evil within assignment review

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The Evil Within: The Assignment and The Consequence review

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If last year's The Evil Within saw Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami reclaiming the survival horror gameplay he popularised, this double-whammy of DLC sees the genre pioneer playing around with toys from other horror games' playroom.

Taken together, The Assignment and The Consequence tell the story of Juli Kidman, erstwhile partner of the main game's hero, Sebastian, and explain just what she was up to during her prolonged absences from the core plot. It turns out that not only was she facing her own gauntlet of creepy beasts and unnerving boss fights, she was also involved in a plot that is arguably more important than Sebastian's B movie blundering.

Kidman is on the trail of Leslie Withers, the young male patient whose disappearance kicks off The Evil Within's original campaign. We learn that far from being some rookie partner cop, she's actually working undercover for a sinister agency, overseen by an ominous boss who is part Half Life's G-Man and part Slender. The storyline that follows is largely incomprehensible even by survival horror standards, told as it is largely through optional audio logs and text documents, with only the key plot points being laboriously spelled out in florid cut-scene dialogue.

It's in gameplay terms that this double bill of side story differentiates itself from its parent title. Where The Evil Within was pure survival horror, with ammo management, exploration and inventory-based puzzling, The Assignment and The Consequence are both stripped back to the bone. For the vast majority of their playing time, Kidman has no weapons and is armed only with a flashlight. Instead, evasion is her main skill. There were flourishes of this cover-based sneaking in the main game - most notably in that opening slaughterhouse chase - but this is pretty much a pure stealth game.

It's a choice that ensures these expansions feel very different, but it also pushes the game engine beyond what it's comfortably capable of. The jerky camera and stiff movement, so devilishly nostalgic during Sebastian's adventure as he roamed mansion corridors and carefully lined up headshots, prove far more deadly when used to deliver this amount of creeping around.

Entering and exiting cover is a stodgy affair, while running away when spotted is rarely successful thanks to Kidman's wheezing lack of fitness. She can jog maybe ten feet before stopping to catch her breath, and since these stories offer no upgrade paths, you're stuck with this bizarre lethargy for the duration. Balancing this out is the fact that you don't need health syringes to patch yourself up after a scrap. Simply remain still, or hide in cover, and Kidman is back to full health in a few seconds.

Recharging health in a survival horror game? You can probably hear the genre purists sucking their teeth in disapproval already, and it does feel that the odd balancing of the DLC is down to the limitations of the original engine coupled with make-do solutions to the problems that throws up.

The result is an experience that is both surprisingly easy and often frustrating. Whenever you die it's generally because of sluggish movement or unhelpful camera angles, but then trial and error gets you past most enemies without too much fuss. They're never very smart, but most are at least unique to this DLC.

There are blind crab-like corpse creatures that scuttle about in fixed patterns, only attacking with an instant death explosion if you bump into them. There are invisible enemies that only appear when caught in the glare of your flashlight. At best, you're able to take them down by finding hatchets and using them for a stealth kill. Inexplicably - and illogically - you can only do this once, the effort of retrieving these useful weapons from the bodies of enemies apparently too much effort for Kidman.

There are only a few moments where guns are used. One, in The Assignment, is a stationary shooting gallery where you don't get to keep the gun afterwards. The Consequence is a little more action-oriented, eventually granting you a pistol and later a shotgun. These prove essential against the game's Keeper boss character, which is basically Rocky Horror's Frank N. Furter crossed with a lighthouse by way of BioShock's Big Daddy.

In terms of pure mechanics, it's a real mixed bag. It's the context that really makes the difference, as both episodes are even weirder than the main game and take great delight in f***ing with your head. The bewildering location shifts come thick and fast - one of the benefits of having a mind-messing machine as your McGuffin of choice - and you're never entirely sure what's coming next.

Often, a new enemy or gameplay idea will be introduced for only a short while and then never used again. When so much DLC is blatantly an excuse to recycle assets, the willingness here to add fresh things is worthy of praise. When it does bring you back to familiar locations, it's always for a clever reason - playing with your knowledge of what else has happened in that spot, or offering a genuinely ingenious alternative perspective on things you did in the main story.

That generosity continues throughout, too. The collectables are nothing to get excited about - the same files and recordings scattered throughout the core game - and the only puzzles are simple and small in nature compared to Mikami's previous work. They really only come into play via a series of hidden safes, inside of which you'll find fragments of letters. Tucked away in self-contained secret areas, the solutions are almost always in the same room.

Yet when you finish both The Assignment and The Consequence, you'll unlock a New Game + option for those who fancy another run through, and Kurayami Mode, which ups the difficulty by switching off all the lights and forcing you to rely only on your flashlight to see what's going on. Coupled with the decent length of the episodes themselves - each lasting between three and four hours on average - and you've got DLC that goes above and beyond what is generally expected from add-ons released six months after a blockbuster launch.

I just wish it wasn't so clumsy where it counts, since there are few gameplay styles more off-putting than poor stealth, and the stealth here is often very poor indeed. Fans committed to the loopy storyline will probably be able to look past that and enjoy the surreal ride for its narrative and atmospheric pleasures. However, such frustrations can't help but drive a large rusty nail into the heart of an otherwise generous pair of expansions.

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The evil within: the assignment review, the evil without (guns).

If there’s one thing missing from survival horror games these days, it’s horror. There’s suspense, there’s dread, there’s nervousness, there’s whatever the hell emotions Alien: Isolation made me feel, but being actually scared? P.T. on PS4 (which we didn’t get, thank you Konami), Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Five Nights At Freddy’s perhaps… that’s about it in all honesty. Even the sort-of-triumphant return of Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami to horror, The Evil Within, was more disturbing than scary. Now with the game’s first story DLC however Tango Gameworks have one goal in mind: make Chris Capel jump out of his chair. Mission accomplished.

The Assignment is a three-hour slice of new Evil Within gameplay. While set during the main game’s storyline the protagonist is actually Juli Kidman, backstabbing partner to Sebastian Castellanos (the player character in the normal campaign) and agent of the sinister Mobius group who funded all the mind-buggering experiments of The Evil Within. Sent in to this nightmare, Juli has to find the wandering patient Lesley and return him to her employers before something else gets to him… or her.

Okay, hands up if anyone gave a crap about The Evil Within’s story? I don’t know about any of you, but my hands are both down. It was all pretty damn nonsensical, to the point that even I don’t remember half of the stuff I just wrote for that last paragraph. True, the narrative is meant to be weird and dreamlike, but when an entire evil organisation and the name of the lead villain passes me by I think you need another go on the typewriter, and not just to save your progress.

