Saber Interactive has been on a tear as of late. They have been creating the famous World War Z series for a long time. They have taken their talents to the OG of the zombie genre, Evil Dead. With Evil Dead’s iconic style, and Saber’s talents at turning licensed material into gold, I was curious how this would turn up, but they smashed it out of the park. Evil Dead The Game is the latest zombie game to enter the stratosphere, but it does it on its terms. Saber has created something worthy of its name and excellent title alongside World War Z, State of Decay, and Left for Dead. Evil Dead takes place in the player versus player environment, with a one versus four dynamic similar to games like Dead by Daylight or the failed Evolve. Playable characters are the heroes from the Evil Dead franchise, and one player controls an army of demons rather than simply using a single monster. It follows a new, original story line that will have players hopping across different locations in a massive open world. From mundane areas like train-yards, diners, and run-down barns. The atmosphere and some locations fans will recognize from the films themselves. Evil Dead has a much stronger gameplay loop than its contemporaries in the four versus one playspace. In the other games, most stages are tight and constrained, but the action in Evil Dead stretches out over a large world with interesting mechanics to keep it fresh. Evil Dead adopts a campaign format not too dissimilar from Left 4 Dead. Imagine that a player is the AI director, and players can summon NPCs, possess cars and fellow players, and cause mischief for the team. Mission objectives do a much better job of feeling cohesive. Each mission has clear goals and will always take you on a fun gameplay journey from the start to the end. It helps keep the game fresh, and you will rarely get bored with being forced to repeatedly stand around the same spots, endlessly defending an objective. Evil Dead does contain a light story mode disguised as a tutorial; you can play as each character in their personalized campaign mission to learn their mechanics and unlock new cosmetics. A deep and robust skill tree for demons and humans incentivizes both teams to play well and stick to their strengths. Regardless of your mode, the progression is account bound and carries across every manner. It also features crossplay, which is a godsend for a game like this, and I was always able to find matches quickly. Every single weapon has numerous modifications and upgrades. Best of all, character skills and upgrades provide tangible benefits rather than meaningless percentage bumps. Visually, it’s a much nicer-looking game than Sabers’ previous titles, with incredible character models and intricate finisher animations. Evil Dead the Game is one of my personal favorites of the Summer, and it’s nice seeing a beloved franchise treated with absolute care to its fans, source material, while also providing a great game to pick up and play.
