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melmer

THE EVIL WITHIN: Slurms MacKenzie

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I agree with @twmac and @Mington. I came into this game open minded and just went along for the theme park ride of the first two chapters, but then Chapter 3 really changes up everything. It's a total paradigm shift and more reminiscent of Resident Evil 4. I spent like 2 and a half hours exploring Chapter 3. I like that I was able to stealth kill the boss too. I'm currently in Chapter 5 and I'm just playing a chapter or two a day. I like it a lot so far. It's both Silent Hill and Resident Evil together. Weird but it works.

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Well, whichever way you like your FOV or black bars, someone made a mod (well, a script command) that opens it up to customization:

 

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I haven't had a problem with either the black bars or field of view, I like them. Unlike the field of view in resident evil 6 which caused me to quit the game within an hour

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I rented it and thought it was basically the The Expendables of survival horror. All the tropes are here, but there's no understanding.

 

I really didn't enjoy it at all. Made it to chapter 7, and had to put it down. Resi 4 is one of the best games I've ever played. Love, love, love it. The Evil Within just feels rushed and awkward in comparison. I absolutely hate the Saw/Hostile meets Inception world building. 
 
That Tango thought it was a good idea to include a sloppy stealth system to the Resi 4 formula boggles my mind. I just did not enjoy the moment-to-moment play of game. In my limited play experience there weren't even any particularly memorable set-pieces. TEW is just a bunch of rehashed horror vignettes. The insta-death scenarios are tedious rather than stressful or exciting. 
 
Movement feels clumsy. Having to line up exactly to get through a window or to climb a ladder slows the game down. The presentation in general leaves a lot to be desired, which is especially grating considering there are giant black bars covering a decent chunk of the screen. It's the first game I can remember giving me motion-sickness in maybe a decade. It plays like a fat man running up a hill on the PS4. Jank-city all around. Glad I only rented it.

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Holy ****.

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-the-prepatch-evil-within-we-hope-you-will-never-play

 

Absolutely shocking. Even though day-one patches are standard, it's unbelievable that Bethesda let their new series ship in this condition.

 

Holy shit, that is absolutely wild. I bet there's a hell of a story behind this game. What a narrowly-avoided clusterfuck that is, except... Well, i've definitely known people who play games, but just never hook up their consoles to the internet.

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A few years ago I knew people who didn't hook up their consoles online (when the 360 still didn't come with integrated wireless), but since every console comes with wireless as a standard now, I don't think I personally know anyone who doesn't anymore. 

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I bet there's a hell of a story behind this game. 

The wi-fi on my PS4 is absolutely shocking. I wonder how many people will just run the game before the patches have finished downloading? I've done that with other games, Mordor is a recent example, though it ran fine without the patch.

 

There is an amazing story behind this game. It basically boils down to what the developers wanted and what Bethesda wanted. Arthur Gies was talking about it on a podcast the other day. I hope that story surfaces at some point.

 

I really wish Bethesda didn't make their internal studios use id-tech. Arkane Lyon is having to use it for Dishonored 2 because Bethesda doesn't want to pay for licencing fees.

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I thought these new 2.35:1 games just did it to be able to do a bunch of sweet graphics and still maintain 30fps. From what I've seen of this game, I would not be surprised if they came up with it towards the end of development – some of the maneuvering and combat seems hampered by the reduced vertical visibility. Maybe looking through promotional stuff could answer this.

 

Here's a screenshot from April last year:

tumblr_mlppwmZ3Vg1soa4pro1_1280_epic.jpg

... and here's from the released game, apparently:

the-evil-within-pc-1413471448-080.jpg

 

So from a quick googling, it looks like the cinematic aspect ratio wasn't part of the look of the game until relatively recently. Now that's what I call damning evidence. I don't know, it looks pretty cool but is too scary for me!!!

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One thing that bothers me about this wide screen format is that it is inviting the comparison to film  but there isn't much of a narrative or character development to support this style. I'm enjoying the game but the lack of story disappoints me a bit. I'm only half way so I could be wrong.

