The Evil Within Review - Psycho Babble

[Ragsnstitches]

And again no one said anything about the made up moronic system requirements

Anyways... bad, I really was hoping it would turn out better. If there is a deal soon in my country, I hope to still try it out.

This is the PS4 version.

I really dont see how that changes what I said... at all.

Just saying what Jim played it on. The information on its requirements is free online.

But this isn't a review pieced together from external sources (that's not what reviews do after all). The scope of this review is focused on the game as it is presented on the PS4. If you want a review that acknowledges the downsides of the PC version, seek a PC centric review.

However, therein lies an issue, as apparently there are no PC reviews... which looks remarkably suspicious, and pretty damnable when you consider how it's getting panned by user reviews.

This brief update over at Destructoid implies a deliberate effort on the part of Bethesda to suppress a PC centric review:

http://www.destructoid.com/where-s-our-review-of-the-evil-within--282467.phtml

"Over the past week or so, Bethesda has been fairly sparing with giving out copies. A number of my peers were unable to procure the PC version, and in other cases (ours included), any version at all."

This is why you don't pre-order folks.

Maybe so.
However...
One does not need to play a game to know that these here:
* i7 or an equivalent with four plus core processor
* 4 GB RAM
* (For Recommended) GeForce GTX 670 or equivalent with 4GBs of VRAM ...

Are made up Bullshit.

The rest of your post is very interesting though. It IS odd .

Yes very odd.

I still disagree about Jim needing to make that point, even if I agree that those requirements are bull. Heck, the Minimum is bull... you still demand an i7? Fuck off with that nonsense.

It's an issue that needs to be addressed, but the only people who need to hear it are PC gamers. Considering that the bulk of the reviews seem to be the PS4 version, that's a problem in and of itself. There are 24 professional PS4 reviews on Metacritic (score average of 76) and only 12 Xb1 reviews (score average of 84) ... and no PC. Shady shit.

Hey Jimothy? Can we get a Jimquisition on this? Both the hardware malarkey and the restriction on PC reviews are becoming a trend and it sucks major ass.

EDIT:

From what I've heard from people who played the pre-release versions of the game, I'm actually surprised it's getting as positive a response as it has. Sounds like it still has all of those problems they were complaining about, but they're not constantly and endlessly dragging down the entire game through repetition. Too bad I wasn't really interested in it in the first place, though, because the fact that it still does have all of those little annoyances does nothing to sway me toward wanting to buy it.

EDIT: Derped the quote.

At the moment the reviews on Metacritic are leaning more positive on consoles, but there are plenty of mixed reactions there too. User reviews are the typical binary responses of "its the best thing ever" to "this shit is literally Hitler".

I can't justify a cost of ?60... it's too much for what appears to be well below expectations. Still, I want to experience the world of Evil Within, and at least try out what Mikami thinks is "survival horror" even if it is obscured by archaic design.

I'll wait for a few price drops and then pick it up in a sale down the road. Somehow I doubt Mikami will be getting a series out of this.

 

[Irick]

I want to respect this game, so much.
I need to play it eventually. I need to sit down and actually play it... can't though, Bethesda are on my shitlst right now.

It's gotten me angry a few times, but I want to see what he is going for. Locking the framerate to 30FPS always gets me in a tiff. I'm okay with games trying the old mechanics out again, but as you mentioned it seems like they don't control well...

But arrrgg, that could just symbolize the feeling of helplessness in a horror situation! I can't really... critisize the controls without playing.

Mmmph...

Jim, I'm inclined to agree with you, but I was biased against it before, so I don't know how well I can trust myself without getting some taste of the experience first hand.

Either way, I think you encapsolated your experience of the game quite well.

I'm still really sore that they took an iDtech engine and then decided to make a purposefully janky, low framerate game out of it. It nearly seems like an intentional slap to John Carmack... Which, given their current legal battles, i wouldn't disbelieve it ;3

 

[shrekfan246]

Maybe so.
However...
One does not need to play a game to know that these here:
* i7 or an equivalent with four plus core processor
* 4 GB RAM
* (For Recommended) GeForce GTX 670 or equivalent with 4GBs of VRAM ...