Fortunately and astonishingly The Assignment is much better in this regard. We’re introduced to Mobius immediately, to Juli Kidman’s role in it, to what they’re after with the tests they’re doing, and most importantly I was interested to find out more - something I would never say about the main game. I actively sought out audio logs, and despite knowing the ultimate ending I still want to know more about Juli and the Mobius Group. It’s not Shakespeare or anything, but I still enjoyed the story.

But what about the gameplay? The first, most obvious and very, very welcome difference between The Assignment and The Evil Within is the near total absence of guns. Whereas most Resident Evil-style “survival horrors” have devolved into action games, Evil Within included, in this DLC the player has to rely entirely on stealth or running to get by. The main weapon Juli has is her torch, and while there are a few Alan Wake moments with hidden objects it’s useless against enemies. This inability to really fight back ups the tension and the danger considerably, leading to some beautiful jump-out-of-your-seat moments, particularly involving a new recurring terrifying monster with a lamp for a head, lady legs, and a suspiciously-designed giant mouth for a torso. Tango Gameworks still manage to mess with your head of course, such as one beautiful moment involving a save spot where they make it look like you’re going to die the second you leave the save screen.

Stealth is the real focus of gameplay though, at least whenever Juli’s facing enemies. For the most part it works too, although a short moment with invisible enemies is more of a pain than a joy. Don’t expect to be pulling off Thief or Splinter Cell-like moves though as much like fellow DLC Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea Episode 2 the stealth is done well but is clearly a coat of paint over a different game. Juli can take cover and lure enemies but it’s hard to get away from them once they know she’s there, and it’s often too easy to get spotted. There’s one boss fight against her Lamp-Head nemesis that is particularly frustrating in this regard. Nevertheless The Assignment generally does pretty well in keeping things tense rather than annoying.

The thing that makes The Assignment’s stealth less interesting though is the linearity in the level design. Whereas the main game could be quite open the DLC is often very confined, with 90% of it being set in small rooms indoors and very few options to go off the beaten path unless it’s for a secret. Speaking of secrets though, there are a surprising amount considering that ammo, upgrading and “brain juice” have been removed. Unlockable musical tracks, audio logs, secret letters hidden in puzzle boxes, snails that you arouse by shining a torch on them until they explode with love… yes, you read that last one correctly, and yes, Shinji Mikami is Japanese.

The levels themselves are actually quite well designed though, keeping things perpetually interesting, with dark variations on the opening “safe” level in Mobius headquarters and environments popping in from the main story. One particular interesting reveal was that a major but seemingly random area in The Evil Within is actually part of Juli’s past, something I don’t believe you learn in the main game. Most importantly though every area feels unique and is dripping with creepiness, and I’m not looking forward to trying the New Game Plus Kurayami mode where the only light source is Juli’s torch.

THE EVIL WITHIN: THE ASSIGNMENT VERDICT

While it may be only three hours long, The Evil Within: The Assignment is a fine slice of DLC. Survival horror fans bemoaning the action-first approach most games in the genre take these days will be pleased to hear about the scares-first approach The Assignment takes, to the point where stealth is the order of the day and the only lethal weapons are axes that break after one hit. The stealth isn’t perfect and the levels are a bit linear, but there are loads of fun secrets, a cool New Game Plus mode, and it manages the impossible feat of actually making The Evil Within’s story interesting. If you liked Evil Within but were disappointed that it wasn’t that scary, you should be more than satisfied with The Assignment and when you finish it you’ll start looking forward to The Consequence. I certainly am.

TOP GAME MOMENT

Coming face to lamp with Lamp-Head.

Good vs Bad

• Actually scary, and being unable to defend yourself just makes it more so.
• The story is actually pretty good, and you keep getting new interesting things thrown at you.
• Linear levels hamper the stealth aspect a little.
• A few really annoying moments.

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The Evil Within: The Assignment Review

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A timely reminder that when The Evil Within is good it is very good, The Assignment is a welcome return to Mikami’s latest horror universe. A focus on stealth initially grates, but soon reveals itself to be a useful way for Tango Gameworks to go beyond worries about ammo counts and match useage, instead building out on the game’s psychological horror.

A side-story that crosses over with the events of the main campaign, The Assignment pits players as Juli Kidman, formerly one of the supporting cast. Her story is initially one of subterfuge, as she infiltrates main character Sebastian Castellanos’ team in a bid to recover Leslie, whose mind holds the key to the STEM system (a version of the Matrix which feeds off of fear, essentially) they’re all trapped in.

Her employers are standard shadowy bad guys, led by the Cigarette Smoking man’s younger, taller brother. Most of the early going is sub X-Files stuff, but as Kidman starts to rail against her employer and her own psyche is raided for leverage, The Assignment kicks into gear.

Kidman has no firearms (outside of a short set-piece), instead relying on distraction and lures – thrown bottles, shouting, even prank phone calls – to get by enemies. Initially it can frustrate: while the geometric nature of your environments (think some of the quieter moments of FEAR) provide ample items to hide behind and manoeuvre around, she takes just that little bit too long to leave cover after you’ve alerted your foes. This is due to the game giving you a little speed boost when holding a direction and exiting cover: great for getting away quickly in a panic, but it often leaves you unwieldy for a few moments, exposed when you least need it.

As The Assignment goes on, however, these frustrations minimise. So too does the reliance on labs and other boring environments as backdrops, instead taking a turn for the dank and gothic as Kidman’s loyalties divide. It’s here that the DLC plays to the main game’s strength: mainly, that Mikami really knows how to do dread.

He and his team know that there’s a stillness, an anticipation mixed with surreality, that informs the best psychological horror, and here – no doubt buoyed by the excellent engine and grimy, widescreen, underlit aesthetic – Tango exploit it expertly. There are whole stretches where little happens, in terms of enemy encounters. Instead, Kidman’s tough exterior starts to unravel, and the environments change to reflect that.

Grotty sewers, dilapidated surgical wards, and shapeshifting environs have all been done before, and most of these wouldn’t look out of place in any of the Silent Hill games. But it’s the exploitation of the fact that everyone – the player, the character, the director – know they’re in what is in essence a twisted, deadly simulation that gives the game its eerie edge. There’s no dissonance here, and that the player and Kidman’s goals and fears are intertwined gives The Assignment an interesting flavour.

