Usually I’m pretty hesitant to put in a good word for sequels, especially for horror games. I know I’ve given praise to Dead Space 2 and Resident Evil 7, but those two are quite the exception to my stubbornly enacted rule. And I’m not going to break that rule today, either – The Evil Within 2 has some qualities that other people value but I dislike, such as side quests and dialogue trees. But I won’t ramble on about the things I don’t like. The holidays are incoming, so I’ll be nice.
I really, really enjoy the environment design in The Evil Within 2. The design choices made are similar enough to correlate to the first installment, but are unique enough to have their own voice and vibe.
There are four distinct areas you’ll traverse alongside Sebastian Castellanos as he goes on a quest to save his daughter (we’ll get into that later). The main area is Union, an anytown USA kind of place that would honestly give you a sense of security if it weren’t nighttime and there weren’t hideous monsters roaming around. Due to the collapse of the system it’s hosted in, Union’s infrastructure is collapsing, so you’re likely to run across ravines that cut straight into the main road, and if you’re heading to City Hall then you’re out of luck because it’s floating 200 feet in the air.
Once the plot gets going a bit, you enter a museum-esque assortment of buildings warped into grotesque elegance through the mind of an egomaniac artist called Stefano. All the hallways turn into what I would imagine your wealthy grandma’s place would be if she discovered those emo bands that all the teens are going on about. Except with a lot more blood and mutilation.
When you defeat Stefano, you enter what looks and feels like hell. The world abounds with fire and brimstone. If you associated this with religion, you’d be right – the big baddie of this area is a demented priest. The fire adds not warmth, but heat, which is fundamentally different when you want things to feel tense. Heat makes you imagine just how badly the smell of the old metal and burning flesh would singe your nose hairs.
So, you defeat the priest. Are you done yet? Nope, you still have to face the final boss of the game: your lovely wife, Myra (again, I’ll explain it later). She reigns over a blissfully empty white world, dry like sand but smooth like wax. Aesthetically, this is my favorite part of the game – it reminds me of Journey, which is far from survival horror but still has the distinct quietness. The end environment is truly the end. It feels completely devoid of life and unforgiving in its purity.
Now that you’ve gotten a taste of the scenery, let’s talk a bit about the plot.
I’m impressed with The Evil Within 2. It took a plot point from the first game that was added at the last minute and totally ran with it, turned it into something that made for a compelling protagonist and gives some pretty good reasoning for the “hero goes through a whole load of crap to save someone” trope.
Sebastian goes back into the fray only because of his family, namely his daughter, Lily. He’d been convinced that his daughter had died in a fire, but Lily is still alive, and is being used as the “core” for another version of STEM. STEM was the method in which Ruvik gained control in the first game, linking people’s consciousnesses together into one big world. But something’s gone wrong, and now Sebastian is tasked with bringing Lily back to safety to the outside world.
But Sebastian isn’t the only one inside STEM – his wife Myra is in there with him, and she’s gone mad with the urge to keep everything and everyone from harming Lily, even the well-intentioned Sebastian.
Myra is where the wax motif originates. She’s been corrupted by the resonance in STEM, and now she can’t control herself. She turns into a hideous monster and acts as the final boss of the game, but regains her consciousness once she’s defeated.
Myra’s monster form is my favorite in the whole game. She has the white waxy skin on the outside, but underneath is a very clear fleshy interior that dirties the wax – you’d want to touch it, but you’d feel the skin-like warmth underneath and probably pull your hand back. You can’t just put some paper-mache over a carcass and expect people not to see through it. This, combined with the visceral symbology of motherhood, makes for a fun and disturbing boss battle.
The Evil Within 2 makes some great decisions. And, in comparison to its predecessor, improves on the sophistication of environment and monster design in unexpected yet sensible ways. I know I was brief in this review, but consider it a Christmas gift. I’d like you to play the game for itself, of course after you play the first one – regardless of your preferences, you’re likely to have a good time.