The Evil Within (PC, PS3/4, Xbox/360)

[Tain]

I'm on Chapter 4. This is blowing me away so far, holy shit.

If this truly is anything like RE4 though, I'm sure I'll enjoy it immensely. Reviews seem to be all over the maps these days. Most of the major releases have about a 75% average because video game critics can't seem to come to a consensus on any game lately.

It's slower-paced than RE4, uses more Dead Space style controls, gives you way less ammo, and seems significantly tougher overall, but with the weapon sway, the way the enemies move, all the cool environmental stuff, the packed little arena areas... it definitely has a lot of RE4 in it.

From what I've played I can't imagine giving this a mediocre review, but I haven't read any of the reviews of this game.

[AaronChance]

Is the PC version a pile of shit though? Do I have to suffer forced letterboxing?

[Tain]

The PC version is a bad release by PC gaming standards, definitely. Forced aspect ratio (changing it zooms your perspective in) and while it's easy to get running at a very concrete 30fps, it's seemingly very tough to get running at a truly smooth 60fps. I mostly play it at 4k 30fps on my 980 via DSR lol. It doesn't support true fullscreen so I can't use gsync, and the default fake fullscreen bordered window mode can also cause weird stuttering even when the game is running at 60. It seems like the 4 GB VRAM recommendations were a little overblown, but at high enough resolutions the game can apparently eat up something approaching 3GB of VRAM.

And yet, despite all of this, it's the best version of the game by miles (PS4 and X1 legit struggle to keep 30fps at 1080p and 900p respectively), so I'll still suggest it. It's kinda like a slightly better version of the Dark Souls port: it really should be better, but it's not breakingly buggy unless you want to run it at 60fps.

[Pineapple]

Really fun game so far, but I agree that the super zoomed in camera is a total fucking bummer. They decided it was better to see the tiny details instead of the whole picture, but that's my only gripe so far (besides the dialogue lol).

[SamuraiMoogle]

I just stabbed that chainsaw prick in the back in Ch 3. 40 pt achieve unlocked. Nice.

[magnifiedplaid]

I'm up to Chapter 5 right now. It's a pretty damn solid game, but they go a bit overboard with the one hit deaths. It feels like I'm spending half my time dying and looking at the loading screen, and that really breaks the immersion for me. In short, it's no Resident Evil 4, but it's not as bad as Blue Stinger or Carrier either.

[Tain]

There are definitely some one hit deaths, but I kinda love it. Your health matters most of the time, and the enemies that can slaughter you immediately are the ones you'd expect. Maybe the puzzles will get nastier, I'm probably earlier in Chapter 5.

[magnifiedplaid]

I'm about half way through Chapter 6 now, and I'm starting to really enjoy this. It still seems a bit more difficult that I expected it to be, but I'm coming to find that is really part of this game's charm.

The boss of Chapter 5 made me laugh, because if you've played any Resident Evil game it's immediately obvious what strategy you have to use. However, the game is so unforgiving with it's one hit deaths that I still found myself screwing up, and dying, several times. I think it's a testament to the quality of the game though, that despite my hundreds (this amount of deaths is probably hyperbole) of deaths, I haven't felt the need to quit out of rage yet.

Also, there is nothing quite as satisfactory as using only one bullet and a match to take down five enemies at once. Lighting a barrel on fire, and then kicking it around at all the enemies is another fun way to dispose of them. haha.

[SamuraiMoogle]

I played this a lot tonight and it's really grown on me. The atmosphere is really fantastic. The stealth stuff has really dropped off since the first couple of chapters and I've just been blasting the shit outta fuckers now that my handgun is leveled up. Exploding a zombies skull and watching the blood splatter all over walls and other zombies is super satisfying .The camera doesn't bother me anymore now that I've spent more time playing. I just made it through 9 or 10 chapters and hope to finish this weekend. This is a really great resident evil game. It's a shame more people won't play it because it doesn't share the same name.

[Yoshi]

This is a really great resident evil game. It's a shame more people won't play it because it doesn't share the same name.

I think it takes everyone a while to realize that it's the developer that matters and not the series, which is unfortunate since it's an important distinction.