As does Kidman’s relative weakness, and the solutions she has to find to survive. With no guns, Tango can’t rely on straight up combat to pad the action, nor can it just toss in boss battles, which were some of the weakest elements of the main game anyway. Instead, various puzzles stand in. None of them are particularly difficult: rerouting electrical boxes, or using your flashlight to open hidden doors. But all of them take that bit longer than you’d like, driving up the tension.

A lot of enemy encounters happen just after you’ve found the solution to escape your most recent prison, resulting in interesting cat and mouse moments as players flee overmatched opponents. A particular highlight is a boss character with a gigantic searchlight for a head, which is also hunting for Leslie and has no qualms about killing you in the process. Resembling Bioshock 2’s Big Sister in both aesthetics and movements, it’s a constant thorn in your side and, as such, a pleasure to finally take down.

At around two hours long, The Assignment is a reasonably-sized add-on which fleshes out The Evil Within’s story while building on what made it so enjoyable in the first place. Let’s hope its follow-up, The Consequence, lives up to it.

Version Tested: PlayStation 4.

The Evil Within: The Assignment PS4 Review

Michael Harradence / March 24, 2015

The Evil Within proved to be one of 2014’s standout titles, and more importantly, was an emphatic reminder to the industry that traditional survival horror games can still exist in today’s market and prove commercially successful to boot. Helmed by Shinji Mikami, the creator of the multi-million selling Resident Evil franchise, its combination of macabre, blood-drenched environments, compelling narrative, and finely-tuned balance of combat and puzzles resulted in a gripping horror romp that is unlikely to be topped for quite some time. But has developer Tango Gameworks managed to successfully forge a worthy DLC follow-up in The Assignment? 

Starring Juli Kidman, who partnered with Sebastian and Joseph briefly during the main campaign, The Assignment attempts to tell another story that runs parallel to Seb’s antics, as we find Kidman going through her own personal journey of intrigue and horror. Roughly three-and-a-half hours, The Assignment proves quite the paradigm shift however, with stealth pushed to the forefront seeing as how Juli is virtually unarmed throughout her entire journey, save for a trusty flashlight and her own wit. As such, you’ll be doing a lot of time sneaking about and luring enemies using your voice, so you can sneak past them. 

Despite the fact I hardly utilized stealth in the main campaign, its implementation here is surprisingly solid. Sneaking around is simple using R1, while hitting Circle fits Kidman snugly against any possible cover spot. From here, you can peek out using the analogue stick, or lure enemies by hitting Square to shout out. It’s a simple yet very effective system, and seems to work much better than Seb’s adventure. Tango does shake things up a bit though, as you’re sometimes given bottle to lob near enemies distracting them, as well as axes used to stealth-kill foes in as single, bloody strike. 

Pleasingly, the reliance on methodical stealth lends itself well to the game’s creepy atmosphere. You’ll sneak through a series of grotesque environments, all the while keeping a low profile as bloodied, axe-wielding foes shamble inches from your position; things get particularly tense during encounters with an inexorable foe with a searchlight for a head, who stalks you throughout Chapter 1. Hiding from this abomination in lockers provided some of the creepiest segments of The Assignment, and hearing Juli’s heartbeat and panicked breathing as your enemy lingers outside is a sheer pant-wetting moment. It’s also incredibly satisfying duping your enemies by lobbing bottles or shouting out to lure them away, allowing you to sneak past undetected; rarely did stealth reward this sense of accomplishment in the main campaign, especially considering your actions here were more limited than Juli’s. 

You’ll also have to put your Thinking Cap on and solve environmental-based puzzles, which frequently punctuate enemy encounters and help keep the experience from getting stale. There’s also a boss fight of sorts, although it’s kind of a letdown as your opponent’s AI is horribly inadequate as he misses near point-blank range shots at you while you attempt to sneak up on him and axe him from behind. The fact he’s easy to hide from combined with the fact your health regenerates makes it all far too easy to defeat him.

Furthermore, I sometimes found it pretty annoying upon finding a melee weapon and being unable to wield it freely—as mentioned, they’re only used for stealth takedowns—which to me seems like an odd design decision and counter-intuitive. Surely, it would have been beneficial giving the players freedom to opt for stealth or straight-up combat during this segments, especially as the area you find the axes are populated by invisible enemies. Still, it’s a brief segment, and doesn’t outstay its welcome.

The Assignment is fairly narrative-driven, and there’s plenty of compelling drama unfolding as you continue your search for the mentally-unstable Leslie across Ruvik’s twisted, malevolent world. While The Evil Within’s dialogue was pretty hammy in places, things are much improved here, thanks largely to Kidman’s voice actress, Jennifer Carpenter, who delivers a brilliantly nuanced and believable performance. Whereas Juli wasn’t given enough time to shine in the main campaign, here she comes across as a far more compelling lead than Seb at times. 

Admittedly, some areas don’t work quite as well; her mysterious boss at HQ is about as cliched as they come, even more so because he’s some bloke in a suite who you never have a proper glimpse at. The various files and recordings you’ll come across help flesh things out too, and there’s a few collectibles scattered throughout the environment, some of which can only be accessed by shining your flashlight to make hidden doors appear. Indeed, it rewards players to pay attention to their surroundings.

Visually, Assignment also provides a fine showcase for Mikami-san’s eye for environmental detail. As with the main event, the DLC’s areas are packing some superb art direction, even if they’re not going to make the PS4 sweat in terms of raw horsepower. The pacing is also spot on, with no area feeling tiresome; you’ll traverse spooky forests, blood-stained hospital corridors, grimey sewers, industrial complex and more throughout your journey, keeping things fresh in the process. Some you’ll recognise from Seb’s adventure, although it’s cool to see them from Juli’s point of view, as she’ll typically head down a different path. The locations are again complemented by a suitably creepy soundtrack that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Silent Hill game. 

Wrapping things up, The Assignment is a brilliant slice of DLC that leaves plenty of questions going into the second part of Juli’s adventure, namely The Consequence. Its gripping combination of stealth and puzzles, fused with some truly creepy environments, ensures players are in for quite the spook fest and a nice change of pace in comparison to the main campaign. Despite a few niggles here and there, The Assignment is a worthy addition to The Evil Within’s nightmarish world. 

The Final Word

The Assignment is a brilliant start to The Evil Within's post-launch content support that fans can't afford to miss out on.

