The Evil Within Review (Dfactor)
Before the actual review.
The devs finally added framerate cap and letterboxing options. Enabling console doesn't prevent you from getting achievements anymore. While these options should've been there from the beginning it's nice to see that these issues have been addressed.
Actual review.
I'll keep it semi-short, I don't want it to be bloated. Story spoiler-free.
Short introductions.
The Evil Within (TEW) is an oldschool survivor horror game with semi-tanky controls. If you'd ask me which games does TEW remind me of then I'd say Silent Hill, Resident Evil 4, Outlast and Alone in the Dark. If you ever played any Silent Hill title then you'll notice the familiar dirty, rust and blood covered dilapidated locations, scary mental hospital with beds and wheelchairs all over the place. The game is medium paced, which is good and bad at the same time. It's good because it doesn't get boring. it's bad because it decreases the horror factor. Puzzles are there, but really scarce and simple.
The visuals.
The game has some really nice lighting, reflections, shaders, particles, post processing effects and dynamic shadows. Depth of field and film grain make a really good combo here and add a lot to the experience. The locations are well made, a lot of attention to the detail, even though there are some cheap visual solutions (like 2D rock textures on water). The polygon count on most of the objects is medium, texture quality is mediocre at best. The worst textures I've noticed were the beginning (the city) and mostly rubble, no notable HD textures. City destruction is nicely looking, but is entirely scripted. Most of the animations are smooth, jerky ones have been fixed in the first patch.
The enemy types.
This contains some partial spoilers. Throughout the game you'll be greeted with different types of zombies (Haunted) and their sub-mutations. Just like in Resident Evil 4 you stumble upon angry villagers. Some of them will attack you with bare hands, some of them use torches, knives, hammers, sickles, molotovs and even crossbow, guns and sniper rifles. Notable mutations: invisible zombies (barely visible, fully visible on hit), two headed monsters with a surprise (AlterEgo). There are also mini-bosses and actual bosses.
The combat, mechanics and AI.
Many people mentioned that it's like RE4 on steroids. Semi-tanky controls, you can't dodge or counter. If you get hit you're usually given time to recover and fall back. Unless it's an instakill attack. Oh yes, there are plenty of enemies in this game that can instantly kill you. But unlike in RE4 you can actually move while you aim and now you have the option to use stealth.
You can sprint (uses stamina), run and duckwalk. You can't shoot while you're duckwalking as it's meant for stealth kills (you sneak up behind enemies) and trap disarms. There are two types of traps: hidden ones that can be simply disarmed by holding the button (bear traps, string triggered dynamite, etc) and more obvious, but dangerous sticky bombs. You disarm them by pressing the button at the right time, otherwise it explodes. Each trap gives you crafting material. Check weapons sections for more about that. If you accidentally activate a trap then you can expect: small to high health loss or instant death.
The game has RPG elements. Throughout the game you'll find green gel (that is used to upgrade various physical abilities and even weapon effects), ammo, materials, collectibles and matches. There's health regeneration. If your health drops below ~20HP then you'll be unable to sprint, but you're able to recover it back just by standing. Your melee consists of slapping and kicking enemies. Useful for finishing off or pushing away zombie type enemies, but generally not recommended for more serious enemies. Stamina bar enables you to sprint. The default sprint time is around 3 seconds and when stamina is below 30% you slow down to usual speed. If it reaches 0 then you stop completely and catch your breath (completely vulnerable).
You can upgrade your ammo capacity and weapon efficiency (damage, fire rate, reload times, accuracy, clip size, etc).
Stealth is a nice addition (works only on Haunted). You sneak behind the enemies and instantly kill them. This works in following scenarios: a) the enemy is standing in one place; b) the enemy is patrolling back and forth. You have a lantern which is your own source of light. It really helps to see where are you going, makes you clearly see the traps but also gives away your position to the enemies. Making loud noises (slam open a door) also can catch enemy attention. Knowing that you can use glass bottles to either distract them or stun them by throwing the bottle against their head (after that you're given time to stealth kill them). Stealth killing is a nice way to conserve ammo and if you have the chance to do so - go for it. If you get spotted then you can deal with them the usual way.
Enemy attack patterns are worth a mention. Most simple ones are punches (or swings with the weapons), kicks and dash attacks. Dash attacks of melee zombies are quite dangerous as they go into berserk mode and try to hit at least 3 times. Crossbow/gun enemies usually take time to aim at you and then shoot. Sniper rifle enemies hide behind cover and then take their time to shoot at you. Shooting a zombie in the knee usually makes them fall. All of the enemies are weak against fire. if you have matches then you can burn corpses (REmake style), hay or even downed still alive enemies (hence shooting in the knee). Igniting something will set on fire all nearby enemies. You'll stumble upon plenty of corpses throughout the game, some of them can be used to ignite other enemies. Some of them can become alive depending on your actions (so it may be wise to burn some before you pick up an item or activate a mechanism).
The enemy AI is also mediocre and could've been better. As soon as they spot you they'll start moving or running towards you. Detection sometimes fails and they spot you when you're behind them, crouching. Sometimes they might get stuck, run in circles or simply charge at you and end up running against the wall. I've also seen some weird patrol patterns. Like I mentioned before loud noises alert them (be it doors or you stepping in a trap). To avoid direct confrontation you can either hide in closets or below beds and tables or use the traps against them. Most notable con is the big amount of enemy invulnerability frames (you shoot, but they don't react / take no damage).
In some chapters you'll stumble upon your partner. Shouldn't be too problematic as you can heal your partner by just standing next to 'im and holding a button. No need to share your ammo either.
Weapons.
Semi-traditional Resident Evil layout. Handgun (revolver), shotgun, crossbow (with different bolts), sniper rifle, magnum, rocket launcher. Most are upgradable, crossbow is worth a special mention. You find different bolt types for it, after that you can craft them from materials gathered from the levels and traps. Bolt types: harpoon, proximity explosives, flashbang, electric shock, freeze and DLC ones. Useful in combination with other weapons.
Due to character limit I'll have to wrap it up aka tl;dr version.
TEW offers a nice oldschool survivor horror experience, the locations and atmosphere are nice, but it's far from perfect either. Some chapters are more action centered and the game becomes zombie slaying action game (like Resident Evil 4 Chapter 5 island parts). I don't think that arena style battles (especially against enemies with weapons) was a good idea either. There are cheap deaths, especially in escape sequences, but in the end even with all its flaws I would recommend the game as it's entertaining and fun to play.
I couldn't fit in the full review, so ask me questions in the comments.