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In regards to the day one patch - this is not limited to Evil Within. I believe Wolfenstein had a pretty shocking day one patch - I was tempted to write a review for it with patch applied and one without.

 

That Eurogamer article serves to push what I feared was going to happen with this generation of consoles - that although both would drop the requirement for being connected online you'd still need to be connected online anyway.

 

Toblix - okay, this isn't the same but Borderlands changed its art direction relatively late in development. Although I still suspect that the changes were made because of the engine I am not going to go 'damning evidence!'

 

Dr. Proton, bummer you didn't like it. I still haven't got past Chapter 3 yet so I am going to reserve my judgement on this - I actually really like the stealth.

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I just noticed this has a season pass for 3 piece of DLC, playing as other characters? I assume it'll be the other two detectives, or at least the female detective. Is she's supposed to be your Wife? Fuck knows :) anyway, here's hoping they haven't left the story intentionally vague so you'll need the DLC to piece if all together.

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Chapters 9 and 10 of the game have be really good. It's all been good, but this has taken the tense/creepy/fucked up shit to the next level.

This game looks and sounds phenomenal which really elevates the experience. I'm not having much trouble in the enemy encounters after levelling up some choice skills (lvl 5 flame bolt baby), but I'm still sneaking around as it so damn ATMOSPHERIC

It's Friday night, I've been drinking

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Chapters 9 and 10 of the game have be really good. It's all been good, but this has taken the tense/creepy/fucked up shit to the next level.

This game looks and sounds phenomenal which really elevates the experience. I'm not having much trouble in the enemy encounters after levelling up some choice skills (lvl 5 flame bolt baby), but I'm still sneaking around as it so damn ATMOSPHERIC

It's Friday night, I've been drinking

 

I'm glad to hear this. I just started CH9 and I was wondering if or when the game would start getting "bad". I've enjoyed most of what I've played so far. This game is crazy, but in a good way!  B)

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Okay, I realise that, once again, I am a baby.

 

I am on chapter 4 right now and it took multiple attempts to get there simply because I get so freaked out by the atmosphere of the game.

 

Still loving it but I am going at a snail's pace. I actually pause the game and watched the horror films 'Sinister' and 'Oculus' as a means of calming down.

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I finished this yesterday, really really enjoyed it.

 

Weighed in at just under 20 hours, I didn't feel like there was any padding or that it was overly long. Even when the ending took longer then expected, i was perfectly happy playing it and never wished it would "end already" like so many other games. (I say this as i thought there was only 14 chapters, and expected the last chapter to be a set piece heavy boss encounter. When in actuality there are 15 full length chapters)

 

Art, lighting and sound design was stellar throughout. The letterbox aspect ratio really added to the experience for me, i constantly found myself creating filmic framing with the camera, i hope this becomes a bit of a trend in the more cinematic third person games. perhaps even letting people choose the aspect ratio/FOV in the upcoming uncharted 4 for example, would make it a lot more interesting on a second play through.

 

Also, about the length of the game. As the game was so atmospheric i really took my time looking around and moving slowly, opting to walk through the environments instead of running/sprinting.

 

The narrative is goofy as hell :) This game sure isn't pushing the medium forward. But it was thoroughly engrossing and kept me interested throughout. Don't expect everything to be explained by the credit roll. I did find the ending satisfying. I feel i was right in thinking that some of the story will be fleshed out with DLC, particularly the female detectives story who was mysterious though-out. Which i'm perfectly happy with and in fact i'll probably buy and play all of the story based DLC. Upon completing the game a gorgeous character model gallery opens up, each with there own little bit of blurb which was actually really helpful at filling in a few of the blanks and cementing some plot and character motivations that i weren't 100% sure on.

 

Edit: "The $20 pass includes access to three Evil Within expansions, the first of which flips the formula around, letting you play as The Keeper in a series of "sadistic" mission-based maps. Also included with the pass is a two-part story-driven expansion where you play as Juli Kidman, the mysterious partner of main character Sebastian Castellanos."