The Evil Within: The Assignment Reviews

I just wish it wasn't so clumsy where it counts, since there are few gameplay styles more off-putting than poor stealth, and the stealth here is often very poor indeed. Fans committed to the loopy storyline will probably be able to look past that and enjoy the surreal ride for its narrative and atmospheric pleasures. However, such frustrations can't help but drive a large rusty nail into the heart of an otherwise generous pair of expansions.

Read full review

The first part of The Evil Within's DLC is just as good as the main game, with some great twists to the formula.

Horrifying environments and enemies keep you on your toes, but a few choice mechanics can be frustrating and detract from immersion.

The Assignment is a reasonably-sized add-on which fleshes out The Evil Within's story while building on what made it so enjoyable in the first place.

The Assignment and The Consequence are dark, they're frightening, they get the blood pumping, and there's nothing else quite like them around. You'll know when you've been Tango'd.

If you enjoyed The Evil Within, "The Assignment" offers plenty of bang for your buck and definitely leaves you anticipating what more is to come in the second expansion, which will also focus on Kidman, "The Consequence".

There's nothing horribly wrong with The Assignment, but the instant death rules that I disliked about The Evil Within continue to plague the DLC, making Kidman's story one of frustration and retries.

[I]ssues aside, this is one of the most pulse-pounding experiences I have had in a while. The Evil Within did a fantastic job of bringing the true terror and stress of the genre back into light, and this first DLC pack offers up some new spin on the game itself.

The Assignment is a brilliant start to The Evil Within's post-launch content support that fans can't afford to miss out on.

Ultimately, though, The Assignment serves up an engaging experience for the genre. Folks who prefer more action with their scares might find its formula lacking. If you want your survival-horror to emphasize the survival part and a healthy dose of suspense, however, this is one assignment you'll want to finish up and turn in.

It's clear to see that the team at Tango Gameworks had some solid ideas for how inject a bit more of that eeriness that helped flesh out The Evil Within, unfortunately the game gets in the way of itself. The Assignment is a change of course that shows the developers are willing to deliver a new experience to fans, but the cost may have been a bit too high in the end.

Shedding some major light on The Evil Within's lacking story by putting players in Kidman's shoes, The Assignment is the perfect complementary DLC, full of more scares and intense moments.

The Assignment is an excellent piece of DLC that adds, in a purely positive way, to the base game.

If you liked Evil Within but were disappointed that it wasn't that scary, you should be more than satisfied with The Assignment and when you finish it you'll start looking forward to The Consequence. I certainly am.

In conclusion, The Assignment provides a much more stealth-focused approach than the original The Evil Within and is different enough to make it feel like you're not just playing through a rehash of the same experience. If you enjoyed the original, or games such as The Last of Us, then this is an experience you will most likely have fun with.

Tango Gameworks could've taken the easy route and had The Assignment cover similar ground to The Evil Within. Thankfully, the decision to move the focus from action to stealth has proven to be a smart one. With a more interesting lead character, tighter pacing, and better scares, The Assignment is that rare story add-on that may even be better than the main game.

Superbly atmospheric with some truly chilling aspects and moments, The Evil Within: The Assignment further explores the twisted world that Shinji Mikami and the team at Tango Gameworks have crafted and opens the door for more with its upcoming follow-up. This is definitely a great example of Survival Horror done right and, equally, a perfect show of how DLC should be done.

While it only lasted a handful of hours, The Assignment ended up being a refreshing counterpart to The Evil Within, rather than being labeled as 'just more of the same'. It's an excellent take on the original formula, blending the old with the new, and while it does end on a cliffhanger, I can only hope that it all comes together in the second DLC.

Now that the first two parts of Juli Kidman's DLC has been released with The Assignment and The Consequence, we bring you our review to the highly anticipated expansions to The Evil Within. With a new gameplay direction and side-story to tell, will this be a worthy addition to the game that helped revive the survival horror genre?

The Evil Within: The Assignment Review

March 11, 2015.

Right from the get-go, it’s apparent that The Evil Within ’s first DLC is a departure from the original’s run-and-gun attitude towards combat. Shrunken down from the gun-toting Senior Detective Sebastian Castellanos to an able-minded but empty-holstered Junior Detective Juli Kidman, The Assignment looks at The Evil Within from a new angle as you navigate terrifying settings and avoid some frightening new monsters, all the while having nothing but a flashlight to defend yourself with.

The Assignment’s three hour story runs parallel to that of the main story, filling you in on what Juli Kidman was up to during after the initial crash at the beginning of The Evil Within.

The game feels very Alan Wake in this sense, shining your beam of light across markings on the wall to make doors appear, notes materialize, and what not. The emphasis is completely on stealth, which makes The Assignment even more nerve-wracking than the original – knowing that if you’re spotted by an enemy, the only thing you can do is floor it out of there. No guns, knives or traps: only a solitary flashlight and a pair of kitten-heels are at your disposal, which are an absurd choice of footwear for trying not to get eaten alive by a monster with a floodlight for a face. Not only do they click incessantly but I’m pretty sure they’re the reason that you can only run mere meters before collapsing into a wheezing mess.

What Juli can do is distract enemies by calling out, throwing objects to create a ruckus, as well as taking cover behind walls to sneak past those enemies that refuse to shift. These mechanics work well to drum up the suspense and give the impression of being hunted, but are held back by The Evil Within’s rather rigid controls, as they can sometimes result in accidentally slipping out of crouch and getting spotted, which is as frustrating as it is anxiety-inducing. The stealth attack introduced in the latter half of the episode is difficult to carry out, but makes you feel less powerless against enemies.

The environments contained in The Assignment surpass those of The Evil Within, thanks to masterful design that adds to the sense of dread and claustrophobia. Every detail from the grimy, repugnant scum that covers the floors and walls, to the luminescent hospital lighting has been perfected and ultimately makes the environments one of the best aspects of the game.

The enemies in The Assignment have clearly been hand-picked from the imagination of Shinji Mikami, their design being endlessly frightening and as gory as ever. Reminiscent of the beasts found in Resident Evil , they make for perfect inhabitants of this twisted world and certainly haven’t gotten any less terrifying in the five months since it was released. The only criticism of the enemies is their lacklustre AI: chases left me feeling unfulfilled, as the creatures tend to get confused and are easy to lose. Despite this, it’s pretty much one-hit kills all round so you’ll want to avoid confrontation at all cost.

The Assignment is a worthy addition to The Evil Within. It pulls off its scares in a totally different way, despite some sticky controls at times. Being equipped with nothing more than a flashlight may feel like a cliché, but Tango Gameworks make shake off all those feelings as you explore their masterfully crafted world of nightmares. Juli Kidman makes for a more realistic and likeable protagonist than Castellanos, too, even if only by a stones throw – but an improvement nonetheless.

