• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Evil Within - PAX East Demo Impressions

The demo for The Wonderful 101 wasn't great out of context, and I was very concerned about the finished game. That turned out to be one of the best games of last year.

That isn't to say I'm not slightly worried, but I'd like to think Mikami's earned the benefit of the doubt.
 

doofy102

Member
Seems you've already decided you're all in on this, so obviously any impressions that don't mesh with your own will make you rethink your position. That also seems to be the common theme in this thread. No need to make excuses for it.

It's not really an excuse, it's a fair point, having people in the room during a horror game does ruin the experience. I've raved to friends about Silent Hill 1, and then when they're in the room playing it with me for the first time, they never feel what they ought to feel playing it because they get distracted trying to make jokes to each other about what's going on in the game, and they look at me like they don't "get it" and the room gets sort of awkward, and I play it and it feels completely crappy compared to playing it alone.
 

Raptor

Member
Im not concerned at all, those damn headshots, gunplay feedback, enemy reactions, delicious gore, incredible unsettling atmosphere.

I was not convinced at all before but some gaffer linked a PS4 demo in the other thread and I finally saw the gunplay and headshots that I was convinced right there.

Impressions like this means nothing to me if they are about a portion of the game, i only care about how does it feel to shot, to kill zombies etc.
 
Im not concerned at all, those damn headshots, gunplay feedback, enemy reactions, delicious gore, incredible unsettling atmosphere.

I was not convinced at all before but some gaffer linked a PS4 demo in the other thread and I finally saw the gunplay and headshots that I was convinced right there.

Impressions like this means nothing to me if they are about a portion of the game, i only care about how does it feel to shot, to kill zombies etc.

Link to that footage? I've only seen the graphics that look like PS3/360 levels.
 

kodecraft

Member
People are too attached to the names behind a game, sure it's enough to get you interested in the project, but see the game for what it is.

At the end of the day, this.


Vanquish remains the best TPS out there. Very short on bonus content, though.

He didn't direct that one (neither did Suda, for that matter).

I agree with Vanquish being the best TPS available, followed by RE6 imo. Gameplay matters most to me and the control in Vanquish and RE6 is what I want my protagonist to have.

Real mobility and multiple melee options for the player.
 

Neff

Member
I'll just say that my first brief experience with a random level of RE4 didn't work at all when taken out of context, leaving what I remember as a distinctly bad impression, but the complete experience is arguably one of the best games ever made. I've never been so delighted to be wrong.

Not that I think Evil Within will even come close to RE4, but I'm certainly willing to give the game every chance to impress once it's in my hands.
 

doofy102

Member
A lot of the previews read pretty jaded to me.

What I don't like is the whole "in horror you should be defenceless!" rule they seem to treat as gospel. I mean, of course there's an element of this in all good horror games... but it's not that simple or clear-cut. It's especially grating/ironic because they're critiquing the work of a director who arguably pioneered videogame horror and did it with self-defence mechanics. Shooting zombies with a shotgun can still be scary. Maybe people have gradually forgotten that, but I feel Mikami will remind us again.
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
Yeah this is pretty fucking bad.

Walk around
Get attacked by Krauser
Fight him off
Find a key item
Repeat

Run through hallway
QTE to dodge Verdugo
Knock over liquid nitrogen canister
Shoot Verdugo
Repeat

I'm not saying the safe head guy is definitely going to be good, but I wouldn't put to much stock in a reductive bullet list in forming my opinion. Unless it's literally the same valve each time and you don't actually go anywhere during the sequence. But it couldn't be that bad, right?
 

Loakum

Banned
M5B1tqU.gif

^ LOL!!! Oh Lawd! XD
 
A lot of the previews read pretty jaded to me.

What I don't like is the whole "in horror you should be defenceless!" rule they seem to treat as gospel. I mean, of course there's an element of this in all good horror games... but it's not that simple or clear-cut. It's especially grating because they're critiquing the work of a director who arguably pioneered videogame horror and did it with self-defence mechanics. Shooting zombies with a shotgun can still be scary. Maybe people have gradually forgotten that, but I feel Mikami will remind us again.

There really aren't survival horror games anymore. It's all either action horror of the brand of Dead Space and RE4, or Haunted House simulators like Amnesia or Outlast. Though to be frank Evil Within looks a lot more like RE4 to me than it does classic Resident Evil or Silent Hill, from a gameplay standpoint.
 
I guess people are expecting too much? Sounds like plain old survival horror to me.

