Let me make one thing clear from the off. I love the Evil Dead series. I love everything about it. Yes, even the straight-edge reboot film from 2013 went down well will me, which was a far cry from the tongue in cheek humour of Bruce Campbell’s adventures. If you haven’t seen the excellent Ash vs Evil Dead TV series either, I strongly suggest you go and look it up straight after reading this article.
However, it’s fair to say that video games-wise it’s a different story. In fact, there hasn’t been an Evil Dead game released on console since Evil Dead: Regeneration back in 2005. What followed was a string of mobile games which largely went by without too much fuss.
Before that, there were a couple of games released on console, but they didn’t play too well with critics. All were based around the original trilogy: however, due to the simple nature of the films, they all ended up as similar games especially in terms of how they played. Overall, Evil Dead: Regeneration ended up feeling like a very similar adventure despite being realised more effectively this time around.
The game was also considered as part of the main series, and told a different story to the films where Ash (the main protagonist and all round undead ass kicker) is not sent back in time at the end of the second film. Instead, he finds himself locked away in an insane asylum with no one believing his tales of his battles with the armies of deadites (zombies).
Evil Dead: Regeneration was essentially a hack and slash game with a light sprinkling of puzzle elements. This is a good thing due to it being Ash’s M.O. pretty much all the way through the films, meaning it’s a premise easy to get to grips with. You discovered different weapons as you played, but the most satisfying was your trusty chainsaw.
This was the most entertaining way to dispatch the hordes of deadites stumbling towards you. It got better still because as you killed enemies, your “rage meter” filled until eventually you entered “rage mode”. Thanks to increased damage given, and decreased damage taken, Ash temporarily turned into an unstoppable killing machine.
Evil Dead: Regeneration is fun and will appeal to fans of the franchise for sure. It’s pretty repetitive but gets all the elements right, down to Bruce Campbell returning to voice Ash. It still managed to retain the wicked sense of humour the series is renowned for.
Throughout your adventure, you were also accompanied by midget deadite sidekick, Sam. He was pretty tough, and needed to be due to him getting a good kicking throughout the game. You could also briefly take control of Sam so he could help you progress, by getting through small gaps to open doors, for example.
Although it’s not the finest game around, Evil Dead: Regeneration is certainly the highlight of the series, and a fan favourite. I certainly have fond memories of hacking away armies of deadites with my chainsaw, and if you fancy doing the same, this is the place to start. If you wish to grab a copy, Amazon should be able to sort you out.
