It’s been a while since the last big Evil Dead game came out, so, for fans of the movies, Evil Dead: The Game is like a dream come true. It takes all of the movies, comics, and the TV show into consideration for one big fan overload. For example, the game features many forms of the series’ star, Ash, across all eras.
It might be the best game fans could ever hope for in terms of callbacks. One big question remains though; is Evil Dead: The Game a good gameplay experience past all the nostalgia? The reviews have been mixed so far, with the game getting plenty of things right, but almost as many things wrong.
6 Best: Bruce Campbell Returns
Bruce Campbell is the star that everyone wanted to see return for an Evil Dead game. He serves as the series lead, Ash and so a video game based on the property just wouldn’t be the same without him. It’s great to hear his voice doing the role again, along with seeing his face digitally converted. In fact, Bruce Campbell is just one of several actors returning for the game.
It can seemingly be hard to get the original talent to come back to do a video game based on a movie or TV show. However, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Theresa Tilly, and Betsy Baker all return from the first film. On the TV side of things, Dana DeLorenzo and Ray Santiago also return. Sadly, there isn’t much of a connecting story, but the voice work that is there is very good.
5 Worst: The Fear Factor
Players need to be aware of three meters when playing Evil Dead: The Game. Health and stamina should be obvious stats that most players are aware of at this point. They’ve been common in video games, be they multiplayer or single-players, for decades now. A more unfamiliar meter is based on the fear of players.
This meter will increase the more enemies are around. If players keep getting hit and keep getting overwhelmed then fear will skyrocket quickly. They need to light campfires and lanterns with matches to reduce the swell of fear. It’s an unnecessary stat to put in a game like this. It can be hard enough trying to fight through swarms of demons. Adding in a factor like fear seems a bit unfair, especially since the fire spots can be few and far between. There aren’t that many horror games that have done this to the same degree.
4 Best: Crossplay On All Consoles And PC
It’s kind of unreal to believe, but Evil Dead: The Game supports crossplay across console and PC players. Even some of the biggest multiplayer games around still don’t do that. Being able to game between the PC and consoles is one thing. It’s a bigger deal when competing console brands enter the picture.
Getting a good party together in a co-op game like this can be tricky depending on what types of setups players have. With crossplay, friends don’t need to worry about excluding someone from the experience. It might be the best thing about Evil Dead: The Game. More developers should follow suit.
3 Worst: Not A Technical Marvel
As good as getting a co-op session off the ground with friends to play Evil Dead: The Game can be, it is a little rough around the edges. The character models and the voices look and sound authentic to the franchise. The overall art design is good too, but the graphics fall a little short of the mark. Unfortunately, this is true even on the best PC setups.
Maps tend to look a bit better during the daytime hours, but, at night, everything can be a bit murky. The gameplay is a bit off as well, especially when it comes to driving. Vehicles can feel loose, making it hard to navigate down the tight winding roads. That’s a shame too, since vehicles help keep players safe. Evil Dead: The Game is not going to win driving game awards anytime soon.
2 Best: No Team Killing
Battles can quickly become hectic in Evil Dead: The Game. Demons can literally pop out of nowhere, and they often do. That’s why it’s good that there is no team killing in the game. If players shoot their gun at a partner by accident, it won’t do anything. Most of the game will find players hacking and slashing in close proximity to one another, which makes this no damage rule even better.
There is one exception to this. When players get consumed by fear and become possessed, they can be hit. A few slaps from an ally will knock that player back to their senses. No items are required. The fear isn’t a good effect in the game, but at least it is simple enough to counter.
1 Worst: Not Many Modes
The mode selection in the game is poor. It might be fun for a few nights, depending on how solid of a dedicated co-op party players can put together. Even on the best of terms though, Evil Dead: The Game should get old quickly because of the lack of diverse maps and modes. The basic goal is to vanquish demons back to hell.
If another player is on the side of demons, their goal is the opposite of that. There is also an option to all play against the AI or to go solo with AI companions. Besides the multiplayer options, there is a single-player campaign, but there is no real story attached to the missions. Also, there are no difficulty levels or checkpoints in place, making them feel like a chore just to unlock goodies. It is essentially an excuse to reuse maps for a solo adventure once again. It also makes getting the cast together feel like a waste of time, since they aren’t really used properly.
Evil Dead: The Game was released on May 13, 2022, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.