 

Can't say i care for the sadistic mission :-/ might be fun in practice what ever it is. But yeah, two part story mission with Kidman will be good!

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Okay, so I am now on Chapter 5, walking at a snails pace.

 

I would love to replay this in the vein of the Killer 7 and Shadow of the Collossus playthroughs we did earlier as I think each level has enough going on to be able to talk about them.

 

Chapter 3 and 4 were really strong and I am liking that Chapter 5 isn't creeping me out as much. I really love the way this game keeps trying to mix things up and play with your expectations - there is a scene where you have to look through three holes - not spoiling anything but bits like that add layers to the atmosphere.

Looking forward to playing some more tonight after some MP Monaco.

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I finished this game and have to say I enjoyed it as well, despite a lot of clear flaws in the gameplay and programming.  Personally I didn't find the 30 fps or extreme letterbox - I'm playing on PS4 but I hear that even the strongest rigs have issues maintaining 60 fps on PC and the command that removes the bars also zooms the screen - and I'm happy to say I saw few actual glitches, but a lot of the mechanics leave much to be desired.  Mington said he never had the "end already" feeling, which I have to admit I was feeling hardcore in the final two chapters.  It's one of those instances where I feel the audience is limited and the game isn't technically very good, but I still loved it.  The middle of this game, specifically chapters 4-10, were the strongest and probably could have been a better game if stripped to that (although the game gets much shorter, I know).  Came in taking me around 17 1/2 hours to complete and I had plenty of aggravating moments (especially chapters 11 and 14).  I think the most telling point is that I'm glad I played it, but unlike almost any other Mikami game, I don't intend on replaying it or touching the DLC.

 

Here's my review if interested, but only if you want a full analysis, not trying to fish for views: http://www.allgames.com/all-games-blog/item/10089-the-evil-within-review-ps4  

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I finished this yesterday, really really enjoyed it.

 

Weighed in at just under 20 hours, I didn't feel like there was any padding or that it was overly long. Even when the ending took longer then expected, i was perfectly happy playing it and never wished it would "end already" like so many other games. (I say this as i thought there was only 14 chapters, and expected the last chapter to be a set piece heavy boss encounter. When in actuality there are 15 full length chapters)

 

Art, lighting and sound design was stellar throughout. The letterbox aspect ratio really added to the experience for me, i constantly found myself creating filmic framing with the camera, i hope this becomes a bit of a trend in the more cinematic third person games. perhaps even letting people choose the aspect ratio/FOV in the upcoming uncharted 4 for example, would make it a lot more interesting on a second play through.

 

Also, about the length of the game. As the game was so atmospheric i really took my time looking around and moving slowly, opting to walk through the environments instead of running/sprinting.

 

The narrative is goofy as hell :) This game sure isn't pushing the medium forward. But it was thoroughly engrossing and kept me interested throughout. Don't expect everything to be explained by the credit roll. I did find the ending satisfying. I feel i was right in thinking that some of the story will be fleshed out with DLC, particularly the female detectives story who was mysterious though-out. Which i'm perfectly happy with and in fact i'll probably buy and play all of the story based DLC. Upon completing the game a gorgeous character model gallery opens up, each with there own little bit of blurb which was actually really helpful at filling in a few of the blanks and cementing some plot and character motivations that i weren't 100% sure on.

 

Edit: "The $20 pass includes access to three Evil Within expansions, the first of which flips the formula around, letting you play as The Keeper in a series of "sadistic" mission-based maps. Also included with the pass is a two-part story-driven expansion where you play as Juli Kidman, the mysterious partner of main character Sebastian Castellanos."

 

Can't say i care for the sadistic mission :-/ might be fun in practice what ever it is. But yeah, two part story mission with Kidman will be good!

I just finished the game and I'm pretty satisfied with the experience. I finished a little over 20 hours and I wanted more. I believe that the DLC does have to do with Kidman, or the female detective that was running around the game. I loved the atmosphere and sound design. It does feel like a retro game in a lot of ways, and I don't mean it in a bad way. I hope Mikami makes a sequel or at least more horror games.

