The Evil Within 2 Initial Impressions - The First 2 hours

Hello monster fans! As I’m currently playing through The Evil Within 2 I thought I would share my initial thoughts on the game after about 2 hours in, and the couple of monsters I’ve come across so far….

For those who are not familiar, The Evil Within 2 is a direct sequel to the original game released in 2014 which was met with mixed reception but I personally had a lot of time for.

So on with the horror show…(Minor spoilers ahead)

Well to sum it up so far - I’m enjoying it. The game throws you into it's bizarre world fairly quickly with the emotional task to rescue your daughter by entering a town reminiscent of Silent Hill named Union.

Graphically the game has been….mixed. Overall the graphics are much better than the original game however the characters have different levels of detail, often within the same cutscene which highlights the issue further. But overall nothing to get too concerned over.

The game eases you into the terror to come with through gameplay tutorials such as sneaking around cover and using bottles to distract enemies - I felt like I was playing The Last of Us for a moment. The protagonist Sebastian has deliberately clunky controls and movement, combined with similar shooting mechanics to that of Resident Evil 4. The game clearly leans on its survival horror brethren for inspiration which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Now onto the juicy bit - the monsters! The first I came across was “The Guardian” - a giggling monstrosity with multiple heads that is made from the mutilated remains of murdered women. How lovely. Also she (?) chases you with a massive saw blade arm with the want to turn you into an ex-cop kebab. Welcome to The Evil Within 2.

The other monster I have had to experience is the rank and file “zombie” creature - The Lost. They demonstrate the behaviour you would expect of feral type zombies, reacting to sight but especially sound. I am not afraid to admit the first time I was spotted in the streets of Union, I met a very quick and gruesome death.

Overall I’m really enjoying The Evil Within 2 so far but it is still early days. It’s not been scary per se but the tension is definitely there. I’m also looking forward to finding out what monsters lie ahead!

Keep an eye for the next part!

Matt