bumpy rides.

“Teamwork is key and you’re quite lost when your comrades are fools chasing victory alone.”

The game also comes with a leveling system. You can permanently level up your favorite characters to increase aspects like their resistance to fear, but there are also temporary upgrades throughout the games. These temporary upgrades come from finding loot crates full of pink lemonade. It is recommended to temporarily boost your fear and health, along with stamina. There are also melee and ranged options, but damage from weapons or bats mostly depends on your weapon’s stats.

“I will swallow your soul”

While four people play as Goodie Two Shoes, one takes on the role of the Kandarian Demon. They haunt the map at frighteningly high speeds, collecting orbs to level up and perform actions in hopes of eventually killing the heroes.

It’s harder to master the role of Kandarian Demon, but it’s still a lot of fun. You can set traps such as B. trees that come alive and hands that jump out of chests, and you can also own cars as well as survivors if their fear is too high.

Finally, depending on the demon type you choose, you can also play as a boss. Two of these bosses are Henrietta from Evil Dead 2 and Evil Ash from Army of Darkness. Evil Ash is great for hitting survivors with his gigantic sword while Henrietta spits out dirt and uses her limp melons.

“instead of always running like headless chickens, you can drive vehicles like the iconic delta”

The balance between Survivors and Kandarian Demon is perfect as it’s not too easy to win in either group. This means the games always feel fair, whether you end up a miserable loser or an unashamed winner.

“We’ll get you”

During Evil Dead The Game is primarily a multiplayer experience, there is single player content to enjoy. You can play the core multiplayer component with bots, but only as a survivor. It’s nowhere near as groovy as playing with friends and strangers, but for practice or when you’re struggling to find a match, it’s fine.

Although there is no campaign or story mode full of cutscenes, there are five single player missions available to complete. These turn off characters like Pablo and Amanda Ash vs Evil Dead. None of the missions are very long and the first one is quite fun as it straps Linda’s head to your waist while she creepily sings “We’re gonna get you”.

Unfortunately, while there are entertaining setbacks, the missions are also quite annoying. There are no checkpoints, so you have to start over every time you die. The third mission is particularly taxing as there is an awfully short timer and the puppeteer demon type is ridiculously OP. Even if you don’t particularly care about unlocking Amanda Fisher, the problem is that you can’t choose your missions. So if you want to unlock Pablo and Lord Arthur, you need to do everything else first.

“Shopping smart, shopping S-Mart”

There are no microtransactions Evil Dead The Game, but there is a Season Pass that includes four mysterious DLC packs. The developers have also announced that a free map update is on the way and will complement this from Castle Kandar Army of Darkness.

It’s a shame Castle Kandar isn’t included at launch as there’s a real lack of variety in the maps. Still, it’s good news that the developers are planning free and high-quality post-launch content. Hopefully the future will bring us even more maps, as well as new heroes and enemies like the villainous Ruby Ash vs Evil Dead and maybe even Mia from the evil Dead reboot.

“Evil Ash is great for smashing survivors with his giant sword while Henrietta spits out dirt and uses her limp melons.”

While the developers have plans for the future, it is of great concern that the game is online only. You cannot play anything unless you are connected to the internet, and that includes matches against bots as well as single player missions. It’s confusing that you can’t even get past the splash screen without an internet connection as there is content that should be playable offline. This worries me somewhat about its future preservation.