The Evil Within 2 is a third-person survival horror video game developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game was released worldwide in October 2017, and is the sequel to the 2014 video game The Evil Within. The game received generally positive reviews; like its predecessor, it received praise for its visuals, atmosphere, and combat but received some criticism for its story and characters.
Video The Evil Within 2
Plot
Three years after the events at Beacon Mental Hospital, Sebastian Castellanos has left the Krimson City Police Department to uncover the truth about the mysterious organization MOBIUS but continues to be haunted by his experiences at Beacon, the disappearance of his wife Myra, and the death of his daughter Lily in a house fire. Drowning his sorrows in a bar, Sebastian is then approached by former partner and MOBIUS agent Juli Kidman, who reveals to him that Lily is still alive since MOBIUS faked her death, though MOBIUS now needs Sebastian's help in saving her. Sebastian is then brought to a secret MOBIUS facility against his will where he meets the Administrator, who further explains that Lily is being used as the Core for a new STEM system to simulate an idyllic town called Union. However, some time ago, Mobius lost contact with Lily and their agents inside Union, and they no longer have any control over the STEM. Sebastian reluctantly agrees to help MOBIUS so that he has a chance to save Lily and enters the STEM.
Upon entering Union, Sebastian quickly finds that the town has been turned into a nightmare realm where all of the inhabitants have either been killed or mutated into bloodthirsty monsters. In addition, Sebastian witnesses a mysterious photographer with supernatural powers hunting down and murdering MOBIUS operatives. He manages to meet Liam O'Neal, a surviving MOBIUS technician who helps Sebastian track Lily's whereabouts. As Sebastian follows her trail, he realizes that Lily has been kidnapped by the photographer, who reveals himself as Stefano Valentini, a serial killer who had managed to infiltrate Union. Another surviving MOBIUS operative, Yukiko Hoffman, explains that Stefano's status as a psychopath gives him a measure of control over the STEM, granting him his powers. Sebastian continues to track down Stefano, and encounters Sykes, another member of MOBIUS along the way, who Sebastian helps to investigate a possible escape from STEM.
Stefano reveals that he had originally kidnapped Lily under orders from another party, but decided to keep her for himself to exploit her powers as the Core. Sebastian kills Stefano, but before he can rescue Lily, Myra appears, having gained powers of her own while in STEM. Taking Lily away, Myra transports Sebastian to a fortress-esque area, which he must find a way to escape from.
Sebastian is then approached by Father Theodore Wallace, who attempts to convince Sebastian to join him to seize Lily from Myra since Stefano betrayed him. Sebastian, mistrustful of Theodore, refuses and is banished to a forest outside Union where he meets with MOBIUS operative Esmeralda Torres. Upon reaching her safe house, Torres reveals that she, Kidman, Myra, and Theodore, who is revealed to have been a high ranking MOBIUS operative, had conspired to break Lily out of STEM and destroy MOBIUS from within via their chip implants. However, the plan went awry when Theodore became mentally unstable and decided to kidnap Lily for himself.
Deciding that finding Theodore is their best course of action, Sebastian attempts to contact O'Neal to find a new lead but gets no response. He eventually discovers that the Marrow has been breached by Father Theodore's followers. Upon reaching Hoffman's safe house, Sebastian learns that O'Neal had left to access a restricted area within the Marrow, telling Hoffman to meet him there. Suspicious, Sebastian follows Hoffman's trail and finds out that O'Neal had been corrupted by Theodore. Sebastian then fights O'Neal and is forced to kill him, though O'Neal manages to free himself of Theodore's influence and tells them how to find him with his dying breath. Sebastian and Esmeralda assault Theodore's realm, but the attack fails when Theodore disables Sebastian by using his own guilt and self doubt against him, causing him to accidentally shoot Esmeralda. Sebastian is visited by a vision of Myra, who assures him that what happened to Lily wasn't his fault and that he should focus on saving her.
