Although not shining for originality, in fact, the title produced by Bethesda and developed by the team of Shinji Mikami, Tango Gameworks, has managed to satisfy most of the public thanks to an adventure characterized by a sliding story and a gameplay that has been able to combine well the various elements drawn from the main exponents of the
genre. More than enough situation – along with a fair amount of sales – to ensure the arrival of a sequel where the father of Resident Evil is present only in the role of producer.
Often called The Evil Within 2, the game promises to build on the basis of the predecessor a slightly less linear and “free” survival experience. But will he succeed?
CONTORTED WORLDS
Difficult to talk about the plot of The Evil Within 2 without anticipating anything to those who have not played the predecessor: the events are in fact closely related, and chronologically the game arises a few years after the end of the first chapter. Everything is still around STEM and its capabilities: thanks to this device, Mobius has created Union,
a place that reflects the typical quiet small-town American town, populating it with people from the real world. To keep everything together and ensure stability, the pure and uncontaminated mind of a girl is chosen, Lily, the daughter of Detective Castellanos, who himself believed dead in a fire. But the child disappears and that world left without its
Core begins to collapse:in the general chaos, some individuals with strong psychopathic tendencies find their way to distort the world and give vent to their murderous instincts. And it is at this point that come into play a Sebastian Castellanos visibly worn out, destroyed by past events, and the gamer, dragged into a “mutant” nightmare made of fighting, madness and violence.
From the very beginning, in fact, The Evil Within 2 proposes an unhealthy and decadent atmosphere, with scenarios, above all interior, dirty and corroded, where at every step it seems almost to be able to smell the mold, rust and rotten.
Not to mention the annoying, oppressive feeling of nauseating that is felt in front of slaughtered bodies that can be crossed along the way, and at times to say the least brutal, in a series of situations that seem to wink at the first Silent Hill, but above all the last Resident Evil 7 and Outlast II, but with less scary situations, apart from the appearance of some bosses.
Exploring Union or the distorting and shocking places born of the perverse mind of its inhabitants and of some really undesirable characters like Stephen and Theodore, does not just mean finding useful clues on the plot,
items to upgrade weapons and Sebastian, or complete secondary missions , but also to literally immerse yourself in the psyche of these individuals, as often these places are the very emanation of their troubles. Even creatures, especially the most powerful ones from which we just have to run away, at least in the early hours of play, largely reflect the suffering generated by their madness.
THE DANGER BEHIND EVERY CORNER
In general, the gameplay of The Evil Within 2 does not differ much from that of its predecessor: from this point of view do not expect distortions of sorts, but simple tweaks and some small addition to vary for example the attack or defense Sebastian, and maybe make them more fluid and functional. The level design is different: in the game there are still linear sections and points of no return,
but there are also large open areas that can be freely explored,to visit any previously neglected areas. The idea of the developers is to give a little ‘breathing to the players not to oppress them too much with the horror elements and push them to discover more details about the plot through the search for files and completion of secondary missions.
Some of these exploit, inter alia, a new gadget available to Sebastian, a communicator that detects voices from the past and points of resonance that tell the personal stories of other victims, and serve as a guide to certain goals.
