If you ask me what the greatest horror movie ever made is, I’d give you a two-pronged answer. Why? There are two titles that take that spot and neither can be dislodged because, as far as I’m concerned, they both deserve it. The first would be John Carpenter’s The Thing. If you’ve seen it, you’ll understand why. And that goes beyond the practical effects that supersede most of what we’re seeing today. And the other? Why Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II of course! So whenever just about anything new Evil Dead related is announced, you can bet I’m gonna be there like Yogi Bear.
So when a new Evil Dead game was announced, my ears picked up immediately. Especially since a new movie specifically written and directed by Raimi doesn’t look like it will ever happen. Was an asymmetrical survival multiplayer game the direction I was expecting? Certainly not. But that is what Saber Interactive have brought to the table. So just how groovy is it?
Klaatu, Barada, What Now?!
Yup, you heard that right. Instead of focusing on an SP game, as many truly want, Saber Interactive have decided to join the likes of Dead By Daylight and Friday The 13Th with this take on the legendary horror franchise. In the off chance that you haven’t touched on the asymmetrical genre before, the base game design is centred around a group of survivors trying not to get disembowelled by some evil force. Usually, the games place five players together on a map, four of whom play the survivors trying to make it out alive with the last player taking on the role of the nigh-unstoppable evil force aiming to make trophies of them.
The survivors are tasked with completing a set of objectives in a certain amount of time while evil hunts them down. By default, this form of playstyle requires a certain level of cooperation between players if they want to win the match while the player taking on the role of antagonist, gets to make their lives a misery by stopping them at every turn. Generally, survivors have no offensive capabilities in these games.
Dead by Dawn!
In Evil Dead, the aim of the game is to stop the dreaded Dark Ones from bringing about the apocalypse. The survivors have to find pieces of a map which will lead them to reclaim the Kandarian Dagger and the pages of the Necronomicon. Once they’ve done that, they have to use the Dagger to stop the Dark Ones and finally protect the Necronomicon from a Deadite assault. On the opposite end of the spectrum is whoever chooses to play the role of antagonist with the goal of stopping the survivors at all costs.
Mechanically, it’s rather very simple. The objectives are simple and remain the same throughout each match with the item placement randomised. But it’s that simplicity which is both key to the game’s enjoyment and also what makes it more complex than it has any right to be.
By focusing on this gameplay loop, Saber Interactive have managed to do something rather incredible: they’ve managed to capture the spirit of the films in both the gameplay and atmosphere.
This. . . is my BOOMSTICK!
Thankfully, like our movie protagonists, the survivors are far from helpless. To aid them on their quest is a simple combat system made up of melee attacks and third-person shooting. Scattered across the maps are plenty of weapons, from axes to swords to the iconic chainsaw, from handguns to rifles to Ash’s sawed-off double-barrel shotgun. Evil, it seems, has its work cut out for it. Combat is satisfyingly brutal, if somewhat slow and, occasionally, a little janky. The Deadites sport a destruction system so very often you’ll find yourself staring at dangling innards or blown off faces. It’s all rather gruesome but ever so satisfying. Damage a Deadite enough and you can perform a signature Finishing move which is essential to buying yourself some breathing room.
Attacks can come from all sides and the enemies, unless there are too many of them spawning in at once, don’t wait on the sidelines. It’s not uncommon to get surrounded and hit by a handful of the possessed at the same time. Your offensive options aren’t just limited to weapons though. Protective amulets throw up much-needed shields while Shemp’s Soda heals you. Finally, each Survivor has a special ability that can help to change the tide of battle. Whether it’s Evil Dead II’s Ash’s ability to exorcise possessed teammates or Cheryl’s ability to drop a healing aura, you’re far from helpless.