When Sebastian wakes up, he finds out that Esmeralda had sacrificed herself to get him to safety. Hoffman tells him that Theodore has erected his stronghold in the center of Union. Both Sebastian and Hoffman assault Theodore's stronghold, but Hoffman is killed after helping Sebastian breach the stronghold. Sebastian then fights his way to and defeats Theodore, who is killed by Myra. However, Myra tells Sebastian to leave the STEM and leave her and Lily alone. Confused, Sebastian follows Myra to a recreation of their home.
Sebastian finally confronts Myra, whose desire to protect Lily has warped her into a monster determined to keep Lily locked in the STEM for her own safety. He reluctantly battles Myra, who transforms into a giant creature called 'The Matriarch'. Sebastian defeats Myra knocking her back to her senses. Sebastian prepares to take Lily out of STEM, but Myra refuses to follow, explaining that as part of the plan to destroy MOBIUS, she must take Lily's place as the Core of STEM to transmit the implant-destroying signal. Meanwhile, in the real world, Kidman is ordered by the Administrator to eliminate Sebastian. She disobeys him and helps Sebastian and Lily escape the STEM while Myra enacts her plan, killing the Administrator and all MOBIUS operatives. Now free from MOBIUS, Sebastian, Lily, and Kidman leave the facility.
In a post-credits scene, Sebastian parts ways with Kidman and goes off to live a new life with Lily. Back at the now abandoned MOBIUS facility, the STEM system mysteriously reactivates itself, indicating that Myra has gained control of the system as its core.
Maps The Evil Within 2
Gameplay
Similar to its predecessor, the game is a survival horror game. Played from a third-person perspective, the player assumes control of detective Sebastian Castellanos, who must descend into the world of Union to rescue his daughter, Lily. There are three difficulty modes, namely Casual, which producer Shinji Mikami recommends, Survival, and Nightmare, the latter setting being recommended for players who enjoyed the difficulty curve in the previous game. In The Evil Within 2, maps are larger and there are multiple ways for players to advance in a level. The player is also given an item known as "The Communicator", which helps to highlight the objectives, resources, and enemies featured in the game's world. It will also reveal Resonance points, which provides hints regarding what had happened in the world of Union. Players can explore the map area freely to complete side objectives and scout for resources, which are scarce. Players can engage in direct confrontation with enemies using weapons like guns, or use stealth to prevent themselves from being noticed or sneak behind enemies to kill them silently.
The game also features a crafting system, in which players can gather resources to craft new items such as ammo. Players can craft items at any time in the game, but doing so in a workbench requires less crafting materials. A customization system is also present. The Green Gel, introduced in the first game, can be used to customize Sebestian's abilities, which are divided into five different trees: health, stealth, combat, recovery and athleticism. Weapons can also be customized using the weapon parts players collected through exploring Union.
Development
Development for The Evil Within 2 began in March 2015, after the team at Tango Gameworks wrapped up the development of the DLC for the first game. Director of the first game, Shinji Mikami, stepped down and became the game's producer and supervised the game's development. The director role was assigned to John Johanas, described by Mikami as a person with "a lot of talent". The story of the game was penned by Syoji Ishimine and Trent Haaga. One of their focuses was to make the game's story easier for players to comprehend and understand, a response to the criticism of the first game where the game's plot gets too complicated by the end. Shifting realities, a feature in the first game, also returns in the sequel but according to Johanas, "there's a bit more logic to when and how it happens". The 2.5:1 aspect ratio featured in the first game was removed due to the mixed response this design choice had received upon its release, even though the team liked it. While the game will retain the gore-horror featured dominantly in the original game, the writing team also put effort into creating the game's psychological horror aspect, as the game tells a story that is more personal.
In August 2016, Pete Hines, an executive from publisher Bethesda Softworks, revealed that The Evil Within had sold enough copies to warrant a sequel, though he declined to comment on whether a new game is in development. The game was first leaked in March 2017, in which a job description for Psycho Break 2, the game's Japanese title, was leaked. An advertisement for the game was prematurely posted on Reddit, several hours prior to the game's official announcement at Bethesda's Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 press conference.
