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[GrayChild]

Yeah, we're in the middle of a mini-Renaissance for the survival horror genre, but no matter what there's still one series I'm missing.

I remember loving it way back in 2014, and still replay it occasionally as it's so much fun once you get the hang of everything.

Unfortunately most people were quick to write it off as a clunkier version of RE4 with some Silent Hill thrown in. Not to mention the release was plagued with tons of technical issues, especially on PS4.

The pre-patch Evil Within we hope you'll never play

With day one patches swiftly becoming the norm, it's easy to forget about the code pressed to the disc that actually sh…

www.eurogamer.net

But even with its faults, there's still nothing quite exactly like it. It can be freaky as hell without sacrificing its strong gameplay foundation. And damn, does it boasts some of the most artistically inspired and varied environments in gaming, even to this day:

The second one, while improving its gameplay and tech, just didn't quite grab me in the same way. It didn't help that Resident Evil 7 came out just 9 months before it. Still, it's one the better entries in the genre for the last decade.

Of course, Microsoft had to chime in and fuck Tango (and the series) up.

There's so much untapped potential in this franchise, so many options for continuing the story. Oh well, it was great while it lasted.

P.S. As I'm writing this, there's still about 2 hours left to grab both games at a very low price (both titles for like a tenner):

 

[R6Rider]

I own both entries but haven't gotten around to playing either yet.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

You nailed it with your third paragraph. "...a clunkier version of RE4 with some Silent Hill thrown in." That was exactly how I felt about it when I played. A re-imagining or remake could be great now though.

 

[Gonzito]

Same here man, I love this franchise so much, specially the sequel, I had a blast replaying the franchise a few months ago

I hope they will come back to it, we need more Sebastian Castellanos

 

[Chuck Berry]

That first game was really something special

 

[RedC]

I'd be fine with just a remaster of the first game at Ultra settings, HDR, 4K, 60fps on modern consoles

 

[ecosse_011172]

I wanted to love it but just somehow didn't click, was maybe hoping for just RE4...

 

[Ellis]

The aiming FOV was a bastard (so damn close), but I loved the game. Still haven't got around to the second.

 

[Mister Wolf]

2 > 1

 

[NeverYouMind]

I do not miss the first one but would be interested in seeing a version of it that is fun to play. The second one feels so recent that I have not had the chance to miss it.

 

[evanft]

It was a mediocre version of RE4.

 

[protonion]

Hated the first one but the sequel was amazing.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Loved The Evil Within, so much that I platinumed it, which meant I went through absolute hell with Akumu Mode. The game is just on another level when it comes to psychological survival horror. Mikami knocked it out of the park. Pisses me off so much that it wasn't embraced better by the gaming community. Loved the second one as well, thought it was really well directed and had better pacing than the first one with better gameplay and more polished mechanics. But it lacked the creativity and the surreal atmosphere of the first one. Tango doing a third one and capping off the trilogy would be a god send. But it will never happen, unfortunately. I do hope TEW gets the remaster treatment some day though. This franchise deserves more love.

 

[ssringo]

I miss the shooting range from EW2. Ridiculously fun minigame.

 

[NuclearDiarrhea]

This game was fucking great. A true rough gem for sure but after the walk n' talk first few chapters, the game ramps things up and becomes a roller-coaster of tight gameplay and batshit insane environments. Enemy design is also top notch and the story actually made sense if you pay attention and read the fucking notes and stuff. The matchstick mechanic was awesome too.

The sequel being semi-open world didnt do it for me. Enemies were easily exploitable, environments were dull and the antagonist was boring. Once the second half of the game kicked in and became more linear, i started to enjoy it more.

 

[Skifi28]

Never actually finished the second, it's even 60fps on PS5. This is a good reminder.

 

[The Skull]

Loved both. Definitely would have liked a sequel to the second.

 

[PrefectAboro]

Currently on Chapter 11 of The Evil Within 1. Definitely intense some times, but I still have no idea of what the story is about and give zero shits about any of the characters. I just wanna see the boss fights and blow up heads with my shotgun/magnum. But there's barely any ammo.

