Evil Dead: Regeneration

The black humor, bad jokes and buckets of blood flying at a rapid fire pace in interactive form will keep fans of the series coming back for more while we’re waiting for Hollywood to get its act together.

One of this year's biggest and most pleasant surprises. [Oct 2005, p.64]

Evil Dead: Regeneration has a different feel from its predecessor and it’s a little on the short side, but Evil Dead fans should eat it up.

It's not fancy and it's not amazingly deep, but it does let you chop up an awful lot of zombies. It's entertaining for what it is.

Regeneration dumps the mass deadite attacks of "Fistful of Boomstick" in favor of a fairly balanced action-puzzle approach, nicly snapy control, and decent level designs. [Nov 2005, p.94]

A fun little game that should not be overlooked if one is looking for a cheap yet satisfying game.

Sure it has some rather noticeable flaws that detract from the experience, but it has a certain element of charm that kept me hooked until the end.

Humor saved the low-budget Evil Dead movies but it doesn't help the low budget presentation of the game.

What really counts here is the gameplay, and in that sense, Regeneration is a fitting tribute to the films. It's great, gory fun to hack limbs off your Deadite foes, and the targeting and combo system are up to the challenge...even if the camera angles suffer from time to time.

The lack of a quick-continue option is annoying, as is the aiming system, which uses a confusing combination of the R1 trigger and the right analog stick. [Nov 2005, p.108]

Best Evil Dead game out there, hands down, but there's still a lot of room for the series to grow. Hopefully it's in good hands with Cranky Pants and we can finally see a little more gameplay variety with the sequel.

A strong sense of black humour is prominent in the gameplay, the excellent story and the in-game banter, which keeps your interest in what would have otherwise been a run-of-the-mill third person adventure.

A huge improvement over the last two games. Of course, that isn't saying much. Actually, Regeneration is a lot of fun to play, but it's marred by a host of bugs and an ugly presentation.

Underlying some of the game's polish, however, is a flawed combo system, repetitive level design, stale storyline, and a jarringly short play length that should ward off casual action fans and attract only those who consider themselves fans of the Evil Dead series.

An irresistible little charmer. It's short enough that it doesn't overstay its welcome, clever enough to be engaging, full of enough action to be consistently fun. Fans of the film series will, of course, want to grab it, but action gamers looking for a dose of sarcasm, zombie guts, and light puzzles will find themselves amused as well.

The game's third-person combat is pretty much D.O.A.—target, shoot, repeat, etc.—but things pick up considerably once you acquire your chainsaw and boomstick (aka 12-gauge shotgun). And things pick up again after you partner up with a wise-cracking midget Deadite.

The biggest problem with Evil Dead: Regeneration isn't that it's not simple fun, but that it never rises above that in any way that Evil Dead fans might hope, or that comedy-horror genre fans might expect.

Bruce Campbell was great but, perhaps with a little more time, Crankypants could have done a lot more with this one.

Though it's nothing stellar, Regeneration does have some nice things going for it -- a great sense of humor, nice visuals, and it captures the feel of the movies faithfully.

What makes Regeneration falter is the fact that it's bland, repetitive, and uninspired - like Carson Daily. [Oct 2005, p.126]

Short but mostly sweet, this is unashamed B-list fare, offering cheap thrills to those who don't take killing too seriously. [Apr 2006, p.98]

You have to credit Evil Dead: Regeneration for almost living up to its name by breathing some new life back into an abysmal video-game franchise. Still, this regeneration is a far-cry from a revolution and must be content with being familiar, satisfying, and diminutive.

You won’t want to play through the game more than once, but once you’ve done it you’ll have all the cut-scenes and access to everything you’d ever want from the game – aside from the odd spot of ‘kick Sam into the bottomless pit’.

The best has to be Ash's undead sidekick Sam (never mind Crispin and Jon D.), since he serves to break up the monotony of the combat (you use him to solve puzzles) and gives Bruce Campbell someone to play off of for one-liners.