The Evil Within 2 is a follow up to the legendary Shinji Mikami's 2014 game, The Evil Within, and is once again a worthy survival horror experience that ups the ante across the board. As far as sequels go, The Evil Within 2 manages to improve upon the originals solid roots, making the different areas you traverse much larger and more open-ended, as well as adding new gameplay elements that add to the overall experience.
In The Evil Within 2, you once again play as the ex-detective Sebastian Castellanos. The game is set after the events of the first game, and Sebastian is kidnapped by a mysterious organisation named Mobius, and has to once again enter the milky white depths of another virtual reality experiment. Whilst the opening of the game does share some similarities to its predecessor, what is immediately apparent about the sequel is the raising of the stakes in both the narrative of the game and its survivor horror elements. Sebastian is set after the task of saving his daughter Lily who was previously believed to have perished in a fire, something the first game only touched upon.
The games opening jumps straight into nightmare fuel territory, with Sebastian being forced to face his demons regarding the supposed death of his daughter. It is established that Mobius is using Lily as the 'Core' of their new STEM mindsharing experience, but they have lost contact with her as well as the agents inside the simulation. It's now up to Sebastian to solve the mystery and go back inside the hellish virtual world.
The Evil Within 2 borrows many elements from other survivor horror games from the Resident Evil and Dead Space franchises, and it seems to mirror the tone of both of them as well. It improves upon the premise of the first game with elegance, as Sebastian is now a trained fighter adapt in killing the creepy-crawlies in the world around him. Whilst the original game relied more on survival horror tropes, the sequel delves more into the action-horror vibe with some of its segments.
One of the stand out elements of the title is its new location, a small rural town which makes the encounters you have with the enemies in the game much more interesting, getting rid of the claustrophobic setting of the first game. The levels in the game are open and fairly sprawling, adding a nice degree of variety whilst also making some segments feel a little too aimless. However, the game always succeeds in immersing you into the experience, with an excellent atmosphere to boot. There are so many areas to explore, small empty cottages and houses containing different collectables, ammo and healthkits, and sometimes even small side-missions.
The combat in the game has also been updated, with a more open philosophy to how enemy encounters play out. Stealth is also an option, with the player throwing items to distract the enemies, and then eliminating them in a swift takedown move. This element of the game felt poorly conceived compared to the run and gun approach that it seems to encourage, but it is nevertheless an option.
The games combat and crafting system is vastly improved, with your own attributes being able to be upgraded through the green gel that you collect from dead enemies. There are a huge amount of upgrades available to the players disposable, not all unlockable over the course of one play-through however, but the differences in gameplay seemed apparent enough. A small annoyance in the games mission design however say certain side missions being locked out when continuing some of the main story missions, cutting me out of some of the more interesting paths that I was taking.
As the game continues into its latter half, the openness begins to lack, and the levels slowly begin to decrease in size whilst stay the same in terms of density. This was disappointing, but it was still entertaining. The enemy variety also seemed to be lacking, especially when it came to separating specific enemy types. Escaping and dodging an enemies wrath also seemed to be difficult, the game instead encouraging you to pick off each monster as fast as possible.
Also one of the more interesting aspects of the games reveal and marketing, the milky white landscapes and enemies are disappointingly not seen nearly enough. It was annoying to discover this as it certainly seemed to be one of the more interesting aspects of the sequel.
Overall, the Evil Within 2 manages to create a solid survival horror/survival action game, that mostly uses its setting to its advantage, whilst providing the player with a unique enough narrative and gameplay experience. Whilst the narrative isn't mindblowing, its twists and turns are interesting enough to engage the player and add moments of surprise. On a mechanical level, the game also succeeds with solid shooting mechanics and a decent stealth system.
Final Verdict: 81/100
+ Excellent survival horror aspects
+ Solid shooting mechanics
+Refreshing open world elements
+Unique story
- Let down by weaker second half