TEST Evil Dead: The Game, waking up the dead is never a good idea

The franchise evil death is a cult among horror movie loverswith a first low-budget film directed by Sam Raimi in 1981, who did it again with a remake/Restart six years later, in a much more comical and even more gory tone. Two cult films that were treated to a very nice sequel, Evil Dead: Army of Darknesshas a Restart in 2013 (without Sam Raimi) and even a TV series on starz in 2015, Ash vs Evil Death† So much to say thatthere were a lot of fans waiting for Evil Dead: The Gamebut Boss Team games and Saber Interactive fail to pay tribute to the license by offering a good play†

The Survivor gameplay struggles to be fun.

Evil Dead: the game is a multiplayer game play asymmetrical, in line with Dead in daylight True Friday the 13th^e: The game† Four players embody survivorsunlike a fifth player who has the Kandar Demon and his followers. As explained in a long and comprehensive tutorial, the first must read the pages of the necromonicongrab a dagger and missing pages, banish creatures and finally protect the Book of the DeadWhile the Demon must kill survivors or destroy the necronomicon at the end of the game. Two opposing goals, for example play very different every time.

The games are set on a single map, which at least has the merit of being large, with areas inspired by the franchise (apart from the Restart, excluded from the game). A vast open area that must be explored as a team, on foot and even by car, to achieve the objectives as Survivor and especially to dig up loot, the characters start the game with nothing in their pockets. And it’s a bit of a race to find the best melee and ranged weapons at the start of the match, the resources are not much and it is also necessary to manage the ammunition, the soda cans that give PV, the matches to create zones of light and the amulets that provide a small shield. Rare chests are also present, making it possible to have loot more or less rare and above all vials to improve his character’s stats during the game, which is quickly needed to survive against the henchmen of the Kandar Demon† If you’re lucky enough to find players who listened during the tutorial, the game is going relatively well, but if the team falls apart, it’s certain deathespecially if a gauge of fear is present, climb at full speed when a character is alone or activate traps, blessed bread for the Kandar Demon who should just choose the one survivors one by one.

Generally, the play by Survivor struggles to be fun, attributed to a certain rigidity in the controls, bugs that cause items to bounce around in chests (which prevents them from being grabbed or seeing their stats), and a really awful camera in interiors. There remain the really enjoyable combat, especially in hand-to-hand combat, with bloody executions in the pure spirit of the franchise, even if the whole thing is often quite messy, rendering the action unreadable. Team play is important, with character classes focusing on melee action, ranged fire, or support, not to mention the presence of a special ability tied to the character class. Although it is essential to play with friends in survivors until Evil Dead: the gamegood, minor differences between classes can affect the play, the characters find the same weapons and have the same attacks. Another point that doesn’t help to make the action readable and the parts varied is the reuse of the characters. Yes, the franchise has had the same heroes and heroines for years, but ended up with four Ash otherwise in a house, with his emblematic blue shirt and brown pants more or less matched, good luck figuring out who’s who and who does what.

On the side of Kandar Demon, it’s a different story. The player who embodies the creature has escaped from the necronomicon at the start of the game, choose a class between the Ghost Charmerthe puppeteer and the war leadereach time with different attributes and monsters, even in absolute terms, not much changes other than summoning the boss, obvious from the movies.

A beautiful tribute to the license, the references are numerous and significant.

Here the player must collect energy orbs from the map to increase their power, level up and unlock skills such as owning a minion, car or Survivor scared, open portals to summon creatures, set traps, or embody a boss. In addition to possessions, the action here takes place in first person, with a fast ground-level camera, a hallmark of Sam Raimi† It’s pretty fun at first, the wink is fun, but the camera quickly gets erratic, with quick moves that require you to take twice to correctly position yourself in front of a trap to trigger it. And inside (because yes, the Kandar Demon does not stop on the landing), it is even worse, difficult to move through the houses without tension, it is better to open a gate at the entrance and let the henchmen do their thing. here again, despite three different character classes, the play generally stays the sameand if it’s fun chasing after survivorsattack them by opening portals under their noses, close chests with the Hand or so Ash minis or even terrify other players by running into them (which causes a screamer on their screens), after a few games, the feeling is already played the game…

However, Evil Dead: the game tries things to vary the pleasures, with in particular a skill tree specific to each character† survivors True demons† At the end of each game, experience is unlocked, increasing the character’s level and therefore giving the opportunity to improve passive skills to be more resistant or powerful, and some active powers are even gained after a pack of levels is achieved. Unfortunately this still does not vary the play† lacks depth in character skills to make them more unique as the levels go by† We also find solo missions, inspired by scenes from the movies and the series, very short, very flat and with a high level of difficulty, which is annoying, especially without the presence of checkpoints. A beautiful tribute to the license, the references are many and noticeable, but it’s pure padding with no real interest. And let’s not forget about the various technical problems… We already talked about objects that jump into place, but we also have to count on the cancellation of running games due to server problems, the inability to reassign certain keys of the keyboard to point (force us to play with the controller) or the need to be connected, even to play solo missions or against the AI: not very practical if the game says you have no internet connection, forcing you to leave and then reboot until the problem disappears without explanation. Fortunately there is cross play integral to find games online quickly.

Finally, let’s talk about graphics and sound. Evil Dead: The Game is pretty nice, for a multiplayer game† We are far from the graphical slack, the modeling of the characters is correct, taking care of the very recognizable faces. Also note the generally nice textures, with nice light and shadow effects, which add greatly to the gruesome atmosphere of the game, which can be very stressful at times. On the audio side we find the music of the films, which remains discreet, but it is to hear the voices of the characters better, and there, the developers had the good idea to call on the actors and actresses of the movies and the series including Bruce Campbell embodies the different versions ofAsh Williamsi.e. you will hear it very often in the game, but no one will complain at this point.

Evil Dead: The Game will have disappointed us as much as it frustrated us. It’s clear that Boss Team games had ideas for his multiplayer game on play asymmetrical, which is more inspired by Friday the 13th^e: The game that of Dead in daylight† But here it is, even though the references to the franchise created by Sam Raimi are numerous and fairly well integrated (with an emphasis on horror rather than humor), the play is messy and repetitive too quickly, which quickly gives you the impression that you’re walking around in circles, doing the same things over and over with every game. The different classes of characters fail to vary the delights, the action is as chaotic as it is enjoyable, and it is imperative to play with friends as Survivor† stay tuned Kandar Demonwhich gives a slightly more positive feelingbut Evil Dead: the game is typically the kind of game that can be played once a month for a short evening between friends and girlfriends before being put aside, and most likely end up on the shelves of “chez Prixbas” where prices are low.

you can find Evil Dead: the game for €39.99 at fnacat the house of micromania† Culture or on Amazon†

Clint008 Writer – Tester