The humble origins of the Ash Williams universe began with a movie in 1981, featuring a group of friends on a vacation. Their isolated cabin lures them into a trap, revealing a ‘Book of the Dead’. It spells trouble for the group, as their curiosity leads them to play a tape that unleashes demons. No one can trust anyone. The trees are suddenly the enemy. The ridiculous gory horror vibe of the film created a dedicated following for Evil Dead. This spawned a series of movies. The expanded universe now includes a TV series, and most recently a videogame.
‘Evil Dead: The Game’ released this May for the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. It is a survival horror videogame in the third-person style, with both co-operative and PvP game modes. At the outset, I was surprised at how well-made the game looked, better than it needs to, because I assumed that the Evil Dead has only a tiny cult following. Sticking true to the series, it features multiple playable characters in different classes, all from the Ash Williams universe. In fact, there are multiple playable versions of Ash, based on his strengths in the movies. It is quite fun playing as a character you have watched on screen, fully armed with his signature chainsaw, and a loud shotgun!
The single-player mode features several story missions based on the series, mostly involving collecting items of importance while bashing up Deadites and avoiding trees. Once the initial shine of the story wears off, I realised that the gameplay is a bit frustrating. Endless Deadites spawn in my path. I find it hard to dodge them, my weapons are slow to attack, and they weigh me down. The trees whack me when I am least expecting it. I hardly see the benefits of my XP even after several runs of failing the same mission. ‘Evil Dead’ is therefore best played in the multiplayer version of the game, where you can also choose to play as a Kandarian Demon, if you wish. There is also whole team with different class benefits who carry you through the punishing map. There are vehicles to drive here—and cleaning Deadites in the road is quite satisfying. Even then, in my dozen hours of gameplay,
I can hardly count the number of times the mission finished, let alone watching my team win it. I can see that this would be fun with friends though, because we can all get a good laugh out of the experience. So, it’s worth checking out ‘Evil Dead: The Game’, it could be kinda groovy!