Evil Within 2 is a competent and fun sequel. The 20hr journey is much lighter in tone than the original, easier, and slightly less linear ( 3 instances in the game you can semi-explore the map area; scavenge and do a few side missions ). Nothing too casual thankfully: the monsters are sufficiently grosteque, there isn't enough ammo to go completely rambo, and enemies do quite a bit of damage to you. Stealth is a huge part of the game, and is improved from the first game. Silent kills are rewarding and add to the tension of not alerting groups of enemies that would otherwise kill you -running away in the open areas is a cheap strategy that works wonders and slightly spoiled my fun knowing enemies would give up the chase. Without mentioning spoilers I was disgruntled a certain character is placed aside, and was a bit of an anti-climax. The replacement was pretty boring. And then, the story gets way to sentimental for The Evil Within. Evil Within 2 is a more-than-great 3rd person (or 1st person if you wish!) action/horror title, and has accesible options for casual and hardcore audiences. New game + with unlockable goodies mean you can have a real fun playthrough beyond completion. The game sits nicely with Dead Space and Resident Evil titles if thats your thing. My reason for removing a star is this: I can't help the niggling feeling in my head that Evil Within ( as a franchise ) was created because games like Evil Within 2 were getting a little soft. I definitley missed the sheer hell and evil of the first game.
The game deserves its criticism: there's a lack of polish in the visuals, combat is infrequent and never becomes a fully fleshed-out feature, the sheer volume of reading can drag on at times. However the game world is wonderfully unique and strange. Every crevice has something to discover. It was a pleasure to interact with characters and objects, not sure what might happen if I pushed the dialogue in a certain direction. The arcing main story was well paced; it's revelations convoluted but intriguing - get ready for multiple realities and memories. The greatest compliment I can give ( and my highest recommendation ) is that by the end of the game the combat's potential showed through; choice pathways branched out; and I started to wonder about the 3 playable characters I never let join my party. After completion my mind wants to fight everyone, wants to play with the more risky choices, wants to tell that playable character to f**k off at the start. No, it's probably not as good as Planescape: Torment. But you wanted this type of game, and it very almost ( nothing has came this close before) betters it's spiritual predecessor. Side note: don't hold onto Cyphers like they're special. Expect 30-32hrs to finish your first run.
I only review games I've finished. Some FPS focus on brutal action and while some FPS games now tend to be more cinematic, story/character based, Painkiller falls into the 1st catagory and then some. Don't expect a good story, don't expect intricate detailed levels ( though some of them are brilliantly done ) and don't expect a "point" to the game. All you need to know is you have big guns and must fight demons - plus some nurses - that need to shot down and blown into small fleshy pieces. There are 5 weapons to kill, each having two firing modes and each being useful in certain areas. At the end of the game you'll still find the trust first gun, the shotgun, ever so handy. The expansion pack adds another two which are cool but made deciding what gun to use difficult. There are tons of variety in the levels. Gothic cemeteries, italian looking port towns, science labs, tombs, cities, hell etc with there own unique enemies. It keeps things fresh when essentially your killing the same way every level. The utter most best part of the game is the rag-doll physics which makes shooting enemies in the game a joy especially when you have 15 of them running at you. Shotgun blasts send bodies flying, explosions turn bodies into red mist, every bullet and impact reacts in a satisfying way. The bottom line: anyone with a Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D love should enjoy this game. Even a Half-life fan would enjoy it as a nice break from puzzles and epic scripted sequences. This game is all about the guns and shooting and it does it very well.