Almost every single chapter has a cutscene/forced walking segment where Sebastian is hallucinating. It's getting tiresome and there's no tension like in survival horror games. At least Resident Evil was grounded in reality like it took place on Earth. Silent Hill knows how to do psychological horror properly in a subtle way with proper tension.

The Evil Within is adding generic mainstream horror tropes of emo looking goth kids teleporting, over use of gore, unkillable enemies (or mini-bosses). I don't know whether I'm dead, in a nightmare, living in the past or just a cop having a bad trip. Still got 4 more chapters to go.

 

[MALpractice311]

Part 1 was the first game I ever stopped playing due to technical issues. I don't know if it was the overly dark color scheme, the overly zoomed in third person perspective, the awful frame rates, or some combination thereof, but this game physically hurt my eyes to play. No other game has ever done this to me. Therefore, I never even bothered with Part 2, beyond about 20 minutes with the demo, which did not impress me.

 

[NeverYouMind]

This game was fucking great. A true rough gem for sure but after the walk n' talk first few chapters, the game ramps things up and becomes a roller-coaster of tight gameplay and batshit insane environments. Enemy design is also top notch and the story actually made sense if you pay attention and read the fucking notes and stuff. The matchstick mechanic was awesome too.

The sequel being semi-open world didnt do it for me. Enemies were easily exploitable, environments were dull and the antagonist was boring. Once the second half of the game kicked in and became more linear, i started to enjoy it more.

There is nothing tight about the controls of the first game. Matchstick is a throwaway mechanic. Outside of a few bosses the enemies are more generic than most survival horror games. Story is awful as characters are weak, developments are incoherent, and the game climaxes without resolution. Did anyone even pause to have a moment of silence when Joseph died (implied)? I guess you found cave spelunking and Saw sets more captivating than a coherent suburban guerilla adventure.

Part 1 was the first game I ever stopped playing due to technical issues. I don't know if it was the overly dark color scheme, the overly zoomed in third person perspective, the awful frame rates, or some combination thereof, but this game physically hurt my eyes to play. No other game has ever done this to me. Therefore, I never even bothered with Part 2, beyond about 20 minutes with the demo, which did not impress me.

The second game is technically competent and gets more interesting as everything unravels.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Thought the first game was incredibly awful, I'd definitely play the 2nd game again though.

 

[Sticks]

Didnt like it , game was just weird and felt all over fhe place. I enjoyed part two.

 

[RedC]

I thought The Evil Within should end as a trilogy, and the 3rd game should have Juli Kidman as the protagonist and get closure with Joseph and Ruvik.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

Never actually finished the second, it's even 60fps on PS5. This is a good reminder.

In a similar vein, I never finished either of them. The first one actually gave me a headache with the letterboxing and FOV so I dropped it pretty quick. I remember playing a demo or something of the sequel but I never bought it.

Maybe I should go back and play them. I know they patched out the letterboxing from the OG.

 

[simpatico]

Love playing in 2:35:1 widescreen! Wish more games did that

 

[Ellis]

It didn't have the polish or "fuck me this feels great to play" feeling of RE4, but once you get into it, and stop thinking of RE4, the game is awesome on its own merits.

It was rough on PS3/360 though. Recently played the game on pc at 120fps (although enemies are now harder at high FPS. Worth it), and no letterboxing and had a great time.

 

[playbignbox]

I personally didn't like the first one, so I didn't even test the second one.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

who made that?.....oh

 

[NuclearDiarrhea]

There is nothing tight about the controls of the first game. Matchstick is a throwaway mechanic. Outside of a few bosses the enemies are more generic than most survival horror games. Story is awful as characters are weak, developments are incoherent, and the game climaxes without resolution. Did anyone even pause to have a moment of silence when Joseph died (implied)? I guess you found cave spelunking and Saw sets more captivating than a coherent suburban guerilla adventure.

