The Evil Within 2 review no one asked for
What makes a truly exceptional game?
Spoilers for The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2 ahead
It’s officially spooky month which means darker nights, cosier blankets and bloodier media. Personally, I love a good mix of cosy and spooky vibes during Autumn but October is all about the horror for me. That’s why it feels like the perfect time to finally share my experience of playing the survival horror game The Evil Within 2. A game that I initially thought I was going to hate has ended up being one of my favourite games ever, so much so that I launched into an instant replay. Now, you can’t really talk about the sequel to anything without at least mentioning the original…
The Evil Within Review
For this review to make sense, there are some key points you need to know from the first Evil Within game. It was released in October 2014 and is a survival horror game developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda. Fans have continuously drawn comparisons between The Evil Within and various horror and non-horror games before it, most notably the Resident Evil series.
In my opinion, the plot of The Evil Within isn’t anything super compelling. You play as Sebastian Castellanos - a character who ticks every box for the stereotypical depressed deadbeat detective. He’s got a drinking problem, a traumatic past and a shoot-first-ask-questions-later attitude. The latter is a big help to you as a player, though, because it’s Sebastian’s quick trigger finger that keeps him alive after he’s pulled into the nightmare world created by Ruben Victoriano - otherwise known as the main protagonist, Ruvik.Â
The Evil Within mostly takes place inside Beacon Mental Hospital in Krimson City but after you’ve tumbled down the rabbit hole of STEM - a machine that links Ruvik’s brain to other subjects so that he can relive his memories with his sister before she died. As you make your way through the game, you encounter horrific creatures and intense fights to survive, all while discovering clues that uncover Sebastian’s and Ruvik’s pasts respectively.Â
It’s a pretty standard plot but the horror elements, overall gameplay and unsettling atmosphere have made it a cult favourite in the horror gaming community. It spurred three DLCs - The Assignment, The Consequence and The Executioner - as well as a follow-up game that would be released 3 years later and inspire this very review you’re reading now, 10 years after the original game's release.
The Evil Within 2 Review
The Evil Within 2 is set 3 years after the events of the first with new character designs and voice actors. Despite his stone-faced reaction to everything in the first game, Sebastian is dealing with the combined trauma of everything that happened at Beacon and the haunting guilt of his daughter’s (Lily) death. It turns out that Lily has been hidden inside STEM this entire time, acting as the core that keeps the world from falling apart. Now, she’s missing and Sebastian must re-enter STEM to stabilise the world and rescue Lily.
Even though the game is technically shorter than its predecessor, due to its open-world gameplay, numerous collectables and multiple protagonists, it has the potential to be a lot longer. So, to stop this review from feeling like the chaotic world of STEM, I’m going to break it down by the main villains and some noteworthy enemies.
Stefano Valentini
Ever wondered what it would look like if the Hannibal TV show had a baby with Supernatural? It would look like Stefano Valentini. Stefano is the first villain we are introduced to in The Evil Within 2. Before STEM, Stefano was a war photographer who was left permanently scarred when he got too close to one of his subjects on the field. He lost an eye but gained a passion for capturing people in their moment of death. In the real world, he did this by murdering fashion models and displaying them grotesquely in his art. After he tricks his way past the psych test to enter STEM, he develops the ability to take this further by literally trapping his victims in their final moments.
When I first loaded up The Evil Within 2, I was disappointed by how different it felt from the original, but Stefano’s artistic crimes were the beginning of my changing opinion. He dominates the first section of the game as you make your way through the fictional town of Union and collect clues that reveal Stefano has captured Lily. This section of the game is very reminiscent of my experience playing The Last of Us since the (semi) open world gave you much to explore. However, it wasn’t The Evil Within I knew. From the Resident Evil force-feeding scene to the Fallout-style dialogue options, the tortured soul of the original game was missing. But, Stefano kept pulling me back into the horror and I enjoyed how his character and the mechanisms of avoiding and fighting him mirrored Ruvik from the original game.
Anima
Before we move on to the next big bad in The Evil Within 2, there is one enemy from the first part of the game that deserves an honourable mention. Anima is a nightmarish entity right out of a J-horror. Her appearance in the game is what gave The Evil Within ties to its predecessor, especially since every encounter with her she sings an eerie version of Clair de Lune. Twilight fans might swoon at the sound but it makes Evil Within players shake in their boots. Anima cannot be defeated and it’s an instant soul-sucking death if she catches you.
The best part about Anima’s character is that she is a completely optional part of the game. If you don’t enter a specific house in Union, the diner outside the theatre later on or the waste station further into the game, it’s possible to complete the game without ever encountering her. More importantly, she is one of the main ways you gain insight into just how badly Beacon fucked up Sebastian. Anima’s a physical manifestation of trauma and gives us a chance to be swallowed in the unsettling Beacon Hospital atmosphere once again.
Father Theodore
Father Theodore was probably my least favourite protagonist in The Evil Within 2, but his villainous reign did provide some of my favourite moments from the game (but we’ll get to that in the next lot of honourable enemy mentions). On my first playthrough, Father Theodore felt like he was just randomly thrown into the story. Replaying the game made me realise that that was kind of my bad. There were countless documents I’d either missed or skimmed read that referred to his cult and his connection to Stefano/STEM. But, however I felt about his character, his section of the game was hands down the most terrifying.Â
In Father Theodore’s medieval, hellish torture chamber, you are entirely at the mercy of the enemies skulking in the dark and Sebastian’s own fractured mind. The part of the game that still gives me chills is treading through what seems like an endless room of blood in total darkness, even your torch barely revealing the path before you. For someone like me who enjoys using stealth when games allow, it was extremely tense trying to take down enemies quietly when you can’t predict where they are going to jump out from.
Father Theodore’s arc was mostly all about Sebastian’s guilt for not being able to protect Lily. Even when Sebastian does finally manage to move past this, Theodore digs deeper into Sebastian’s mind to pull out some of the many horrors plaguing him - horrors that succeeded in completely winning me over and solidifying The Evil Within 2 as one of my favourite games.
OG Villians
There’s not really much to say about this part of the game other than it was fucking awesome. The Evil Within 1 is cinematic, gritty and terrifying but The Evil Within 2 is entertaining, well thought out and a real treat for the fans. The flashbacks to Beacon Hospital are used sparingly but effectively and make the boss fights with The Sadist, The Keeper and Laura from the original game feel like a reunion with old friends…if those old friends wanted to kill you.
Overall experience
The Evil Within 2 is a lot goofier compared to the first one and I mean this in every way - from the controls to the Fallout/Skyrim-esque dialogue scenes. But, I’m not saying this is a bad thing. It’s definitely a lot less serious than the first game but that actually made the scary moments even scarier. While I personally didn’t have any issues, I’ve read that a lot of players experienced glitches and game-breaking bugs that ranged from funny to frustrating. There were times when the controls didn’t work the way they were meant to but nothing that ruined my overall experience.
One of the biggest differences from the original game is the option to upgrade your weapons and skills system in a way that actually benefitted you in the game. I especially enjoyed the little party Tatiana threw for me once I fully upgraded everything. The gun range is another thing that I wasn’t initially sure about but had so much fun playing that, by the end, I didn’t care how out of place it felt. A lot of these random additions actually make The Evil Within 2 more replayable than the first game. And, after all, is that not the sign of a truly exceptional game?
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