Unlike its predecessor, which ran on id Software's id Tech 5 engine, The Evil Within 2 runs on the STEM engine, an offshoot of id Tech that was custom developed by Tango Gameworks for the game.
Reception
The Evil Within 2 received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.
Ray Porreca's score of 7/10 on Destructoid said it was "Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun."
Mollie L Patterson said on Electronic Gaming Monthly, "Though I never expected to ever see a sequel to The Evil Within, we've now gotten one, and I'm rather glad that we did. While The Evil Within 2 isn't without problems--and I'm not sure it's the kind of game I'll ever want to play through a second time--by the time the final credits rolled, I had legitimately enjoyed the adventure I'd just gone on, and the improvements that Tango Gameworks had tried to bring to the series.
Game Informer's Suriel Vazquez awarded the game a 7.75/10, stating that "The Evil Within 2 is a solid horror game that expands the scope of the series to extend out of the shadow of a titan in the horror genre, even if it sometimes leans heavily on borrowed ideas. Its progression and difficulty curve create a satisfying loop that repays resourcefulness and strategy, but its set pieces and structure don't build enough on the many ideas they borrow to make them feel new or interesting. The result is a ride that offers some fun thrills in the moment, but I don't think I'll lose too much sleep over these particular nightmares."
Paul Tamburro of Game Revolution awarded it 3.5 out of 5 stars stating that "The Evil Within 2 is a worthy sequel that makes a number of bold decisions. For those solely looking for the survival horror thrills of the first game, its spotlight upon combat will likely be a disappointment, as will its introduction of a dull open world. However, there's plenty tucked away in The Evil Within 2 that will appeal to both fans of the original and new players, with it presenting a mix of Mikami's best ideas and John Johanas' new direction. It's certainly not what I was expecting, but in a good way."
Alessandro Fillari's 8/10 score on GameSpot stated that "Though there's some occasional technical hiccups that result in some particularly frustrating moments and weird pacing issues, this horror sequel elevates the tense and impactful survival horror experience in ways that feel fresh and exciting. What this cerebral horror game does isn't totally new, but it rarely feels routine, and offers plenty of surprises. Coming in at a lengthy and surprisingly packed 15-hour campaign, the sequel does an admirable job of ratcheting up the tension and scares when it needs to, while also giving you the freedom to explore and proceed how you want. It's a tough thing to balance, but The Evil Within 2 does it remarkably well, and in a way that leaves a strong and lasting impression after its touching conclusion."
Lucas Sullivan from GamesRadar gave the game a score of 3.5 out of 5 stars saying that "Though it doesn't outdo its predecessor, The Evil Within 2 delivers another fun, challenging, tense horror headtrip that should delight fans of the first game."
Lucy O'Brien of IGN gave the game 8/10, concluding that "The Evil Within 2 is an intense and exhilarating survival horror experience."
80/100 was Joe Donnelly's score on PC Gamer and said it was "An intense and thrilling psychological survival horror sequel that improves on its forerunner in almost every way."
"The Evil Within 2 represents one of the starkest and most astounding turnarounds from a debut title to its sequel that I've ever witnessed. It's a brilliant horror game, one that understands when to ratchet up tension and when to pull back and let you collect yourself. If the first game was a failed attempt to capture the spirit of Shinji Mikami's classic Resident Evil 4, the sequel is a successful attempt at something much better: finding a chilling, exhilarating voice of its own," was Philip Kollar's conclusion on Polygon with a score of 9/10. The website later ranked the game 21st on their list of the 50 best games of 2017.
Accolades
The game came in second place each for "Best Publisher" with Bethesda Softworks and for "Best Horror Game" at the Global Game Awards 2017; and was nominated for "Best Action Game" in PC Gamer's 2017 Game of the Year Awards, and for "Best Action-Adventure Game" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards.
Notes
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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