[Review] The Evil Within

[WilkerCSBD]

Shinji Mikami's long-awaited return to pure survival horror, The Evil Within, captures all the experience of this cult author over 20 years in the industry. The game is varied, with an excellent atmosphere, an excellent visual proposal, a plot full of ambiguity; overall, it lacks obvious flaws, but it falters because of its derivative and linear character. It does not propose something really new because of a lousy camera and because it lacks that touch of inspiration that makes survival horror something truly great. Despite this and a poor optimization in its version for PC, it is a solid proposal and an acceptable return for this author and his favorite genre, although by no means triumphant.

The plot puts us in the role of detective Sebastian Castellanos, who is called with his colleagues Julie Kidman and Joseph Oda, to investigate a horrible mass murder at the Beacon Mental Hospital. Researchers soon confront a seemingly inexplicable evil, the invincible and all-powerful apparition named Ruvik, as unlikely events and experiences between hallucination and reality lead them to experience the boundaries between life and death. The journey leads Sebastian beyond normalcy to explore strange psychobiological experiments and unravel the mystery of evil that dwells at the heart of the Mental Beacon.

The real horror comes later ...
THE REAL HORROR COMES AFTER ...
In terms of general approach and mechanics, The Evil Within is a recap of Mikami's work and inspirations throughout decades. It's all here: Sweet Home's harsh horror and evil house that would inspire the first Resident Evil, Resident Evil 4's interactive action-horror scenarios, a mix between the supposedly supernatural and aberrant science experiments, with an excellent balance between limiting weapons and ammunition and the satisfaction of blowing a zombie's brains out when necessary.

Progression and customization are important
PROGRESSION AND CUSTOMIZATION ARE IMPORTANT
The game is essentially a series of horror scenarios divided into chapters with a very acceptable variety between each. Our character will have to be versatile and combine stealth and combat skills depending on the turn events take: certain chapters are about hiding, disarming traps and running away, while others seem taken from [/ i] Left 4 Dead [/ i] with massive ambushes. To fulfill our mission, we have at our disposal a very admissible arsenal and a great variety of healing items and buffs, which we must manage carefully, always preferring to save ammunition and heavy weapons for bosses and other emergency events and deal with small enemies such as zombies in the quietest and most economical way possible.

 

One of the characteristic items of the title are the matches. Since we're dealing with the undead, the only way to make sure they don't return is to burn them, but the number of matches is limited (one more indication of the psychotic unreality Sebastian lives in). This adds an element of tension and interesting strategy. Invincible enemies such as ghosts that alter the reality around them, annoying traps that annihilate you in a second if you do not have iron reflexes, all-powerful bosses who must be overcome through escapes, environmental elements and the use of all the weapons within our reach. They give an excellent variety to the experience: Mikami uses all the tricks she has up her sleeve, although sadly none of them are very new.

 

Another element of depth is the progression and character development system. We can improve characteristics such as energy, resistance, aim, speed, stamina and inventory slots and bullets thanks to a kind of brain tonic that we collect in the scenes and that a nurse injects us through an infernal machine in the moments in which we appear mysteriously in the hospital. The above provides customization and progression, but the interesting thing is that it is possible to try to play the hero and finish the game with only the essential improvements, since the combat system and the situations are flexible enough that we depend more on our skill and the clever use of game elements than endless arsenal and energy.

Among the strengths of The Evil Within is the variety of its chapters and situations. Practically everything we know about the genre is here, and because the title constantly pushes the limits of reality and psychological hallucination, Mikami can take us through practically all the archetypes, fears and situations that survival horror has generated throughout his story. Terrifying underground slaughterhouses, hospital scenes and zombie-filled country huts lead us to the horror of the mansion, while Sebastian's hallucinations cause reality to constantly change. In the end, The Evil Within is essentially a journey into horror within, and those looking for variety in it will not be disappointed.

However, although it is an experience successfully created by a very competent author, The Evil Within is far from being a triumphant and irreproachable return of a genre that is going through bad times. The problem perhaps is that, despite having a very successful atmosphere with remarkable cinematic effects that are even reflected in the gameplay, nothing stays with us: it is essentially a salad of horror clichés mixed with psychiatric hallucinations that never manages to catch us. The other problem is the fact that, although he is not wrong about anything, practically all the mechanics and situations have been seen in other titles of the genre, so in the end it is an excellent exercise, but not a memorable and powerful work on its own.

Although he is not wrong about anything, practically all the mechanics and situations we have seen in other titles of the genre 

To this assessment must be added some other defects of a more technical nature. One of the most important is the limited field of view coupled with the fact that the camera is fixed too close to your character and that it is impossible to change. Of course, this feature is meant to create a terrifying effect and suits the cinematography of the game, but it becomes annoying and uncomfortable, especially in the stealth sections where having a decent camera is vital. It probably doesn't feel too bad on the console version, but it's laughable to have a 2014 PC title where the mouse wheel doesn't move the camera in or out.

Another negative point, although it only applies to the PC version, is its terrible optimization. As Bethesda announced, the game runs at 30 fps to retain some cinematic effect, but the result is horrible, slimy frame rates. To make matters worse, there are notable performance deficiencies even on computers with high-end hardware, such as Core-i7 processors and 800 series cards upwards, so my humble GTX 660 and Core-i5 featured textures that were not quite up to scratch. loading and framerate issues. It seems that the drawback is in the heavy filters and lighting effects that make up the atmosphere and that are not very well optimized to say. Another undesirable element is the low quality of certain textures and details even at the highest settings, which speaks of a delivery in which the superfluous was considered before the necessary when programming.

That's exactly what horror is all about: a completely hostile and ruthless world that won't hesitate for a second to finish us off.

Outside of the aforementioned flaws, the graphic and visual aspect of the game is solid and standout, with excellent cinematography and immersion achieved by the juxtaposition of effects, filters, and transitions. The visual design is perhaps the most polished aspect of the game, with powerful chiaroscuro, sharp visuals and a very careful arrangement of elements that add immersion to the interactive landscapes of the title.

As for the difficulty, it seems fair to me. There is an easy mode that makes fun of the player in the description (precisely, I think), a suitable challenge mode, and another difficulty that appears when the game ends. It's true that The Evil Within abounds with one hit kills, disguised lethal quick-time events, and abusive situations, but that's exactly what horror is all about: a completely hostile and ruthless world that won't hesitate for a second to finish us off. Therefore, this is one of the aspects in which the title fulfills: thanks to its difficulty the immersion in its world of terror increases.

 

Lastly, I can't help but compare The Evil Within to another survival horror that came out recently, Alien: Isolation. The contrast is very interesting. While Alien: Isolation is a proposal that achieves a tremendous immersion despite its simplicity, The Evil Within is like a great house of fairground scares full of attractions, settings and situations that in the end fail to compromise us too much. So I give my personal preference to the unexpected horror of Alien's Working Joes over the myriad J-Horror cliches of this installment.

The Evil Within is, at heart, the work of an old master of the industry who has reached a high dexterity in his art, but who cannot surprise and trap us like his previous works. It is a cleanly executed game, which will undoubtedly give nightmarish moments to those who are not used to the myriad series of stereotypes that make it up, but which does not bring something really new or memorable to survival horror veterans. It is a title that is neither uncommendable nor disappointing, but neither does it offer something extraordinary: an experience that brings survival horror back without taking a single step forward.