Developer: Saber Interactive
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5(Reviewed), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Saber Interactive
“Hail to the king, baby!”
Evil Dead: The Game is a four x one multiplayer game, that explores the whole Evil Dead universe. As soon as I reached the character selection screen, I found it very similar to the Dead By Daylight game (Including the music)… after a few seconds of playing it, it reminded me of Friday the 13th… but fortunately, the game is neither… it is a very good improvement on the genre of horror co-op games.
The game has no story mode, just some missions that unlock a few extra characters. Each mission tells a short story. But on the category of easter eggs, we do have some good stuff to point out, like the Shemps cola that sounded familiar to me when I head/read… then after a quick Google, I found out why… turns out it’s just a beer from… well it is better if you see it: ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZgL5roR0PU )
I wanna; to start talking about the executions (final hit) that are (As Ash would say) groovy! and that they change for each weapon.
The tutorial is very simple and directed for the survivors… but there are some things missing that I will cover in this review; the demons tutorial, on the other hand, is too “simple” for what the game asks for you to do during the match, it needs to be more explanatory and complete (For example, the demons that you summon start the tutorial available whilst during the game you have to level up and unlock them, then and only then you can summon a demon or the boss)
There are two game modes:
-Survivor Vs Demon
-Missions (Which you can´t play offline… even though it’s a solo mode)
Survivor Vs Demon:
On Survivor Vs Demon, you have to choose between them; to play, here you can choose a private match (here you play with friends since one of you choose to be the demon), co-op against AI, solo (here you play with other AI survivors and against a Demon AI) and PvP (4×1). Let´s talk about the survivors and the demons separately:
Survivors:
The first character I chose was Ash as a warrior; there are four classes: Leader (good for buffering the team), Warrior (The muscle), Hunter (The shooter) and Support (Healer). All four are extremely important to victory; thus, working; together is extremely necessary if you want a balanced match.
A great tip is, as a survivor, you wanna; to pay attention to the tips that appear on the top right of the screen for the map locations; otherwise, you will find yourself wandering around for nothing.
As a survivor, you have a few steps to active victory against the forces of hell, the first one that gets three map pieces, the second is the Necronomicon page, and then the Kandarian dagger, kill “the dark ones” and then protect the book for two minutes. You have around thirty minutes to fulfil the first three steps; after that, the countdown disappears if you are successful, you are given plenty of time to get to the dark ones, don’t take too long because the demon entity will be levelling up during that time. It´s sad to say that the game; doesn’t change much from that… so if the game wants to hold up, it is going to be necessary for some new maps at least.
The most awesome; thing for me was that the demon’s camera moves just like it does in the movies/tv show, which is awesome to be in control of.
Playing with the demons was way more difficult (at least for me) at the beginning… it didn’t get much easier afterwords… only a little bit. It is funny as hell to play with them, tho (hahaha, see what I did there?).To Level up as a Demon, you have to place traps; and possess people… As a demon, you will want to prepare the final locations; that are available to you because since you know the characters are going there at some point is better to be prepared.
Keep in mind that killing a survivor isn’t enough; because they can get their soul and revive the guy on an altar (told’ya… playing as a demon is challenging). Also, pay attention to the boss’ abilities; they change drastically from each other.
There are three types of demons:
Warlords: Based on the first Evil Dead movie, they are very simple to play and the best one for you to start with.
Puppeteers: Are those demons from the Tv show “Ash Vs Evil Dead”, and they have more focus on possession.
Necromancer: The Demons from the third; movie, “Army of Darkness”, have more focus on damage.
The mission mode is fun but very hard, and the fact that there is no save point; if you die, you have to start the mission all over. The immersion is great, making you feel like you were Ash Slashy 100%.
During the missions, you will “see” some portals around the map that don’t change place, but it is hard to see because at first, they are translucent… you know, like the Predator when his camouflage is active. You will know; when you cross one because a demon will fly towards your face.
An amazing; tip during the missions; dodge is the key to persevere! So dodge because your life depends on it.
The controls are very instinctive for players that are familiar with online or third-person games. There are lots of upgrade options that will be guided by the way you play with each character, and by the way, each one of them has a different skill tree (you can reset the skills at any time with no cost). To upgrade a character, you have to spend the exp you earn after each match, and you can use some extra exp converting the “Spirit Points” you also earn after each match, those points you can spend wherever you want to.
The matches require a strategy to succeed, so playing with a “disconnected” team can be the end of it even before it starts, as each character has their needs for the party’s success. The map was tricky to get used to it; after I active the rotation, it got a bit better but still is too small for me.
At first, I thought that every; typical weapon that matches the character would be the best one for it (like Ash and the chainsaw, the cop with the clock gun or Henry with a sword); but no… Get the one with more damage and slash or blow the hell out of them (by the way, there is no friendly fire, so shoot and slash away my friend) unless you have a skill that says otherwise, like Warrior Ash on Lvl 25 that gives you extra stuff for using the chainsaw.
Keeping the fear level low is crucial to keep you from being possessed and end it up killing a friend whilst possessed.
The game doesn’t have a single cut scene… yeah… flat screens telling you what happened and what to do, and that’s; the art is beautiful tho. And the graphics are very good! I was surprised by the quality.
Voice Acting is a plus! Bruce Campbell does an awesome; job with movie quotes and new jokes. Now the soundtrack goes well with the game, but nothing too impressive to get a spotlight on it.
It was a good surprise to me; even though I’m a huge fan of the Evil Dead franchise, I wasn’t excited to play it based on the game trailers I’ve seen… but after the tutorial, I was already hooked. If you get a good team that knows what they are doing without saying a word is a guaranteed fun match because everything runs smooth, and even if you lose, you will have fun.
My girlfriend said something that kept me thinking, we know it is a movie/tv show game-based, but there is something extra on the details (for example, you can go to the first/second movie cabin and also possess the Deer over the fireplace hahaha) they overcame our expectations. I believe the majority of people will agree with us on this point; when we see a game based on a movie, we all get sceptical, but Evil Dead does a splendid job. Let’s hope that Raimi’s spotlight (recently as a director of the movie “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”) gives us more and more stuff from the Evil Dead universe.
I want to say a special “thank you” to my girlfriend who helped me by taking my notes and playing with me (she bought the game herself, ahaha) whilst I was resting after a medical procedure.
Overall: 8/10
Writer
Photography enthusiastic and a diehard games fan (Thanks to FF7 )! And I´m from Brazil btw \o ahhahaha