The Evil Within (PlayStation 4) Review

The Evil Within follows detective Sebastian Castellanos as he and his fellow detectives investigate a mass murder at a mental hospital. It seems to be setting up a similar situation to the original Resident Evil, with Arklay Mansion replaced by this Beacon Mental Hospital. However, the game drastically shifts in style and tone almost immediately, taking Sebastian into a twisted nightmare world filled with terrifying horrors.

The storyline gets as twisted as the creatures, with a plot that feels like a Japanese horror movie but with the trademark gore of the west, keeping minds guessing as to what the truth is to the strange world of the game.

The gameplay is mostly the adventure style survival horror that has become the norm of the genre, but there are a number of levels where stealth and survival take the focus. It was originally billed that The Evil Within wouldn't be very combat orientated, that ammunition wouldn't be easy to find and flight would have to take precedence over fight in most situations. This turns out to be not strictly very accurate... When one is carting around kitted out handguns, shotguns, grenades, rifles and a giant crossbow with flaming/explosive/freezing bolts, then hiding goes a little out the window.

When the stealth sections do come up they are superb. Hiding under beds and in cupboards then having to creep out and stalk the enemies to dispatch them with one hit kills feels really rewarding and deserved to be incorporated much more.

The tactics used in these sections are, however, required throughout on the higher difficulty levels, especially on the final "Akumu" difficulty. In this mode a single hit from any enemy will kill Sebastian, so using stealth is completely necessary to survive, here.

Much like the "Crimson Heads" of the original Resident Evil remake, the enemies can come back after being killed. The only way to guarantee they stay dead is to use fire to finish them off; there are matches scattered throughout the stages that can be used for this. These matches can be used tactically, too; stunning or kneecapping an enemy allows for an instant kill opportunity with a single match. Or strategically placing a body next to a group of enemies and then igniting it will set a flaming chain reaction off.

The Evil Within has one extremely frustrating aspect. Some of the bosses can be obscenely cheap. Being stuck in a tiny area with a behemoth that will take up all the ammo one has managed to scrimp and save, and shrug it off like it's nothing is a little less than fun. Not all the boss fights are like this, though. There are some that make use of the environment and great mechanics for interesting and fun encounters.