The Evil Within: The Consequence

The Evil within was meet with a polarising effect on gamers, with many loving the intense and horrifying game-play while others disliking the narrative and cliché horror themes. The new DLC titled “The Consequence” is set to right the wrongs made previously with a greater focus on tension and survival game-play.

The Consequence takes players into the world of Julie “the kid” Kidman and her journey throughout a nightmarish hell, within the mind of a deranged serial killer. Julie’s main focus in the game is to find a boy named Leslie who could hold the key to her salvation. But Julie must tackle a number of foes and traverse a collection of horrifying locations, ranging from s deserted office complex to a city in ruin.

Julie’s attributes differ from Sebastian's in the main story, as she is without a weapon throughout most of the game and must rely on stealth in order to progress. Making her near powerless is an effective means of creating tension and allows for some pretty brutal set pieces to enjoy because of this. One of the new enemies in the game is a disturbing creature who searches mercilessly for Julie by shining a spot light mounted on its head while it beckon's Julie's name. The creepy voice and unpredictable behaviour make it a deadly foe and without weapons, a cat and mouse style game is created which is utterly fantastic to engage in.

There will be moments where Julie is with a firearm and even these encounters are made intensive thanks to the limited ammo and at times, an over whelming number of enemies. There is a great mixture of horror and stressed based tension built throughout the game but sadly the stealth mechanics do feel clunky and hard to grasp while the game-play is rather simple. never to have anything more dynamic other than to hide, sneak by unsuspecting NPCs and throw a bottle to distract them. It's not a bad design, rather to say that it's been done before and done much better. Still the exhilarating set pieces and brutal boss battles make up for this.

The aesthetics of the game, remind me greatly of Silent Hill 2 where an intense atmosphere and an unnerving tone will bring a great deal of discomfort and dread. Perfect for any horror fan. One of the best segments to show this intensity is Julie's descent down a long ladder, helping to create a prolonged and unsettling moment that's memorable compared to the Evil Within's over the top antics and jump scares.

The Consequence has a great mixture of stealth and action game-play, set within an impressive looking and beautifully disturbing game world. The stealth does feel a little clumsy and you maybe annoyed to hear that the widescreen effect still can't be turned off. But the set pieces, boss battles and overall atmosphere work tremendously well and if you already own a copy of the Evil Within, I highly recommend Julie Kidman’s adventure.