Of course, Team Evil isn’t without its tricks. You play as the Kandarian Demon in a fast-moving first-person mode, which lets you rip around the map reminiscent of those wonderfully stylish shots from the movies where you’re seeing through the demon’s eyes. The bad guy can place spawn points for enemies and traps, set up traps in the world and in chests, possess Evil Trees, possess their own units, summon boss characters such as Evil Ash which they can also possess, possess other survivors and possess cars. It’s a pretty extensive repertoire of moves that, if played correctly, can wreck the survivor team. All of this requires infernal energy to power yourself, which is scattered across the game maps.
Shop Smart. Shop S-Mart.
Survivors and demons alike come with their own skill trees. As you play, your profile will level up and earn you Spirit Points, which you can spend to level up each character and grant them Skill Points to plonk down in the skill tree. You can upgrade how resistant you are to fear, how much further you can shoot and how much damage you can take, to name a few. The Demon side of the equation gets its own skill trees as well, allowing you to buff your summoned units, etc.
During a match, there is an extra set of skills that you can buff by collecting Pink F which is dropped from chests. These are temporary buffs per match but do make a world of difference, whether you’re reducing the amount of damage you can take or reducing the amount of Infernal Energy you need for a summon.
The game sports a variety of modes to make sure there’s something for everyone. There’s a Tutorial mission, a collection screen where you can view and upgrade your characters, single-player missions and the meat of the game, Survivor Vs. Demon, which has five modes to choose from. You can play the default of 5 players, choosing to be a Survivor or Demon, Play as a team against AI-controlled Demons or Solo with an AI squad against an AI Demon and, finally, Private Matches between friends.
We Just Cut Up Our Girlfriend With A Chainsaw. Does That Sound “Fine”?
Mission mode is aimed at those who wanted more than just PVP in their Evil Dead. There are five missions, with a sixth coming later and each one places you in modified scenarios from the movies and TV shows. Beyond the desire to soak up the ambience of the game without constant Deadite spawns, these missions have unlockable characters and extras behind them. They’re also quite tough. As near as I can tell character upgrades carry across modes so it’s worth investing some levelling time into the mission characters in PVP before trying out the single-player side of things. As this was the first mode I jumped into, I struggled quite a bit trying to complete Evil Dead II’s Ash scenario until I levelled him in PVP and tried again, where it became much easier to complete.
The missions may be simple, having to rely on the PVP mechanics the game was built around, but they’re a good indication of what a proper single-player game could be like. Beyond coming back to hang around Professor Knowby’s cabin, you may not return to these once you’re done with them.
Who’s Laughing Now?
Visually Evil Dead: The Game looks great. Character models are well done and the environment is striking. The development team have done a fantastic job of capturing the ambience of the movies and creating a sense of dread the further a match progresses. The map design has expanded on the movie and television show locations with some changes that are really for the best.
Sound design is also top-notch, from the ambient growls that let you know when Deadites or the Demon are in an area, to the satisfying sound of a boomstick turning a Deadite into chunky kibble. The music is also fantastic. And of course, having Bruce Campbell voicing Ash, along with some series characters returning for their roles, is pretty fantastic. The Man With The Chin may not be suiting up as Ash onscreen anymore, but at least there’s voice work to make sure we always get the Ash that we deserve.
The game isn’t without its problems though. I find the third-person camera far too close to the character, making the numerous off-screen hits feel cheap while also obscuring pieces of the environment that you can get caught on. And right now the balancing does feel a little off, geared more towards the side of evil. It’s not uncommon to hit the endgame stretch of a match and have a good player – and even the AI – decimate your team with a series of consistent Deadite and boss spawns. And cars, well let’s just say they’re a constant source of hilarious entertainment when someone tries to go off-road with them.
Evil Dead: The Game may not have been what I envisioned when wanting more content in this franchise, but it’s one I am honestly glad we have. I’ve sunk a good amount of hours into the PVP side of things, far more than I thought I would, and I plan to sink in quite a few more. It remains to be seen if Evil Dead: The Game can go the distance, but right now, it’s a glorious, hilarious, gory and super-addictive fun-fest that I highly recommend.
Developer: Saber Interactive
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
Publishers: Saber Interactive, Boss Team Games
Reviewed on PS4
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