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[Lord of Ostia]

Re4 was still often pretty tense and atmospheric despite being goofy a lot.

The Evil Within plays around with the psychological horror stuff, but ultimately still leans much closer to RE4 most of the time. And yes, it isn't as good as either of those, being a mix of those two games is something that's hard to pull off, as the goals of both those games contradict each other to an extent.

Yes, this is basically what I'm getting at. The game is oil and water, it just doesn't mix, and comes off as a disjointed and convoluted mess. Inviting comparisons to one of the best horror games of all time and one of the best action games of all time was a bad move for the game. It wears its inspirations on its sleeve, yet fails at capturing any of what made those games great.

 

[Mohasus]

I'm playing it right now and the only thing that scares me are OHKOs. Chapter 10 right now, so traps, Ruvik in the last one, running away from Laura in chapter 4.

Everything else I can easily kill. On Survival there are lots of resources so I never have to worry about running out of them.

 

[wolfhunter777]

More gore

 

[NinjamicWZ]

Yes, this is basically what I'm getting at. The game is oil and water, it just doesn't mix, and comes off as a disjointed and convoluted mess. Inviting comparisons to one of the best horror games of all time and one of the best action games of all time was a bad move for the game. It wears its inspirations on its sleeve, yet fails at capturing any of what made those games great.

I like Evil Within so much more than Resident Evil 4. I also like it more than the entire Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchise, which I've always been a fan of, albeit not a super fan.

For me, the game amalgamates and amplifies it's influences within the director's own domain in a "lemme show ya somethin... watch me work" kinda way. Comes off as masterful and exemplary. While the nearest competition is either becoming an increasingly antiquated branch of that family tree, or sharply divergent... in order to afford more homogenized accessibility and kinetic flow for the very broad range of horror and/or action fans.

 

[MattGalvatron]

The lady spider boss thingy that was invincible was scary. But for the most part like re4 (chainsaw guy) wasn't scary.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

I like Evil Within so much more than Resident Evil 4. I also like it more than the entire Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchise, which I've always been a fan of, albeit not a super fan.

For me, the game amalgamates and amplifies it's influences within the director's own domain in a "lemme show ya somethin... watch me work" kinda way. Comes off as masterful and exemplary. While the nearest competition is either becoming an increasingly antiquated branch of that family tree, or sharply divergent... in order to afford more homogenized accessibility and kinetic flow for the very broad range of horror and/or action fans.

To each their own. I really don't think anything in The Evil Within can be considered 'masterful' or 'exemplary', and I'm a fan of Mikami's work, my favorites being RE4 and Vanquish.
You talk about games or gameplay becoming "increasingly antiquated" but I really don't see how Silent Hill 2 or Resident Evil 4 are antiquated. The design in those games is timeless, they still hold up today. You mention "homogenized accessibility", but isn't that basically why the game has craft able ammo and character upgrades? To make it more accessible and homogenized with the rest of the AAA action games releasing today? I don't see any other reason for those aspects to exist, because they certainly don't help the game on delivering a.) a strong horror experience or b.) a strong, tightly paced action experience like RE4. The hodgepodge of shifting and jarring environments and disparate sections of gameplay ruin the pacing of the action elements and the tension & immersion of the horror elements. The Evil Within doesn't do anything better than RE4 or Silent Hill 2, and the disparate styles don't form a cohesive whole.

 

[Fady K]

I have to say, while the DLC stalker was marginally better than the base game, I still didn't quite land for me especially with the boring kill animation. Not to mention the design was rather...lacking in terms of scare department... I feel like I would be more scared of something out of creature/biohazard design rather than sci-fi

I think the sci-fi inspiration in the design made it stick out for me more, though i can understand that not being your thing. Good on you for playing the DLC, I personally consider it to be a great component to the main game and one that is vital to the plot, too. That's the problem with DLCs, many people will miss out on them. Developers should keep that in mind. On the PS4, only 1.6% of the Evil within owners compl the first chapter of the DLC. That's an insanely low statistic...

 

[AzureFlame]

RE4 had like 3 scary parts for me, nothing much, as for TEW, only the spider lady.

 

[gelf]

It's not scary but I did find it intense in some encounters. The Keeper section for one example.

The fact the game doesn't just throw ammo at you makes it more nerve wracking experience then any recent Resident Evil game. Probably why I prefer it to RE4.

 

[UrbanRats]

Mikami games are not scary afaik

Because usually the protagonists are empowered

You are not empowered in TEW.
You are VERY empowered in Silent Hill games (regardless of what the narrative tries to sell you).

I think it's something else.

Also, different things scare different people, depending on countless factors.
Some people are scared by greys, for example, while i'd say most would find them hilarious.

 

[the_batman]

not scary? Lisa scared the SHIT out of me.

 

[LiK]

The box head guy was pretty scary.

 

[carlsojo]

It just blasts you in the face with so many horror tropes and gore and zombies that it just blends together into one big boring mess. The pacing is god-awful, the different setpieces/levels feels completely random, and most of the time the atmosphere is just.. there. The Evil Within isn't scary, and it isn't a good game.

You are not empowered in TEW.
You are VERY empowered in Silent Hill games (regardless of what the narrative tries to sell you).

I think it's something else.

Also, different things scare different people, depending on countless factors.
Some people are scared by greys, for example, while i'd say most would find them hilarious.

In which Silent Hill game do you get a big ass crossbow that can shoot exploding bolts?

 

[EGM1966]

It's a bunch of tropes from other games stitched together that takes no time at the beginning to establish stakes or context. It also overuses gore.

I found it okay if a little lacking in narrative drive or engagement plus its not my preferred approach to horror anyway (I'm more Silent Hill than Resident Evil).

I presume the goal was more of a thriller / "best of" vibe vs anything specifically coherent. if the intention was something coherent then nope didn't succeed.

 

[sphinx]

just like RE4, EW is more intense than scary.

the most scary it got in RE4 was with verdugo

the most scary it got with EW was Laura Ch. 10

both could move teleporting and instakill you.

so yeah, they are not scary.

 

[UrbanRats]

In which Silent Hill game do you get a big ass crossbow that can shoot exploding bolts?

That really doesn't mean shit if the proportion with the enemies you're facing is still in your disadvantage.
In Silent Hill you get plenty of weapons, but even a small pipe is enough to deal with most enemies comfortably, on normal.
Not to mention you're always full of handgun bullets.

Hell, i feel less empowered in EDF, than i do in Silent Hill, and there i have massive robots and nuclear bombs, but when the swarm decides to pick on me, i clench my buttocks.

 

[Alienfan]

I rarely find third person horror games scary

 

[GrazGamer]

I gave up my first play of EW at chapter 7 and was all for never playing it but I decided to go back and finish it. So glad I did, I loved every minute and have replayed it again since. I consider it one of my favourite games of all time but it's not scary just very very tense.

Having said that I don't think I have found any game actually scary. Scare jumps perhaps but nothing that actually scared me.

The biggest scare jump I have had from a game was either RE2 when I fell through the balcony in the police station the first time I played on PSX or Arkham Knight, you know what bit. They were full on jump out your seat moments for me.