TOKYO: Shinji Mikami is a master of survival horror within the gaming industry. He is the god of suspense and bizarre surroundings, turning everyday locations into nightmarish horror houses for us to survive in. As I find myself in the 12th chapter of The Evil Within, I’m wondering where this director’s future will take him. Is he happy to make The Evil Within another one-off title like Shadows of the Damned and Vanquish? Or shall he make The Evil Within 2 or return to save Capcom’s awful streak with Resident Evil 7?
I’m interested to see what people thought of Shinji Mikami’s latest title and whether they loved it or felt themselves longing for the days of Resident Evil 4!
The Evil Within was a difficult title for me to get into. I almost felt like I had to play it by the time that I got around to giving it a try. There was so much hype surrounding it and Mikami is a man who is renowned for knowing how to make a great game! But the opening chapters were naturally unforgiving.
I had just come from Halo 2 Anniversary Edition (mind = blown) and was finally getting around to The Evil Within as my next game (strange leap). Naturally, I ran in guns blazing and regretted it so much for the next few chapters. But once you adapt to its formulas and conserve the hell out of your ammo, I found myself really enjoying this game and getting pretty freaked out at times. It’s actually just that long-haired spider woman. Can’t handle her.
The story isn’t exactly great and it’s loaded with so many horror and Mikami cliches. But the combat is very satisfying, and nailing a head shot and seeing your enemies brains go all over the place can give you a real sense of satisfaction. But would I choose it over a return to form for the Resident Evil franchise? I don’t know…it’s a tough one.
I’m all for new IPs. The industry desperately needs them, and you really can become jaded by these constant remakes, reboots, HD remasters and uninspired sequels (Assassin’s Creed!!!). But The Evil Within saw Mikami enjoying himself and scaring his audience again with some insane imagination. Maybe it would be best for him to stick with it? But he desperately needs a new protagonist if he does. Castellanos is so boring. Just like so many protagonists in video games. Deep voice and no personality.
I feel that with some alterations, Mikami can actually make The Evil Within 2 work, he just needs a far superior storyline and to not go back to all of the locations we saw in this game. You know; mansion, hospital, graveyard etc. Resident Evil definitely needs saving, that’s for sure. Capcom are handling it terribly and if Resident Evil 7 was to repeat the shortcomings of Resident Evil 6 we’d have regretted asking for it.
