The in-game setting of Union - a kind of simulation made possible by the collective connecting of peoples’ minds - finds itself torn apart into fractured segments and self-contained regions that masquerade as districts of the simulated town. Perhaps one of the biggest overhauls to be found, while still offering a fair number of linear, corridor-stricken sections with obvious A-to-B circumstances, is that the game now features a set number of non-linear, open areas for the player to freely explore. Encounters are of course entirely optional, should you decide that the possible resources or optional collectible is that bit more critical to your survival and it’s this added level of strategy that feeds back into the game’s survival leanings, carving out a reasonably balanced dilemma for the player to decide upon. Timing - not to mention being aware of your surroundings - is critical for success. Partaking in a stealth kill for example, particularly in the more open areas, means that (despite it locking you into a randomly-selected kill animation) you’re open to being spotted, even attacked, by a fellow enemy only a few meters away. Yet, while it does offer these brief passages of assistance, The Evil Within 2 is never far from lulling you into a false state of confidence, outright punishing you for rushing things too much. Enemies can of course be manipulated in such ways, in some parts to perform what now feels like an even more valuable stealth kill should you get the timing and positioning right. There is some in-game assistance, notably through the fact that enemy detection now appears as an eye symbol/icon at the top of the screen as does the area of detection when throwing a glass bottle in creating a distraction. That’s without mentioning the difficulty in lining up but a single hit, let alone a head-shot - foes often chasing you down in packs should they spot you - the big, perhaps only, take-away is that while many of these encounters place you immediately at a disadvantage, it’s entirely your choice to tackle a select horde should you wish. The number of times a stealth kill was snatched away by an enemy conveniently turning around at the last second is hard to count. Standard enemies (and the variety they manifest in), however, move and act in the kind of erratic fashion that throw up a questionable objection on the AI front. The main boss battles thankfully display a creative endeavor and are delivered at a reasonable pace throughout the 15 – 20 hour story.
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Coming into the sequel, it’s comforting to see that the better aspects of the original - the blatant emphasis on survival, the consideration for when and when not to dispense of weapon-fire - have been kept in their raw, panicky but admittedly frustrating (at points) state.Ĭombat is still as anxiety-inducing as it was previously and while both movement and aiming can at times come across too stiff and overly-demanding, the game fortunately never seems like it requires you to overcome these deliberately-placed limitations in order to outright succeed.
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At its best, taking advantage of that slower but methodical vulnerability, particularly with the presence (or lack thereof) in dwindling resources, to help stem the potential scares from out the discomfort of the player themselves, rather than what the game bluntly threw at them - set-piece or no set-piece.
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A spiritual successor to the early Resident Evil iterations to some (that evolved the thesis of the sub-genre from even the likes of high bar-setters like Resident Evil 4) and a troubled clash of spectacle and substance to others, the joint venture between Tango Gameworks and renowned survival-horror architect Shinji Mikami was by a melding of physical brutality with the more psychological underpinnings of the very need to stay alive. Pick it apart enough times and you’re bound to find a good game buried beneath the blood, gore and other-such horror cliches that permeated The Evil Within.