Are made up Bullshit.

The point is that, being a review of the game that is not on the PC, the requirements for the PC version of the game bear no relevance to anything Jim is saying. So there's no reason for him to bring it up. If this were an op-ed piece, a Jimquisition, or a review of the PC version, then sure. But it's not.

EDIT: Derped the quote.

This is not the first time this has happened. Look at CoD Ghosts, Wolfenstein TNO, Watch Dogs...
Only truly beautiful games (like Metro or Crysis 3 and BF4) actually dont lie about their requirements... and surprisingly, devs that actually PUSH graphics dont lie about them...

No one has talked about this. It has gone long enough. Someone should start to. PS4 version review be damned. IMO it bears relevance to the game either way.

Yes, I know that...

But the subject of inflated system requirements and/or really poorly optimized PC ports is not something that needs to be brought up in a review for a console version of a game. It's a topic for -

Otherwise, I do agree mate. I want a Jimquisition on this shit.

- a Jimquisition.

It's not relevant to the review because it provides no useful information for people who are reading the review in the interest of purchasing the console version of the game. It's not useful, informative, or entertaining to the reader, so there's no reason for it to be present. And again, if it were a review for the PC version of the game then by all means, I'd love for the terrible optimization to be brought up, because that's relevant to my interests as somebody who prefers to game on PC. But a review is only supposed to be about what the person has experienced first-hand.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Not surprised! Survival horror never really evolved. Once you remove the helplessness in the game it stops being survival and becomes action horror. Makes me question the amount of actual involvement Mikami had in this game.

That actually sounds pretty run of the mill for Mikami; when you get down to it, the man wasn't all that great at horror. Sure, the RE games could be tense at times and do the occasional jump scare, but those aren't the same things as horror. Mikami was at his best when he dropped all pretense of horror and went for relentless action. RE4 is the best game of the series solely because of its well paced action set-pieces married to great level design and Vanquish was my favorite shooter of last gen due to its incredible, nail-biting encounters, creative boss design, fun weapons, and unique design choices. Mikami's calling was for action games, not horror. Even as far back as the first RE you could see that as while it was horror at first the games increasingly encouraged just getting rid of enemies due to getting more powerful weapons and plentiful ammo. Trying to go back to horror at this point for Mikami was never going to end well.

 

[RaikuFA]

I believe a lot of people didn't get review copies either. Kinda sad when you think about it.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Hey, Jim...us "last gen" people still exist too. This game is apparently released on such archaic consoles too!

Anyhoo, i wholeheartedly agree with the clichèd monster design. Thats what my first negative impression was based on, when i first saw the game pics. Will some horror game developers hire me please? I got some fucked up drawings and imagary that i want to teach these children about!

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Oops double post. Sorry! Blame my phone.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Ever since they started advertising this game and showing teasers i just could not get excited at all. Just looked samey and cliched designs. Loved Alien Isolation, but when when looking at The Evil Within, just looks to familiar. I dont know, anyway will pick it up when its cheaper - just dont think its worth a day one purchase.

 

[Michster]

This game...

Good art-direction(mostly), but the framerate and grainfilter are pretty annoying. WHY does it have that weird aspect-ratio? It's god-damn annoying trying to navigate when all this space on my tv is ignored. Don't feed me that "cinematic experience" BS, Mikami.


Controls are just plain shit. Stamina-meter that runs out in seconds, poor aiming, overall movement feels awkward.




I'd pick RE4's control scheme any day of the week instead of this.

 

[Fsyco]

Is this note leaving tactic a common one? It seems bizarre to me that publishers would actually tell you how to play the game once you've bought it (rather than in the previews or after we realise the game is crap).

It's not "common", per se, but it has happened before. I remember hearing about how Sony sent guides on how to review Lair properly after that game got a universal thrashing for being difficult to play (due to the fact it controlled exclusively with the SIXAXIS, and as we all know by now, motion controls are bollocks).

