Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick

"Buckle up Bonehead. 'Cause you're goin' for a ride!"

Finally, the long wait is over and Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomsticks is in our greedy hands. Fans of the Evil Dead series may never see a fourth film, but the legend lives in this new title from THQ.

Based on the same engine that is behind the game State of Emergency, Fistful gives fans just what they need; Bruce Campbell as Ash, a boomstick, the trusty old chainsaw and plenty of deadites to use them on.

Graphics (7/10): The graphics may not be anything over the top, but they certainly get the job done and do it well. If you've played State of Emergency, you'll have an idea what the graphics are like already. Just take State of Emergency, make it darker and grittier and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. It's the little things that really make the game shine, smoke from the barrel of a weapon you just fire, the smoke from your puttering chainsaw. Bloody footprints after you walk through the scene of a slaughter. It's all there, and what we've all come to expect from games today.

Music (4/10): ''Why such a low score?'' You might ask. The music is actually quite nice, but it's looping is done quite sloppy. Everytime a deadite is near the music will change to a darker, faster tune to let you know you should get ready. Nice, expected touch; but this can lead to the problem where you will get close enough to an enemy for the music to change and then turn and get just out of range and the music will stop abruptly. It gets a tad nerving and you'll find yourself turning the music volume down low after a few hours of play.

Sound (8/10): Boomsticks blazing, chainsaws roaring, deadites moaning and taunting you; all done quite well. Add to that Bruce Campbell as the voice of Ashley J. Williams, and tons of witty little remarks; you'll find your self coming back for more and more. Weapons sound pretty good, gun enthusiasts might not say so, but for your average Joe.. they sound just fine.

Controls (7/10): A major improvement over Evil Dead: Hail to the King, but some problems to be found. Running Ash around Dearborn is no problem, but the camera can be tricky to control. You will get the hang of it, it just takes some time. Weapons are laid out nicely, square controls your current firearm or explosive, and 'x' controls your current chainsaw arm attachment. Very simple to learn, and genius in it's simplicity. Spells are done by a simple three to four button combination while holding 'R1', again very simple and once you memorize the combinations for various spells you will be kicking some serious deadite arse.

Gameplay (8/10): The feeling of State of Emergency arises again, but different all the same. There are far fewer deadites on screen at anytime then there was civilians in State of Emergency, and more of an exploration feel to the game also. Puzzles can be quite tricky, if only because the answer is obvious and right infront of you, but you were left without the right clues to figure it out. Very playable, and very fun. Puzzles aside, this is a hack and slash game at heart.. and that is all it needs to be.

Add the arcade mode which gains new levels as you unlock them by playing through the story mode, and you have plenty of gaming fun to be had.

Overall (7/10): I give the game a seven only because it's a game made for fans of the movies, period. While plenty of non-fans (or soon to be converted) can certainly pick up the game and enjoy it, they simply won't get the whole experience from the game. The game deserves and eight, and priced at twenty dollars retail it almost gains that.

Buy?: If you are a fan of the Evil Dead movies, yes! Go out right now and buy this game. It has plenty of fun for all you deadites out there, and twenty dollars isn't much more then a copy of one of the movies on DVD. This will certainly have you playing for longer then the length of the movies.

Rent?: If you aren't a fan, rent this first. It's not a game for everyone, but if you give it a fair chance you will definitely have some fun with it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/26/03, Updated 05/26/03