Masterfully crafted environments. Stealthy gameplay is a refreshing change. Enemies remain as scary as ever.

AI can be disastrous at times. Sticky controls detract from stealth immersion.

Horrifying environments and enemies keep you on your toes, but a few choice mechanics can be frustrating and detract from immersion.

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Review: the evil within – the assignment.

I’ll get this out of the way first. While I found The Evil Within to be an extremely fun and replayable experience, I still didn’t think it was an amazing survival horror game. It’s gore-oriented style of horror didn’t really work for me. But like I said, I still enjoyed every chapter from beginning to end. Now, we return to the madness with the release of the game’s first story DLC: The Assignment . Is it worth the download? And could it perhaps even be a better horror experience than the main campaign?

The Assignment follows Juli Kidman and her side of the, at-times, confusing narrative of the game. Luckily, the story here is laid out much more clearly. We get introduced to the group Juli belongs to and are met with a character that ends up becoming much more menacing than Ruvik was. Speaking of which, we do get more insight into Ruvik’s character, along with Dr. Jimenez (through hidden tapes) and other key players from the main game. Juli also has her own version of The Keeper in the form of the Light Woman, who is extremely terrifying with her unsettling design and actions. I’ll never hear the sound of high heels the same again.

That’s the thing about The Assignment : it’s much scarier than the main game. It nails its stealth-focused horror nicely without any dull moments. I was already a fan of sneaking up on baddies as Seb’ and delivering instant-killing blows, and now this DLC puts the spotlight on that gameplay mechanic entirely…minus the killing…sort of. You see, you don’t really kill many enemies in the game, which could be a negative for those that enjoyed the main game’s gunplay. It’s more about quietly making your way through the dreadful areas, all while collecting whatever item you need to proceed. You’re only equipped with a flashlight, after all.

The tension is always high thanks to the stealth focus, and using the new cover mechanic is very intuitive. While in it, you can call out to enemies to distract them, giving you an opening elsewhere. On rare occasions, you could also pick up bottles and throw them away from your hiding spot for further distraction. It’s not until the second chapter (only two in this DLC) where you can finally dispose of some of the enemies by using axes scattered around scarcely. It’s more about outsmarting your foes as opposed to outright killing them (environmental traps included on occasion, too!). A highlight of the DLC’s stealth comes late in the first chapter with a boss fight that reminded me a whole lot of one of the Birkin fights from Resident Evil 2 . It was pretty damn great, even though I died a few times. Other memorable encounters are related to a certain invisible enemy from the main game, which you can actually reveal here by shining your light on them. The puzzles in this DLC were pretty well done. None of them were really difficult but they were spread out excellently throughout the 2-3 hour adventure. There are also secret puzzles cleverly hidden that will reward you with pieces of notes that you can collect. I made it a personal mission to seek out almost all of them along with the audio recordings.

Though it starts off quite slow, The Assignment ends up being quite a worthy addition to the main game, even surpassing it as far as horror goes. The only issue I had was that some parts were a little trial-and-error, but besides that, I enjoyed exploring Juli’s side of the story. You’ll also have plenty to do once you beat it, from new difficulties to tackle to a mode that even pits you in complete darkness, leaving you with exclusive reliance on your trusty flashlight. Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be trying that anytime soon! Now we wait for the next story DLC, The Consequence .

( 8 / 10 ) Great

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The Evil Within: The Assignment – Reviews

Pc playstation 3 playstation 4 xbox 360 xbox one, the evil within reviews, detailed reviews.

• 6 Third-rate Design Within X360 11/07/2014 By DarkSymbiote *Most Recommended*
• 7 Shinji Mikami is back with a vengeance. PS3 02/25/2016 By UltimaterializerX
• 9 The PS4's first great horror game! PS4 02/24/2015 By Bkstunt_31
• 7 The Evil Within - A Nightmare You Choose To Visit PS4 10/30/2017 By NettoSaito
• 9 Terrific X360 10/31/2017 By paulojr_mam
• 9 Plenty of Evil Within This Game XONE 12/11/2014 By DanTheMeng
• 8 Way better than "Resident Evil" series! Must have! 03/10/2015 By vexatiousentity

Full Reviews

• 9 A solid addition to the "Survival Horror" genre by the man who created Resident Evil himself! PS4 11/04/2014 By Tutankoopa *Highest Rated*
• 4 A Stellar Illustration Of Generic Survival Horror PS3 02/10/2015 By MachoLucha *Most Recommended*
• 5 Journey to Nowhere 10/22/2014 By OzzBrown *Review of the Month Winner*
• 7 Has Mikami lost his passion? XONE 11/05/2014 By horror_spooky
• 8 All it Needed was Leon XONE 05/22/2015 By imthenokken

Quick Reviews

• 3 I was in hell. PS4 11/10/2014 By LilRoss2k3 *Most Recommended*
• 8 True fear...and frustration X360 08/11/2015 By ajerxs

The Evil Within: The Assignment Reviews

• 9 Oh how the world changes with a different perspective... PS4 09/10/2015 By Bkstunt_31