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I finished this game and have to say I enjoyed it as well, despite a lot of clear flaws in the gameplay and programming.  Personally I didn't find the 30 fps or extreme letterbox - I'm playing on PS4 but I hear that even the strongest rigs have issues maintaining 60 fps on PC and the command that removes the bars also zooms the screen - and I'm happy to say I saw few actual glitches, but a lot of the mechanics leave much to be desired.  Mington said he never had the "end already" feeling, which I have to admit I was feeling hardcore in the final two chapters.  It's one of those instances where I feel the audience is limited and the game isn't technically very good, but I still loved it.  The middle of this game, specifically chapters 4-10, were the strongest and probably could have been a better game if stripped to that (although the game gets much shorter, I know).  Came in taking me around 17 1/2 hours to complete and I had plenty of aggravating moments (especially chapters 11 and 14).  I think the most telling point is that I'm glad I played it, but unlike almost any other Mikami game, I don't intend on replaying it or touching the DLC.

 

Here's my review if interested, but only if you want a full analysis, not trying to fish for views: http://www.allgames.com/all-games-blog/item/10089-the-evil-within-review-ps4  

I read your review and it's pretty fair. I felt like the game mechanics were a bit schizophrenic at times. For example, the game emphasizes stealth in the beginning but then completely abandons it in exchange for shooter action towards the end. I wasn't sure if I needed to conserve ammo (always conserve ammo in these games) or just go gun crazy and shoot all the things inventory be damned. Sometimes you had to clear out areas of all enemies in order to proceed forwards, sometimes you didn't. Other times there are invincible enemies that you aren't even supposed to kill, just slow them down enough for you to get away. Not to mention invisible enemies? Dear God! Why? I kind of accepted the crazy game design because the game is set in an asylum, but it could have been more consistent. The whole game has a very fragmented level design-- from gameplay mechanics to environments. I really enjoyed the whole haunted house full of traps design in the end. I saw a post on Twitter that said that this game was made by a Troll. It kind of is-- that's why I enjoyed it. I'm curious to see the DLC for the game. Nice review man!

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 I saw a post on Twitter that said that this game was made by a Troll. It kind of is-- that's why I enjoyed it. I'm curious to see the DLC for the game. Nice review man!

 

Thanks, I still hate scoring games, I feel that's the biggest pain.  We still maintain a "content review/tech review" approach so the score was tough to lock down for me.  The concept it was developed by a Troll is spot on and completely appropriate.  Anytime a good trap got me I would just smirk at the game as if I had just been outwitted, which was great.  Anyway like I said, I really enjoyed the game, but it was a single serving experience for me. 

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Oh man, just finished Chapter 9 and I found it deeply stressful.

 

Still loving it and can't wait to finish.

 

Spyder, I have a few bits of constructive criticism for the piece. Going to wait until I finish the game adn write my own review and then let you know (I'll PM you through the forum).

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Just grabbed this in the Steam sale and after hearing so much buzz about how poorly optimized it is, i'm surprised to find myself running it nearly maxed without any framerate drops. Trying to do the same in Wolfenstein: New Order brought my PC to a screeching halt. (I mean, and i don't feel like there's a significant visual disparity between these two IdTech games, Evil WIthin looks pretty great to me so far.)

Has Evil Within just been significantly optimized with post-release patches? I noticed there's now an option to disable the letterboxing.

Edit: Well i take that back. A little further into the game and there is just crazy, constant framerate hitching, and nothing i do seems to alleviate it.

Edit: Alright, so rebooting the game seems to set things right. Memory leak or something, i guess. Performance seems to steadily degrade with each level or save load... Oh, and it also just crashed.

Edit: So yeah, fuck this game. It is crashy as hell, seven CTD's before i've even got an hour on the in-game clock, and i don't see anywhere any solutions for people that have that issue, but other people definitely seem to have had that experience with it. Super bummed out, seems like my kind of game. Very glad i didn't jump on it at release for the full cost, i very nearly did.

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Sorry to hear about the problems - it worked really cleanly on Xbox One for me.

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