 

[Pink Gregory]

Not surprised! Survival horror never really evolved. Once you remove the helplessness in the game it stops being survival and becomes action horror. Makes me question the amount of actual involvement Mikami had in this game.

That actually sounds pretty run of the mill for Mikami; when you get down to it, the man wasn't all that great at horror. Sure, the RE games could be tense at times and do the occasional jump scare, but those aren't the same things as horror. Mikami was at his best when he dropped all pretense of horror and went for relentless action. RE4 is the best game of the series solely because of its well paced action set-pieces married to great level design and Vanquish was my favorite shooter of last gen due to its incredible, nail-biting encounters, creative boss design, fun weapons, and unique design choices. Mikami's calling was for action games, not horror. Even as far back as the first RE you could see that as while it was horror at first the games increasingly encouraged just getting rid of enemies due to getting more powerful weapons and plentiful ammo. Trying to go back to horror at this point for Mikami was never going to end well.

Strange how people talked up his involvement when the RE series is probably furthest, chronologically, from his later work.

It's like people see Resident Evil and think that's all he ever did. And hell Resident Evil isn't really all that *good* outside it's niche.

 

[antigodoflife]

This saddens and disappoints me, here I am thinking that this is the best horror game since Resident Evil 4, in which I loved every last thing about (excluding graphics which is passable) and no one else seems to think it's good. Now why I'm fine with people not liking the game but the amount of people not liking makes me worry it'll be another 10 years before I get to play another game like this.

See, I love horror in my games but I just couldn't get into Alien: Isolation, Outlast, Daylight, Slender, Among The Sleep, Amnesiac (besides the invisible water monster which was awesome), but I feel that's all that's going to exist for a while. /Sad Rant

 

[Kitsune Hunter]

I don't get why everyone is dissing the game, apart from Jim, most reviews have been quite positive, you guys need to stop being so pessimistic all the time, it's the reason why I don't post very often anymore. Also this kind of raises the question of "Hate/10" in reviews, I mean the final score maybe average at worst, but when the actual full review paints it as the worst pile of shite to come out in awhile, especially with headlines like "Psycho Babble", it doesn't surprise me when certain gamers get up in arms and are looking to draw blood

 

[Mangue Surfer]

Looks like my tipe of game. Honestly, I have not seen any video and was thinking it was just a hide/walking in the dark simulator. Because, now, these are synonymous of true horror.

It's a good surprise.

 

[awdrifter]

Wow, I'm surprised this game got bad reviews form both Jim and Susan (over at Joystiq). I think these veteran game producers like Mikami have been stuck in the past, we need some new horror game entries. Too bad I don't have an WiiU, the Fatal Frame 5 looks like a solid new horror game.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I don't get why everyone is dissing the game, apart from Jim, most reviews have been quite positive, you guys need to stop being so pessimistic all the time, it's the reason why I don't post very often anymore. Also this kind of raises the question of "Hate/10" in reviews, I mean the final score maybe average at worst, but when the actual full review paints it as the worst pile of shite to come out in awhile, especially with headlines like "Psycho Babble", it doesn't surprise me when certain gamers get up in arms and are looking to draw blood

Just because a minority of reviews is negative it doesn't surprise you that certain gamers are looking to draw blood?! It's actually hard to find negative reviews for this game, and the ones you do find have the comments sections flooded with hate posts against the reviewer. You check out the comments on Susan Arendt's review on Joystiq? Holy moly...

And how can everyone be dissing the game when the majority of reviews is very possitive? Unless ofcourse something isn't adding up.

 

[weirdee]

I think the review is fair. The game is enjoyable, but it's also frustrating as hell for various poorly thought out design reasons. I'll probably pick it up when it's on sale.

I don't think the review is actually mostly negative, I just think that the bad parts of the game are just more glaring when held up with the good parts.

 

[Artina89]

I was planning on waiting for it to come down in price before getting it for the PS4, as £50 is a bit steep for a game in my book, but I am willing to give it a shot, I think I would be heavily disappointed if I pay full price for the game, but I might be pleasantly surprised if I am not too focused on the price tag.