I said tight gameplay, not controls. The matchstick mechanic made for good strategic decisions on deciding which bodies to burn and using it to kill other enemies. I liked the story. Locations in the first game were more varied - caves, mansions, hospitals, meat factories, woods etc and yes i find them more captivating than traversing a dull boring as fuck town where i can easily run around enemies while the first game funneled you into tight corridors and arenas to fight them. But hey man the second game is okay too ok i just prefer the first one.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

The First One and second was alright games, nothing too amazing but wouldn't mind a third one where they finally deal with the cliffhanger of part 1. Unless that guy is totally harmless now that he's not in the machine.

 

[nkarafo]

I remember the low FOV sections in the hub area...

 

[FeastYoEyes]

Evil Within 1 still crashes on my PC but I too miss it so much.

 

[Nintendo's Witch]

2 > 1

Correct

 

[PlayStaytion]

Yeah, we're in the middle of a mini-Renaissance for the survival horror genre, but no matter what there's still one series I'm missing.

I remember loving it way back in 2014, and still replay it occasionally as it's so much fun once you get the hang of everything.

Unfortunately most people were quick to write it off as a clunkier version of RE4 with some Silent Hill thrown in. Not to mention the release was plagued with tons of technical issues, especially on PS4.

The pre-patch Evil Within we hope you'll never play

With day one patches swiftly becoming the norm, it's easy to forget about the code pressed to the disc that actually sh…

www.eurogamer.net

But even with its faults, there's still nothing quite exactly like it. It can be freaky as hell without sacrificing its strong gameplay foundation. And damn, does it boasts some of the most artistically inspired and varied environments in gaming, even to this day:

The second one, while improving its gameplay and tech, just didn't quite grab me in the same way. It didn't help that Resident Evil 7 came out just 9 months before it. Still, it's one the better entries in the genre for the last decade.

Of course, Microsoft had to chime in and fuck Tango (and the series) up.

There's so much untapped potential in this franchise, so many options for continuing the story. Oh well, it was great while it lasted.

P.S. As I'm writing this, there's still about 2 hours left to grab both games at a very low price (both titles for like a tenner):

It's GamePass.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Played both, both times. Good games, not great, but certainly something I'd want to play more of.

 

[freemandos]

I played my second run this year (the first was at its launch). While I wouldn't consider it exactly a bad game , it's very disjointed and suffers identity crisis, and a lot of design choices feel forced. The second one isn't perfect, but I remember enjoying it more.

 

[Isa]

I'll never forgive MS for killing off Tango, but many were smart and jumped ship as I think they saw the writing on the wall. The first game also made me sick so I really struggled to finish it. I liked the cutscenes and overall story but I hate in games where we have to play hide and seek against unkillable foes or watch a cutscene then get control to just run away from some monster while avoiding a couple of obstacles then trigger another cutscene. Its barely evolved gameplay from freaking Sonic the Hedgehog games from the early 90's for Christ's sake. Its just lazy and felt like they were adding in some elements from horror trends at the time like Outlast which I don't like.

The second I freaking loved at launch, enjoyed the whole thing. I wasn't as keen on a replay a few years ago since I noticed a few of the same gameplay trappings. I'd much rather just have a cutscene or visual novel segment these days instead of banal and trite excuses for gameplay to give the illusion of interactivity or immersion. Partially why I've been going back to other mediums instead of videogames. What is there overall is fun however, I like Sebastian, Kidman and all the others. It could use more enemy variety. Its funny to see though one of my favorite game mechanics carried over. Many act like RE4 is some grand pinnacle of gunplay and upgrades but I was loving every second of it in Dino Crisis 2 on the PS1. Just an absolute blast to play. Very gamey on one hand, but didn't fall prey to any of modern horror game trends since they weren't present at the time, and the story was decent-to-good and interesting enough. Not really horror at all but that's fine.