Pick up an item
Enemy Appears
Run away or fight

Not too keen on the apparent stealth aspects of the game though. I hope they release an actual demo on XBL/PSN some time in the future, I'm actually tempted to buy a PS4 for this game but if it generally doesn't turn out too well I'll just stick to PS3.
 

nynt9

Member
Exactly. I'm never trusting the media on anything to do with quality, only if there is something objectively wrong with the game.



Yup. Still mad hyped.


Even then they can't be trusted, see BF4 issues, Titanfall framerate, and so many other instances of technical problems not being mentioned by most if not all journalists.
 

KHarvey16

Member
The demo was pretty bad, but it's very possible that that's a reflection of the difficulty in making a demo during development and not on the quality of the entire game.

But seriously, what they showed wasn't good (and how they showed it, with the person playing not saying a word, didn't help...no one in my group reacted at the end and we all just quietly left). It wouldn't have been good in a quiet room or if you got to play it yourself. There was just nothing going on and the valve thing looked tedious. Now, if that's a small 10 minute section in a more complete game no one will care, but it's all we got. Same goes for the first portion of the demo - if walking along and not reacting to buildings falling down and the earth being moved is just a quick little intermission or space between areas, who cares? These two demos were probably put together just for the show, so I think there's still room to be cautiously optimistic if you were looking forward to it.
 

doofy102

Member
There really aren't survival horror games anymore. It's all either action horror of the brand of Dead Space and RE4, or Haunted House simulators like Amnesia or Outlast. Though to be frank Evil Within looks a lot more like RE4 to me than it does classic Resident Evil or Silent Hill, from a gameplay standpoint.

Evil Within looks like it wants to be Re4 in some parts, Siren in some parts and Re1 in others. Even in the "Re4 parts" there'll be important differences between it and Resident Evil 4 which could still push Evil Within more towards scare territory if we're lucky. I refuse to believe that third person shooter controls necessarily translate to loss of horror, Evil Within could succeed more where Resident Evil 4 lacked.

A big part of it has to do with melee combat. Resident Evil 4 had a knife, exploitable weak points on enemies and QTE suplexes. You could use these to fight out of close quarters situations and even abuse them as if you were RE Dante, combo-ing small demons. We still have no idea if we'll get that kind of power in Evil Within. If not, enemies will naturally feel more overwhelming - a step towards old school horror enemies.

Also, there were times in Resident Evil 4 where I did freak out a bit whilst fighting the normal zombies - and those bits were all in tight, indoor environments near the start of the castle section. I've noticed that the gameplay demo featuring Evil Within's protagonist during a zombie "raid" that takes place in a tight house environment where it's too dark to see - I think it could turn out scarier than its Re4 counter-part. We'll see.

It's touches like this which give me hope for the game, still (and the fact it seems journalists have forgotten that having a gun in a horror game can still be scary.) We have no idea what general item management will be like, do we? And the game looks cliche. But it's less about the cliche, and more about whether the game will manage to convince you to hop on the ride, because they are sweet, great cliches. This is how Mikami's games have always worked.
 
There really aren't survival horror games anymore. It's all either action horror of the brand of Dead Space and RE4, or Haunted House simulators like Amnesia or Outlast. Though to be frank Evil Within looks a lot more like RE4 to me than it does classic Resident Evil or Silent Hill, from a gameplay standpoint.

If there's one bad thing about WiiU flopping, it's really that ZombiU didn't have a chance. Great (real) survival horror game and probably the only one from a big publisher in years.
I wish that could have sparked interest for proper survival horror, but now we'll only get more let's play gimmicks/haunted house simulators by indies and cinematic shlock that barely gives you the illusion of horror because of gore, or something.
 
The first demo of Evil Within had the exact same stealth mechanic shown to press in March 2013, which was before the Last of Us released.
Re-reading, my sarcasm detector may have been off.
Of course i wasn't been sincere.

It is a SHAME... a disgrace that no action/horror game during the 7th generation came near the achievement RE4 was and still is. Not even the combined effort of Uncharted 2 and Last of Us.

Yet one has to put with Last of Us been name dropped as some groundbraking moment in gaming. The non interactive narrative, plot and cinematics are cutting edge but the gameplay? It can't even surpass a 6th generation game that came years before.

Mikami has, first, earned our respect and second the benefit of doubt.
 

Vire

Member
Pretty disappointed to hear that nearly every preview from both journalists and attendees was negative.

Had some hopes for this game.
 
Yeah this is pretty fucking bad.

I posted this in the horror thread, but Polygon's preview paints a very different picture of that boxman section

In the demo, the player quickly pulled out a shotgun and blasted the Keeper with the weapon until the creature's body shuddered, collapsed and the safe's door popped open and a blood poured out in thick rivulets.