The Evil Within: The Consequence Reviews

• 9 Nowhere left to hide... PS4 09/10/2015 By Bkstunt_31

The Evil Within: The Executioner Reviews

• 7 Walk a mile in your enemy's shoes... PS4 08/17/2015 By Bkstunt_31

GameSpot Review

• 8.0 User Score Based on 1937 user reviews.
• 60 CalmDownTom Despite darkness being a horror game’s natural habitat, living so much in other game’s shadows limits The Evil Within from being the genre redefining classic it really should have been.
• 80 Eurogamer Portugal It is recommended without hesitation to everyone that is brave enough and eager for long hours of thrills.
• 65 GRYOnline.pl The Evil Within is an unoriginal but interesting concept that keeps the player on the edge of his or hers seat and makes the blood flow faster. It's a shame that outdated gameplay mechanics surfaces fairly quickly (and begins to frustrate shortly after). The game is quite easy to be memorized move by move, room by room - and that kills all the horror. The Evil Within is not bad at the survival part, it's quite good as a stealth game and mediocre as a shooter. It has an interesting story and dull characters - all of that can be fun, but I think expectations were much bigger.
• 60 PC Gamer The controls are sluggish, the video options are limited, and the aspect ratio decision is utterly stupid. All of the above drags The Evil Within from enjoyably challenging to needlessly frustrating.
• 8.2 User Score Based on 2468 user reviews.
• 75 Gameplanet The Evil Within is a fine example of classic survival horror, but it's held back a little by some stiff characterisation and flat story beats.
• 83 Gaming Age It's worth playing through at least once — and if you're into it, again with New Game +.
• 70 Level7.nu The Evil Within returns to the horror genres roots and becomes a rather surprising breath of fresh air of action in a horror climate where the players are usually mostly helpless. The game may be more cozy spooky than terrifying but the problem lies more in its graphical shortcomings and the flat story. Likewise Shinji Mikami is still a better game designer than most even when he's not bringing his best.
• 80 VideoGamer It's a game that expertly sustains a feeling of dread, and knows when to ratchet up the feeling of being utterly overwhelmed, first slowly then suddenly in a way that induces sheer panic, much like Resi 4 before it. But detective Sebastian Castellanos is no Leon S. Kennedy.
• 8.5 User Score Based on 1022 user reviews.
• 80 Eurogamer Shinji Mikami has yet to make a poor game, and The Evil Within does not blemish his record. But neither does the game enchant and disrupt in the way that Vanquish and the others managed. This is Mikami revisiting his past glories and, as such, it's both a delight and a disappointment.
• 80 Game Over Online For the hardcore gamer who likes a scary challenge, this trip down the rabbit hole will feel like home. For everyone else, it may feel more like a session of electro-shock treatment.
• 70 Game Revolution The Evil Within definitely brought back my nostalgia for old-school survival horror games: creepy mansions, terrifying monsters, puzzles, and eerie level design.
• 60 Shacknews Resident Evil fans will have a serious case of déjà vu when playing The Evil Within. It offers much of the thrills and creepy environments that make the series so enticing, along with some of its frustrations.
• 9.1 User Score Based on 258 user reviews.
• 80 Atomix The Consequence finishes with great narrative resources to the story of The Evil Within. Presenting a more action oriented gameplay than The Assignment, this DLC is a must play for everyone who enjoyed the main game.
• 76 Digital Chumps An obvious must have for those who have cleared The Assignment and are eager to continue the story, but if you aren't in that position, you might want to wait for a probable 'ultimate' edition later this year.
• 80 GamesVillage.it This new venture into the terrifying world of The Evil Within is a pretty scary ride. The story leaves us with a lot of unsolved questions, and the gameplay stresses the survival component of the game. Overall, a nice addition that fans of Mikami will surely enjoy.
• 70 We Got This Covered Although it creates a few loose ends while tying up others, The Consequence offers more of the same stealthy scares while boasting a few impressive and memorably freaky boss battles.
• 9.1 User Score Based on 93 user reviews.
• 70 DarkStation The Consequence is entertaining. It’s not an introspective, philosophical mindbender; it’s campy fun. It has its flaws, but in a game where Claude Debussy’s “Claire De Lune” is mixed with Inception, buckets of blood, and a Victorian loveseat/black cat combo that acts as your save point, I can’t help but enjoy it.
• 80 Gameblog.fr The Consequence continues on the path of the first opus, with a new way of playing. The balance between infiltration phases and action is better here. But there are also the same problems with A.I.
• 85 Gamers' Temple The Consequence continues the intriguing story that the Assignment introduced and manages to mix up the stealth gameplay a bit from The Assignment.
• 70 IGN The gorgeous environments and ridiculous boss battles in The Consequence are among the best in the series, but an overabundance of exposition interrupts its flow too frequently.
• 9.2 User Score Based on 564 user reviews.
• 83 Atomix The Assignment is a great return to The Evil Within. This DLC introduces new and pretty clever mechanics that makes a much more scary experience than the main game. If you love survival horror games, you must play this first chapter of Juli Kidman’s story.
• 80 GamesVillage.it The Assignment is a good DLC, with more survival-oriented gameplay and tailored to the fans of the original The Evil Within. It may come a little short, considering that it will take less than three hours to complete it.
• 80 PlayStation Universe The Assignment is a brilliant start to The Evil Within's post-launch content support that fans can't afford to miss out on.
• 60 Twinfinite What you are instead left with is something that departs a bit too much from what fans probably wanted. Instead of fixing the few issues The Evil Within had, they introduced something completely new with a whole new bag of troubles. Fortunately enough, the story is interesting enough and holds up pretty well, and for some that may just be worth the price of entry.
• 9.3 User Score Based on 218 user reviews.
• 70 Gameblog.fr This first DLC as Juli Kidman focuses on atmosphere and puzzles... and it is quite frightening! The gameplay mechanics are interesting too, but the game still suffers some AI and technical issues.
• 85 Gamers' Temple The Assignment is the first piece of Evil Within DLC and it makes the season pass seem very promising.
• 85 IGN The Assignment offers up a thrilling three-and-a-half hours in The Evil Within’s grimy universe.
• 80 ZTGD The Evil Within did a fantastic job of bringing the true terror and stress of the genre back into light, and this first DLC pack offers up some new spin on the game itself.
• 6.5 User Score Based on 40 user reviews.
• 74 Digital Chumps The Executioner is short, but enjoyable. And at $5, it's worth playing on its own or as a fun way to wrap up your time The Evil Within.
• 48 Hobby Consolas It could have been a decent extra mode for the main game, but it isn't worthy of being purchased. The reasons: too short in length, too short in variety.
• 78 LaPS4 The Executioner is a nice way to put an end to The Evil Within downloadable content series. It changes completely the gameplay mechanics, allowing us to play in a really aggressive way, it clarifies some doubts left with the main game's ending.
• 40 Twinfinite That leaves The Executioner feeling more like a tacked on add-on than a true expansion. Fun, but better off as something separate from The Evil Within.

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The Evil Within: The Assignment DLC Review

As much as I loved Shinji Mikami’s last entry in his venerable series of horror games,  The Evil Within   left me wanting more closure from its convoluted and gap-filled story. Any plot details that were given weren’t terribly straightforward, the ending was left way too open and just about nothing was explained in regards to how Juli Kidman, Sebastian’s partner, knew as much as she did about what was going on. Thankfully, the first episode of DLC,  The Assignment , remedies this by offering a story-driven look into Kidman’s role in the proceedings.

Stepping into Kidman’s shoes this time around,  The Assignment  follows the shady double agent as she tries to track down Leslie, the psycho-savant who could get her out of the STEM’s nightmare world. Working for Mobius, she is told that she will be given a way into the system that will make her largely invisible to Ruvik and that any deviation from her mission will result in terrible consequences. Since the upcoming second part of the season pass is titled  The Consequence , it’s easy to guess how things will turn out for the rookie.

