The Evil Within 2 and Resident Evil 7
2017 has been a pretty great year for horror games so far, with Resident Evil 7 being our spooky introduction to the year, followed by titles like Outlast 2 and Prey. However, Resident Evil 7 hasn’t really had a lot of competition in the horror department. Not until The Evil Within 2 came along.
Both games excel at delivering a dreadful sense of atmosphere, and they do so in very different ways. We’re going to try to break down these two games in a few categories: story, gameplay, and design. After that, we’ll determine which is the better horror game so far of 2017.
Story
The Evil Within 2 has a pretty messy story. After the events of the first game, Sebastian Castellanos leaves the police force and continues to be tormented by the death of his young daughter and the traumatizing incident at Beacon Mental Hospital. However, Mobius operative Juli Kidman shows up in his life once again to tell him that his daughter is actually still alive, but he needs to enter STEM yet again to rescue her from an experiment gone wrong. I will say that the story and pacing here is handled much better than it was in the first game, which didn’t seem to have any sense of pacing at all. A father looking for his daughter is a pretty cliched trope at this point, but at least it gives players a more personal stake in Sebastian’s adventure this time around.
There are a few twists thrown into the story here and there, but ultimately it’s not exactly a very engaging plot. I attribute this to the fact that Sebastian himself isn’t a very interesting character either, and that isn’t helped by his hit-or-miss voice acting.
Resident Evil 7 doesn’t really fare very well in the story department either, but it is a little more exciting than The Evil Within 2. Protagonist Ethan spent the last three years thinking his wife was dead, only to receive a letter from her asking him to pick her up at the Baker residence in Dulvey. The basic story premise is pretty much the same in both games, but Ethan is a little more relatable because he ends up being the everyman who doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into, and just wants to escape with all his limbs intact.
I’ve personally found the story twists in Resident Evil 7 to be far more interesting as well, with some cool revelations about Mia and the Baker family, not to mention the enigmatic Zoe. While the story does falter in the final act, Resident Evil 7 actually takes the time to build up our relationship with Mia, and this helps to drive the player forward in the mission to rescue her. The Evil Within 2’s depiction of young Lily is often skewed, and she’s mostly presented as a crazy and fiery demonic child. This is a result of Sebastian’s damaged psyche, sure, but it definitely doesn’t make the player feel as strongly about her.
Winner: Resident Evil 7 wins by a very, very slight margin. Both stories aren’t exactly masterpieces, but The Evil Within 2 gets edged out because its competitor was able to nail its characterization a little better.
Gameplay
When it comes to gameplay, Resident Evil 7 and The Evil Within 2 have some fundamental differences, but both games allow you to find and upgrade weapons that you can use to defend yourself with.
Resident Evil 7 adopts a first-person perspective, which definitely makes the game feel much more immersive and creepy. The gunplay is tense because of how slowly Ethan reloads his weapons – understandable, since he’s not a trained cop like some of the series’ old heroes. His movement feels slow and clumsy, which I guess kind of adds to the game’s horror, but it also makes it not quite as fun to play.
The game is also a very linear experience, though you’re forced to explore the Baker residence extensively to solve cryptic puzzles, which are par for the course when it comes to Resident Evil. As the game continues, you’ll start to get a bit overpowered as you find strong weapons that can mow down your enemies. The game gets a little more fun to play at this point, though you’ll still have to deal with Ethan’s clunkiness. There are also minor stealth sections during the early hours, where Ethan is forced to hide from Jack when he starts roaming about the house. But thankfully, these mandatory stealth sections are very limited, and it’s not long before the player is allowed to fight back again.
The Evil Within 2, on the other hand, is a third-person shooter game and it features a semi-open world that you can explore, along with a handful of side missions to tackle. This seems like an odd inclusion for a horror game, but somehow it works. The Evil Within 2 really capitalizes on the “survival” aspect of the survival horror genre by encouraging players to explore the environment to find resources that can help them out. The game rewards exploration very well, but it also makes sure that you don’t get anything for free. There are quite a few surprises to be had in the open world, including an optional boss encounter and the ability to save certain NPCs. Surprisingly, the openness of the game never really hurt the pacing because of how it doled out information and lore about STEM to keep you grounded in the story.