Running through the dungeon, Castellano picked up some gear from different rooms including a flashlight and what appeared to be gears. The gears, I was told later, can be used to craft ammo for certain weapons. In this case, the player created special bolts for a crossbow that can freeze enemies in an explosion of ice.

Later, we see the weapon in action as Castellano shoots the Keeper with a bolt, freezing him solid and allowing him to blast away at the creature until it collapses.

The Keeper's ability to respawn isn't just used to allow the creature to return to antagonize Castellano over and over again. In one scene, the detective manages to slip away from the creature and finds himself on the other side of a cage from the Keeper.

Undaunted, the Keeper grabbed his the barbed safe on his neck and slowly started to pull it forward, struggling to rend the tendons that attached it to his body until finally it popped loose, releasing a stream of blood and seemingly killing the Keeper. But the gouts of blood that poured from the safe door oozed through the cell bars and then into another nearby safe, growing a new giant body and attacking Castellano.

As Castellano ran from the creature he stepped on a trap, barbed wire shoot from the device, wrapping like steel vines around his leg. After freeing himself, the detective managed to open a vault door and escape through it, closing the door behind him. As the door swung shut on the view of the Keeper, you could see the creature pulling at his head, trying to wrest it free from his neck. The sound of a head popping loose could be clearly heard through the door. Castellano ran, rounded a corner only to discover a safe laying on the ground. As he approached it, it popped off the ground, strands of barbed wire shooting out and grabbing Castellano's face. The safe slammed against the detectives head, barbed wire wrapping around the head until he manages to pull it loose. When the safe fell to the ground, it grew a body and the Keeper gave chase.

Where the first demo looked almost like a standard shooter with zombies and a couple of twists, the second demo was a startling take on horror with a surprising macabre twist.

http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/11/5606228/the-evil-within-demo-pax-east
 

Mman235

Member
Honestly it's a trend I find annoying. I don't need to see a cutscene or canned animation of the character recoiling in fear, if your game is doing its job I'll have that reaction naturally without being told how I should feel about the thing.

The bit where they seem disapointed that the character doesn't react automatically to crumbling environment just seems like gameplay centric design that's characteristic of Mikami. Why is it a good thing for the game to take control away from the player unless it's to service the gameplay? Stupid cinematic moments like that aren't an indication of polish, they're just superficial attempts to immerse the player.

While I'm not really sold on the game, I have to highlight these posts because this shit is the worst; leave that stuff for cutscenes, I'll have my own reactions during gameplay (if the game is good). If anything it's a good sign that the game is confident enough to leave reactions in the hands of the player.
 
The negativity is unfortunate, but still kind of moot right now. If I went to an event and played the Wonderful 101 demo I don't know that I would have given it a ringing endorsement, but the full game was my game of the year. Not saying they're alike, but it's possible to have a bad or lackluster showcase and it meaning fuck-all about the final product.
 
Sounds like one of those demos where it could be a shit game or just a shit demo.

It seems like it could be difficult to do a demo for a game like this, that being an atmospheric, horror third person shooter title. I remember having a very poor impression of Dead Space based upon the demo, but enjoyed the full game quite a lot.
 
Undaunted, the Keeper grabbed his the barbed safe on his neck and slowly started to pull it forward, struggling to rend the tendons that attached it to his body until finally it popped loose, releasing a stream of blood and seemingly killing the Keeper. But the gouts of blood that poured from the safe door oozed through the cell bars and then into another nearby safe, growing a new giant body and attacking Castellano.
Holy shit, this can definitely be creepy, provided they can pull it off successfully.

Link to that footage? I've only seen the graphics that look like PS3/360 levels.
This was the demo that convinced me to buy this game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMKhoHl9BnE
 

ishibear

is a goddamn bear
I was really looking forward to this but I've lost interest long before seeing these reviews. However, this has definitely reinforced my stance.

My problem isn't the graphics, or the possibility of action in this. By problem is the idea behind it and its designs/monsters. It looks unorganized and like too many horror games are being pushed together into one game and it's not working. Compared to some of the others being released soon, this one has an identity crisis. I'm seeing a story reminiscent of Silent Hill, characters like RE, setting like Amnesia with vibes from Outlast, Siren, and especially TLOU.

This bothers me because a great portion of the games coming out soon are all taking inspiration from other sources but they've singled out their target. TEW is all over the place. And the more that's revealed about the game, the more turned off by it I get.