Much of her story takes place alongside Sebastian and Joseph’s, who she is told are expendable if they ever get in her way, leading to a few interesting moments repeated from the original game that feel more eerie after learning more about her character. Although Kidman rarely interacts with her partners, she often sees them moving ahead of her, making it all the more clever to see how she gets in a few of the positions she ends up in during  The Evil Within ‘s campaign. We get to see how she ended up locked in a glass box filling with water, and it’s finally revealed how she’s unaffected by the pulses that drove others insane.

Although  The Assignment  moves along at a steady pace, keeping the plot moving with just enough action and horror to keep you on the edge of your seat, it ends abruptly with a thrilling chase that blue balls you out of nowhere. Amazingly, unlike most DLC, nothing ever feels rushed, and the story unfolds at a natural pace comparable to the original game, even if it only clocks in at around four hours for cautious players. Similar to  The Evil Within , a new enemy constantly reappears throughout Kidman’s campaign, and although I won’t spoil the design, it is a frightening creation that struck me with fear every time it arrived on the scene.

So  The Assignment  plays like another four hours in the shoes of Sebastian, right? Actually, Tango made the surprising decision to craft this DLC with a stealth focus, leaving Kidman alone and unable to protect herself for a majority of the game. Aside from one short, scripted sequence, no guns are fired, stealth attacks are extremely limited, and cunning is necessary to keep Kidman in one piece.

Since Kidman didn’t have the foresight to bring a knife to a Mikami game, she doesn’t have any stealth attacks outside of one-use axes that present themselves at optimal times. Rather than kill every enemy she encounters, she must distract them with noises, hide in lockers or lock them in rooms to keep them from quickly killing her. It’s amazing that Tango actually utilized their lacking stealth system that didn’t really work too well in  The Evil Within  here, but it’s even more shocking that it makes  The Assignment  that much better for it.

The stealth isn’t incredibly deep, as enemies won’t notice Kidman’s flashlight beam and appear completely oblivious at times they should have obviously seen you, but the lack of stealth attacks make each encounter more thrilling than usual. Using nothing but a glass bottle to get three enemies impaled on spikes or a cell phone to lock two baddies in a closet is much more satisfying than snapping their necks.

Boss battles this time around are also completely reworked from  The Evil Within , playing more like intense games of hide-and-seek rather than a battle of wits. The battle with the recurring monster that takes place early on is horrifying in its simplicity, and a more complex encounter later on opens up the arena a bit and is a tense blast to play through.

There isn’t much in the way of collectibles here, with a few audio files, puzzle boxes and key items lying around, but after completion a New Game+ mode is unlocked, allowing for a replayability factor on par with  The Evil Within . A new feature also finds Kidman using her flashlight to focus on markings on the wall to make doors and other objects appear, many of which are the key to finding all of the secrets  The Assignment  has to find.

While the stealth-based approach may turn off the shallower fans of  The Evil Within , the major addition to its storyline makes  The Assignment  more than worth its asking price. Although not a terribly deep experience, it was an intense burst of fear that retroactively makes  The Evil Within   a more complete experience while also standing on its own as an exciting step in a different direction for the series. If  The Consequence  manages to wrap up the story and be half as satisfying as  The Assignment , then Mikami’s latest project could be among his best yet.

This review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy of the season pass, given to us for review purposes.

Evil Within, The: The Assignment (Video Game DLC)

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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.

Categorized: Horror Gaming Reviews

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About This Content

System requirements.

• OS *: 64-bit Windows 7 SP1/Windows 8.1
• Processor: i7 or an equivalent with four plus core processor
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Graphics: GTX 460 or equivalent 1 GB VRAM card
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: 8 GB available space
• Processor: i7 with four plus cores
• Graphics: GeForce GTX 670 or equivalent with 4GBs of VRAM

The Evil Within™ © 2015 ZeniMax Media Inc. Developed in association with Tango Gameworks. The Evil Within, Tango, Tango Gameworks, Bethesda, Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax and related logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of ZeniMax Media Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All Rights Reserved.

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‘The Evil Within: The Assignment’ Review: In Need of a Gun

It might not have been the most inspired big-budget horror game we’ve seen, but The Evil Within was still, despite its familiar ideas, a thoroughly unforgettable game that proved Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami knows what fans of the genre want. If the base game was “a terrifying patchwork of nightmares,” then its first DLC is more of that, with moderately better execution.

I went into The Assignment with a cautious optimism that the talented folks at developer Tango Gameworks would be able to pick up the numerous unfinished narrative threads left by The Evil Within and construct something around it that’s worth playing.

That’s exactly what they did, and I couldn’t be happier to return to this twisted world.

This DLC is the first half of a two-part story that follows detective Juli “Kid” Kidman — Sebastian’s woefully underdeveloped partner — that, aside from offering more scares, aims to answer some of the many lingering questions about her, and specifically her connections to the shady Mobius organization and where the hell she went off to for a substantial chunk of The Evil Within .

I was disappointed when I realized how little screen time was dedicated to Juli, who’s voiced by the consistently wonderful Jennifer Carpenter ( “Dexter” , Quarantine ). Her character is finally given the time to shine, and shine she does. She’s far more intriguing to me than Sebastian or his goofy sidekick, Joseph Oda.

The Assignment does a wonderful job of answering some questions that needed answering while at the same time bringing up a few more that I can’t wait to see answered in the follow-up DLC, The Consequence .

Warning! Below, there be spoilers!

Mikami has called The Evil Within an answer to the more action-oriented direction the Resident Evil series has taken since Resident Evil 4 , which he also happened to direct. That remains true in this DLC, which continues to put an emphasis on its stealth mechanics. Running in guns blazing was never an option in the main story, and it’s even less of an option here.

As an agent of Mobius, a mysterious organization that’s responsible for the horrific events in The Evil Within , Juli was supposed to infiltrate Sebastian’s team in an effort to find Leslie, whose mind has everything they need to complete the STEM system, within which all of this takes place. Think of STEM as a hellish version of The Matrix , or like Inception , if DiCaprio’s adventures had been limited exclusively to nightmares.

Mobius would fit in nicely as the evil organization in basically any Saturday morning cartoon. They’re not all that intimidating, mostly because we’ve seen groups like them done better so many times before in other video games, movies and television. This doesn’t change, but I stopped caring when Juli starts fighting back.

