The Evil Within 2: PS4 Review

The Evil Within 2: PS4 Review

Developed by Tango
Released by Bethesda
Platform: PS4

The latest nightmare to haunt your dreams and hitting the gaming world is Bethesda's generally terrifying, but occasionally familiar The Evil Within 2.

Three years after the events at Beacon Mental Hospital in The Evil Within, you get to play Sebastian Castellanos again in the third person horror thriller.

Having left the Krimson City Police Department to uncover the truth about the mysterious organization Mobius, Sebastian's consumed by dreams about the death of his daughter Lily in a house fire. 

When he discovers her death was faked, things take a turn for the macabre....

The Evil Within 2 is disturbingly brought to life - it's almost like a psychological Saw movie writ dangerously large on the screen, with some extra jolts thrown in for HD fun.

Ticking off many of the horror genre tropes and jump scares, the game's got an edge that's as compulsive as it is gut-wrenchingly tense. From a cat who gives you gel to level up to mirrors that take you places you'd never expect, the game's desire is to freak you out and in several places, it does this well.

However, it's in the execution of the game that it really stands out.

Some balletic and kinetic horrifying imagery aside, the art within and the scenes that play out are generally the stuff of nightmares. It sounds cliched to say it, and while the reliance on typical horror scares may put some off, The Evil Within 2 really is a game to play alone.

There are elements of Resident Evil mixed in with Silent Hill pepper a lot of this and there are perhaps influences of the short lived PT mixed in as well.

Maybe the dialogue seems a little corny in places and there are hints that perhaps it goes for hoary rote cliches, but to be honest, it's hard to put The Evil Within 2 down. From its stealth skulking to its moments of body horror, there's more than enough to keep fans of this particular gaming genre more than happy.

Tense and scary with a story and mystery that's anchored in the personal, The Evil Within 2 has more success than its first outing - namely because, like it or not, you're involved from beginning to end.