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September 16, 2005 | 1:37 AM PST
by: John Thomas Perkowski
With Chainsaw in/for hand, Ash once again is called to save the world from the evil Deadites.
The Evil Dead series (which also includes Army of Darkness) has always been a cult classic amongst movie fans across the globe. Even to this day, its mass appeal astounds most movie critics and fans alike. The move series is so popular, its lead, Bruce Campbell, hasn't been able to shake the moniker of the movie's titular character, Ashley Willams. To fans around the world, he *IS* Ash, despite everything he has done since then. The Evil Dead series has also been popular enough to spawn several videogames; Evil Dead: Hail to the King, Evil Dead: A Fist Full of Boomstick, and now Evil Dead: Regeneration. The first two games were subpar, so how does Regeneration stack up?
While the first two games were sequels to Army of Darkness, this game actually rewrites history somewhat, as it takes place immediately after Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn. Ash was forced to slay all of his friends who went up with him to the cabin, and with the help of Professor Knowby's daughter, he managed to beat back the evil. Unfortunately, no one believes his story, and Ash is convicted of murdering his friends and Knowby's daughter before being committed to a mental institution for the criminally insane. Regeneration picks up shortly thereafter; with the insane asylum starts getting infested with evil Deadites and Ash once again forced to save the day.
Ash is not alone this time. Aside from his trusty shotgun and chainsaw, Ash gains the help of Sam, a midget Deadite who was killed by the Necronomicon experiments conducted by Doctor Reinhard, the warden of the asylum. Sam is dead, but keeps coming back to life, hence the title of the game. This allows Ash to do all sorts of wicked things to Sam, with no problem. In fact, the very first area you join with Sam, you can kick him into a basketball net, a large fan, and a wood chipper. This poses something of a problem for Ash, who is just used to blasting things that annoy him so they don't talk anymore.
In fact, a large part of the humor from Evil Dead: Regeneration comes from the banter between Ash and Sam. This is no doubt due to the excellent voice acting by both Bruce Campbell (Ash) and Ted Raimi (Sam). Is it perhaps an inside joke that Sam is the name of Ted Raimi's brother, who also directed the Evil Dead series (As well as Spiderman 1 & 2). These two play off each other so well that you may want to just let Ash and Sam stand around. Wait for them to talk to each other, and you won't stop laughing.
The gameplay borrows heavily from Devil May Cry and The Suffering, though it doesn't have the depth of either. Essentially, you have access a ranged weapon and a melee combat weapon at all times. You can mix up swings and shotgun blasts at will, but the combos are pre-defined and there aren't any real juggling opportunities (ala Devil May Cry). Still, close range combat can be fun, due to Ash's quick kills. While there may only be a few of them, each of them is clever and stylistic. Like Torque in The Suffering, Ash too has the ability to weave between good and evil with the ability to turn into Evil Ash, a hulking monster version of Ash. While in this form, you slice through Deadites like a hot knife through butter. Just like The Suffering, you'll find you won't use the evil incarnation, as Ash's regular weapons are more than adequate for the task of slaying horde after horde. In fact, much later in the game you'll abandon the combo system altogether, as his upgraded weapons will slay enemies too quickly to bother comboing.
Graphically, the game is unimpressive. Animations seem stiff and dull, and the locations hardly seem like anything special. There is no multi-player to speak of, nor is this game even Xbox Live aware. Sound is the one place this game excels, and that's only because of Campbell and Raimi. The sound effects, aside from the whirring sound of Ash's chainsaw as it slices into Deadites, is fairly standard, and the music is nothing special on top of it. The game isn't very long, despite the bevy of extras to unlock. These extras are very cool if you are an Evil Dead fan, but the casual gamer may not enjoy them.
Despite its budget pricing and great humor, this game is hardly up to the great standards for budget titles set by Raze's Hell. However, if you are an Evil Dead or Bruce Campbell fan you should pick this up right now.
The Evil Dead series (which also includes Army of Darkness) has always been a cult classic amongst movie fans across the globe. Even to this day, its mass appeal astounds most movie critics and fans alike. The move series is so popular, its lead, Bruce Campbell, hasn't been able to shake the moniker of the movie's titular character, Ashley Willams. To fans around the world, he *IS* Ash, despite everything he has done since then. The Evil Dead series has also been popular enough to spawn several videogames; Evil Dead: Hail to the King, Evil Dead: A Fist Full of Boomstick, and now Evil Dead: Regeneration. The first two games were subpar, so how does Regeneration stack up?
While the first two games were sequels to Army of Darkness, this game actually rewrites history somewhat, as it takes place immediately after Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn. Ash was forced to slay all of his friends who went up with him to the cabin, and with the help of Professor Knowby's daughter, he managed to beat back the evil. Unfortunately, no one believes his story, and Ash is convicted of murdering his friends and Knowby's daughter before being committed to a mental institution for the criminally insane. Regeneration picks up shortly thereafter; with the insane asylum starts getting infested with evil Deadites and Ash once again forced to save the day.
Ash is not alone this time. Aside from his trusty shotgun and chainsaw, Ash gains the help of Sam, a midget Deadite who was killed by the Necronomicon experiments conducted by Doctor Reinhard, the warden of the asylum. Sam is dead, but keeps coming back to life, hence the title of the game. This allows Ash to do all sorts of wicked things to Sam, with no problem. In fact, the very first area you join with Sam, you can kick him into a basketball net, a large fan, and a wood chipper. This poses something of a problem for Ash, who is just used to blasting things that annoy him so they don't talk anymore.
In fact, a large part of the humor from Evil Dead: Regeneration comes from the banter between Ash and Sam. This is no doubt due to the excellent voice acting by both Bruce Campbell (Ash) and Ted Raimi (Sam). Is it perhaps an inside joke that Sam is the name of Ted Raimi's brother, who also directed the Evil Dead series (As well as Spiderman 1 & 2). These two play off each other so well that you may want to just let Ash and Sam stand around. Wait for them to talk to each other, and you won't stop laughing.
The gameplay borrows heavily from Devil May Cry and The Suffering, though it doesn't have the depth of either. Essentially, you have access a ranged weapon and a melee combat weapon at all times. You can mix up swings and shotgun blasts at will, but the combos are pre-defined and there aren't any real juggling opportunities (ala Devil May Cry). Still, close range combat can be fun, due to Ash's quick kills. While there may only be a few of them, each of them is clever and stylistic. Like Torque in The Suffering, Ash too has the ability to weave between good and evil with the ability to turn into Evil Ash, a hulking monster version of Ash. While in this form, you slice through Deadites like a hot knife through butter. Just like The Suffering, you'll find you won't use the evil incarnation, as Ash's regular weapons are more than adequate for the task of slaying horde after horde. In fact, much later in the game you'll abandon the combo system altogether, as his upgraded weapons will slay enemies too quickly to bother comboing.
Graphically, the game is unimpressive. Animations seem stiff and dull, and the locations hardly seem like anything special. There is no multi-player to speak of, nor is this game even Xbox Live aware. Sound is the one place this game excels, and that's only because of Campbell and Raimi. The sound effects, aside from the whirring sound of Ash's chainsaw as it slices into Deadites, is fairly standard, and the music is nothing special on top of it. The game isn't very long, despite the bevy of extras to unlock. These extras are very cool if you are an Evil Dead fan, but the casual gamer may not enjoy them.
Despite its budget pricing and great humor, this game is hardly up to the great standards for budget titles set by Raze's Hell. However, if you are an Evil Dead or Bruce Campbell fan you should pick this up right now.
November 20, 2009