Funnily enough its interesting to see how divisive Survival Horror games can be, or horror games in general. Just like movies, manga, books and campfire stories it varies from person to person. Some want believability others the surreal or abstract, some existentialism. Others don't want dark and depressing themes. I think one of the reasons RE4 and the like did so well and tend to be remembered fondly is that gameplay still ruled, whereas games that take away the control or other mechanics typically found in games are one-and-done affairs for the most part, or best played again years later. Hence why Outlast style games faded away though I know they still exist and do well enough. Most of the nostalgia or fondness tends to lean towards more involved games like PS1-2 era for example, or even older. Its crazy seeing how old many of these gameplay ideas really are such as,

 

[Luipadre]

2 > 1

 

[SpearHea.:D]

One of the greatest survival horrors of all time, a fantastic anxiety and tension filled ride till the end. The story, the encounter design, the horror, the sound, the upgrade room, the bosses, goddamn what a game it was. Chapter 9 and 10 is peak gaming. 10/10, thank you shinji mikami and the team for this masterpiece.

Shinji mikami is master of gameplay encounters, so much fun and tension filled encounters.

 

[SpearHea.:D]

This stuff was glorious on nightmare difficulty, had to be perfect and utilize resources smartly.

 

[Parazels]

One of the few games in my life I bought DLCs for. I just didn't want to stop playing.

 

[Ellery]

Both Part 1 and Part 2 are underrated for different reasons.

Loved them. Super solid video games and if you love Third Person Survival Action Horror games then you need to give them a try.

 

[SpearHea.:D]

Game was so good made a whole fuckin montage of my fav. moments from the game. Fuck the critics. What a game.

 

[NeverYouMind]

I said tight gameplay, not controls. The matchstick mechanic made for good strategic decisions on deciding which bodies to burn and using it to kill other enemies. I liked the story. Locations in the first game were more varied - caves, mansions, hospitals, meat factories, woods etc and yes i find them more captivating than traversing a dull boring as fuck town where i can easily run around enemies while the first game funneled you into tight corridors and arenas to fight them. But hey man the second game is okay too ok i just prefer the first one.

You cannot have tight gameplay without responsive and reactive controls. Matchstick is not really useful once the crossbow enters the picture and is more annoying due to extremely limited capacity. There were some amazing areas in the game but most of them were terrible because they had no coherent structure and no real objective other than keep moving. If they cut out the hide and seek intro nothing would be lost. The worst of the lot were those turret escape and trap disarming sections that gated progression. Also, I would rather traverse a giant free-roam city then have to shimmy between pipes and rocks or crawl through tunnels ever again.

This stuff was glorious on nightmare difficulty, had to be perfect and utilize resources smartly.

Wow. The glory of running in circles and activating traps or taking headshots once sufficient distance is established. How exhilarating...

 

[Signalis]

Loved The Evil Within, so much that I platinumed it, which meant I went through absolute hell with Akumu Mode. The game is just on another level when it comes to psychological survival horror. Mikami knocked it out of the park. Pisses me off so much that it wasn't embraced better by the gaming community. Loved the second one as well, thought it was really well directed and had better pacing than the first one with better gameplay and more polished mechanics. But it lacked the creativity and the surreal atmosphere of the first one. Tango doing a third one and capping off the trilogy would be a god send. But it will never happen, unfortunately. I do hope TEW gets the remaster treatment some day though. This franchise deserves more love.

I still have PTSD from Akumu mode, but the platinum was well worth it. It was a bit fucking cheap at times, difficult for the sake of being over the top difficult. But I'm going to lie if I say it wasn't fun also

Edit: spelling mistake

 

[PurePlatinum]

Both of these games were really good. Ghostwire was a bit of a step-down but still good.

HiFi is the best game they've done though, bar-none

 

[Hunter 99]

Loved both of them, wish we had a third entry. The dlc was really good too.

 

[mèx]

Loved both of them, these games are great and a must play if you like survival horror games. There is something about the atmosphere that really grips you. I wish we got a third one.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

I wanted to love it but just somehow didn't click, was maybe hoping for just RE4...

we are two

 

[John Bilbo]

I had the first one installed for Windows 10 but now that I have Windows 11 I cannot get it running.