I actually didn't want to post in here because I don't wanna offend people who are hyped about it and be a negative Nancy, so I'm sorry to the people who like it. I hate that in any fandom and know how annoying it can be when you just want to enjoy something but people love to bitch...

You're free to disregard this comment but it does feel good to let these feelings out.
 
It just looks jumbled to me. Some people like that but I don't.

It's very possible to combine inspired aspects and mold them into a coherent aesthetic. I find that the best of horror typically has a lot of different vibes. I love the intensity of Resident Evil and the atmosphere of Silent Hill. I think molding the two is perfectly fine. I totally understand where you're coming from, but I think it's simply combining several different staples and making its own thing out of it. I love the idea of having a horror game that is the best of both worlds (action/atmosphere).

Plus, I feel the same concerns you're expressing here could be doubly directed at Resident Evil 4. That game was all over the place.
 
Undaunted, the Keeper grabbed his the barbed safe on his neck and slowly started to pull it forward, struggling to rend the tendons that attached it to his body until finally it popped loose, releasing a stream of blood and seemingly killing the Keeper. But the gouts of blood that poured from the safe door oozed through the cell bars and then into another nearby safe, growing a new giant body and attacking Castellano.
Holy shit, this can definitely be creepy, provided they can pull it off successfully.

Yeah, this was definitely the best part of the demo. The Polygon preview does a much better job of painting a picture (I'm not a writer by any means). It does seem to skip over the repetition that made that section seem disappointing.

Although the demo really disappointed me, I'm still cautiously interested in the game. As with everything, people on the fence should wait for reviews once it comes out and judge for themselves.
 

Nemmy

Member
I was really looking forward to this but I've lost interest long before seeing these reviews. However, this has definitely reinforced my stance.

My problem isn't the graphics, or the possibility of action in this. By problem is the idea behind it and its designs/monsters. It looks unorganized and like too many horror games are being pushed together into one game and it's not working. Compared to some of the others being released soon, this one has an identity crisis. I'm seeing a story reminiscent of Silent Hill, characters like RE, setting like Amnesia with vibes from Outlast, Siren, and especially TLOU.

This bothers me because a great portion of the games coming out soon are all taking inspiration from other sources but they've singled out their target. TEW is all over the place. And the more that's revealed about the game, the more turned off by it I get.

I actually didn't want to post in here because I don't wanna offend people who are hyped about it and be a negative Nancy, so I'm sorry to the people who like it. I hate that in any fandom and know how annoying it can be when you just want to enjoy something but people love to bitch...

You're free to disregard this comment but it does feel good to let these feelings out.

I can definitely see what you mean. I were actually a bit baffled by the dude in white in the last trailer, using telekinesis or whatnot on Sebastian, it didn't fit at all with what I thought the game is going to be.
Personally, I'm giving the game the benefit of the doubt so far (which I think Mikami more than earned with his portfolio so far) and assuming that all these elements will somehow merge into a coherent whole in the end. After all, we know next to nothing about it so far - is Sebastian crazy, or is the place around him some weird messed up dimension, is there some cult activity, a curse or something else entirely? I find it hard to judge the game's artistic integrity when, aside from a bunch of trailers, no factual information was given so far - not that it's a bad thing, I don't want to have the whole game spoiled before release.
 

ishibear

is a goddamn bear
It's very possible to combine inspired aspects and mold them into a coherent aesthetic. I find that the best of horror typically has a lot of different vibes. I love the intensity of Resident Evil and the atmosphere of Silent Hill. I think molding the two is perfectly fine. I totally understand where you're coming from, but I think it's simply combining several different staples and making its own thing out of it. I love the idea of having a horror game that is the best of both worlds (action/atmosphere).

Plus, I feel the same concerns you're expressing here could be doubly directed at Resident Evil 4. That game was all over the place.

RE and SH mold together very well. It's the weird switcheroo that keeps occurring in other areas. Like the Amnesia settings one minute, then something like Outlast, and monsters from Siren... it just bothers me.

I love horror. I love it when multiple ideas can come together for one, but for now, I'm not feeling it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not writing the game off altogether, I'm just not hyped anymore. It could very well be better than what's shown, but if I dwell on something without voicing my concerns, it makes me feel depressed.

Tell me about it. I still don't understand the whole castle ideas for Re4 lol there was too much going on there but it worked so who knows? TEW might turn different. But in the meantime, I'm just gonna stay calm and let things play out.
 

Defunkled

Member
I'll give Mikami the benefit of the doubt on this one. The man's last three games were Vanquish, God Hand, and RE4 for Christ's sake.

I'll still be there day 1.
 
Top Bottom