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Instead of relying on the 'video game press' for reviews, I have taken to watching Let's Play series on YouTube. This translates into a pretty easy way to determine if I should get a game. If I only need to watch a small amount of gameplay to work up the enthusiasm to buy a game, I consider the video a positive review. But if I have to keep watching, it's usually a sign that while I want the game to be good it just isn't.

I have watched about 70% of Mikami Shinji's new game Evil Within.

Rather than a game directed by the guy who created Resident Evil, Evil Within feels like a game directed by a guy who is trying desperately to remind you that he created Resident Evil ... or maybe even a game succinctly parodying the gradual implosion of the Resident Evil series under the weight of its own ego. But the latter would be an overly generous reading. Evil Within is not a very clever game although, considering it is massively overloaded with cut scenes, it could be a decent Saw clone. If you like that sort of thing.

Watching the game made me ponder what was so effective about the original Resident Evil. The obvious factor is that I hadn't seen anything like it before. There was at that point no genre to be savvy about. The successors of Resident Evil have to contend with a well-established body of tropes in video games and movies. It did not only launch the survival horror genre of games but I suspect also inspired similar genres in movies, comics, and TV.

Enter Alien: Isolation, a survival horror game inspired by film rather than the other way around. Armed with the design vocabulary (e.g., "disempowerment") laid down by Mikami in Resident Evil, the developers of Isolation re-discovered what is so terrifying about the xenomorph. In the marketing lead up to Prometheus, Sir Ridley claimed the alien had lost its power to scare. I challenge him to play the aptly-named Isolation, where every step feels like a life-and-death decision. By contrast, the protagonist of Evil Within comes off as Superman.

All of this puts me in mind of Phil Fish's controversial declaration that Japanese games currently "just suck." While that is surely an egregious overstatement (see, e.g., Skyward Sword), I can't help but hear a ring of truth in it when Mikami makes a game like Evil Within.

I was one of the fortunate few who played Alone in the Dark when it came out, and loved it - so when Resident Evil came out, I was like, "ooh! an Alone in the Dark clone!" which is why I loved the first few games (up to and including RE4).

I am very disappointed with your take on Evil Within but I too am very tired of interactive movies. The last game that was a railroad like that but was so unique that it is one of my favorite games of all time is Silent Hill Shattered Memories.

There is a fine line between tension and irritation. Evil Within is totally oblivious to that line as a matter of design and storytelling. The gameplay might be worth slogging through if the plot was any good. Unfortunately, the mystery of what is going on and why is neither mysterious nor even that interesting. The pacing is too discombobulated to establish a consistent mood of dread much less terror. And the characters are instantly forgettable. Visually, the game has no original ideas whatsoever.

Isn't it also super buggy? I heard the PC port was god awful, bordering on unusable.

For a member of the Glorious PC Master Race such as myself, that's just unacceptable.

Both playthroughs I watched were on console; I didn't see any bugs that affected gameplay.

Wait, is this the xcom expansion you're talking about, or some other game, when you talk about Enemy Within?

 Melissia wrote:
Enemy Within

Yes, the X-Com expansion by the creator of Resident Evil.

...

In my defense, I don't pay attention to Resident Evil, so I was confused about whether or not they were actually connected somehow.

Considering this thread is about a game called Evil Within rather than Enemy Within, I'm not sure that defense helps.

Well, delete my posts then, I very clearly misread lol.

 Manchu wrote:

 Melissia wrote:
Enemy Within

Yes, the X-Com expansion by the creator of Resident Evil.

...

You know, a turned based game where you play as a government funded organisation tasked to fight the T-Virus would be pretty fun...

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

 Manchu wrote:

 Melissia wrote:
Enemy Within

Yes, the X-Com expansion by the creator of Resident Evil.

...

You know, a turned based game where you play as a government funded organisation tasked to fight the T-Virus would be pretty fun...

... Don't mind me, I'm just taking notes for no reason ...

(Gods, that would be awesome, RE is more action oriented nowadays with explosions and big fights everywhere, a tactical "rpg" would be so damn good)

On topic: Evil Within is an unfortunante example of a bad japanese game, but please, never agree with Phil Fish. That statement is far too ridiculous to agree with or to consider it has a "ring of truth".

I've been playing the Evil Within the past few nights, and while it has some flaws, I have really enjoyed my time with it. RE was my first survival horror game, and this doesn't have that newness to it, I'll agree to that. And its not even intense as Alien: Isolation, but what it is is a good old fashioned horror fest with lots of gross things happening.

I love cheesy horror movies, so this may be why I'm enjoying the game so much. I feel like you have to know what you're getting into with this game, just like when you watch a horror movie. I don't think its trying to be as suspenseful as Isolation. I feel like its trying to be an over the top horror flick, and so far it has done it pretty well.

I have heard about some of the bugs, but on my PS3 I haven't ran into them yet. People complain about the box style display, but I have a pretty huge TV, so that doesn't bother me. I could see if I had a 32" or something it would be a problem. The biggest problem I have run into so far is that when you crouch, the camera gets so close to your character you can't see over his head. This makes sneaking hard when you are behind a wall or something and can't see over it. Minor gripe, but it does come into play.

Overall though, I am enjoying my time with this more than I did with Alien: Isolation. That might say more about my taste in games than it does anything else though.

Evil Within plays more like an action shooter than a survival horror game. As near as I can tell, you are never really pressed for resources if you simply take the time to search around. You even have a crossbow that shoots all kinds of fancy ammo and you can make the ammo.

 Manchu wrote:
Evil Within plays more like an action shooter than a survival horror game. As near as I can tell, you are never really pressed for resources if you simply take the time to search around. You even have a crossbow that shoots all kinds of fancy ammo and you can make the ammo.

I am playing on easy, and there is definitley TONS of ammo lying around. Apparently on the harder settings it makes it more scarce. Its no RE5 as far as action goes, but its not original RE either. It falls somewhere in the middle in my book. What it does better than RE in my opinion is the enemies and the macabre setting.

I find that sometimes I'm unsettled by the environment as much as the enemies. For example the opening sequence when your character wakes up. There is some pretty disgusting stuff going on around, but you kind of have to "ignore" that and figure out how to get the hell out of there. RE got to the point where its just a regular city setting or whatever with mutants. I think thats where the Evil Within shines.

I'm not saying this is the game of the year. I just think that its above average, and is a good game in a genre that is shifting away from horror and more towards strait up shooters.

Interior locations in Evil Within were as generic as you can get -- mansion? check, asylum? check, gothic faux-cathedral? check. etc. Exterior locations seemed plagiarized from RE4 right down to tattered cloth hanging across alley ways.

The gore factor can be OTT, which seems like overcompensating for the lack of real creepiness in the underlying story and the problem that it feels like a game (despite the horror movie set dressing) rather than a harrowing fight for your life. All the boss fights are incredibly gamey. I kept thinking, change the graphics and you have a Mario title.

I haven't played through the whole thing yet, so can't comment on all the locations.

I dunno, I just find myself really enjoying it. More than I did the last few RE games. I know that I'm at work right now, and am already looking foward to playing it again tonight when I get home.

I think we may just have different tastes on this one.

I'm not saying no one can enjoy the game. I'm saying it's a bad game.

 Manchu wrote:
I'm not saying no one can enjoy the game. I'm saying it's a bad game.

How dare you insinuate that enjoyment of a game and game quality are not the same thing *goes off to play Too Human*