Evil Within, The: The Assignment (Video Game DLC)
Ted Hentschke
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Available on PC (reviewed), Playstation 4, Playstation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360
Rated M for Mature
Distributed by Bethesda Softworks
This is a bit of a nostalgic moment for me, seeing as how The Evil Within (review) was my first ever game review for DreadCentral. My 5 page blowjob disguised as criticism was rough and passionate, and like any good lover not entirely unaware of the flaws and issues of its partner. Even though I haven’t seen him in half a year, I remember my time with The Evil Within fondly, as I explored every orifice for weeks to see what treasures and pleasures I may find. And here again, he calls, like a sailor back from his first tour. Forever changed, he is different now, more serious, driven, and focused, as though he was always meant to be this way. He doesn’t fuck around with all the boyish frivolity, and instead is focused on pleasing you as intensely as possible. The first of three DLC packs, The Evil Within – The Assignment is so good, that it makes me question how I could ever love before.
Told from the perspective of the mercurial Julie Kidman, who was memorable in the main game but largely separate from the main cast. Her dubious intent culminated in what seemed to be a betrayal, followed by an unexpected rescue in the post final fight sequence. The Evil Within was a bit divisive, with some loving the more obscured plot and Twilight Zone logic, and others hating how the game doesn’t really explain what the fuck is going on. Those in both camps should be equally pleased with The Assignment. Answers are given in a way that is still open and mysterious, and it doesn’t raise a hundred more questions to just make the game more confusing.
When I played The Evil Within, I remember being underwhelmed by the poorly implemented stealth mechanics. I think I mentioned this in my review, but shit man, that thing is like… 5 pages long. I can’t be bothered to go back and read it! It felt that the game at some point in the past was significantly different, but had evolved without cutting out all of the previous features. To that effect, The Assignment feels like the title they were trying to make before they cut out all the sneaky sneak for shotguns. Kidman is unarmed aside from a few single use melee weapons, and even those can only be used as a stealth attack. You do briefly get a gun, but it is only for a gallery style defense segment that serves to break up the stealth bits. Given all of the cabinets to hide in and beds to hide under that went mostly unused in the main game, it is awesome that they decided to turn these elements into the main gameplay focus.
Similarly, this game is almost entirely focused on puzzle solving. Even combat breaks down into puzzles, requiring the player to figure out the best sequence to trap/avoid monsters rather than just shoot them until they all stop moving. Enemies are more obstacles than anything, and correct sequencing and intuitive world interaction is your tool to break them down. Don’t expect to just axe most foes in the face, as using phones or your voice to lure enemies into traps or lockable rooms is most often the key to success. New blind explosive enemies are introduced to pose a unique threat, and are disgustingly terrifying enough to fit into the world perfectly.
Similar to Resident Evil: Revelations 2, the character’s only constant item is a flashlight. Unlike Revelations 2, the flashlight has no combat application, opting instead for puzzle solving utility. Shining your light at specific markings will reveal hidden objects, ranging from passageways to collectibles to story flavor. The use of lighting is integral, as certain puzzles require you to mix shadows together to create a figure. Its a simple enough mechanic, but the way the developers utilize it to its maximum effect keeps it interesting.
Solid combat and questionable story aside, easily the most memorable thing about The Evil Within was the presentation of the world. The “STEM,” following in the footsteps of Silent Hill, was an amalgam of every emotional state of every person plugged into it. Dominated by the central personality Ruvik, it was mostly a reflection of his past and tortured psyche. The world is a medium to express the mindset and history of the character, and functions less so as a real entity that has a backstory, plot thread, and resolution.
The main problem with the narrative of The Evil Within was their attempts to give the STEM a real story, which falls apart when you actually pull at the little threads like “how did everyone get in in the first place” and “wait, the big bad guy is just a brain in a jar?” This is similar to the divide between people that loved Silent Hill 2 more than Silent Hill 3. In the second, the how the town came to be was inconsequential, instead serving as an outward manifestation of the protagonist’s guilt. In the third, the exposition served largely to explain how the town got to be the way it is. While The Evil Within certainly had a unique idea, it suffered from not exploring enough the way the world mirrored those within it, opting more for an inferior explanation of how Ruvik for some reason created a neural interface pain dimension to get over the death of his sister.
So here comes The Assignment to the rescue, capitalizing on the ideas that the original game only hinted at. The world of The Assignment is a reflection of Kidman, explaining elements of the main game in a way that doesn’t come off as forced bullshit. There is a new antagonist aside from Ruvik, a shadowy entity that represents her corporate overlords at Mobius. The face of the character is always obscured, giving the uncanny sense of an inhuman human. There is also a new boss monster to be avoided, a gaping maw wrapped in a jacket with two sexy woman’s legs and a lighthouse for a head. Read into that what you will.
Over the course of the DLC, we explore a shadow version of the corporate offices where she was first given her assignment, the sewers where she intersects with Sebastian and Joseph, and part of the cultist village level. We find out that the village is a reflection of her own past growing up in a secluded religious cult, and while smacking a bit of being last minute and roped in, is at least a proper use of the game’s narrative framework. I was disappointed that I never got to see any of Sebastian’s fears manifested, and it seemed like a massively wasted opportunity. The DLC doesn’t squander such an opportunity, instead crafting a world that is both tailored for Kidman and reflects Ruvik’s twisted grasp.
Now this might just seem like me taking the chance to give the game two and a half more pages of tender tongue action, but a funny thought struck me as I was thinking about what I would say in this review. It has been about 7 months since the game was released, and I remember seeing it had come out and thinking “wow, a bit late to the party, huh?” We have become so used to cheap, cash in DLC, purposefully left on the cutting room floor for later release or behind a paywall day one “pre-order bonus” bullshit, that the idea of well crafted, thoughtful, and wholly after the fact DLC seems strange.
This used to be how games were made. You would have a main release, and you would maybe get an expansion pack for 30 bucks that would bring massive expansions to the main game. Red Alert 2 was awesome, but the Yuri’s Revenge expansion pack cemented it as one of the all time greats. It is almost unthinkable to think of Starcraft without also including the Brood Wars expansion, to the point where people just think of them as the same game. Let me ask you though, does anyone even fucking remember which 60 minutes of Black Flag was the exclusive Playstation content? Or which mission of Far Cry 3 was the day 1 mission? Okay, I do remember the Far Cry one, but that was only because it was laughably terribly and roped in.
This is how DLC should be. It was created post-release, expanded on the universe without convoluting it, provided a different way to play, and shored up the weaknesses of the original while exploring missed opportunities. Somewhere out there is an early development document, describing a game that looked a lot like this, but would eventually be scrapped for the more combat heavy version. It isn’t that this is strictly better than The Evil Within, rather that this is another version of the gameworld that learned from its mistakes. The DLC manages to be an absolutely integral part of the main game, without being required to feel like the original was a whole package. This is a must buy.
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DLC review
Categorized:Horror Gaming Reviews
