In 1981, Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead hit theaters, becoming a cult classic and kickstarting one of the horror genre's longest-running media franchises. The Evil Dead was followed by two sequels, a reboot, a TV series, comic book tie-ins, musicals, and of course, various video game adaptations. The Evil Dead franchise is still going strong in 2022, with Evil Dead Rise set to hit HBO Max later this year, and asymmetric multiplayer horror game Evil Dead: The Game available now.

Evil Dead: The Game follows in the footsteps of titles like Friday the 13th: The Game and Behaviour Interactive's Dead by Daylight. In it, a group of four survivors play as various characters from the Evil Dead franchise, while one player plays as the demonic entities that stalk them. In each match, the survivors have to collect map fragments, use the Kandarian Dagger to banish the Dark Ones, and ultimately lock the demons away, all the while the demon player does everything they can to stop them.

Evil Dead: The Game offers four different classes for survivors and a handful of characters to choose from, though three of the classes feature a variation of franchise protagonist Ash Williams. Admittedly, the game lacks character variety, but to be fair, the Evil Dead franchise doesn't really lend itself well to it anyway. While Ash has had his allies over the years, most of the films and the TV show have revolved around Ash's struggles against the demonic Deadite creatures. Ash's appearances in film and on television have spanned decades, so there is at least still some variety in how the different Ashes look in the game.

Once Evil Dead: The Game players have selected their characters, they are let loose in one of two large maps filled with Point of Interest locations that should be familiar to longtime fans. Having only two maps is disappointing, but they're sizable enough that it will still likely take a few hours of play before players have sufficiently explored them. Exploring the Evil Dead: The Game maps and visiting iconic locations like the cabin from the first movie is fun, but survivors will have to stay focused if they want to survive.

The first thing that Evil Dead: The Game players will want to do when starting a match is find a way to defend themselves. Evil Dead: The Game has a nice assortment of weapons for players to loot in the game world, with an easy-to-use ping system letting players quickly communicate to their allies whenever they've found a new gun or melee weapon. Just as there are recognizable locations from the films for players to visit in the game, there are some recognizable weapons for players to add to their arsenal as well, including Ash's chainsaw and "Boomstick" shotgun.

Evil Dead: The Game players put these weapons to good use, mowing down both AI-controlled Deadites and some that are being directly controlled by the demon player. Combat in the game is simple but effective. Players are able to easily dispatch regular Deadites with a couple of shots or melee swings, with the option of cutting them down with a fancy execution attack, though stronger enemy types may prove to be a bit more challenging.

The objectives in any given Evil Dead: The Game match will have players scouring a large portion of the map for key items that they will need to win, and this is where the game shines when compared to its fellow asymmetric multiplayer horror games. For one reason or another, these kinds of games have often made the tasks players have to perform dull, whether it's collecting random things to escape from Jason in Friday the 13th or repairing generators in Dead by Daylight. Evil Dead, on the other hand, has varied objectives, with players tasked with hunting down special items in a general area at the start, then standing their ground and fighting waves of Deadites in a horde mode-like encounter. It's more consistently engaging than fans of the genre may be used to.

Evil Dead: The Game also builds a greater sense of unity than its contemporaries, and it accomplishes this by making sure staying together is of utmost importance. The survivors in Evil Dead: The Game all have a fear meter that can be filled when they're in the dark, separated from the group, or being terrorized by jump scare traps laid by the demon player. If the fear meter is full, that player is vulnerable to possession, which allows the demon to literally take over their body and turn that survivor against their friends.

Evil Dead: The Game's jump scares are great the first time players experience them, and it's important that one doesn't know what to expect going in, so we won't spoil them here. The first couple of matches should be full of heart-pounding moments and surprises, made all the better when playing with an entertaining group of friends. It's like the video game version of a haunted house attraction.

The downside is that, like real-life haunted houses, Evil Dead: The Game loses some of its luster after players know what to expect. The jump scares are not as effective as they were at first, and it doesn't take long for repetition to set in. With only a couple of maps, a handful of survivors, and a slow, uninteresting progression system, many players will likely have their fill of Evil Dead: The Game after the first couple days of play.

When players grow bored with teaming with their friends as survivors, they can check out what the demons have to offer. The game appears to be balanced in favor of the survivors, so it's very difficult to win as a demon, but it's still fun setting jump scare traps for unsuspecting survivors and possessing those that stray from the group. Evil Dead: The Game demons can even possess cars to run over survivors, which can cause funny, chaotic moments.

There are three different demon classes to choose from in Evil Dead: The Game, with similar leveling and upgrade trees as the survivors. Once players have seen all the demons can do, though, they will likely grow bored with that aspect of the game as well. Luckily, there's still more to Evil Dead: The Game, including single-player missions that remix the multiplayer experience for narratively-focused levels that pull inspiration from the films.

Evil Dead: The Game's solo missions are appreciated, though there are only five in the game at the time of this writing, so it won't take players all that long to get through them. There is some nice unlockable content tied to the missions, so they're worth checking out, but there's not enough of them to really be a selling point for any solo-minded players who may be on the fence.

While it's relatively light on content, there's something to be said for how well Evil Dead: The Game runs and the options it offers players Evil Dead: The Game's crossplay ensures that players can get into matches quickly, as the game has PC, PlayStation, and Xbox to pull from for its potential pool of players. Players also have the option to play entirely with AI-controlled survivors and enemies, so if there comes a time when the game's multiplayer community dies down, fans should still be able to play it to some extent.

The downside is Evil Dead: The Game requires an Internet connection even when playing solo with AI or doing the missions. This is a head-scratching decision, to say the least, and it will be interesting to see if that changes with future updates.

Like similar games, future updates will likely go a long way in improving Evil Dead: The Game. Besides some muddy graphics, the game is polished and runs remarkably well for a freshly-launched online-only multiplayer game, and it can be a genuine blast for a few hours with the right group of friends. However, in its current state, Evil Dead: The Game lacks enough content to keep anyone that's not already a massive fan of the franchise engaged for the long-term.

Evil Dead: The Game is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, with a Nintendo Switch version also in development. Game Rant was provided with a PS5 code for this review.