The Evil Within 2

The Evil Within 2 combines a great open world with some fun gameplay and smart design to really improve upon the original game.

The Evil Within 2 gives you more options to play your way in a much bigger survival-horror playground than the original. Although a disjointed plot and weak protagonist make it slow to get started, being pursued through an intriguingly bizarre world by plentiful and disturbing monsters kept my palms sweaty and my heart in my throat thanks to a strict adherence to the most important survival horror rule: you should always be on the back foot.

The Evil Within 2 is a great addition to the survival horror genre. It improves in a lot of aspects from its predecessor, but also makes some sacrifices that made the original so memorable from a horror standpoint. The Evil Within 2 is a damn good game and any fan of the genre should give it a shot.

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Dead by dawn

The Evil Within 2 isn't without flaws, but it manages to deliver a great blend of horror and action.

The open road to hell.

Coming into its release, it would have been easy to give The Evil Within 2 a pass based on the reception of the previous game, and I don't necessarily blame those that might have been let down by The Evil Within for not entirely living up to its lofty expectations. And yet, though The Evil Within 2 might be a different flavor of survival horror this time around, I hope that those willing to give it a chance will be more likely to enjoy its taste.

There’s a certain genius to madness. That’s especially true for crafting superb survival horror that balances the irrational and bizarre with careful consideration. The Evil Within, which put players in a psychopath’s mind-made reality, was one such example. There was tension-inducing enemy encounters amid erratic pacing. Calling it a diamond in the rough is more than apt, but after a few years of polishing and cutting, the gem takes the form of a sequel. The Evil Within 2 is more refined with its changes in more ways than one – for better and for worse.

This horror sequel is a clear improvement over the original, but is it good enough to stand with the genre's best? Here is our review:

Some monstrously lovely set pieces are let down by a bit too much padding, some broken mechanics, and an overwrought story.

The same could be said for the game itself, honestly. The Evil Within 2 represents one of the starkest and most astounding turnarounds from a debut title to its sequel that I’ve ever witnessed. It’s a brilliant horror game, one that understands when to ratchet up tension and when to pull back and let you collect yourself. If the first game was a failed attempt to capture the spirit of Shinji Mikami’s classic Resident Evil 4, the sequel is a successful attempt at something much better: finding a chilling, exhilarating voice of its own.