This also happens to be exactly when The Assignment really gets interesting.

From take-off to landing, it’s about 3 1/2 hours. During that time, we’re treated to a veritable sampler platter of scary things, some of which will be familiar to those of you who played The Evil Within , while others will be completely new.

The biggest difference here is Kidman herself. She spends most of the game unarmed, and the upgrade system has been removed. This forces players to embrace those polarizing stealth mechanics. In addition to the tried and true bottle throwing mechanic, Kidman can call out to enemies from cover and she eventually gets a stealth attack, which I found pairs nicely with the lure.

And when the situation calls for it, she can also run considerably longer than Sebastian. It’s a good thing, too, because there’s a lot of cardio involved in this DLC.

Without Sebastian’s physical prowess or his array of weapons and gadgets to defend against enemies, playing as Kidman can be tough. I died a lot , and the source of that frustration usually came from the game’s purposefully wonky, old school controls.

I thought the added challenge would be frustrating, but there’s an element of nostalgia to this that reminds me of the golden age of survival horror games, where being underpowered and outnumbered was expected. The Assignment offers more of a challenge than the game whose story it’s trying to expand upon, and I loved (almost) every second of it.

I’ve lamented the lack of quality DLC for horror games, but The Assignment gives me hope that The Evil Within will buck that trend and give fans a reason — or three — to return to this fantastic horror game. The Consequence cannot come soon enough.

The Final Word: The Assignment takes the best aspects of The Evil Within — namely the stealth, unsettling enemies and the strategy that’s required in combat — and successfully builds a bite-sized adventure around it that never outstays its welcome.

Gamer, writer, terrible dancer, longtime toast enthusiast. Legend has it Adam was born with a controller in one hand and the Kraken's left eye in the other. Legends are often wrong.

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Writer-director Francis Galluppi will soon face off Kandarian demons by helming the next Evil Dead film. This week sees the release of his star-studded feature debut, The Last Stop in Yuma County . An original Western thriller in the vein of early Coen Brothers, the film arrives this Friday, May 10 from Well Go USA in select theaters and VOD.

In anticipation, Bloody Disgustin g has an exclusive clip featuring stars Jocelin Donahue and Barbara Crampton . Watch below and find the trailer and poster art underneath.

Here’s the story: “While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty—or cold, hard steel—to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune.”

Joining Donahue and Crampton is a who’s who of horror favorites: Jim Cummings, Richard Brake, Faizon Love,  Alex Essoe, Michael Abbott Jr., Sierra McCormick, Nicholas Logan, Sam Huntington, Connor Paolo, Robin Bartlett, Jon Proudstar, Ryan Masson , and Gene Jones .

In her glowing review , our head critic Meagan Navarro says The Last Stop in Yuma County is “bustling with life and boisterous personalities, reflective on screen in every facet.” She adds, “Galluppi makes it so effortlessly easy to get sucked into this slick, singular world and invest in its characters, only for the filmmaker to revel in dispatching them.”

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The Evil Within: The Assignment - Review

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It’s remarkable how much of a departure The Evil Within’s first story DLC, The Assignment, is from the main game. Where the original is all about bullets and confrontation - albeit with a blundering lug of a character - The Assignment is more about staying in the shadows, avoiding enemies, and keeping a cool head in the face of terrifying monsters. It’s the sleek black cat to The Evil Within’s big shaggy dog, and a great addition to Game Director Shinji Mikami and Tango Gameworks’ new survival horror universe.

The Assignment’s three-and-a-half-hour story runs concurrently with the main game’s, filling us in on what Juli Kidman – a detective, or perhaps an agent for a sinister agency? – was up to during her mysterious absences. Throughout, you’ll see original protagonist Sebastian and his partner Joseph in familiar situations, which adds to a sense of a much bigger and wonderfully ominous picture.

This story is still as high-concept as it ever was, but it helps that Kidman is a more knowledgeable character than Sebastian from the get-go, and more likable, too. Voiced with confidence by Dexter’s Jennifer Carpenter, she’s a more reactive, and therefore believably realistic, character. Carpenter even sells Kidman’s somewhat cliched backstory, told through audio tapes, with a performance that avoids theatrics.

Physically, Kidman is less powerful than Sebastian. Roughly 95% of the time she is unarmed, and there is no upgrade system in The Assignment. Instead, her skillset focuses on stealth. Kidman can lure enemies by calling out while taking cover against walls or other objects, throw bottles to distract them, move without running out of puff, and auto-heal rather than use syringes.

These abilities work well – for the most part. The Evil Within’s old-school controls don’t always lend themselves to fluid movements, and occasionally I got stuck to a surface or unintentionally popped out of crouch when trying to turn a corner. The ‘stealth attack’, introduced later into the episode, also feels a bit haphazardly implemented – that became an issue for me when a boss fight relied on it.

But considering how thrilling it was to play a survival horror game with nothing at my disposal but a torch, I didn’t mind much. I spent a lot of the time running blindly with my heart thumping, hoping a distracted enemy wasn’t now in pursuit, or yelling in triumph after locking one in a room. Without a weapon, the tension builds quickly.

Adrenaline is encouraged by The Assignment's sinister environments. Tango has once again done some wonderful things with lighting, with many of its twisted corporate interiors drenched in sickly, flickering fluorescence, and others in dirty, wet shadow. I frequently found myself crouched behind flimsy cover in the dark, terrified to turn on my torch, as footsteps ever so slowly made their way towards me.

Although their A.I. isn’t as sophisticated as, say, Alien: Isolation’s, enemies in The Assignment will pursue and kill you quickly, so you’ll want to avoid confrontation at all cost. While I would have liked a little more variation in enemy design, and perhaps more threatening enemies overall (l died considerably less here than in the main game) there is a particularly vicious recurring enemy in The Assignment that I loved. To describe it at all would spoil, but it’s up there with The Evil Within’s keepers and Resident Evil 4’s regenerators; in other words, a Mikami Special.

• Great stealthy gameplay
• Creepy environments
• New protagonist
• Occasionally sticky controls

The Verdict

The Assignment offers up a thrilling three-and-a-half hours in The Evil Within’s grimy universe. Its stealthy gameplay, beautifully designed environments, and refreshingly grounded protagonist make it stand out from the main game, and a cliffhanger ending suggests there’s much more good stuff to come in part two: The Consequence.

The Evil Within: The Assignment

The evil within: the assignment review.

The Evil Within digital bundle now available