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Evil Dead: The Game is like your favourite comfort food; its heaped spoonful's of sweet nostalgia constantly being fed to your senses. It may not be Michelin star perfection, but it's made just how you like it, and it's affordable. With its almost never-ending nods to established Evil Dead material, it's an audio and visual delight.
While it has other aspects, the core 4v1 online gameplay is where the game shines. Pick a side; either the side of evil or good, then pick a class and get to work. There are classes that specialise in support and buffing, and classes for combat - both having melee focused and ranged focused abilities. Players being unable to double up on characters in the pre-game, though, forces team members to specialise in different roles. As you play, you progress, and are able to build up your favoured classes with perks. The fact that it is so easy to understand makes it very accessible.
Rounds involve you roaming the world attempting to take back the Kandarian dagger and missing Necronomicon pages. This is before completing a final assault on the Dark Ones and destroying Necronomicon. I appreciate that to anyone who isn't an Evil Dead fan, what I just said was complete nonsense. However, just note that the randomly generated placements are a fun aspect which mean no two games are ever exactly the same.
As a side note, Boss Team Games cleverly added a playable version of Ash to each class so that he is never unavailable. It's almost as if they could hear the echoing rage of the fanbase, even during development, and so decided to work in a solution before the complaints rolled in.
Another neat touch is that most characters are voiced by the original actor/actress that portrayed them. Once Bruce Campbell was onboard, development could have arguably made use of other voice actors. This shows the commitment of both Boss Team and Saber during to create a great slice of fan service. I'm glad these characters were preserved where possible, as even the smallest details add so much to the whole experience. Such details can often be underestimated.
If the player chooses to play as the Kandarian Demon, they're given the choice of three demonic classes. There are the traditional human-like Deadites, Army Of Darkness' skeletal deadites, and finally, the new faceless demons from Ash vs Evil Dead. Each are quite distinctive; having their own formidable arsenal of powers to topple the forces of good. While the survivors attempt to destroy the Necronomicon, your objective is to save it.
One element that I enjoyed was the noticeable difficulty spike. You'd expect a game in which you control a fabled demon Hunter, who dubs himself the King, to be a cake walk. However, surviving the horrors the Kandarian Demon throws at you can be a tricky endeavour. Pardon the cliché, but the brutal nature is akin to a FromSoft game, though it is not quite so unforgiving. Some persistent trial and error is usually enough to gain ground and progress on the next attempt.
The combat requires plenty of good timing. There is no block, so knowing when to dodge and when to strike back are both important aspects. Enemies do not pull their punches - they are fast and hit hard. There is also limited stamina and a fear meter to contend with. That said, it can feel immensely rewarding to finally have it all click.
The Missions are the other half of the game and they are a set of single player levels. These divert from the main multiplayer element in a few ways. They are delivered in a traditional level format - as a set of linear tasks to complete. I would consider these the more difficult mode available as you must play completely alone, with no NPC companions.
Why this single player portion even exists does puzzle me, as they feel kludged on. You must have an internet connection to purchase and then boot up the game, so it is not as if they are an option for those without decent internet. You can already play the online mode, in offline, with bots filling up the spaces. This acts as a far better single player experience. Even the extras locked behind these levels could have been earned through online gameplay instead. Once you've played through them, there is absolutely zero reason to revisit them. They're not bad, just pointless.
A second negative point is that there is only a single map. Granted it's an incredibly large map, is well made with varying terrain, and is brimming with Evil Dead references. A couple more based in other areas of the mythos would've added some much-needed variety, though.
All in all, Evil Dead: The Game is a sleek and challenging multiplayer title, lovingly crafted by a team who clearly admire the source material. With the only discernible negatives being; a lack of variety and an unnecessary single player campaign. Obviously the ones to get the greatest enjoyment are the diehard fans, mainly due to the fan service the game delivers. However, it also provides a solid option for a group looking for a frantic horror title to tackle.
I hope you enjoyed this review.
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all images ©: Boss Team Games, Saber Interative
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