The sequel continues the story of hard-luck now-ex-cop Sebastian Castellanos, but it doesn’t require a knowledge of the original so much as a willingness to give in to the game’s off-the-rails narrative. If you skipped out on The Evil Within, don’t worry.

And it does all of this on top of greatly expanding in scope and freedom. I’m currently eight hours into The Evil Within 2, and what’s most impressive so far is how this sequel addresses each individual complaint about the first game one by one, like it’s working through a checklist. Though it had a great setting, it had no sense of pacing, an abundance of frustrating boss fights and boring writing that made it hard to care about the characters. Despite work from major names such as Resident Evil mastermind Shinji Mikami, that debut effort from developer Tango Gameworks was somewhat disappointing.

The Evil Within 2 turns this genre necessity on its head, allowing you to explore at your own pace but, as if by magic, without lessening the pressure necessary for horror to be scary.Ģ014’s The Evil Within wasn’t nearly this ambitious. Effective horror usually requires a highly directed experience - careful directorial control over each plot beat to keep the tension building, a hand guiding the camera to make sure you see whatever horrific creature lurches behind the protagonist.

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