Evil Dead: Hail to the King

"Ash good, THQ bad!"

Evil Dead: Hail to the King is out and I am satisfied! If you've already seen the movie (and I'm sure you have), then all you need to know is that this game takes place after Army of Darkness. Never seen the movie/s? Well you should! The game sums everything up better than I in the intro, but this is for the few who don't know the story and won't wait. You are Ash, S-Mart employee of the month, you go away to a cabin with your girlfriend and things go wrong, with the necronomicon bringing up what can only LOOSELY be called zombies. They are deadites, and totally scary creatures. Then you are sent back in time to medieval days and destroy the evil once and for all.... Not really, because Ash is a guy you can sympathize with his ''Ahhh just hurry it up!'' attitude. Now you're back at work and your current girlfriend wants you to go back to the cabin to put your nightmares and fears to rest. Oh boy how wrong they were to do that AGAIN!

Gameplay : 8
This actually had a cult game feeling to it. I could play that engine again, because it felt loose but sometimes a little too loose! You have a small life bar, and healing yourself is a constant. There is just too much health being taken away and lying around. The game does use a lot of variations! You will never run into the same puzzle twice, or of any other game. There just aren't any real ones. I found this to be a nice twist, because I never wanted the action to really stop. The bosses were awesome, however, too many were beaten by just standing there and mashing the X button! There were a couple of tricky bosses that you need to learn from and figure out how to beat, but just not enough. The weapons weren't varied enough, and I beat the game with firing less than 20 bullets. Guns just don't do anything except make a boom. The characters look really good too. I have never seen such a perfect likeness of Bruce Cambell since... well.... ever!

Story : 8
It was interesting enough. Really unique, and at times you just had a gut feeling about something, and you were unhappy it was true. Everything goes together kinda flakey but the movies were that way, so it doesn't matter. However, it is still a fun and original plot. Just don't understand why they went back to the cabin. I know I wouldn't do it, but then again.... I haven't spewed out any good one liners.

Audio/Video : 9
The backgrounds were VERY well done! The sounds from the deadites were excellent as well. Also, the characters TALK! The game uses a Fear Effect type background where the background is not a picture, but a movie playing. Makes for some very good ambient scenes.

Replayability : 3
''Ooh, thats gotta hurt!''
Parasite Eve, Resident Evil, Dino Crisis.... Those games, were the same linear story line when ya went through a second time, but you liked the game so much you'd beat it again to see a new gun, clothes, or secret character. Hell, like isn't even the case with Parasite Eve! Those games had replayability. This game doesn't. If you beat the game, thats it. Nothing new, just same old same old. We're spoiled by replayability nowadays. I just wish THQ and Heavy Iron Studios had kept this game for a little longer to make it have a reason to play again. You can beat the game in three hours, and have no reason to come back for more.

To Buy or Rent?
I love Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Army of Darkness. I've been a fan since eight years ago when I first saw the movies. I've bought every single movie, and I'd buy figurines if I found a spot to buy from. I'd get that poster if I saw it and had the money. I saw Bruce Campell in person. I would NOT buy this game though. See the replay value for the reason. Just rent it. I'll just rip the pages that have advertisements for it out of magazines and put it on my wall. *sigh* I will say that this game is worth a play though! Just not to own unless you are a serious collecters guy.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/29/01, Updated 01/29/01