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the Evil Within official website.
Chapter One/Tutorial walkthrough.
Actual full gameplay is best seen beginning with Chapter Two
Survival Horror; Mikami-directed.
I just picked up this game over the weekend on a Black Friday sale at the PS Store. It's been out for a little while now, but I initially avoided it due to the third person camera-style (which I tend to dislike). Anyone playing?
Technical note/TTP: I eventually set the screen grain down to 0. It defaults at 100, which I think is weird. At 0 the blacks are very black and graphics actually look worthy of being corralled in the Next Gen category. On Full Default grain, there's a lot of white shading in the blacks, distant objects are blurred and sometimes completely obscured.
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Arrrggghhh!!!
I'm enjoying this game, so far...however, there are issues:
Third Person camera: The dude is always IN THE WAY! Sometimes I almost want to reach out and shove him aside. I catch myself constantly, as I get more and more into the game, literally craning my neck trying to see around 'my' back!
Letterbox: Rather than being mostly unnoticeable the more you play, the letterbox (along with the Detective WHO'S ALWAYS IN MY WAY!) is a virtual obstruction: I catch myself literally trying to see above and below it, like it was two planks of wood; better, it's like walking around in a slit-visor helmet.
Controls: I've tried various sensitivities, all to no avail. It is positively infuriating to run circles, or dance left-right-left around an object in an effort to pick it up.
Inconsistent character actions (when compared with cut-scene actions): What?!? Really?!? Why in the hell couldn't I do that a few minutes ago? Really? In a cut-scene I can do flying double-kicks while shooting foes to both flanks!!??!! Meanwhile, in actual gameplay, I apparently can't sprint more than 30 meters without becoming so winded that I collapse to my knees in exhaustion.
Odd default actions: Wait: I can instantly incinerate foes using a torch, so why in the hell would the default action be a kick, which allows the enemy to get his licks in, instead of torching the MoFo? What? A single smack by a foe takes an entire syringe's-worth of life?
Inconsistent enemy actions: A flash-bang blinds the enemy and allows me to actually sneak up on him, even after he saw me, and knife him in the head? But literally blowing an enemy's head half off--eyes gone!-- and he can still chase me down???
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I really wanted to like this game, but, three chapters in and I'm quits. The problem is not necessarily the huge black letterbox bars top and bottom, and more the third person perspective: the detective simply takes up too much of the available screen. Imagine taking your TV and taping paper over a third of the screen, and then further taping paper over a third of the remaining screen.
I can't see below or above myself when climbing ladders (which IRL, it's pretty damned easy to look down or up); I run into door jambs all the time because the character is on the left of the screen, but my center-of-focus is, well, in the center; I run around objects all the time because they are slightly hidden, and disappear when I get far enough away to see them; the same when I'm right on top of them.
Rather than challenging, the whole control setup and FOV is frustrating.
Four Stars for Potential; One Star for Execution.
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So...while I wait three days for Dragon Age to download, I thought I'd give this game another chance.
I wish we could rename this thread: "So, you wanna play The Evil Within? Get ready to get full-up intimate with game frustration, yet find yourself drawn to continuing: it's like not being able to look away from the two-cup video..."
I made it to Chapter 6, so it is definitely playable; and it's still a lot of fun, just frustrating. After a little while (and after playing in a completely dark room, which helps to dispel the letterbox effect), you learn to control around the giant protagonist eating a third of the screen--but that's OK (if you enjoy being frustrated), because the inconsistent and illogical sudden control malfunctions (they're not malfunctions, they're design 'features'), like suddenly I can't run; suddenly I go from crouched and hidden to standing in full view; suddenly I go from standing-to with the shotgun to standing-to with nothing and the empty pistol the next available activated item...
So, Chapter 6: "Go ahead, buddy; I'll cover you from this rooftop with this awesome sniper rifle I just picked up!"
"OK!"
Proceed to run out and get shot at by numerous, high-ground positioned snipers; and no cover fire from my partner, who just f%@#ing stands there looking 'helpful'.
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O! My Buttery Jesus! I Finally made it to the end of Chapter 10! I spent an hour trying to beat the boss only to discover that it was more a waiting game and a lot of running in circles to get past it (Laura the Spider Queen).
The animations in this game are awesome the first couple times, but like in Thief 4, they get on your nerves after awhile. I've died so many times waiting for an animation to cycle: often times, you learn, playing this game, that the only way to get through it is to die a few times so you can learn the timings, including the animations! I've literally been writing down the number of seconds it takes so I can time a thing the next go-round.
And yet...I keep playing. That has to say something for the game; it says nothing about me, because I've certainly quit games for good in the past.
So...while I wait three days for Dragon Age to download, I thought I'd give this game another chance.
I wish we could rename this thread: "So, you wanna play The Evil Within? Get ready to get full-up intimate with game frustration, yet find yourself drawn to continuing: it's like not being able to look away from the two-cup video..."
I'm wondering - how did (do) you feel about Resident Evil (notably RE 1-3 and CV)?