While long-term friends Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell might not have imagined that their first Evil Dead movie would have been so successful without the help of horror writer legend Steven King, The Evil Dead has become a cult hit, with three movies, a TV show, and even video games now.
The only downside to this journey is that until now the games haven’t been all that great, thankfully Evil Dead: The Game has changed that, offering us an exhilarating asymmetrical multiplayer horror game that does justice to the source material.
I’ve played many horror games where the games itself is let down by either poor graphics, or a lack of attention to detail on the maps and environments, but while Evil Dead The Game currently only features one map, that map is packed full of detail that adds a very real sense of eeriness and feels much like the set of an Evil Dead movie.
Graphically, Evil Dead The Game is much better than I had initially anticipated it to be, which also helps to create a much more intense game, with my ultra-wide monitor, it felt as though I was actually in the woods fighting Deadites at times, which as a life-long fan of the Evil Dead franchise is incredible.
Table of Contents
Evil Dead The Game Single Player
While Evil Dead The Game is primarily a multiplayer game, there are several single-player missions that explore different stages of the Evil Dead franchise, and even unlock more playable characters once you’ve completed each of them.
The single-player missions in Evil Dead The Game, unfortunately, feel strapped on, with so much source material to work within the Evil Dead franchise, they feel a little underwhelming and at times repetitive.
Even though I enjoyed the first couple of missions, I found I soon started becoming bored of them, and just wanted to get through them as quickly as possible to unlock the likes of Pablo, from the TV show.
But, without any checkpoints, there were several times where I found myself wasting between 15 to 30 minutes of my time, having to start the entire mission over again, almost making me wonder if unlocking these characters is even worth the trouble.
While you can play the main game against AI, or even with a team of AI, playing the missions can serve as a great way to get to know the game, and its mechanics or just have a little target practice before playing with real players, and of course, will have the added bonus of unlocking new material when doing so.
If you are looking to play the single-player aspect of Evil Dead The Game for its story, sadly there isn’t much, and what story is offered up is done so with a brief image and some text, instead of cutscenes, which in honesty I had really hoped for.
Survivor Vs Demon
Now that we’ve got the negatives out of the way, we can focus on the game’s positives, and for the first time in an Evil Dead game, I can honestly say there are a lot of positives here.
Evil Dead The Game’s strengths lie within its asymmetrical multiplayer horror aspects, much like Dead By Daylight, the game sees a group of survivors trying to survive a horrifying monster, but the guys from Dead By Daylight weren’t lucky enough to have Ash J Williams on their side, a gun-toting, chainsaw-wielding maniac, that at times is honestly scarier than the monsters he faces.Â
Each survivor have their own passive and active abilities that make them all unique, and even have a skill tree that can be level up, improving your chances of survival.
While Ash and Pablo are clear favourites from both the movies and the TV show, having these abilities and a progression system gave me a reason to try out all of the characters, not just the ones I love.
Playing as the Survivor
When playing Survivor Vs Demon mode, you can choose between playing in a group of four survivors, not only trying to survive against the demon, but ultimately attempting to banish it, or you can try your hand at being the demon and reaping havoc on the team of survivors.
The game has been split into two vs players modes, two vs AI modes, and a private match setting, which really does make it easier to find a game to suit your playstyle and experience.
When playing as the survivor, much like other multiplayer games, you are at the mercy of the skill and competency of the other players, in a game where the demon is constantly trying to stop you from progressing, I found myself getting frustrated at players that often ran off to do their own thing, not working as a group, and putting themselves at danger of being singled out by the demon.
But, when you do get a good group, or play with friends, playing as the survivor can be an extremely intense but fun experience.
Scavenging, working as a team, and ultimately managing to defeat the demon is extremely satisfying.Â
Winning isn’t the only satisfying part of Evil Dead The Game as a survivor, as you grab the nearest chainsaw, hammer, or machete and proceed to kick Deadite butt, you have the chance to perform various special attacks that actually feel as powerful as they look.
When you find yourself in a good group, with everyone sticking together, the constant stream of special attacks sending blood flying in every direction possible can be just as much satisfying as winning a match.
The Goal of Playing as a Survivor
When playing as a survivor, the aim is to banish the demon but to do that, you must first fight through several stages.
- Find three map pieces
- Find the Kandarian dagger
- Defeat the Dark Ones
- Activate the NecronomiconÂ
Of course, while this might sound simple, it’s a lot harder than you might think when you have either an AI or player controlled demon on your back, laying traps and even possessing some of your teammates, and even vehicles.
Between completing objectives, fighting hordes of Deadites off, and trying to loot, you also have to keep an eye on your fear levels, if this gets too low, the demon will be able to possess you, controlling you and making you attack your teammates.
You can keep your fear levels under control by lighting one of the many fires around the map, but you will need to collect matches first.
Playing as the Demon
Playing as the demon in Evil Dead The Game is what keeps me coming back for more, while playing as a survivor is great fun, there is something devilishly satisfying about reaping terror as a demon instead.
There are nine demons to choose from at the time of writing, each of them with their own unique abilities and ways to cause the survivors to regret not playing as the demon.
Playing as the demon is by far the most fun you can have in Evil Dead The Game, as you fly around the map collecting energy, there is nothing more satisfying than watching the survivors panic as they stumble across one or more of your traps, sending them into a panic as they fight the Deadites there pour out.
While there are some advantages to playing as the demon, such as knowing the map pieces and dagger locations from the start, you still need to plan ahead, placing traps where you think survivors might go, while managing to obtain enough energy to wreak havoc, which can often be more challenging than it sounds.Â
While running around the map setting as many traps as possible is as delightful as it sounds, I often find myself stalking the survivors, waiting for them to trigger a trap, and cracking up laughing as they open a chest just to be attacked by Ash’s hand, which is one of the highlights of Evil Dead The Game for me.
Summary
While Evil Dead The Game does have its flaws, it is easily the best game to have come out of the Evil Dead franchise to date, with intense gameplay, stunning graphics and an addictive leveling system, I have to admit, it is by far better than anything I had hoped for in an Evil Dead game.
Although the lack of unique maps can often make the game feel a little repetitive, I found myself wanting to keep coming back for more, simply so I could level up and do better in the next map, even after playing for extended sessions.
Evil Dead: The Game is an incredibly addictive game that is only going to get better as more content, DLCs and updates come out, and will likely be one that I will be returning to for a long time.Â
No matter if you are a fan of the Evil Dead series or not, if you love horror games, or asymmetric multiplayer games you won’t regret purchasing Evil Dead: The Game.
