Evil Dead: The Game Review – Not Very Groovy

Evil Dead: The Game, a faithful adaptation of the original horror series, is filled with subtle and nuanced homages. You can visit iconic sites like The Knowby Cabin, wield boomsticks and chainsaw prosthetics, fight off a possessed severed hand, play as your favorite cast members, or command armies of Deadites as the series’ antagonist, the Kandarian Demon. They even recreated the first-person, off-axis camera effect synonymous with Sam Raimi’s directorial style from the movies. While these elements may be deemed fanservice, they do not make for an excellent video game. 

Asymmetrical multiplayer games are inherently uneven, with each side traditionally offering vastly different perspectives – and playstyles – from their counterpart. And this is what makes my time playing Evil Dead so frustrating: It’s incredibly one-sided for a game all about two sides. And it’s majorly unbalanced. 

The game’s premise is simple: A team of four Survivors must banish the Kandarian Demon – who an opposing player controls – by activating the Necronomicon within 30 minutes. The problem is that the Necronomicon’s pages are missing and that a group called The Dark Ones (evil wraiths) guard the book. The Survivors need to resolve these problems. Therefore, the squad’s primary goal is to track down pieces of a map leading to the Kandarian Dagger and the Lost Pages of the Necronomicon – two of the franchise’s iconic MacGuffins – and use them to win the match. The Kandarian Demon’s goal is to stop these events from happening. By collecting skill points and other items throughout the game, all players can slowly improve their abilities. The demon is less powerful and more boring in the beginning game. This is because the leveling system keeps its core abilities locked away until the end. 

If you play as a Survivor, you’ll participate in a co-op shooter offering nail-biting scares, solid combat, and thoughtful mechanics involving light and darkness while fighting off waves of zombies controlled by a single opposing player. The original movie actors are included in the cast, as well as four different versions of Ash Williams. While the actors’ performances are mostly fine, they don’t sound like they’ve been recorded in the same acoustic space. It’s not a big deal, but it’s noticeable and pulls me out of the experience at times. 

There are two main systems that Survivors must maintain. One is a basic flashlight, with a limited battery life. Obviously, the lamp illuminates the path ahead, making it easier to navigate through darkened environments, but it also highlights hidden items like special ammo you’d otherwise be unable to collect. I like this mechanic as it requires players to be methodical in their light consumption and adds consequences for exhausting the flashlight’s battery. You need to be strategic with your use of light as Survivors’ fear levels increase while in the dark or away from teammates, making them vulnerable to demon possession and creating an exciting cat-and-mouse relationship between them and the opposing player. 

It’s fun to be a Survivor with the right people. However, if your preference is to be the Kandarian Demon the only big bad, Evil Dead: The Game might not suit you. To be the antagonist, choose one of three demon army to manage and use its unique capabilities and units in order to destroy the team of Survivors. The Puppeteer Army specializes in electricity and telekinesis. Deadite Henrietta Knowby leads the Warlord army. This group specializes in close encounters using brute force as well as toxic gas capabilities. Finally, Evil Ash is the Necromancer army’s fan-favorite antagonist. He specializes in summoning, buffing and resurrecting dead minions. Each army’s playstyle is distinct, making it satisfying to explore various strategies from match to match. 

The role of the killer in Asymmetrical Horror Games is usually my favourite. However, playing the demon feels more like controlling a house poltergeist who knocks plates off the shelves. His presence is less of a threat than an inconvenience. The demon’s gameplay loop involves tedious cooldowns, thoughtlessly placing traps to scare other players, and the monotonous task of flying around the environment to collect energy orbs anytime an ability depletes your resources. This causes an unusual amount of downtime, even though the match should have intensity. 

Controlling the Kandarian Demon’s fear is their best feature. If a player becomes sufficiently terrified, you can seize them to wreak destruction on their team members with shotguns or chainsaws. These moments are when the game shines. However, the fun is often short-lived due to the minions’ small health bars, your overly harsh ability cooldowns, and how easy it is for Survivors to run away from the fight (especially since you have to simultaneously collect energy orbs). To that last point, it’s frustrating to spend energy possessing a nearby Deadite to attack a player, only to have a player just barely outrun you. These scenarios happen often and are a waste of energy orbs, which are already tedious to obtain, and it’s not fun. 

Evil Dead: The Game has two maps that are large at the launch. Castle Kandar is the third map. Army of DarknessYou can get it via DLC free in the coming months. The maps that have not been named feature some unique places of interest, such as The Knowby Cabin or Flight 666. However, most of the locations are quite ordinary. They are nevertheless beautiful, even though they lack personality. Post-processing effects like fog, lens debris, and bloomed highlights create a film-like look that helps sell the environment’s eeriness. 

Evil Dead is beautiful, but it lacks polish. Evil Dead’s characters become stuck to seemingly flat surfaces. Items spill from containers unnaturally and the matchmaking lobbies get disrupted by disconnections. Many minor irritations can further erode the experience. You can have vehicles up to 100 energy if you are the Kandarian Demon. However, since you’re required to deposit those resources when you cast the ability, you can’t drive the car if you only have the minimum power since the possession slowly empties your energy bar. This leads to scenarios where you’ll spend all of your energy possessing a car, thinking you’re about to have a strategic advantage, only to lose control immediately after. The game lets you write checks you can’t cash, and the result is a frustrating waste of resources.

While future updates will address my minor issues, the game’s balance is a mess when it releases. Developer Saber Interactive’s commitment to fan service is commendable, and die-hard Evil Dead This release will be enjoyed by fans. However, it’s hard to see the lasting appeal for the rest of us.