The Evil Within 2 also has a far superior crafting and upgrade system as compared to Resident Evil 7. While character upgrades in the latter could feel a little arbitrary at times, The Evil Within 2 makes sure that the core gameplay is always centered around the upgrades that you’ve invested in. Powering up your handgun and stealth capabilities always comes at a price (especially early on in the game), and you’ll have to make hard decisions when trying to craft your healing items and ammo as well. Crafting can be done at a workbench and also while you’re in combat, but combat crafting will always force you to use twice the amount of resources you’d normally need. It’s a really smart system that forces players to weigh the pros and cons of their situation. Do you want to expend extra resources on a medical syringe now, or take a risk and try to run back to the safe house for a free health refill?
Players can also use an awesome crossbow that switches between shock, ice, smoke, explosive, and regular bolts. Perfect for all situations.
Winner: The Evil Within 2 takes this easily. It’s just a lot more fun to play because of the better variety in weaponry, and the depth of the crafting and upgrading systems.
Design and Atmosphere
When we talk about design and atmosphere, we’re talking about boss designs, sound design, cinematography, and imagery. These are essentially the meat of any horror game and determine what makes it so spooky to players. Both games take a pretty different approach in all of these sub-categories, and ultimately it’s gonna come down to personal preference and what you think scares you the most.
Resident Evil 7 goes for the disgusting, puke-inducing route. Everywhere you look, there’s rot. Marguerite loves feeding her family with bugs, the Bakers look like they haven’t showered in weeks, and everything about this family is just straight up gross. Marguerite, in particular, surrounds herself with bugs, and she ends up being a giant bug herself when you eventually fight her. She has a hive on her lady parts, and there’s just something so incredibly unsettling about the way she grins her toothy grin at the player. The Bakers as a whole are presented as insane psychopaths, and everything about them feels primal and visceral.
The sound design in Resident Evil 7 is also excellent. As you move through the Baker residence, it feels like the house itself is alive as well. Every groan and creak is deliberately slow and drawn out, and every tiny sound you hear is enough to make you jump. The game practically squelches with filth and rot, and let’s just say the Baker residence is not a place you’d ever want to go for dinner or a visit because of how physically sick it’ll make you.
In comparison, The Evil Within 2 feels more surgical. The first half of the game pits you against a psychopath who thinks of himself as an artist, much like the murderers we see on NBC’s Hannibal series. Except this psychopath has mind powers too. Every victim is trapped in a cube of time replay, where you get to see their cause of death over and over again. Even as the game plays its mind tricks on you, everything feels thought out and methodical. The Evil Within 2 makes great use of lighting and cinematography to direct your gaze towards certain objects during scripted events, and once it has your attention, you feel that something has shifted behind you, and you’ll be too afraid to even turn around to see what’s there.
The Evil Within 2 never gets close to PT levels of disturbing (which is a fantastic mix of realistic horror and the supernatural, in my opinion), but it thrives on the concept of creating fear within the player’s head. Though a lot of this awesome spookiness falls away pretty quickly after reaching the game’s midpoint, it’s still an enjoyable and eerie romp through some really well-directed psychological horror sequences.
Winner: Resident Evil 7. This is a really close one, and it’s also very subjective. On paper, it feels like The Evil Within 2 should win easily because there’s nothing scarier than being faced with some sort of unknown evil you can’t see, right? And yet, the game’s presentation just isn’t quite as strong as Resident Evil 7’s. At some point, The Evil Within becomes way too obsessed with doling out shocking imagery of ripped apart victims and its impact is lessened as a result. Resident Evil 7 is a lot more careful in how it presents its threats, making it feel like a better designed horror game overall.
Winner: Resident Evil 7
At the end of the day, both Resident Evil 7 and The Evil Within 2 are very different types of horror games. The former occasionally dips into B-grade campy horror movie territory, but it builds it up with so much tension it’s enough to get you spooked anyway. The Evil Within 2 is more into the psychological horror variety, where it messes with the player by changing up the environment as you walk through it.
Deciding which horror game is more suited to your tastes also depends on the kind of gameplay you favor. Want a more linear and directed experience? Resident Evil 7 does that pretty well. If you want complex crafting systems and better gameplay variety, The Evil Within 2 offers that in droves.
My personal pick ended up being Resident Evil 7, but feel free to sound off in the comments down below to let us know which game you prefer and why.
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