The Evil Within 2 Review – Captivating, memorable horror

One of my favourite survival horror games in recent memory is The Evil Within. Released three years ago, it featured horrifying monsters and effective mind games to create a memorable and exciting experience that has stayed with me years later. To say that I was excited for a sequel is an understatement, so I’m pleased that The Evil Within 2 refines its craft even further, throwing some engaging open world elements into the mix as well. What follows is a tense, harrowing experience that had me captivated right up until its final moments.

After the first couple of chapters whet your horror appetite in The Evil Within 2, you’re all of a sudden given the option of side quests and exploration, something pretty unexpected for a genre that so often leads you down very specific pathways for structured jump scares. Opening the world up in this way is weird at first, but quite quickly inspired me to search out as many side quests as possible to make the most out of the experience.

Finding a diary left in a spooky house leads to quite the haunting scenario, a radio signal has you gathering much needed ammunition from fallen soldiers and a stationary train carriage has some tantalizing loot if you can survive the monsters inside it. Not only do these moments feel vital to gathering much-needed supplies, but the small stories within the moments are unique and interesting by themselves, whether they’re linked to the main storyline or not.

I found myself trying to track them all down in a very moreish fashion, excited to see what mysteries I could uncover and finding unique moments that, if I’d chosen to, could have been ignored completely.

What doesn’t always work as well in an open world environment is the inevitable back-tracking that some missions require. The underground tunnel system for example looks a bit samey after a while, and having to trudge through them doesn’t always feel organic or very interesting, Still, it doesn’t create too much of an issue and is made worthwhile by the eventual rewards; I guess some location diversity would have been nice.

My palms were sweating almost at all times, even during more subtle moments like a slight knocking sound could be heard as I crept through an air vent. The paranoia that is created by the style and rhythm of the horror is intense, leaving me at times exhausted from the video game emotional trauma I was putting myself through.

Scavenging for supplies is part of the experience; collecting weapon parts to make minor upgrades to your guns and that all-important green gel that gives you more vitality, endurance, attack power or stealth. Making decisions here that match your play-style is key, and as your supplies are quite limited, you must choose wisely. Enemies are the best source for the elusive gel, so while you might prefer to avoid combat to save your ammunition, getting kills is the best way to increase your stats, so it’s a fine balancing act that will have you weighing up most battles that can’t be completed using a stealthy approach.

I preferred a more violent and aggressive approach during my play, so it helps that the combat feels really crunchy in the best way, with heads exploding, limbs flying off and squishy sound effects highlighting the gore and destruction. It’s hard not to appreciate how grotesque it all is, even when I missed my shots half the time because of the pressure of a nasty foe lumbering towards me trying to eat my face off. The erratic movements of enemies and the way they change their patterns frequently means that battles never feel truly easy, and getting overrun in the early game is regular occurrence.

Characters you come across in The Evil Within 2 are pretty much cardboard cut-outs of horror stereotypes, with clichéd dialogue and not much emotion behind them. The initial main villain was particularly campy and even Sebastian himself got on my nerves after a while, as he was constantly surprised and shocked by the crazy things that were happening around him. Come on dude, I played the first game; you’ve been through equally weird shit before this. The goal of finding his daughter Lily at least kept the structure of the story pretty clear throughout, with themes of loss and forgiveness holding it together pretty effectively and helping you sympathize with the man.