"Evil Dead: Hail to the King" For PSX Reviewed

PuppeteerJPV writes: "I remember well the first time that I watched Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn. It was Halloween night, about 5-6 years ago, so that would have placed me somewhere near my junior year of high school. I'd always been a horror-movie freak, but ED2 kicked it into overdrive." Read on to see where he's going with this -- and it ain't pretty. (Hint, some zombies want your eyeballs rather than your brains.)

An arrogant, kind of rough, everyman character kickin' undead arse with a shotgun and a chainsaw attached to his right arm!? Not to mention the scene where he cuts his OWN hand off when it becomes POSSESSED? I fell in love the first time I saw the movie. The limited edition of Evil Dead, 2 versions of ED2, and 3 versions of Army of Darkness later, I still watch at least one of the flicks probably weekly. When I heard that there was going to be a video game based on the movies, I damned near flipped.

On the 12th of December, I received my copy of "Evil Dead: Hail to the King" for Playstation in the mail at work. I couldn't even wait ... I took it right home on my lunch and blew my whole lunch hour on the game. So anyway, yes, I am reviewing the bugger, I just take a while to get there.

The opening cinematics are damned smooth for a PSX game. Right off the bat, you're greeted with Bruce Campbell's voice-over as our hero, Ashley J. Williams, giving you a nice introduction to the premise of the game.

The game is set 8 years after Army of Darkness, and Ash has settled back into life at S-Mart. However, he has had recurring nightmares revolving around his adventures. His new girlfriend, who works in the Arts and Crafts department at S-Mart, Jenny, recommends that he returns to the cabin in the center of all his trouble and face his fears. Needless to say, the Evil is re-awakened, Jenny is missing, (presumably taken by the Evil) and Ash is off again.

I'm going to mention my only complaint with this game so far, and that is that the gameplay is a bit awkward. It's very similar to Resident Evil, as has been stated in most previews, and sometimes it is very tough to aim Ash properly at the various Deadites.

With that out of the way, I can get down to the fanboy praise. The graphics are absolutely amazing for a PSX release. If I recall, this is the first PSX game to use 24-bit backgrounds, and it shows. The landscape and backgrounds are downright beautiful at times, and always shows the trademark eerieness and darkness that the series is known for. The characters are all 3D rendered, and look pretty good compared to those in many other titles out there.

Ash has in his extensive arsenal, of course, his trademark chainsaw (I wanted an unlimited supply of fuel, but that'd be too easy.), a pistol (a little weak), the trademark "boomstick" (a double-barreled shotgun), and a two-headed axe, among other weapons. A nice addition for us ED geeks is the ability to do a "finishing move" a la Mortal Kombat on some enemies. There is nothing more satisfying than hanging a Deadite on the chainsaw while Ash sticks the shotgun in their face and taunts them with "Swallow this," and blows their face off. Ah -- rampant violence.

That's right folks. THQ set aside a button on the controls whose sole purpose is to make Ash taunt his enemies. This features great Ash one-liners like: "Come get some!", "You wanna little?" and "Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Poetry.

But, I digress. The game is relatively challenging, forcing you to do the old "collect items and figure out where they go" routine, but it keeps you entertained with a nice pace and plenty of gore. (A nice little detail is blood dripping off the chainsaw after gutting an enemy.)

If I have to pick a rating for the game, I'd give it a 6 for gameplay, 10 for graphics, 8 for sound (as I think the score is lacking a bit. Couldn't THQ have licensed the score from Army of Darkness?), and a 10 for ED geek factor.

If you're an Evil Dead fan, not buying this game isn't even an option. If you're a fan of horror flicks, or Resident Evil, it'd be a good addition to your library, and if you're just looking for an entertaining game, give it a shot.

Hail to the king, baby.

Thanks for the review, PuppeteerJPV. Oh, and the babysitting job? I think we found someone closer, but thanks. -t.

Comments

Frankly, I'm glad it's not that good

[Anonymous Coward]

Because it reinforces the important fact that the dead are nothing to be played with. No matter how much you may want to dig up your neighbor's grave, RESIST THE URGE! Let me assure you, he'll be none too pleased, and you might get your knickers dirty in the process.

Children should be taught respect for the dead. Just a few hundred years ago, ancestor worship was prevalent across most of the civilized world (Europe wasn't civilized at the time). Today, people are confined to elderly homes before dying and are quickly forgotten. It's a darn shame. Someone should be working on this.

Good, Bad...

[jonfromspace]

It's a game with a gun.

And their ad is top notch

[vees]

And the commercial is not to be missed!

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Re:And an example...

[doctorfaustus]

Well, one game that never gets boring--and it's probably the greatest electronic game of all time--is called "Configuring your system"