The Evil Within

The Evil Within seems like two different games. During the first 30 minutes, you will fall into the horror part of the game, but then Evil Within will transform into a stealth action (hunt zombies with Sam Fisher) game.

As the Japanese survival horror genre goes, The Evil Within feels a bit old fashion but in a good way. It certainly has the potential of becoming a cult classic. [Nov 2014]

A hardcore, unforgiving, old school survival horror blockbuster, heir to the same triumphs and pitfalls as all of its ilk. The story ultimately fails to make a lasting impression, but the frantic, two bullets and a prayer sense of always being half a step away from horrible death and dismemberment, greatly succeeds in making this a hugely satisfying romp through the darker side of the human psyche.

If you like the idea of Resident Evil 4 crossed half-and-half with Silent Hill then The Evil Within is the game for you. Just be prepared to put up with 30 FPS.

It is recommended without hesitation to everyone that is brave enough and eager for long hours of thrills.

A polished but predictable return from a master of survival horror like Mikami, The Evil Within succeeds in its cinematographic atmosphere and skilled craft, but lacks the sheer power of the true masterpieces of the genre.

Due to some poorly executed design decisions and an impossible camera, The Evil Within fails to recreate the magic of Mikami's earlier works. Still, it is a great survival-splatter game with intense moments and lots of unique ideas.

Borrowing heavily from past survival horror games, The Evil Within still manages to create fear in its players despite some clunkiness. [Dec 2014, p.58]

If you like old-school third-person action games with horror elements, I'd recommend picking up The Evil Within on a console, possibly at a price cut. It will definitely scratch the itch of someone who has been pining for a return to the older days of gaming, but everyone else who has come to expect that certain layer of polish likely won't be amused.

Instead of giving a new lease on life to the survival horror genre, Mikami, the creator of Resident Evil, produced a dud.

The Evil Within is an unoriginal but interesting concept that keeps the player on the edge of his or hers seat and makes the blood flow faster. It's a shame that outdated gameplay mechanics surfaces fairly quickly (and begins to frustrate shortly after). The game is quite easy to be memorized move by move, room by room - and that kills all the horror. The Evil Within is not bad at the survival part, it's quite good as a stealth game and mediocre as a shooter. It has an interesting story and dull characters - all of that can be fun, but I think expectations were much bigger.

To sum it up, The Evil Within is fantastic; or rather it would be if the PC version didn’t feel so sloppy.

Despite darkness being a horror game’s natural habitat, living so much in other game’s shadows limits The Evil Within from being the genre redefining classic it really should have been.

The controls are sluggish, the video options are limited, and the aspect ratio decision is utterly stupid. All of the above drags The Evil Within from enjoyably challenging to needlessly frustrating.

I’ve played a lot of decent horror games and out of all of the classics like Resident Evil, Silent Hill and the more recent ones like Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Outlast, I just cannot seem to find a place in my heart or in my brain for The Evil Within. It’s not worthy to tackle any of the aforesaid games. Not on any level.

It seems the developers were not entirely sure what they wanted to achieve and got caught between traditional and innovative approach, properly employing neither. [13/2014, p.56]