The Evil Within 2: 6 Ways To Make It 2017's Best Horror Game

To surpass Resident Evil 7 and Outlast 2, The Evil Within 2 cannot just be an ordinary world.

The Evil Within 2
Bethesda

Tango Gameworks' The Evil Within was a good game. It delivered innovative demons, felt like a Japanese horror situated within a European locale, there were a variety of sickening and uniquely designed puzzles, and the balance between action and horror was well maintained during its 15 hour campaign.

Yet, after being plugged as a return to true survival horror - a pleasantly playable nightmare on par with the beloved Resident Evil 4 - Shinji Mikami's STEM-fuelled world disappointed. This is because, despite having many positives, the game suffered from a lot of antiquated shortcomings; issues which made the game resemble spoilt food.

Therefore, it was only natural that many people would flee in disgust and never return.

Still, the franchise has gained a loyal following, and a solid and creative foundation exists. With the characters and tone already established, The Evil Within 2 can improve and provide a polish which will put the franchise on a pedestal and have its competition enviously gawking up at it, an evolution similar to that of the substandard Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, to the award-winning Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

6. Let Us Pick Up And Use The Chainsaw/More Melee Weapons

The Evil Within 2
Tango Gameworks

Survival horror is designed to make players feel underprepared, frustrated, and inadequate. Commonly, this is achieved by the developers providing minimum amounts of ammo, or, with Outlast, no weapons at all.

The Evil Within succeeded in making players groan and whine by wasting away all their ammo on one zombie, only to be greeted with a single bullet or match in return. In addition to scarce ammo, Sebastian had embarrassing amounts of stamina and strength, meaning the hard-faced detective had to frequently rely on stealth and environmental traps.

Traps included motion sensor bombs, levers which made ceilings rain with spikes, and explosive gas ignitable by gunshots. This made players concentrate, and it is a feature which should undoubtedly return.

However, in addition, Sebastian should be able to pick up and use a larger variety of items used to decorate the environment.

Finding axes and flaming torches provided moments of relief, and breakable weapons are a huge part of survival horror. But, not being able to pick up a shovel or a garden fork - and tossing away a perfectly useable chainsaw - was immersion-breaking, ruining the game's consistency.

Rather than enemies solely dropping ammo, matches or syringes, The Evil Within 2 should instead have their left behind weapons be useable, one-hit, breakable means of defense.

Contributor

Callum Smith hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.